STAMP

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 25, 22 June 1907, Page 23

STAMP

COLLECTING

Collectors will do well to avoid purchasing unusued New Zealand stamps of the Id, 2d, and 5/ value if imperforated, as the “Australian Philatelist” states that a quantity of stamps of these values were stolen ungummed and unperforated. The gums may be added, but, of course, the fact of being unperforated would rather add to the value of the stamps from a collector’s point of view. The question naturally arises whether these stamps should be collectable at all, seeing that although genuine, they were never officially issued. • • • Three stamps of St. Vincent sold at good prices recently by auction in London. The Id rose, no watermark and compound perforation, sold for £6 57, a strip of three 4d yellow for £3, and 4d on 1/, unused, for £lO. Close on £2O for stamps of a face value of 1/5. • • • Every now and again bisected stamps appear to be officially issued to supply the sudden want of a particular value. It will be remembered that when the post office was destroyed by tire at Samoa, that course was adopted until a fresh supply of stamps was obtained. Quite recently stamps have also been bi sected at the Island kingdom of Tonga, to make half pennies. In both these eases the stamps were bisected diagonally. A similar course was adopted by the postal authorities of Egypt in 1898, pending the issue of the 3-mill stamp on 2 piastres. A 2mill postage due stamp was used in conjunction with a diagonally bi-sected copy of the same value, on the one envelope. • • • A pair of Id on half of 5/ stamp of Barbadoes realised £lO 5/ nt auction in London.

The South Wales and Monmouthshire Philatelic Society has decided to hold a philatelic exhibition in Cardiff during the autumn. The value of the collec-

tions of members of this society is estimated at a quarter of a million, which should give the exhibition a good basis to start with. • • • The American Journal of Philatelly ceased issue at the end of 1906. This is the second occasion the Journal shut down. It was first issued in 1868, but went out ten years afterwards. In 1888 it was again started, and ran, as already stated, to the end of last year. In the interests of Philatelly it. is to be hoped that this old journal wilt once more rise, Phoenix-like, from its own ashes. • • • Some old Fijian stamps sold well at recent auctions in London. The 6d carmine rose, with V.R. in Roman letters, was knocked down at £2 10/, and for the 1875 Gothic, V.R., 2d on 6d rose, with inverted A for V, twice printed. £ 14 was paid. • • • A 6. 1 . cent stamp, blue and black in colour, has been added to the postage due set of Holland. • • • Commenting on th* Kingston Reliet Fund Stamp of Barbadoes, Stanley Gibbon’s Monthly Journal caustically states:—“lt seems probable that the relief fund will really benefit to the extent of several pounds by the exertions of the Barbadoes postal authorities in collecting subscriptions from other people. What the profits of speculators will be is quite another question, but we may safely assume that the amount which reaches Kingston wilt be a mere fraction of the sum extracted from the pockets of stamp collectors.” o • • The sum of £5 was paid in London at auction for 3d carmine on 3d lilac ami (id carmine on (id lilac of Great Britain, date 1883. Both stamps were unused and unperforated, hence the high price paid. • • • Referring to the fact that the New Zealand Exhibition issue of stamps was limited to 300,000 of each value, one journal states:—“The limitations of the issue should be quite sufficient to condemn it from a philatelic point c*£ view." • • • It will soon be necessary to have a separate album to contain a complete set of the stamps of Panama. One of these overprinted 5 cents has the word “Banana” instead of “Panama.” The overprint is reported to be light carmine. • • • At British New Guinea a new ring postmark has been brought into use. It is inscribed “Port Moresby” at top and “Papua" at the bottom, with ths date across the cent re. The, complete issue of the surcharged set is as follows: — Id. green and black, Id lake-red and black, 2d violet and black, 2td ultramarine and black, 4d brown and black, fid green and black, 1/ orange and black, and 2/6 red-brown and black. • • • It is estimated that from 16,000 to 17,000 varieties of postal cards were issued up to the beginning of 1907. The president of the Postal Card Society of America claims to have about 16,000, and the late Mr Skipton had about 14,000, mostly in mint condition, which he intended for the British Museum or (other public institution. The usually catalogued list is under 6000, so that these big figures are. the result of minor varieties.