Greek Stamps [9th Post]

New Entries

This will be a post dedicated to something that happened to me recently... so , it will be a very different post. I have divided the post  in two sections about two different subjects.: An upgrade of the already usual " Muchon Subject "  and a curiosity....

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The Mouchon "Subject" :  as we all know , Eugene Mouchon was one of the most known engravers, with many works for many different countries from the 1860's to the end of the Century...in previous posts , I have shown that in two of his stamps from the 1890's , the same background appeared...

I am talking of the 1895 King Carlos I stamp from Portugal and the Grand Duke Adolph of Luxembourg 1895 stamp...both share the same Vignette's background... well, at this point it could be only a coincidence ( strange coincidence...) , but recently I was classifying some of my recent Greek stamps, and another piece of this puzzle appeared... 

Some of the Greek stamps of the 1896 "Olympics" series , also engraved by Mouchon, show the same particular background.. I think that we are seeing a pattern emerging...!! the problem is that in two of these stamps, the illustrations were made by different designers... (Knoop in the Luxembourg stamp, and A. Guilleron in the Olympic stamp).. the question is : why does different Artists keep designing vignette's with similar backgrounds..???. the only common link is the presence in the Technical staff of our friend Mouchon....the data about the Greek stamp seems indisputable , but I need to know much more about the Luxembourg stamp...Mouchon created the steel dies in every one of the 3 stamps , but he could not have altered the designs... if so , why this strange coincidence..??? I do not have the means right now to have a more detailed view of this subject, but I am now particularly interested in other Mouchon stamps of 1894, 1895,1896 and 1897...I will continue this research and I will keep you informed about the latest developments , as I always do...

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Normality vs Abnormality : (don't forget to click on the pictures) it seems that my last period of time spent classifying Greek stamps was full of strange events... first I saw this Mouchon "Coincidence" in one of the Olympic stamps (Yes, I know it is damaged, but it is beautiful, isn't it??!!!) and then when I least expected, something much more "invigorating" occurred.. I was just finishing my 'Small Heads' new entries when ....

Yes, I found all these "things" that we should not find in a 'small head' stamp... the most interesting thing is that I found all these "mistakes" in just one stamp !!!

After seeing all these "wrong" stuff in just one stamp, I felt reinvigorated and above all I thought "Finally , I have a Rare stamp!!! I immediately started to research the catalogs and making some questions, and SURPRIIIIZE!!! it seems that in the end all of this is normal...normal because it isn't listed in the catalogs, because they are not plate flaws, because it is just a printing error...but not all are bad news... I Have a Genuine Rare Example of Normality !!!! At this moment , and from this point of view, I could say that I have a stamp that all my viewers until today and all of those who are about to visit my blog in future years, simply don't have !!! I do now own a Rare Stamp... is "Rare" ="Expensive"???  no, not for me , anymore..!

Seeyou