'The Philatelic Exporter' is the only independent magazine in the world for the international postage stamp trade, having been published every month since it first appeared in May 1945.
February 2007
All these news stories, and others, can be read in full in the February 2007 Philatelic Exporter
Escala: Manning resigns, NASDAQ delists
EVENTS of May 9 2006 in Madrid impacted dramatically at the turn of the year on the New Jersey-based Escala Group of companies with the resignation of founder Greg Manning in mid-December and the company's delisting from the NASDAQ stock exchange in early January ...
No date clash for Stampex and Philatex
BY dint of a calendrical anomaly, the spring Stampex and Philatex stamp shows in London do not coincide this year. ... This year Philatex starts on Thursday February 22 and ends on Saturday February 24 ... Four days later Stampex opens on Wednesday February 28 and closes on Sunday March 4 ...
Royal Mail "not leading or driving the development of 2010"
ROYAL Mail has confirmed its continued support of the London 2010 stamp exhibition at the Business Design Centre.
Responding to David Springbett's open letter to Royal Mail (January 2007 PE), Julietta Edgar (Head of Philatelic Sector) states: "We are aware of the debate regarding venue, however it does not diminish our support for the proposed exhibition including its location at the Business Design Centre.
"Royal Mail is not leading or driving the development of the 2010 activities ...
Stunning Sea Life stamps
ROYAL Mail’s ten stunning Sea Life '1st' stamps, on sale from February 1, feature spectacular examples of underwater photography, brought together to produce a snapshot of life around the UK’s 11,000-mile wonderfully diverse coastline ...
Sir Patrick's a star!
IT'S rare that Royal Mail allows an individual to choose what they want on a set of stamps – but then not everyone is Sir Patrick Moore.
He first presented his programme, The Sky at Night, in 1957 and now, half a century on, the man with his equally famous monocle is still providing millions of viewers with a monthly guide to the stars.
In fact, The Sky at Night is the longest running show still with its original presenter, and Royal Mail marks this tremendous achievement on its 50th anniversary with six self-adhesive stamps featuring Sir Patrick’s favourite celestial objects.
The stamps, to be issued on February 13, display five nebula - interstellar clouds of dust and gas – and The Spindle, a galaxy 32 million light years away ...
2d blue cover stolen
ON Saturday January 6, whilst in a large box of Victorian covers intended for auction, a cover franked with an 1841 2d blue, plate 3, with four good margins, cancelled diagonally by a superb '10' in Maltese Cross, was stolen. Information to Gavin Littaur on 020 8202 7200 or the PTS on 01252 628006.
Sandalwood, a scent of India
INDIA joined the fragrant philately club when it issued its first ever scented stamp on December 13 2006. The R15 stamp and miniature sheet have been impregnated with the scent of sandalwood ...
Also ...
- More room for InternetStamps
- Stamp News Australasia sub offer
- Royal Mail launches website for collectors
- BIOT stays with CASB
Special features this month
Exchange rates of all the currencies of the world
Regulars:
About People
Stamp people in the news from around the world.
What’s happening in your life - tell the editor!
Around the Rooms
Auction action in the sale rooms of AJH, Argyll Etkin, Bonhams, Grosvenor, Warwick & Warwick, and Feldman.
Auction Diary
Public stamp auctions around the world in February, March, and April 2007.
Auction houses
If you would like your public stamp auctions included in the magazine please let the editor have your 2007 schedules.
For more publicity for your auctions why not advertise them in the 'Philatelic Exporter'? Contact our advertising department.
Back Stamps
What was in The Philatelic Exporter this month in 1959, 1966, 1977, 1982, and 1998.
New Issues
Two pages of new stamp issues from around the world.
Postal administrations and/or agents
If you do not already do so, send to the editor details of your new stamp issues for inclusion in the 'New Issues' listing.
For increased publicity, why not advertise your new issues?
Trade Diary
What´s on in the UK and overseas - events in the UK in February and March 2007 and international events up to the end of 2010 are listed in the February 2007 Philatelic Exporter.
Event organisers
If you would like your stamp exhibitions or fairs included in these listings please let the editor have your 2007 schedules.
