North Korea [6th Post]

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When we are working with North Korean stamps, we often stumble with several different kinds of design,coexisting harmoniously in each year issues... I'm talking of the period that goes from the end of the 40's until the end of the 70's...we have some simple designs, almost childlike (1)  , other not very attractive (2)  but  very colorful,  and even very nice Landscape Painting works (3) , some were made by Artists specialized in Poster Design (4)  and in the end the Engraved stamps (5) ... all of this 5 types of design exists at the same time during this large period of 30 years.... the reason why many people don't like North Korean stamps is that the most common stamps available are from the first and second types....the engraved stamps, for example are much more scars and do not appear commonly on sellers in the Internet...but they are many, and for example in the 50's and beginning of the 60's are a considerably large part of each year issues... I think that all of us should take a minute to know more of these sometimes very beautiful stamps... I should say that most part of these engraved stamps are not [Recess] printed,but are more commonly in a  [Litho] printed form.... 

Today I have a small selection of stamps, where the these 5 categories  are very well represented...I do not know what are the reasons behind this mix of simple and detailed designs, but it is clear for me , that the most part of other countries always tried to have the best Artists of the moment designing their stamps...this mix is somehow incomprehensible..!

Another fact that always kept North Korean stamps a little out of the system is the Ferocious Animosity to US ideas and Life  Style... North Korea have the most offensive stamps towards another country in the all world... I often say that we , as collectors, should not mix Politics and Hobby, but I admit that to a US collector some of NK stamps are really "not collectible"....

We have here a first series ,from 1966 , that could belong to the first group of stamps... As you can see, a very simple design, with no work trying to get better details... just a colorful design...it is clearly a PDSMID (Please don't See Me In Detail) stamp....

1966 "North Korean Folk Dances" (5) [Litho] Sc(714,...,718)

These are single stamp issues,they have nothing in common except the year of issue...Scott Catalog display them individually in their issue date...but I had a hard time trying to find them in SG catalog, because there they are grouped in a series... As you can see the design and level of detail is very different from the one above.. they are engraved , not the best nor even a very good engraver work but now we could say that a detailed view of the stamp won't harm anyone..! (Now is the time to say that the level of quality of some other NK engravings is much higher than these...)

in the [left stamp] , the dredger boat 'September 2' is represented, and in the [right stamp] a view from recent buildings in Pyongyang is showed...

[Left] 1968 "Dredger boat 'September 2'" (1) [Litho] Sc(718)

[Right] 1968 "Building in Pyongyang" (1) [Litho] Sc(831)

 These two stamps are also from a 1968 series , and could be placed into the category of those who were designed by Poster Designers... these are clearly small posters, with a clear message ...the series is about the 20th Anniversary of the NK Republic and the Anti US felling is notorious in the [Left] stamp... this category of stamps is in the most part ,very Politically oriented , very warmongering and following the example of other Nations , very Nationalistic , with the only desire of lifting the People's Morale...I want to talk a little about two other characteristics of these stamps... they are also very colorful (as the others from the first group) and the printing has a distinctive singularity.. the image does not seem to be well focused.. it is almost if there was a fog layer above the pictures, and as a result we can not see all the details... but these are good designs, and nice stamps.... 

1968 "20th Anniversary of the Founding of the Korean Democratic People's Republic" (8) [Litho] Sc(843d,843h) [ this series was issued as part of a MS with all the 8 stamps...]

Another single stamp series , now from 1969... the stamp is focused on the Chollima statue, present in numerous other NK stamps...it is again an engraved stamp, and I cannot refrain myself from thinking in this strange coexistence of some of the simplest and colorful stamps in all the world with the continuous issue of single colored engraved stamps... 

A very nice series of engraved stamps from 1971...good quality work and good examples of this high detailed branch of NK stamps...the series show us several accessories or tools for the industry in general... tools to construct or results of the industry work...

1971 "Accessories for the industry" (4) [Litho] Sc(993,...,996)

This is clearly a type 3 design, with very nice landscape paintings... As many others they call our attention by their fresh and vivid colors... beautiful stamps..!!. there are many of these series, specially in the 60's and 70's , with landscapes from NK, and they are without doubts one of the strong points of NK Philately...

1973 "Moran Hill Scenery, Pyongyang" (4) [Litho] Sc(1147,...,1150)

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I like to open now a small section for Space stamps... some of the first and simplest space stamps I have seen...

well, there is not much to tell about these stamps... they are part of the category 1 !!

1959 "Launch of soviet Moon rocket" (2) [Litho] Sc(160,161)

1961 "Launching of Soviet Venus Rocket" (1) [Litho] Sc(282)

Here we have a distinct type 2 series.. it is a series with that common look we don't like to find... the stamps are not bad, but they have nothing that really appeal to our sense of beauty or that ignite our will to buy....they are  just stamps...that is the reason why You find so much of these stamps in sellers in the NET... few people buy them...they could be space stamps, animal stamps, commemorative stamps  , but they simply don't appeal ...they are type 2..!

