what about the colors..??

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The preparation of a new post is always quality time , spent with the classification of the stamps and imagining the points I must  focus and where more detail will be needed... In each post  I often choose to talk about a topic related to our hobby, my convictions and ideas about it and above all my worries and "bad dreams" about the future of stamp collecting...I think that in the end this is a desirable section of the post , the more personal view we are expecting of a blog, that in it's "genesis" is nothing but a vehicle of the author's thoughts...today I will dedicate this section to something that I mentioned many times before.. the colors and my difficult approach to it's correct use in the classification of stamps... to do so , I will start by listing the colors assigned by two of the major catalogs, to the same group of stamps ( stamps that will be shown later in the post...)

SG Catalog ] 3f) blueish violet & reddish Purple 5f) deep blue green & deep violet 10f) blueish green & deep purple 12f) sepia and carmine 15f) vermilion & brown 20f) deep gray green & blue 50f) scarlet & deep blue 100f) greenish blue & myrtle green

Sc Catalog ] 3f) deep plum & violet blue 5f) violet & dark green 10f) purple & green 12f) carmine rose & sepia 15f) deep brown & rose red 20f) deep blue & dark green 50f) dark blue & deep rose 100f) dark green & deep blue

 First I will start by saying that SG lists first the color of the vignette and then the frame color and Sc catalog do exactly the opposite ( frame color first, vignette last..)..

If we start looking to this small list ( I could find many, many more examples...) we see that the two catalogs , seem to talk different languages... what is 'deep' in some cases, is 'dark' in others, sometimes we see a scarlet red , others just red, scarlet in one case, deep rose in other... Well , this don't look right to me !!!! and it look's even worst when we see that in Countries like the US, for example,the classic stamps are classified and valued sometimes only by the color.. are the experts in US stamps better than the experts that made our catalogs.. what is a deep blue??? what is a dark blue ?? I don't know anymore (!!??..) , and I do sincerely think that something should be done to assure the universal correspondence of colors between catalogs.. I don't know if this particular subject is of your interest, but after the presentation of this small list , it sure is of mine..! [ like in life itself, one language is better than several languages..!]

Let us now show some stamps , like usual...

I have a very small group of 5 or 6 stamps of the Dutch Indies for a long time , and I think now is good as any other time to show them..

[Left] a nice design representing Queen Wilhelmina in her Infant days... 
1892/1897 "Queen Wilhelmina" (8) [Engr (E. Schilling)][Typo] Sc(23,28)
[Right] another 'touch' of Mouchon's Art... this is for me one of his best works, together with the King D. Carlos I of Portugal stamp...in this stamp his work was restricted to the portrait of the Queen itself, with design and Engraver work signed by him...this particular stamp was issued in it's original form in the Netherlands and Surcharged for use in the Netherlands Indies...
1900 "Surcharge on 1898 'Queen Wilhelmina' Netherlands Stamps" (7) [Engr (Queen's Head designed and engraved by Eugene Mouchon)(Frame designed by Knuttel and Engraved by H. Reader)][Recess] Sc(34)

[Left] the presence of Palm Trees is common in definitive stamps from these days and from this region.. they were used also by King's George V and VI , rulers of the British Empire, in the stamps from Malaya...I think the stamp would have much to gain if there was some kind of background in the vignette, there is too much white space in the overall design...in this series we must look for the perforation because it could change in some values (perforation varieties..)
1914 "Queen Wilhelmina" (37) [Engr (D. Harting)][Recess] Sc(131,133,134a)

IRAQ

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I have many stamps from Iraq to present ,some of them from the Saddam Hussein days, but I was experiencing some difficulties with the Sc codes...initially, this post was meant  to be done only with Iraq's stamps, but Yesterday I change my initial thought..

The person represented in all these Iraq stamps I have to present today , is King Faisal I.. this particular design could be mistaken with others of different  facial values and colors.. the difference is that this one has a very low cv and the others a very high cv.. as usual , all the Artists who gave their best to these quality products (stamps) are kept anonymous under the name of the Printing Company...Sad Detail..!!

