Inflation.??Hmm...

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Some of the stamps I show today are a perfect example of how Postmarks can easily disrupt the entire overall aspect , turning them into less appealing stamps.. 

In a earlier post I said that great part of my Poland stamps are recent.. well,  I've got a small group of them from the 20's and 30's , but they all have this 'postmark' trouble.. but I have to classify them the same , and give them a place in my collection..

this series was issued in a time where several Social and Economic variables were in great mutation... 

"After Poland's independence in 1918, the country soon began experiencing extreme inflation. By 1921, prices had already risen 251 times above those of 1914, but in the following three years they rose by 988,223%[58] with a peak rate in late 1923 of prices doubling every nineteen and a half days.[59] At independence there was 8 marek per US dollar, but by 1923 the exchange rate was 6,375,000 marek (mkp) for 1 US dollar. The highest denomination was 10,000,000 mkp. In the 1924 currency reform there was a new currency introduced: 1 zloty = 1,800,000 mkp" (Wikipedia)

This 1924 series is the first one where the new currency appears , with 1z =100g ; the 1z stamp is very different from the others,representing the 2nd Poland President Stanislaw Wojciechowski... 

there are still 2 stamps missing (3g and 40g)

1924 "Arms of Poland" (12) [Perf (from 10 to 13 and mix)] [Litho]  Sc(215,216,218,219,220,221,222,223,225,226)

Series representing two of the main pillars of the 2nd Republic of Poland... Jozef Pilsudski (1867/1935)  , represented in the first two stamps, was the most important figure in the shaping of Poland after the WW1..As military Chief and Head of State , it was with his Work and belief that the new Poland Map was redesigned..[Poland was not an Independent republic for 123 years , and many of it's original regions were split by the main Regional Powers..] From 1918 to 1935 his Political activity was vital for Poland and his memory is highly Regarded...
The 3rd stamp show us Ignacy Moscicki (1867/1946)  , President of Poland from  1926 to 1939.. As We can see many of this time coincided with the activity of Jozef Pilsudski and during his presidency , Moscicki never leave his former work as Cientist and inventor in the field of chemistry... We can say that Pilsudsky was the real  'Strong Man' of the regime during these days...
The 1st stamp was issued in 1931 and the two others in 1928..
1928/1931 "Jozef Pilsudski and Ignacy Moscicki" (3) [Perf (from 10.5 to 14 and mix)] [Recess] Sc(254,253,255)

[Left] 1928 "Return From Syria of the Ashes of General Jozef Bem" (1) [Perf 12.5] [Typo] Sc(256)
The life of General Jòzef Bem is one of those that should be known , because it was a life of constant discovery ,adventure and Prowess's..

[Right] 1928 " Henryk Sienkiewicz (author)" (1) [Perf] 12.5] [Typo] Sc(257)
Nobel Prize winning novelist ... Author of the famous novel "Quo Vadis" , brought to Global Fame by Hollywood in 1951..

[Left] 1928 "National Arms" (3) [Perf 12 x 12.5] [Typo] Sc(258,259,260)
[Right] 1928 "National Exhibition, Poznan" (1) [Perf 12.5 x 12] [Typo] Sc(261)  in this stamp it is represented the Slav God Swiatowid

[Left] This stamp is a homage to George Washington in his Birth Bicentenary.. Side by side with Washington are two figures of Poland who became famous in the United States of those days...At the Left we have Tadeusz Kościuszko and at the Right Casimir Pulaski..
1932 "Birth Bicentenary of George Washington" (1) [Perf 11.5] [Typo] Sc(267)
[Right] it is without doubts a beautiful stamp, good printing , good design , but the postmark doesn't help..it is designed by one of the main graphic Artists of Poland and in the stamp are represented the Airman Franciszek Zwirko and the airplane Designer Stanislaw Wigura..
1933 "Victory in Flight round Europe Air Race, 1932" (1) [Perf 11.5][Des (Ryszard Kleczewski)][Recess (Wlodzimierz Vacek)] [Wmk] Sc(C10) [Air Mail]

These stamps I present now , were included just to complete the post with some more stamps..
they are from different times ...