For more publicity for your events why not advertise them in the 'Philatelic Exporter'?
Your Letters
Work's Labour Lost ... Guinea-Bissau Statement
- Have you got a view to express about any aspect of the postage stamp trade?
- Fancy a moan, a gripe, or a groan?
- Perhaps a complaint or compliment, a bouquet or brickbat?
- Want to get something off your chest?
Then contact the editor.
From our contributors:
Albert Boerma - Europe
One 'R' too many on WIPA stamp
DEALER Hermann Walter Sieger was the first to spot a major spelling error in the first of three surcharged Austrian stamps (€0.55+0.20) heralding the 'Wiener Internationale Postwertzeichen-Ausstellung 2008'.
Nobody at the Post, nor in the state printing house, noticed the extra 'R' in the inscription 'ÖSTERRREICH' on the triangular stamp issued on August 26 2006, depicting the giant Ferris wheel, the Vienna landmark ...
Also: 'Higgins & Gage' sold to German dealer ... Post-paid envelope for Dutch ... Record for Wiesenthal auction ... Free postal market postponed.
Read the column in the February 2007 Philatelic Exporter.
Otto Hornung - In My View
Not very funny, not nice at all
THOSE nice people at Royal Mail don't like me that much because I have criticised them too often, although actually I have said very little about them lately.
There used to be briefings for philate¬lic journalists, showing them the planned new issues, but what the Royal Mail people had to listen to did not make them happy at all ... This was one problem they solved quite easily - they cancelled the briefings, because they'd had enough of the criticism, especially when the bosses did not have an acceptable answer ...
Read the column in the February 2007 Philatelic Exporter.
Liz McKernan - Postcard World
"Sorry, no more cards please"
WHILST the reasons for collecting postcards are numerous I have always been curious as to why some collectors suddenly decide to stop what has obviously been a passion for some time. A letter received recently prompted me to ponder on this as I had always believed that 'once a collector always a collector'.
The letter in question returned the cards I had sent on approval and politely explained that "she was sorry but she had stopped collecting cards a little while ago" ... she sent me a delightful letter thanking me for all the approvals I had sent and explained that she was now stopping her collecting as she was planning to get married! ... I do hope she returns to her hobby one day and perhaps her enthusiasm may have been passed onto a new generation ... There may even be a gene for collectors discovered one day! ...
Also: Go west ... Disappointing eBay debut ... Vague and misleading dates ... 14 years' research ... Welsh Ladies in funny hats drink tea and knit ... Lockout coincidence ... February fair diary.
Read the column in the February 2007 Philatelic Exporter.
David Rennie - New Books
All reviewed in the February 2007 Philatelic Exporter.
James Skinner - Great Britain
Post Offices under attack
THE December 2006 announcement by Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling that the British government would continue to support the Post Office network with a £1.7bn investment package was not quite as good news as the spin doctors might like to make it seem.
Along with the investment came the warning that the network would need to be rationalised due to increasing losses ... It is predicted that these losses will continue to increase unless some significant trimming takes place ... At present there are some 14,300 Post Offices in the United Kingdom, of which one in six is likely to have closed within the next two years under these new proposals ...
Read the column in the February 2007 Philatelic Exporter.
Les Winick - USA
Election Inverted Jenny confirmed a fake
STAMPS and stamp collecting made the news in almost every newspaper in the United States late last year. In November 2006, election workers in Broward County, Florida, stated that they’d found an old United States stamp with an upside down airplane, which we know as the Inverted Jenny, affixed to a postal ballot for a local election ... Two weeks after the stamp news hit the newspapers, a Sarasota, Florida, man, Dan Jacoby, contacted the local television station claiming to be the person who mailed the ballot. He says he thought it was a commemorative stamp and only worth 50c ... On December 4 2006, experts studied the stamp inside the Broward County Elections Office in Florida, and concluded that the method used to print the stamp and the perforations along the sides were evidence that the stamp was a fake ... In this 30-day period, stamp collecting received more publicity than it had had in a long time.
Also: Manning resigns from Escala ... Grading graduates ... Million-stamp giveaway ... 212 billion items - a day!
Read the column in the February 2007 Philatelic Exporter.