Author: lasoksmith

The Date Stamps of France 1849-1876

THE PHILATELIC REGISTER is owned, published and edited by Ian Lasok-Smith

Contact Address: 6 Hough Green, Chester, CH4 8JG.  Email: [email protected]

ThePhilatelicRegister.com has replaced the montly issue of The Philatelic Register. The change in format has been dictated by the need to have a format that is more sustainable with regards the time required to keep it updated. As was The Philatelic Register, this evolving resource is FREE, users just need to register (only name and email address required) on the site to gain full access to article content.  All articles may be downloaded and printed or saved to PC. The site has been constructed on a WordPress platform and as such  has afforded much more versatility and new opportunites compared with original format.

I hope that as it evolves this new format will make it easier to fulfill the “Mission Statement” that encompasses the inspiration behind the original idea.

REGISTRATION:  The registration process on this site has default email verification, this cannot be bypassed.  Please check your spam folder if not received. If not in spam folder please advise me on  [email protected] using the email address you used at registration. I will then manually validate your account ASAP.  Please allow at least 48 hours for manual registration before contacting again.

(you may see reference to your profile at times when logging in or out. This has no effective relevance as the only details that those registering are able to enter are their name and email address. I have intentionally kept personal details to the practical minimum)

LOGIN:  This website has a default plugin to prevent malware or Distributed Denial of Service attacks. This security measure cannot be removed or deactivated. If subscribers make too many logins in a short period of time they may receive an “Access Denied” message. To try and mitigate subscribers inadvertently falling victim of this, I have set the inactivity logout at 60 minutes. Therefore if you need to leave the site for a short period of time you should likely not need to login again on your return.

If it so happens that you do receive an “Access Denied” message you will need to wait 30 minutes or so before attempting to log in again.

If you receive such a message on your first attempted login during a session it is likely to reflect the number of others logging in around the same time.

There will be an option to post comments on selected postings. It is hoped that by requiring registration it will discourage the leaving of inappropriate comments and mitigate the need for moderation of posts prior to publication. This would delay the publication and potentially devalue the facility if a posting would benefit from an early response (at times the facility to moderate comments may be activated if it is likely I will not be able to monitor for a while). As administrator I reserve the right to remove any post without need to give reason. Those deemed to be “abusing” the facility will have their registration revoked.

The most important purpose of the site is to provide a varied and expanding repository of knowledge and in doing so also try to recognise and preserve the work of many dedicated philatelists over the years. There will be regular postings but not at any specified times. The most recent postings appearing in “Latest Postings” in the sidebar.

The content of the site will be fully searchable using the search engine on the site.

Ian Lasok-Smith.  Owner, Publisher and Editor “The Philatelic Register”

Philatelic Traders Society (Gold Membership)

There’s Something About Slogans

In a short article published in “Stamp Collecting Weekly” March 13th 1964″, C. Baker provides a brief introduction to slogan cancellations including advice on how best collected and what to look out for. It is an area where relatively scarce material may still be found cheaply by those with a little bit of knowledge. The article may be downloaded from the attachment below.

Something About Slogans

Scots Who Made Their Mark…….The Americas

                              

Throughout the centuries Scots men and women have made their mark on the world in every aspect of human endeavour from exploration, scientific achievement through to sporting excellence. I am indebted to  the late Jeff Dugdale for allowing me access to the resource from which the articles are taken. He himself has drawn upon resources made available to him to form the framework on which he has built.  Although I never met Jeff in person we corresponded a lot when I was just starting up The Philatelic Register.He came across as a humble and generous man. On passing me the information I believe the phrase he used (below) perfectly illustrates his character.

“I make no claim for originality in these articles. I’m sure each of the subjects referenced has been better treated by many other writers, but it gives me joy and a sense of pride and satisfaction to bring the stories of so many of our fellow countrymen and women together for your interest

James Hay, John Murray, John Witherspoon And James Wilson

John Paul Jones

Andrew Carnegie and John Muir

“Essex Post Goes and Coms. Every Day”

In an article published in “Stamp Collecting Weekly” April 10th 1964, L. J. Johnson summarised the development of postal services in Essex. From the end of the 15th century with the use of casual travellers, through the introduction of more regular services with the advent of stage coaches in the 18th century to the present day (1964)

Essex Post. Goes and Coms. Every Day

The Trucial States

The Trucial States have for decades effectively been ridiculed by “serious” philatelists. The reasons are understandable and the ridicule perhaps justifiable. However the history of the region and reason for the reputation earned by it’s stamps are worth mentioning. In The Philatelic Register of July 2021 I summarised the history, the stamps and the postal history in a short article and also published an elegantly written article by “Nomad” published in “Stamp Collecting Weekly” August 6th 1965.