[Left] 1951 "Six Year Plan" (4) [Perf 12.5 x 13] [Des (W. Zakrzewski)][Recess (M.R. Polak)] Sc(507A,508)
[Right] 1974 "Flowers (Paintings by Stanislaw Wyspianski)" (6) [Perf 12 x 11.5] [Des ( J. Brodowski)][Recess (B. Konechi)] Sc(2017,...,2022)

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Winds

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I will start with some stamps from the early days of Republican government in Portugal... It was a very disturbed period in Portugal's history , with constant changes in government and general Political and social instability...It was a long period that starts in 1908 with the Assassination of King D. Carlos I and the Crown  Prince Luis Filipe at 'Praça do Comercio'  (Commerce Plaza), Lisbon..it  ends only in the middle of the 30's with the implantation of Salazar's successive governments.. during this period the situation has worsened with the development of the 1st World War...

However , in what concerns to postage stamps , it was a rich period with some of the series that better define Portuguese Philately.. We have the 'Ceres' Series in all this period , and in the 20's we have a group of commemorative series that were really remarkable ( in my point of view...)

  

• 1911 "Overprint 'Republica' at 1898 'IV Centenary of the discovery of the Maritime Way to India'" (6) [Perf 12] [Des (Carlos Maria de Miranda Costa)] Sc(193,194,195) [Engr (José Sergio de Carvalho e Silva)] [Typo (Casa da Moeda)]

here we have some stamps of a series (6) from 1911.. This series is based in stamps from 1898 that were overprinted with the label "Republica".. the picture show us the Zamorin of Calcut receiving Vasco da Gama..

This kind of stamp ('Porteado' in Portuguese) is commonly know has 'Postage due' stamps.. letters could be sent without any stamps (or with stamps of the incorrect value.. ) or pre-paid postal values, and the receiver, in order to pick the letter,  had to pay the correct amount with the acquisition of these stamps ..

• 1925 "Marquis de Pombal Commemoration" (3) [Perf 12.5] [Des (H. Fleury)] Sc(RA11,RA12,RA13) [Engr (John Augustus Charles Harrison 1,2)(G. Fairweather 3)] [Intaglio (Waterlow and Sons Limited, London)] 

These are Postal and Telegraphic Tax stamps.. this kind of stamps obeyed to a well defined legal background.. this Tax was applied in  pre established days and the resulting amount of money was managed by the Central Government or other entities according with the legality...

This particular series was used in all internal Postal or Telegraphic correspondence... by internal, I mean from Main land  to the Islands (Açores and Madeira) and Colonies (Angola, Cape Verde Islands, Mozambique, Bissau Guinea, St. Thomas and Prince Islands,Macau, Timor, India, etc)..  

The first stamp show us the portrait of the Marquis; in the 2nd, the Marquis and his staff are studying the Plans of the Lisbon Reconstruction after the devastating Earthquake of 1755;; in the 3rd stamp is shown the Monument to the Marquis of Pombal in Lisbon.

• 1925 "Birth Centenary of Camilo Castelo Branco(Novelist)" (31) [Perf 12.5] [Des (Alberto Sousa)] Sc(357,363,370) [Engr (G. Fairweather ($30), John Augustus Charles Harrison ($75 and 2$00))] [Intaglio (Waterlow and Sons Limited, London)]

these are stamps from a (31) series.. it has to be taken step by step, buying one or more stamps , several times.. if You wish to get all the series at once, it will be expensive ( +/- € 300.00 for a used set [cv]...)

The series is a tribute to the life and work of Camilo Castelo Branco, Portuguese Writer and Novelist.. there are 6 different pictures in the series, and they represent aspects of the life of the writer and personages of his Famous novel "Amor de Perdição"... In the 3 stamps presented , we find the cabinet where Camilo used to write and work (1) , Teresa de Albuquerque (the heroine of the novel...) (2) and Mariana and her father José da Cruz (also personages of the novel..) (3)..it is curious the fact that Camilo Castelo Branco wrote this novel only in 15 days , when he was in prison due to a illicit romantic affair, at the age of 35..

The 2$00 stamp is a very beautiful Green on Green stamp...

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Greece Stamps

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We have here two Olympic stamps, one from 1901 and the other from 1906..

• 1901 "Red A.M surcharge over 1896 '1st International Olympic Games'" (5) [Perf 14 x 13.5] [Des (A. Guilleron)] Sc(159) [Engr (Eugene Mouchon)] [Recess (France National Printing House)] 

the stamp represent the Stadium and Acropolis..

• 1906 "1906 Olympic Games" (14) [Perf 14] Sc(190) [Recess (Perkins,Bacon & Co., London)]

after the success of the 1896 Games, the 1900 and 1904 were a complete failure, with the lack of results and participants ; the 4 Year count was braked , and Games were implemented in Athens in 1906 to improve International participation ...it proof to be a "winning bet" ..

