Philatelic News

At Yew Dell Gardens in Crestwood, Kentucky, near Louisville, the Postal Service issues a Garden of Love definitive stamp (Forever® priced at 44 cents), in 10 designs in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps. The designs depict an abstract garden of bright flowers, a butterfly, and a strawberry and doves, interlaced with vines that run from one stamp to another. Each prominent element of the design is in the shape of a heart. The deep blue background is reminiscent of a brilliant summer sky. The word “Love” sits atop each stamp. This issuance is a continuation of the popular Love series introduced by the Postal Service in 1973. Jose Ortega of New York City, New York, and Toronto, Canada, illustrated the stamps under the direction of Derry Noyes, Washington, DC.

Technical details:

Date of issue: 23/May/2011
Denomination: First-Class Forever Special
Printing process: Gravure
Stamp size: 23.11mm x 30.23mm
Stamps per pane: 20
Edition: 300 million stamps

Source
USPS. Postal Bulletin (22309), 21/Apr/2011. Pag. 52.

Posted at 10:00am and tagged with: United States, issues, one column,.

May 4th 2011

Stamp issue of the day ~ United States: Project Mercury and MESSENGER Mission

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The Project Mercury and MESSENGER Mission stamps were designed by Donato Giancola of Brooklyn, New York, under the direction of Phil Jordan of Falls Church, Virginia. A three-time winner of the Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist, Giancola is known for his cover illustrations for science fiction authors, including Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Phillip K. Dick, and Arthur C. Clarke. His luminous works for J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings have received recognition through more than a dozen awards.

Giancola based the stamp designs on NASA photographs and images. The Project Mercury stamp depicts Shepard, the Mercury capsule Freedom 7, and the Redstone launching rocket. The MESSENGER Mission stamp depicts the MESSENGER spacecraft in orbit around the planet Mercury.

These stamps are being issued as Forever® stamps. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.

Technical details:

Date of issue: 4/May/2011
Printing process: Offset/Microprint “USPS”
Stamp size: 39.62mm x 24.89mm
Stamps per pane: 20 (2 designs)
Edition: 60 million

Source
USPS. Postal Bulletin (22308), 7/Apr/2011. Pag. 45.
2011, Beyond the perf. USA Philatelic. Consulted 30/Apr/2011.

Posted at 10:00am and tagged with: United States, one column, issues,.

February 21st 2011

U.S. Postal Service: National Consumer Protection Week, 6th to 12th March

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The office of Consumer Affairs and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service are working to educate consumers about fraudulent schemes and to provide them with the information needed to combat these frauds.

During National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW), March 6–12, 2011, the Postal Service and the Postal Inspection Service will be hosting events nationwide to provide information on a variety of common schemes as well as important consumer protection resources. Consumers of all ages are invited to attend.

NCPW 2011 —Dollars and Sense: Rated A for All Ages — highlights the importance of using good consumer sense at every stage of life— from grade school to retirement.

NCPW partners are promoting free resources to help people protect their privacy, manage money and debt, avoid identity theft, understand credit and mortgages and steer clear of frauds and scams. In addition, NCPW partners are reaching out to kids, focusing on websites, videos and games designed for a younger audience.

Posted at 8:00am and tagged with: United States, events, two column,.

February 20th 2011

March’s Auctions

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Mar 1: Siegel Auctions (US) ~ Sale #1004 The Gordon Eubanks Collection of the U.S. 1869 Pictorial Issue. Download catalogue.

Mar 2: Warwick & Warwick (UK) ~ Stamps Sale 667. Visit auction’s site. Worldwide stamps auction featuring 883 lots.

Mar 2: Siegel Auctions (US) ~ Sale #1005 The “New Amsterdam” Collection of City Despatch Post. The city despatch post was established in New York City in February 1842. According to an account published in 1894 and provided by Charles Windsor, the post was founded by his father, Henry Thomas Windsor, a London merchant who at the tme was living in Hoboken, New Jersey. Inspired by Rowland Hill’s postal reforms in Great Britain, Windsor and his friend, Alexander M. Greig, started operating the City Despatch Post during the first week of February 1842, in time for the busy Valentine season. Greig was advertised as the post’s “agent,” and his name is usually used alone by historians and philatelists when referring to the post’s proprietor. Download catalogue.

Mar 2-3: Siegel Auctions (US) ~ Sale #1006 The Wagshal Collection, Part 4: Perforated One-Cent 1857-60 Issue. This fourth and final part of the series of Wagshal sales presents the perforated 1¢ stamps, produced by Toppan Carpenter and issued from mid-1857 until all circulating postage stamps were demonetized in 1861 with the outbreak of the Civil War. The 1857-61 perforated 1¢ stamps were created in the same manner as the earlier imperforate stamps, except for some modifications intended to provide more space for perforation holes between the stamps. Download catalogue.