The Trucial States

Philatelic Pirates of The Trucial Coast

 

Puzzling Aspects of GB Stamp Printing-Colour Omitted

No sooner had the Post Office begun to produce more colourful commemoratives, and beginning with just a modest two colours with the Europa issue of 1960,  than the first colour omitted errors began to appear. To be strictly accurate the Europa issue provided an almost completely omitted error. The top right hand corner of possibly two sheets provided the green colour almost completely omitted from stamps 1/5, 1/6, 2/5 and 2/6.

As the numbers of colours employed in the design of stamps increased the phenomenon became more common.

In the September 15th 1967 issue of “Philatelic Magazine” E.C. Ehrmann describes how some of these omissions came about. This article was published in The Philatelic Register in July 2021. At the end of the article I added some comment of my own based on my experience and being frequently asked about unrecorded “missing colours”.

Puzzling Apects of GB Stamp Printing-Colours Omitted

Ajman – A Country to Collect?

Roger B West  is a well known philatelist and an acknowledged expert in the stamps of St Helena. In 1994 he edited the handbook “Madame Joseph Forged Postmarks” which has been widely acclaimed as one of the most important philatelic reference works.  He is also the owner of a long established stamp business Avion Stamps. Roger has generously provided a number of articles (Tag: RBW) for publication in The Philatelic Register.

As each these Musings and Observations are published I will leave the reader to make their own judgment as to where on the spectrum between humourous and thought provoking each article sits.

Ajman-A Country to Collect?

DAVID MORRISON-BRITISH COMMONWEALTH POSTAL HISTORY

1899 ‘Mailing Card’ illustrated postal card with a picture of Hong Kong Harbor on the back, addressed to Germany with a pair of 2c cancelled HONG KONG MR 3 99. Uncommon.  £135

Specialist Dealer in fine and rare British   Commonwealth Postal History and unusual Worldwide Postal Incidents.

  www.forpostalhistory.com

9 Crab Tree Close
Malmesbury, Wiltshire SN16 0AF

 [email protected]

                          

Chats on Postage Stamps-Frederick J. Melville

“It is not given to all collectors to know their postage stamps. There is the collector who merely accumulates specimens without studying them. He has eyes, but he does not see more than that this stamp is red and that one is blue. He has ears, but they only hear that this stamp cost £1,000, and that this other can be purchased wholesale at sixpence the dozen. What shall it profit him if he collect many stamps, but never discover their significance as factors in the rapid spread of civilisation in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries? The true student of stamps will extract from them all that they have to teach; he will read from them the development of arts and manufactures, social, commercial and political progress, and the rise and fall of nations”.  Frederick J. Melville

Melville wrote over 100 books and his works are still some of the most common encountered in Philately.

In 1897 he wrote and self-published an eightp age pamphlet called Stamp Collecting, priced at one  penny. Fred was so embarrassed with the publication in later years that he bought up every copy that was offered for sale, with the result that it is now a very scarce item. In 1899 he became the editor of the philatelic section of a small journal known as Hardman’s Miscellany. Soon afterwards he launched his own magazine, Young Stamp Collector which ran for six issues before merging with Stamp Collectors’ Fortnightly. Melville also contributed philatelic articles to The Daily Telegraph, Wide World Magazine, The Straits Times of Singapore, the Illustrated London News and John O’London’s Weekly.

Melville’s  complete “Chats on Postage Stamps” can be downloaded from the attachment below.

CHATS ON POSTAGE STAMPS. Fred J. Melville

 

 

Filatelic Phorgeries

I am grateful to Roger West for providing the following articles on Forgers which can be downloaded from attachment below.

I’m sure most collectors have experienced the disappointment of finding out one of their beloved stamps is in fact a worthless forgery. I used the term ‘worthless’ intentionally as the production of forgeries was rife a hundred years ago, and such items frequently appeared in collections, sometimes as ‘space fillers’ but often as ‘star items’.

However, the term ‘worthless’ may not apply to all forgeries, and notable exceptions are those where a specific name can be attributed to the forgery.

This series explores some forgeries which have been identified to specific forgers, and in so doing belies the term ‘worthless’ and their presence can actually enhance an otherwise normal collection.

Roger West

References: Philatelic Forgers – Their lives and Works by Varro E Tyler Internet

Jean de Sperati

Madame Joseph, Juan Canoura and Philip Spiro

John Harris, Francois Fournier, Alan Wilson

Jeffryes, Gibbons, Freshwater and West

 

Additional articles on Philatelic Forgers can be downloaded from links below

The Life and Works of Samuel Allan Taylor