1966 "Cosmonauts Day" (3) [Photo] Sc(703,...,705)

Now that I'm ending this post , I am seeing that this division of the stamps by sections (from 1 to 5 or more ) could be applied to any country... the real difference is that  in most part of the countries You will find only one or two of  these sections coexisting in time... That what's troubling me in North Korea... they have stamps that fit all the sections in the same time frame... Unbelievable..!!!

I sincerely hope that this post  have contributed to bring you to the group of those who like very much North Korean stamps...

something that is happening for a year or so, is that the market is increasing the prices of NK stamps... some years ago it was easy to find large lots from the 50's and 60's and now they are almost impossible to find...

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The Diamond Mountains

New Entries

Some stamps from Portugal and North Korea are today the in focus in this Post...

Portugal

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I will start by presenting a series from 1923 that in my opinion is very beautiful... the series is not yet complete , and I will present one of the stamps (The series has just one design..) in the left , for better appreciation , and the other stamps at the right..

I remember talking about 'empty stamps' as those who don't have a message or history 'attached'.. Here is a stamp that is the complete opposite of an 'empty stamp'.. This one has history and could be joined to various topics.. let us see..

The stamp is a commemoration of the Flight Portugal Brazil, that for the first time cross the South Atlantic by AirPlane. the Heroes of that voyage were Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral, both represented at the middle of the stamp by their portraits ..At the left side there is the portrait of the Brazilian President Artur Bernardes and at the right we have the Portuguese President Antonio José de Almeida ... At the Center we have the plane that made the voyage ('Lusitânia') and a Boat from another days (1500's)( The Caravela..).. At the left below the president portrait we have a view of Rio De Janeiro and at the right , the Tower of Belem in Lisbon.. Down at the Center we have the Coat of Arms of Portugal.. these are only some of the topics we could take from this stamps.. It is indeed a Rich Stamp...

1923 "Flight of Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral from Portugal to Brazil" (16) [Des (Unknown Designer)][Litho (Waterlow and Sons Limited, London)] Sc(300,301,304,305,306,307,308,309,310,311,313)

North Korea

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I have a small group of stamps from the 60's and 70's to present..

the design of these stamps is very characteristic of the stamps from the 50's and 60's from North Korea (very simple , but beautiful..).. I am talking just of the non engraved stamps, because there are few Engraved stamps of good or Very good level..(perfect and well elaborated designs and good engraver work..)..

1959 "Animal Preservation" (6) [Litho] Sc(195,196,197)

[Left] 1960 "Sports and Games" (4) [Photo] Sc(265,266,268)

[Right] 1963 "Flowers" (5) [Litho] Sc(452)

This is a beautiful series about a group of mountains in North Korea, called the Diamond Mountains.. there are several series with views and landscapes of these Mountains.. it seems that this Mountain chain is divided between the two Koreas...

1973 "Diamond Mountains Scenery (4th issue)" (5) [Litho] Sc(1151,...,1155)

I will leave here two examples of the North Korean engraved stamps... they have some really beautiful engraved series like the 1963 "Ancient Korean Buildings " or 1965 "Wading birds"...All the engraved stamps are printed in just one color.. (perhaps this was the real 'deficit' that lead to the use of other printing methods..) [I think that they are really good stamps...]

[Left] 1967 "Freighter Collima" (1) [Recess] Sc(796)
[Right] 1967 "North Korean Cities" (3) [Recess] Sc(819)

[Left] 1973 "Historical Sites of War and Revolution " (4) [Litho] Sc(1166,1168)
[Right] 1973 "Secret Camps by Tuman-Gang in Guerrilla War, 1932" (2) [Litho] Sc(1113)

1974 "Kim Il Sung during the Anti-Japanese Struggle" (4) [Photo] Sc(1278,1279,1280)

[Left] 1974 " Five Fronts of Socialist Construction" (5) [Litho] Sc(1185,1189)
[Right] 1974 "The Works of Kim Il Sung (2nd series)" (2) [Litho] Sc(1180)

1974 "Civil Aviation" (5) [Litho] Sc(1254,...,1258)


Now, and to end this post , two MS, one of flowers and other os Pre-History..
I don't present any data from these MS..

Seeyou

Mercedes Benz

New Entries

some Vatican FDC's and MS's from North Korea, Afghanistan, Cape Verde Islands and Belgium Congo are part of today's "Menu"...

MS's are part of the Philatelic item's that have increased importance during last years, and we have reached a point where almost every series that is issued come with a Souvenir Sheet...

I don't give great "attention" to these items , but I recognize that some of them are very beautiful and collecting them could open "New Worlds" to Philately... I think that the appearance of this items in postal issues is normal and only represent an additional field of interest to the collectors (Postal Services have recognized this fact and they bet , some early than others ,in this new product..); so, we can say that SS's are part of the normal flow of things [The Economic perspective of the Postal company's, and the collectors needs and like's...].. What I consider to be "against" the flow , are two recent (the 1st beginning in the 80's until now and the 2nd beginning in the last decade...) Philatelic events : the "Explosion" and growing of "Empty stamps" (My last post...) and the incomprehensible appearance of Photography as main source of pictures , instead of the old, correct and desired bet in Art ... both of them are killing Philately by killing the collectors interest in collecting ...