Mar 5: Prestige Philately (AU) - Auction #162 “The World at War”. Postal services during wartime in four discrete sections: 1. Russell Stern’s Australian Military Mail. The World War II conflicts in North Africa, Mediterranean, Palestine & Borneo, 2. Accumulation of civil censorship mail of the British Empire formed by John Little from England, 3. Australian material, from WWI POWs in New South Wales, and the balance of John Little’s censor mail, from the Great War and 4. G. Darge’s Gold Medal exhibit of “New Zealand Forces in WWI”. Visit auction’s site. Download catalogue.

Mar 7-12: Philatelie Christoph Gärtner (DE) ~ Auction #17 is composed by seven catalogues. 1. India & Indian States, 2. Asia, 3. Overseas and thematics, 4. Europe, 5. Germany, 6. Collections and 7. Rarities. So you will find a very special selection of fantastic stamps and covers as an extract of the more than 24.000 lots. Visit auction’s site.

Mar 9-10: Cavendish Philatelic Auctions (UK) ~ The Bentwaters’ Collection of Mulreadies with over 100 covers, plus over 100 1d Black and 1d Red covers. The Dr. James Kyle CBE, FRCS, FRPSL Collections of the British Empire, with Australia, New Zealand, West Africa, and more. The Admiral Collection of Canada formed by the late Sandy Mackie, with foreign destination covers (Java, Mexico, Seychelles etc.), WWI censors, advertising mail. The John Bodman Collection of Papua (with Cocos Is.), an astonishing new discovery: an original find of 1870s stamped covers to Thailand (3 surface printed frankings from GB earlier than any item in the ‘Wheat’ Collection).

Mar 14: Soler y Llach (ES) ~ Worldwide stamps and postal history. Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czechoslovakia, Danish WI, Ecuador, Egypt, France & French colonies, Germany & states, GB & British commonwealth, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Italy, Levant, Mexico, Netherlands, Palestine, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Uruguay, USA & Venezuela and much more. Download catalogue. Visit auction’s site.

Mar 17: Grosvenor (UK) ~ British Empire. The Lord Cornwallis Collection of Australia with Gambia, Gibraltar and Malta. An outstanding auction of 553 lots, including exceptional rarities of the Kangaroo and King George V Head issues of Australia. Download catalogue.

Mar 17: Apex Philatelic Auctions (UK) ~ Sale #106 is a 6500 lot general world sale. It includes extensive sections of Germany, Liechtenstein, Austria and Switzerland, the majority from the purchase in November of the entire stock of Leo Baresch Ltd., one of the world’s foremost dealers in the stamps of those countries (and who will be familiar to most serious collectors thereof). For single items, we draw your attention to lot 495 GB 1902 Board of Education 1/- green and carmine fine used, with 2007 BPA Cert. Cat £4500, lot 491 GB 1882 IR Official £1 green ‘TA’ with framebreak fine used. Cat £4500, Lot 1721 Bermuda 1938 line perf 10/- yellow green and carmine u/m [very slight gum toning as always found on this printing) and with variety “Lower right scroll with broken tail.” Cat £4000 1938 line perf 10/- yellow green and carmine u/m, with variety “Lower right scroll with broken tail.” Cat £4000, (plus several other varieties of this issue), lot 1858 British Virgin Isles 1857 (GB) 1d rose red ‘star’ used with fine strike of ‘A13’ cancel, a lovely example, very scarce. Cat £3750. Visit auction’s site.

Mar 19: Ron Leith Auctions (CA) ~ Sale #43 Stamps and postal history of Canada and United States.
Postal History auction highlights: includes the entire Tripo Costello Postcard Stock along with his famous Santa Clause Collection, the Wally Gutzman Canada Fancy Cork Cancel Collection, the “Calgary Collection” of Postal Artifacts comprising over 200 Canada postal hammers, part one of the Lila Walcer lifetime collection of British Royalty Memorabilia noting signed photos of King George-V and Queen Mary, a scarce group of USA General McClellan Civil War Patriotic Covers, a rare Amelia Earhart autographed cover (lot #782), and part one of the Donald Rogan Railroad Collection of RPO cancels, maps, books, and ephemera.
Stamp auction highlights: the Canada section includes the “Vernon Collection” of Superb Mint and Used Canada Classic Stamps, an extremely rare Newfoundland 5 Pence Favour “CANCELLED” Stamp that resulted in a British political scandal (lot #2476), the finest collection of Canada Coil Start and End Strips that we have ever offered, a fully operational USA Schermack Experimental Coil Vending Machine, the massive stock of recently retired packet dealer Hank Vander Veen, the Bill Anderson Precancel Collection listed as one of the top 10 collections in the Precancel Survey, and an outstanding collection of Canada Christmas Seals that includes many of the rare proofs. Visit auction’s site.

Mar 23: Stanley Gibbons (UK) ~ Worldwide Postal Bid Auction #220. Noteworthy sections in this auction include: Good selection of Bermuda, China, Ascension, Bahamas, Barbados, St. Helena, Malaya, Hong Kong, and Great Britain surface printed. Visit auction’s site.

Mar 25-26: Postiljonen (SE) ~ The “Leif Ericsson” Large Gold Collection of classic Iceland. Classic Sweden, Iceland, Norway and Portugal. Exhibition collection classic Denmark. Download catalogue.