     

• 1924 "Byron Centenary" (2) [Perf 12] Sc(317) [Recess (Bradbury Wilkinson & Co. Ltd)]

the stamp represent us Lord Byron at the Messolonghi (Messolonghi is a Town in Western Greece.. it has represented a major role in the Greek Independence War, suffering two siege's , one in 1822 and other in 1825 , from the Ottoman Forces...) ..Lord Byron was a fierce activist of the Greek Independence and died in Messolonghi in 1824..)

• 1943 Air Mail "Winds (2nd Series)" (6) [Perf 12.5] [Des (O. Perivolakis)] Sc(568,569,572) [Litho (Aspioti Elkas)]

The series "Greek Ancient Art" is divided in three parts.. we have here 4 stamps of the 1st part 1954, one stamp from the 2nd part 1955 and 1 stamp from the 3rd part 1958/1960

I will give only the general data for this series..

• 1954/1960 "Greek Ancient Art (Part 1,2,and 3)" (12,8,8) [Perf 12.75 x 12.5] Sc(558,559,561,565,580,634) [Des (J. Kefallinos)] [Litho (Aspioti ELKA)]

the pictures represent : Homer , Zeus of Isteaea, Alexander the Great and the 'Calf Bearer'..

some of the stamps are damaged , but are easily replaced in the future.

• 1942/1944 "Landscapes" (18) [Perf 12.5] Sc(438,441,444,445,448,449,451) [Litho (Aspioti Elka)]

the pictures represent in order Up/Down Left/Right 

1.  Bourtzi Fort, Nafplion
2. Hydra
3. Pontokrator Monastery (Mt. Athos)
4. Pontokrator Monastery (Mt. Athos)
5. Pontikonissi, Corfu
6. Konitsa
7. Pontikonissi, Corfu

with this stamp, I have finished this series and finish also this post...

• 1945 " Roosevelt Mourning Issue" (3) [Perf 12.5] Sc(469) [Litho (Aspioti Elka)]

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Dancing in the Festival

New Entries

In my last post I said that some attention would be given to the designers and engravers of these new entries of stamps in the collection..Why this sudden interest in this aspect of our hobby?? Well, the other day I was thinking about the reason people like more some stamps than others... In my case , the answer is easy...there are stamps that are more beautiful than others.. who is responsible for this.??.. Yes , the Artists that always lies behind every great work.. so, I decided to give them the attention they deserve , because the real Art is theirs , not from any other aspect of the production...

 Morocco 

First I will start with some stamps from the French period.. this 1st series, obligates me to divide my thinking into 3 different steps, for viewers who don't collect French Morocco stamps could have all the information..

A) in 1902 , stamps from 3 different French series were emitted with the label "Maroc" and Surcharge in Spanish currency and labels ; these series were : Blanc, Mouchon and Merson series...

B) in 1911 , the same stamps were emitted with Surcharge in Red and Blue..

C) in 1914 the stamps from B) were Overprinted with the label "Protectorat Français" ; these 4 stamps we have here , are part of this C) step.

The first two stamps are from the Original France "Blanc" series, named in honor to its designer Paul-Joseph Blanc and the last two from the "Mouchon" series (with the name of the Designer/Engraver  Eugéne Mouchon) ; both these series were originally issued in France in 1900 [Blanc (1900/1924) Mouchon (1900/1901)].

So, we have stamps from the series (17) "Overprint 'Protectorat Français' on «Surcharge on ««France 'Blanc','Mouchon' and 'Merser' series (1911/1917)»»» (1914/1921)".

Perf: 14 x 13.5
[Des] Paul-Joseph Blanc : (b 1846/d 1904) painter and designer of Historic Scenes. Grand Prix de Rome in 1867.. Professor of design in the School of Arts in 1893.
[Engr] Emile Thomas (d 1907)
SG(40,41,45,49) Sc(38,39,43,47)
[Typo]

these are 4 beautiful stamps of a Air Mail series (11) "Flight over Casablanca" (1922/1927)" ; the stamp of 80c was issued in 1927 while the others are from 1922. for the enthusiasts of aviation , I can tell that the picture represents a 'Breguet 14T Biplane'..