1927 "King Faisal I" (1) [Recess (Bradbury Wilkinson)] Sc(14)

in the introduction to this next series , I must say that all of the Iraq series issued until 1950 were overprinted or surcharged many times...this series is not an exception but I'll show the overprints and surcharges in other posts, and our attention today goes to these two series sharing the same design and different currencies... the first one , above, has small values in Annas and the high values in Rupees.. the series is wmk and has perf 12...the 1R stamp is damaged , and I thought in just not present it , but ...  () the last stamp of this series is a stamp identical to the one presented in first place , a violet stamp with the facial value of 25R and the cv of £550 or more..

1931 "King Faisal I" (13) [Recess (Bradbury Wilkinson)] Sc(15,...,23)

in this second series, all the aspects (Wmk, perf) are similar to the first , except in this one we have the small values in 'fils' currency and high in 'Dinar'.. when I was classifying the larger format stamps, I noticed that the wmk is sideways.. at first I thought of a variety or so,but in the end it is common to these larger formats stamps to have this Sideways wmk.. ( specification in the SG Commonwealth 2005..)

1932 "King Faisal I" (17) [Recess (Bradbury & Wilkinson)] Sc(44,45,46,47,48,49,51,52,53,54,55,56,57)

JORDAN

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I have this beautiful lot of Jordan stamps to show for some time... beautiful designs,colors and engraver work are common to these stamps...let us see them.!

 To start I just to say a few words about some difficulties that I am experiencing in the moment right before taking the scan... when You put the stamp into the scanner glass, You don't have the correct perspective to know if the stamp is or not correctly aligned.. the final result, sometimes after many attempts is that presented above.. stamps, obviously not in the right position...! this fact do not troubled me with my last scanner, because it had a piece of the machine visible through the glass that allowed me to correctly align the stamp.. but this piece is not present now in my scanner.. If it is possible a pair of scales in a 90º degree angle below the glass would be much helpful for the user to correctly align the document to be scanned (of course, I'm talking of scans taken without the Auto Scan Tool ... because I'm working with a piece of cardboard as background for my stamp..).. just a thought...
I want to say also that this is the series that I talked about in the Color section in the beginning of the post...
This series has 3 beautiful designs representing , respectively Ad Deir in Petra, the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque... I must mention that there are 2 series that shared these same designs ,facial values and perforations , but differ in the Wmk... the first series issued in 1954 has no watermark and this one was issued in 1955/1964 presents a wmk clearly visible without no special tools... 
1955/1964 "Sights and monuments of Jordan" (14) [Recess (Bradbury Wilkinson)] Sc(326,328,329,330,331,332,333,334)

The stamp represents King Hussein of Jordan... I think the frames of this stamp are really beautifully designed , with great detail and the result, after combining them with the Vignette , is a very well accomplished stamp..

1959 "King Hussein" (16) [Recess (De La Rue)] Sc(353,356,357,360,361,362)

Great Stamp!!!

1962 "Opening of Agaba Port" (2) [Recess (Bradbury Wilkinson)] Sc(384)

I want to call Your attention to this and to the next two stamps, that are works of  Paul Koroleff , a Russian Designer who had to abandon his country and found refuge in Lebanon.. he designed many, many stamps for Lebanon, Syria and Jordan ( also worked for the UN and other Meedle East countries...).. In my other Blog I already have a post about his work with Syrian Stamps... I like you to pay special attention in the way the sky is designed, with small dots... I don't have any data regarding the next two stamps , but  I think they are also work of Paul Koroleff..

1964 "Visit of Pope Paul VI to the Holy Land" (4) [Des (Paul Koroleff)][Litho (Yacoub Slim Press, Beirut)] Sc(384)

1964 "Meeting of King Hussein, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras" (5) [Litho] Sc(471,474)

 [Left] Unwmk Air Mail series issued in 1954.. the vignette represents the Temple of Arthemis in Jerash...... this series differ from the other because the wmk don't exist..
1954 "Air Mail" (8) [Recess (Bradbury wilkinson)] Sc(C8,C11)
[Right] the same series issued in 1958/1959, but with Watermark...
1958/1959 "Air Mail" (6) [Recess (Bradbury wilkinson)] Sc(C17,C21)

I hope that this small selection of stamps could somehow 'awake' some of your interest in the stamps from Jordan and Iraq... it is my wish to continue to learn more about the Jordan Philately,but the thing I regret the most in this post is the little attention I have given until now to the Netherlands and it's Colonies... I hope in the future to compensate this 'gap' in my collection.. I cannot say in my knowledge about Netherlands stamps, because I already learned a lot about it in my other blog, discovering and searching the designers life's and their Philatelic contribution...

