Collecting : my collection 02d

The last post for this second item on 'my collection'.
As I just moved, I had the unique opportunity to put all of my separated collection in one place.

And luckily I had enough space to put it.
As there is still a lot of work to be done, and many albums I bought on stamp fairs, exhibitions, sales, internet, auctions .... contain stamps of various countries, topics and quality.
I haven't found enough time yet to sort them all out, but I decided to make it somehow a bit easier for me.
First of all I brought all large albums together, and checked them one by one.
Then I gave the albums a number and I wrote down in a spreadsheet, what kind of stamps there were in that particular stockbook.
Then I went to the next book, until I had written down the contenent of all 'to be done' books.

I hope I will live long and prosperous, because I think there is still a lot of work for me....

second shelf

part 1

part 2 (top shelfs are not numbered yet)

last ones (so far)

One remark, some books contains lots of doubles, not all books are full either...

to be continued

Collecting : my collection 02c

Enough talking about the stamps. This blog is also about coins and banknotes.
Thus, a picture of my banknote collection. Also here, I respect the colour codes; blue for Europe, yellow (here cream colour) for asia ...

Banknote albums and coins

This collection is not as elaborated as my stamp collection, but still...
A picture of one of the albums I randomly chose : Laos.

detail of my Laos banknote collection

Small detail, the pages of cardboard paper that are put between the transparent banknote pages, are in the colour of the albums. If it hasn't got style, it hasn't got style, right :-)


My coin collection is rather limited, as I'm not really specialised in it.
Most successful is my Euro-coin collection.

Since Euro was introduced, a large number of preprinted albums for collecting euro coins are available.
I chose neutral albums (blue of course, since it's for Europe); but witht he € - logo on the albums.

Cover Euro coins

Inside Euro coins album

There's still a lot of work to be done on those albums too.
Especially for the coins other then euro coins.

to be continued

Collecting : my collection 02b

Last time, (previous entry) I told about the European part of my collection.
As 'DAVO' albums are quite expensive, and not always available for non-European countries, I chose to make my own albums.
But first my books for my 'cancelled' collection.
I use regular stockbooks for this part of my collection. Again I stick to the colours I mentionned before in my country list. Asia is there shown in yellow, but for the album I don't have sufficient yellow albums of course.
So I use brownish albums.
In the pic below, I only have Iran and Thailand finished so far.
In my 'green' part (Australia and Pacific) I only started my album 'Papua New Guinea'.

Stockbooks - cancelled Asia and Papua

So how about my MNH stamps?
I told you that preprinted albums are (or can be quite expensive).
Making your own album takes more time, but is more fun of course.
There are several websites that offer free, or paid preprinted albums.
With a simple subscription, and a little fee (or free for certain countries), I made my own albums.
They are all in so called 'display books' with transparent pockets.
I chose 'neutral books' and not the coloured version, because not all desired colours were available, and in case one colour gets out of stock, I don't have to renew all album.

I'm still working step by step to those albums, but a little example for my India-collection.
Again, this books are only for my MNH collection (outside Europe):

Display books - India (part 1, 2, 3) - self made cover

Display album inside - Early issues of India

Display album inside - Modern India

Various display albums

Various display albums

Of course, this takes a lot of time, but ... i'm working on it.
the horizontal papers are albums that aren't finished yet...

bottom shelf, in the middle ... to be done...

to be continued ...

Collecting : my collection 02a

As I just welcomed the 5.000 th visitor, I think it's time to post more about my own collection.
For those who read the first articles about 'my collection', I tried to explain the 'logic' I'm putting in my collection, using different colours for putting an order in my countries.
This isn't for no reason.
The colours are connected to the albums I use for my stamps, banknotes and coins.


As I took 'blue' for all European countries, this is reflected in my stamp, coins and banknote albums:

Davo Albums (Europe - MNH)

Davo Albums (Europe - MNH)

Davo Albums (Berlin - MNH)

Davo Albums (Berlin - MNH) - detail)

Davo Albums (Berlin - MNH) - detail)

For my cancelled collection, I don't use the 'expensive' DAVO albums.
I just use stockbooks.
Again blue for Europe, the other colours for the other continents :

Stockbooks - Europe - Cancelled

The whole set of (already sorted out) albums.

to be continued

Microstates : 17 Hiiumaa (bogus)

Before you think that my collection only consist out of 'fake' stamps, I want to assure you, that's not the case.
I'm bringing a lot of 'fakes' or 'cinderellas' under your attention, but believe me, it's just a fraction of my collection and altough it's in the picture here, it's not the main topic I collect.