How can We understand this Global Suicide of Postal Services??...[an analogy can be made with the sad pictures we often view of large groups of wales that suddenly direct themselves to land.. and die..!] ..I think that to reach objectives totally extra Philately, Postal Services are being obliged to follow this way ...( they should know that Today's Good Economic Result could lead to Tomorrow's Bankruptcy if not consistent with the market's demands ..) It is imperative that something is done to change this... 

two FDC's from 1978 "Pope John Paul I Commemoration" ; the FDC's  present the 4 stamps of this series..

SG(708,...,711)

Two FDC's, one SS and one Large Envelope of the 1972 series " UNESCO "Save Venice" Campaign "

SG(574,...,579,MS580)

Two FDC's with complete serie 1964 "UNESCO Campaign "Save Nubian Monuments""

SG(423,...,426)

Now we have 3 MS from the Afghanistan 

1) from a series (3+MS) 1985 "115th Birth Anniv of Lenin"

SG(MS1015)

2) from a series (7+MS) 1985 "Birds"

SG(MS1069)

3) from a series (7+MS) 1984 "World Aviation and Space Navigation Day"

SG(MS957)

MS with complete series 1992 "Birds from Korea" and Extra stamp [Left] SG(N3154,..,N3160)

SG(MS3160) [Right]

MS of the series (5+MS) 1986 "History of the Motor Car (2nd series)"

SG(MSN2567)

from Cape Verde, a MS from 1993 "Brasilliana 93 International Stamp Exhibition, Rio de

Janeiro, and union of Portuguese-speaking Capital Cities." SG(MS717)

MS from the series (4+MS) 1991 "Tourism. Ruins of Ribeira Grande, Santiago Island"

SG(MS678)


Now , from Belgium Congo:

[Left] MS with block 4 of the stamp of 4F50 from the series (6) 1937  "Promotion of National 

Parks" ... these stamps from the block 4 are printed in Black and Red  [SG(MS219a)]

[Right] MS 1938 with complete series (6) 1937 "Promotion of National Parks" ; all the stamps 

are printed in Blue and Brown .

This MS was presented at the " Tourism Congress, Costermansville." . [SG(MS225a)] 


                                                                       SeeYou

In the Theatre

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In my last post I have presented some stamps from the Classical period of Angola...it was a period of time when Angola, as we know, was under Portuguese influence. ; I have decided to present those stamps because I only had to work with overprints... I think that the classical period of Portugal is one of the most difficult to classify, not because of Watermarks, overprints, but because of the knowledge it requires of papers...You have to know everything about papers, and to know it by touch... it requires a great deal of experience... I think I'm not yet prepared for this task..... It reminds of an old TV show from the 70's , named "Kung Fu" , where in the first day of the young student in the Shaolin Temple , the old Master present him a small stone and say "When you could grab the pebble from my hand... then you must leave." ; and he did leave , but 20 years later... So , when You see me presenting  here stamps of King D. Luis , King D. Carlos I or the "Ceres" series , then you know I'm finally experienced in papers ..

Here We have two similar series from Hungary... These series have no name in these world catalogs I use( they should have one in the National Catalogs..)..The 1st series is from 1939 and has 14 stamps...it is  divided into smaller values (from 1 to 25f) [with perf. 15] and the higher values (30 to 70f) [with perf. 12].. The watermarks presented are different from the 1st. to the 2nd series
The 2nd is a series of 19 1941/1943. It could have perf. 12x 12.5, 12.5 x 12 or 15 ; in these particular stamps, we have:
1st) Perf: 12
Sc(546,547,548,549,550) 
2nd) Perf: 12 x 12.5
Sc(588,590,595)

a few stamps of Venezuela , from the set 12 1966 "Bolivar commemoration" ; these are AIR stamps , [and Venezuela Philately is rich in these stamps] .

Perf: 14 x 13.5

SG(1970,1971,1974,1975,1980) Sc(C937,C938,C941,C942,C947)

When my father left me his Portugal and Ex-Colonies stamps, I begin to think "how can I make this collection grow??".. I think in exchanging stamps , but at that time I didn't know anyone who collected stamps... than I start buying them..First, complete series , and finally , big lots of world stamps, complete albums of particular countries, etc. but I tried several times to exchange stamps , but in the end I was robbed 2 or 3 times ( even in recent days..).. I will not exchange stamps again, because the final result is to lost faith in the man kind... it is not good..

This is a complete set of Israel 1971 " Israeli Theatre".. This is from one of the lots I have bought 2 or 3 years ago [ 1966 to 1970 MNH ] ( I have to make several post's yet with Israel stamps..) 

Perf: 14 x 13

SG(469,468,470) Sc(440,441,442)

Complete set 1970 "50th Anniv of Habimah National Theatre"

Perf: 14 x 13

SG(443) Sc(412)

stamps from a set 5 1975 "Pyongyang Zoo"

Perf: 1st) 12.5 2nd) 10.5

SG(1352,1353) Sc(1290,1291)

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