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Peace

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Last Wednesday I received some stamps from New Zealand.. A new stamp Friend sent them to me in a swap .. the last 3 times I have tried to exchange some stamps I've been robbed ... so my expectations were low, but the final result was much better than I was expecting.. beautiful stamps, and above everything someone I can count on to future exchanges... I felt so happy by having the "Peace" series from New Zealand that I have to show it to you today, so a post with stamps from different origins was in order... 

let us start Chronologically as usual, with some stamps from Iraq...

This is a 18 stamps series from Iraq 1934/1938..there are some stamps missing including the 3 higher values, of course... This series present us King Ghazi in 3 different designs , with unknown designer...one more time the Artists lose their identity in these Big Company's , starting to be seen as mere parts of a complex machine... I understand this strange phenomena , but what I really don't understand is why all these hidden data about Engravers and Designers is kept away from the general public, years after the Artists are dead and buried... These company's or those who have all the Archives, should have Digitized all the information... Why can't they do this ???  Why is it so important to hide this information?? Is it a secret? The world is in Danger?? Please, let this info help others to be happy and some of the Artists to have a place of their own in our hobby and in the Art World in general..

Iraq 1934/1938 "King Ghazi" (18) [Recess (Bradbury Wilkinson & Co.,London)] Sc(61,...,69)(71,...,75)

This is a very famous series from New Zealand , designed by James Berry, a Great Stamp Designer.. in my other blog I had the opportunity of making one post about his work for the New Zealand Postal Service , that covers only the years from 1933 to 1951 .. perhaps one or two more posts are necessary to cover all his work...
It is a series where [Recess] and [Photo] stamps coexists, and the engraving work and printing was at charge of 3 of  London Main Printing Company's ...
Well, we were in 1946 and Celebrations were taking place all over the world , because WWII has ended... this series is a commemoration of the end of the War, the survival of the Institutions and the Participation of New Zealand Armed Forces in the War... there are here several great stamps , some of them beautifully designed and engraved...
New Zealand 1946 "Peace" (11) [Des (James Berry)][Recess (Bradbury Wilkinson & Co.Ltd 1d,2d)(Waterlow and Sons Limited, London 0.5d,3d,4d,5d,6d,8d,9d)][Photo (Harrison & Sons 1.5d,1s)] Sc(247,...,257)

One more series from Iraq, now an Air Mail series...the values are divided by 4 different designs and 2 size formats..it is the 1st Air Mail series from Iraq and in the pictures we can see it is commemorating the Air Company Service of the country...the designer and engraver are again unknown...
Iraq 1949 "Air Mail" (8) [Recess (Bradbury Wilkinson & Co. Ltd)] Sc(C1,..,C8)
















These are stamps from a group of Series of France , called "Heroes of the Resistance"..I think they are only 4 series in the time frame 1957/1961... I have the 1st and 3rd series completed , but only one stamp from the 2nd and none of the 4th series... This group of series is result of the work of many designers and engravers, some of the stamps are joint efforts of two Artists, and others are designed and engraved by the same Artist... in the 3rd series , all the Design work is at charge of  Raoul Serres and each stamp is engraved by a different artist... again the main focus is the WWII and some of the main Martyrs of the French Resistance to the German Invasion...
France 1957 "Heroes of the Resistance (1st Series)" (5) [Des (Cottet 8F,Albert Decaris 10F,Lemagny 12F,Spitz,18F,Robert Cami 20F)][Engr (Cottet, Albert Decaris, Mounier,Henry Cheffer, Robert Cami)][Recess] Sc(826,...,830)

France 1958 "Heroes of the Resistance (2nd Series)" (5) [Des/Engr (Albert Decaris)][Recess] Sc(879)

France 1959 "Heroes of the Resistance (3rd Series)" (5) [Des (Raoul Serres)][Engr (Raoul Serres)(Pheulpin)(Robert Cami)(Charles Mazelin)(Munier)][Recess] Sc(915,...,919)

This is a series from Dubai 1968... it is a beautiful and out of the ordinary butterflies series, with some aspects to highlight.. the designs are very beautiful, the background is original ,  but the printing is poor , with some displacement of the colors and lack of detail in some cases...I should not have scanned these stamps with this resolution ( because they are not engraved...) but I decided to have all the stamps scanned with the same 600ppp...
Dubai 1968 "Butterflies" (8) [Litho (Format International Security Printers, London)] Sc(??) SG(277,...,284) [ Caution, because my SG Middle East is from 1986... the codes could have changed..)