[Des] Joseph De La Néziere (b 1873/d 1944) French painter.. during his travels through North Africa , he became an Orientalist Artist.. in 1910, was commissioned to illustrate the stamps of the North Africa French Colonies. Died in Casablanca.
[Engr] Printing Helio-Vaugirard,SA (b 1897) since 1917 to 1951 the company has specialized itself in stamps , with the commission of works in Morocco, Lebanon,Syria, Madagascar, Vietnam, etc (SAAR protectorate also).
Perf: 13.5
SG(114,117,118,121) Sc(C4,C6,C7,C10a) [ I am considering the 2F stamp as 'Deep Violet'(Sc 10a) and not only 'Violet' (Sc 10)]
[Photo]

Complete series 1950 "Stamp Day and 25th Anniv of First Mail Flight from Casablanca to Dakar"
Perf: 13
SG(374) Sc(CB35)
[Engr][Typo]

from a Air Mail series (3) 1955 ; the picture represents a small village in the Anti-Atlas Region.

[Des] A. Delphy
[Engr]  Raoul Serres : (1881/1971) "Grand Prix De Rome 1906" and numerous other Honors during his life ; Book Illustration and Stamp Engraver...60 postage stamps in France and others in North Africa French Colonies.
Perf: 13
SG(465) Sc(C53)
[Engr]

Complete series 1960 "World Refugee Year"
[Des][Engr] Albert Decaris : (1901/1988) Grand Prix de Rome 1919 ; illustration of books, designer and engraver of more then 170 stamps in France and about 400 in North African Countries.. Also make several large formats Art works with 1 meter large.. numerous honors by France and French Postal Authority.
Perf: 13
SG(73,74) Sc(36,37)
[Engr]

Complete series 1960 "900th Anniv of Marrakesh."
Perf: 13
SG(75) Sc(38)
[Engr]

Here we have stamps from the two first series of King Hassan II of Morocco ; these two series have similar designs 
[Left] from the series (10) 1962 "King Hassan II (1962)" [1c,15c and 80c are missing] SG(112,113,114, 116, 117,118,119) Sc(76, 77,78,80,81,82,83)
[Right] stamps from the series (5) "King Hassan II (1964/1965)"  SG(116b,117a,117b,118a) Sc(111,112,113,114)

[Des][Engr] Charles Mazelin (1882-1984) studied at the decorative arts school in Paris and received the Prix de Rome twice, in 1906 and 1908. He began engraving in the field of philately only in 1939.He worked also in collaboration with other painters in the illustration of numerous books. Mazelin's style is considered to be sober and classic.
Perf: 13.5 x 13
[Engr]



Two complete series 

[Left] 1978 "National Folklore Festival, Marrakesh."
Perf: 13.5 x 13
SG(504) Sc(420)
[Right] 1979 "National Folklore Festival, Marrakesh."
Perf: 13
SG(519) Sc(434)

[Des] Jean Marie Louis
[Photo]

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Night Flight

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Denmark

Some more stamps from another series of King Christian X.. this time a right profile.. series (6) 1934/1941; I already talked about these 4 series of definitive stamps , that in my opinion are really beautiful and without doubts "must have" items (this is not a frequent classification , when we are talking about relatively long series with the repetition of just one design...) .

Perf: 13

SG(283,283a,283b,284) Sc(239,240,240a,241)

[Engr]

something more about King Christian X [ specially for fan's of Royal Postcards and Photos]

Now , we have some stamps of King Frederik IX.. ; to study these series , we must divide the stamps in 3 different varieties..

1) background just with horizontal lines..

2) background with Horizontal and Vertical lines (1st little square..) and King's Uniform with parallel lines (2nd little square..)

3) same background and King's uniform with perpendicular lines creating a "chess" pattern ( 3rd little square..)

This series had 4 emissions [(9) 1948/1950,(9) 1950/1951,(9) 1952/1953,(1) 1955 ]

These varieties are only important in the 1st emission , because the other one's have only stamps of the type 3)

The 3 stamps presented above, belong to the 1st emission of 1948/1950..the 1st 3rd stamps are type 3 and the 2nd is strange.. it seems to me that it is a type 2 but it cannot be , according to the catalogs. The perforation is 13 , for the all 4 emissions..

SG(357a,359a,363) Sc(306,307a,309a) [Engr]

these are stamps from the 2nd emission 1950/1951

the first two stamps have the same SG code and different codes in Sc.

SG(358,360,366) Sc(319,319a,320,323) [Engr]

stamps from the 3rd and 4th emission of 1952/1953 and 1955..