Mar 28: Lugdunum Philatélie (FR) ~ France, French Colonies and Worldwide. Visit auction’s site.

Posted at 6:30am and tagged with: Australia, Canada, France, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States, auctions, two column, Spain,.

February 14th 2011

Stamp issue of the day ~ United States: Patriotic Quill and Inkwell

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USPS issues in Kansas City, Missouri, a Patriotic Quill and Inkwell 44-cent definitive stamp, in one design in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) coil of 3,000 stamps and a PSA coil of 10,000. The stamp, designed by Craig Frazier.

The stamp features a white quill pen dipping into a red-white-and-blue inkwell accented with stars. The image evokes the founding era and highlights the links between today’s correspondence and the past.

Craig Frazier created the stamp art digitally. As for the dark blue and cream colors chosen for the background, according to Art Director, Derry Noyes, Washington, DC, “they help make the red, white and blue pop off the page, without detracting from or competing with the strong silhouette.”

Stamp Fulfillment Services (SFS) also offers first day covers ($0.82) for new stamp issues and Postal Service stationery items postmarked with the official first day of issue cancellation.

Technical details:

Date of issue: 14/Feb/2011
Printing process: Offset/Microprint “USPS”
Stamp size: 22.1mm x 24.89mm
Stamp per coil: 3,000 & 10,000
Edition: 60 million

Source
USPS. Postal Bulletin (22303), 27/Jan/2011. Pag. 43

Posted at 8:00am and tagged with: issues, United States, two column,.

February 12th 2011

Stamp issue of the day ~ United States: Navajo Jewelry

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USPS issues in Charleston, South Carolina, a 2-cent Navajo Jewelry definitive stamp in a water-activated gum (WAG) coil of 10,000 stamps. The stamp, designed by Derry Noyes, Washington, DC, goes on sale nationwide February 12, 2011.

The Navajo Jewelry stamp was first issued in August 2004 in a pressure-sensitive pane of 20 stamps and was the fifth issuance in the American Design series.

First Day Cover, priced $0.84, is the only philatelic product available for this stamp issue.

Technical details:

Date of issue: 12/Feb/2011
Printing process: Offset/Microprint “USPS”
Stamp size: 22.1mm x 24.89mm
Stamps per coil: 10,000
Edition: 200 million

Source
USPS. Postal Bulletin (22303), 27/Jan/2011. Pag. 42

Posted at 8:00am and tagged with: issues, United States, two column,.

February 11th 2011

There’s Always Work at the Post Office by Philip F. Rubio

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Published 2010 by University of North Carolina Press. 472 pp., 46 illus., notes, bibl., index. Hardcover ISBN 978-0-8078-3342-1, $65. Paperback ISBN 978-0-8078-5986-5, $24.95. Website: http://uncpress.unc.edu/

From the publisher:

This book brings to life the important but neglected story of African American postal workers and the critical role they played in the U.S. labor and black freedom movements. Historian Philip Rubio, a former postal worker, integrates civil rights, labor, and left movement histories that too often are written as if they happened separately. Centered on New York City and Washington, D.C., the book chronicles a struggle of national significance through its examination of the post office, a workplace with facilities and unions serving every city and town in the United States.

Black postal workers—often college-educated military veterans—fought their way into postal positions and unions and became a critical force for social change. They combined black labor protest and civic traditions to construct a civil rights unionism at the post office. They were a major factor in the 1970 nationwide postal wildcat strike, which resulted in full collective bargaining rights for the major postal unions under the newly established U.S. Postal Service in 1971. In making the fight for equality primary, African American postal workers were influential in shaping today’s post office and postal unions.

Posted at 9:00am and tagged with: United States, literature, reviews, post office, two column,.

February 10th 2011

Stamp issue of the day ~ United States: Ronald Reagan Centennial

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With this stamp, the U.S. Postal Service recognizes the centennial of the birth of Ronald Reagan (1911-2004), America’s 40th President. The stamp issuance is one of a number of centennial events taking place across the nation in 2011 to commemorate Reagan’s life and legacy.

The stamp art, by Bart Forbes of Plano, Texas, was created in oil wash on board. It is based on a photograph of Reagan taken in 1985, during his second term as President, at his beloved “Rancho del Cielo” (Ranch in the Sky), near Santa Barbara, California.

The Ronald Reagan Centennial stamp is being issued as a Forever® stamp. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.

Technical details:

Date of issue: 10/Feb/2011
Printing process: Gravure
Stamp size: 31.11mm x 31.11mm
Sheets: 20 stamps
Edition: 100 million

Visit United State Postal Service’s website.

(Source: beyondtheperf.com)

Posted at 8:00am and tagged with: United States, issues, people, one column,.

February 9th 2011

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Printing Postage Stamps

Want to know how stamps are printed? This video was created in 1993 for the Postal Museum’s Stamps and Stories gallery. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) shut down its 111 years of printing postage stamps on June 10, 2005. U.S. stamps are now all printed by private contractors.

Posted at 8:00pm and tagged with: United States, Smithsonian, museums, video,.