Hope you like this improvised post...

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Three Women...

New Entries

This will be a post different from the last ones, with  stamps of 4 countries...today I will not present many technical data about the stamps, some because I don't have it  but other because I am currently with a little time problem...

let's begin with a series we all know...

Continuing the effort to have all the Commemorative's from the beginning until 1945, I bought this 1937 famous series..it is a beautiful series representing famous Generals of the Army and Navy, several famous boats and the US Army Academy at West Point..I will not present here the designers and engraver's data , as stated above..

USA 1937 "Army and Navy Heroes Series" (10) [Recess] Sc(785,...,794)

now for something Completely different , some stamps I bought recently... 

I was wandering through the Net , when I saw this little group of Japanese Telegraph stamps.. I had for a long time a 15s stamp like the one presented here, but in lousy conditions... When I saw it, I immediately want to buy it.. so ,I bought them ,even with a repetition and an invalid imperforated stamp in the group... it was just to have that stamp... they are beautiful stamps with the usual beautiful cancel, and strangely ,after a quick look , I didn't find the codes in Scott catalog..

Japan 1895 "Telegraph Stamps" (10)[Typo] SAK(3TE,5TE,5TE,6TE,7TE,8TE)

in the same day , when I was visiting the seller's online shop,I found 3 more stamps of the "Men of culture Series"..as we know it is not a frequent series to see complete, and it is expensive , even when we are talking about used stamps..so I always buy those stamps I find occasionally...they are beautifully engraved and certainly good additions to any collection..

Japan 1949/1952 "Men of culture Series" (18) [Des (M. Kimura)][Engr (F. Watabe)][Recess] Sc(480,482,483)

some Classic stamps from Iran with a new "Lion and Sword" design , very usual in these early issues...I think these are the first classical stamps from Iran , that I show here in the blog..I must , when I have the money, invest a little more in these stamps because they are really beautiful.. the lion and the sword are together with a shining Sun in the Center, topped by a beautiful Crown and Arabic Labels...There are two series that share this same design, one from 1894 (1st group) and other from 1898 (2nd group)...same values have different colors in each of these two series , and this is an aspect that facilitates the classification... 

1st Group) Iran 1894 "Lion and Sword" (11) [Typo] Sc(90,91,92)

2nd Group) Iran 1898 " (16) [Typo] Sc(105,108,110,111)

These are stamps from the first commemorative Series from Iraq.. it is a very beautiful series with designs of Iraq Culture, monuments and Landscapes...

As you know , I have another blog about stamp Designers..during the research for Biographical data from the Designers of this series , Miss Edith Cheesman and Mrs. C.C. Garbett, I found several aspects I think I should focus here...we are talking about a series from 1923 , and the first aspect that troubled me is why and how two British Women Designers could exist at the same time in Iraq and what was the relation between them..first I found some data about Miss Edith Chessman through the life of her brother Major Robert Cheesman..I found out that she traveled with her brother to Iraq and other places in the Middle East..He was already a famous Ornithologist, and made significant discoveries in the Arabian Peninsula.. about Mrs. C.C. Garbett I found nothing , except the fact that she was married to Mr. C. C. Garbett..this was the Central point to discover the relation between these two women..Both ,Mr. C.C. Garbet and Major Cheesman, were chosen by Sir Percy Cox, to help him in the establishment of the British Secretariat in Iraq..so there they were , with our two Designers in 1923, Iraq.. 

another aspect I like to emphasize is the fact that at the same time , another British woman was playing an important role in Iraq's History.. i'm talking about Gertrude Bell ... after reading her letters , I realized she was indeed a women ahead of her time , perhaps one of the most Powerful women of her days...

And now a challenge to Hollywood Producers...How about a movie about the life of Gertrude Bell.!??!.

Sorry for this long talk about my research , but I feel it was adequate..

Iraq 1923 "Various Designs" (13) [Des (Miss Edith Cheesman 0.5A,1A,4A,6A,8A)(Mrs. C.C. Garbett 2A,3A,1R)][Typo(Bradbury Wilkinson)1R][Recess (Bradbury wilkinson) others] Sc(1,...,9)

This post was a little shorter , but as I said before I was with a 'time' problem during the preparation of the post..

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