SG(363b,369,371,371b) (362b) Sc(335,336,337,338) (354) [Engr]

SWEDEN

from a series (3) 1939 "Death Centenary of P. H. Ling (creator of "Swedish Drill")"

Perf: 12.5 Vertical

SG(228,229) Sc(290,291) [Engr]

[Left] from a series of (3) 1938 "250th Anniversary of the Birth of Swedenborg"

Perf: 12.5 Vertical

SG(201) Sc(266) [Engr]

[Right] from a series (3) 1942 "150th Anniv of National Museum, Stockholm"

the stamp represents King Gustav III of Sweden

Perf: 12.5 Vertical

SG(258) Sc(330) [Engr]

from the Series (4) 1965 "Nobel Prize Winners of 1905"... because of this stamps , I remembered that last month I had the opportunity of buying a beautiful thematic collection, mostly MNH stamps, of Nobel Prize Winners , with stamps from various countries.. of course , I didn't buy it because of my current financial problem... it is very difficult to be a stamp collector without money to buy stamps.!!.. I have to restrain myself of seeing stamps, auctions and those kind of things , because or I don't have the money or I'll end spending money I will need for more urgent matters in the future..

The personalities in the stamp are Philipp Von Lenard and Adolph Von Baeyer.

Perf: 12.5 Vertical

SG(488) Sc(689) [Engr]

Air stamp from the series (2) 1930 "Airplane over Stockholm"

Perf: 10 Vertical

SG(175g) Sc(C7) [Engr]

from the series (3) 1967 "World Handball Championships"

Perf: 12.5 Horizontal

SG(526) Sc(715) [Engr]

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En Garde.!!...

New Entries

Today I have some stamps from France and Kenya/Uganda ..

"Marianne de Gandon " is the name of this series... Marianne is nothing more then a representation of the ' Republic ', designed by Pierre Gandon.. (as usual, You can see the name of the designer at the left and the name of the engraver at the right of the inferior frame.. in this case , the name of the engraver is Henry Cortot..) .. The first stamps from this series were issued near the end of the II Word War , in February 1945..the last of the stamps of this series were retired from circulation in 1955..

In 1945 there were two different emissions of the series... the 1st with 19 stamps and the 2nd with 9... both the emissions have stamps issued from 1945 until 1947.. the first emission was intended to serve with the common mail and the 2nd to serve with mail to foreign countries..( the 4 last stamps are larger than the others...)

In 1948 and 1951 two more emissions of "Marianne de Gandon" were made , until the appearance in 1955 of "Marianne de Muller"

The 1st group presented is from the 1st emission of 1945/47 ; this time I will only use the YT catalog , because it was the only one who present the 4 stamps of 3F...

Perf: 14 x 13.5

YT(713A,715,716,716A,716B, 718,718A,719,719B,721,721A) [Typo]

The 2nd group presents us 3 stamps from the 1948 issue and 1 stamp from 1951...

Perf: 14 x 13.5

YT(807,811,812) [Typo] YT(883) [Typo]

Complete series 1958 "Brussels International Exhibition"

Perf: 13

SG(1398) Sc(878) [Engr]

This is a stamp from my favorite series from France...Every year , stamps from the series "Sites et Monuments" are issued , and I am very proud to say that I already have 64 of these stamps.. however , they are just a small part of the many, many stamps of this regular series...

I think that somewhere in the future I will make a video with some of these stamps...

from a series (6) 1954 "Sites et Monuments"

Perf: 13 

SG(1207) Sc(721) [Engr]

from a series (6) 1953 "Olympic Games Helsinky 1952"

Perf: 13

SG(1187) Sc(702) [Engr]

[Left] Air stamp from a series (4) 1954

The plane represented is a Noratlas..

Perf: 13

SG(1195) Sc(C30) [Engr]

[Right] from the series (4) 1953 "French Theatre" ; the play in focus is Figaro by Beaumarchais.

Perf: 13

SG(1164) Sc(690) [Engr]

[Left] complete series 1973 " 75th Anniv of Eiffel Tower-Pantheon Experimental Radio Linkation."

Perf: 13

SG(2014) Sc(1380) [Engr]

[Right] complete series from 1971 "40th Anniv of 1st Meeting of Crafts Guilds Association"

Perf: 13

SG(1935) Sc(1320) [Engr]

Kenya And Uganda

some stamps of King George V, from a series of (20) 1922/1927 ; in this series the stamps are divided in two different designs and formats.. some of the  stamps from ' Kenya and Uganda' are very beautiful and in the near future I will present some more...

Perf: 14

SG(78,80,82,83,84,85) Sc(20,22,24,25,26,27) [Typo]

Kenya , Uganda And Tanganyika

from the series of (4) 1935 "Silver Jubilee" ; the stamp present us King George V , again.. the stamp itself have a very low catalog value, but there are 4 or 5 possible varieties that could increase it considerably ..( I think that this is a ' normal' one..)

Perf: 13.5 x 14

SG(124) Sc(42) [Engr] 

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