In this post, I bring you to one of the Baltic states, Estonia.
Estonias postal history started in 1919 and was interrupted from 1920 to 1991, when the Soviet regime took over the country during the occupation.
It's the smallest of the 3 Baltic states, but the language isn't baltic, but part of the Finno-Ugric language familiy (so more related to Finnish and even Hungarian). 

Estonia - Hiiuma in yellow

Hiiumaa island

Next to the mainland, Estonia has 2 large islands, Saaremaa and the smaller Hiiumaa.
Hiiumaa (also the name of the province, formed by Hiiumaa island and Kassari island), has about 10.000 inhabitats. The name is derived from the two estonian words 'Hiid' (holy wood) and 'maa' (land), and it's clear that this island is known for it's forrest. The capital city of the island is Kärdla, on the northern side of the island.

Flag of Hiiumaa

Being a real island, with sufficient inhabitants, it could have been possible that a local postal service was erected, like the UK did in Guernsey, Alderney or Jersey. Unfortunatly, there's no real separate, local post on the island, so the 'stamps' from Hiiumaa are nothing more then nice cinderellas.

Again, we'll find a lot of thematic images on the labels.

sheet of Hiiumaa

detail

Brazil : 02b Early issues - transition to the republic

The last set of stamps before Brazil became a republic, were emitted between 1884 and 1888.

The emperor isn't shown in this set anyomore.
In the previous post, I showed the stamps with a number in a circle.
There are also other designs in this small set.
On one stamp, the Southern Cross ( Lat : Crux ) is shown.
It is the smallest of all 88 constellations. But of course that's not the reason why it's printed on this brazilian set of stamps. This constellation is visible in the Southern Hemisphere and it's visible for Brazilians.
Next to the Southern Cross, also the emperial crown and the Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro are depicted in this series. There are also 2 stamps where a number is printed in a square.

100 reis

The 100 reis stamp is a stamp with the number 100 in a square. There are two versions, quite easily to recognise.
The first stamp was emitted in 1885, and shows a white number on a dark field.
Under the square, you can see horizontal and vertical lines

Scott Br 0092

detail BR Scott 0092

The second version appeared in 1888 and has a coloured number on a white field.
Here the field under the sqare is filled with dots in stead of lines.

Scott BR 0096

detail Scott BR 0096

500 reis

On the 500 reis (1887) the emperial crown is depiced.
Dom Pedro II remained head of state till the a small military group took over power in 1889.
This emperial crown is the last 'emperial' stamp in this set.
The catalogues only mention one type, but I found those 2 colour variations.
It might have been the result of exposure to the sun or a chemical reaction, but for your pleasure, I'm posting both images.

Scott BR 0095 - olive

Scott BR 0095 - yellowish olive

1000 reis

One of the most famous landmarks of Rio de Janeiro is the Sugarloaf Mountain.
It is in the design of the 1000 reis stamp, and the key value of this set.
The picture of the Sugarloaf Mountain is only a small part of the stamp.

Scott BR 0098

300 reis

I have kept the 300 reis stamp as the last one to post, because there are more similar stamps issued later.
(see future posts).
As I mentionned earlier, here the constellation of the Southern Cross is depicted. This design was slightly modified for the first set of stamps issued in newly formed republic, in 1890.

For this issue of 1887, large stars are shown in a circle.
The background is filled with horizontal lines, and the stamp is printed in dark ultramarin blue.

Scott BR 0094

Brazil : 02a Early issues - transition to the republic

Emperor Don Pedro II ruled over Brasil until 1889, when the army took over power.
In the last years of his reign, a set of stamps were issued without the image of the emperor.

There are several designs in this set.
The first design is quite simple, a number in a circle.
But there's more to discover than you would expect.

20 Reis

The 20 reis stamp came in two versions.
The first issued stamp (1884) is in dark green, also called 'russian green'.
Although it's not an expensive stamp, I only have a damaged copy.

Scott BR 0087

A similar stamp was emitted in 1887 in olive to yellowish-olive. This stamp is a bit cheaper, but there's something about the stamp that makes it a valuable variation.

Under the 20, the "R"  of reis is shown.
In the 1887 version, there is a "dot" in the "R". Although also an 'undotted' version exists.
The catalogues warn us, as only genuine stamps with a certificate (and without a dot of course) are to be trusted.

I discovered a both a dotted as an undotted R in my collection, but since there's no according certificate, I can't tell for sure if it's a variation or a forged reprint. Above that, the cancel on the stamp makes it less easy to get a closer look on the stamp.
Luckily, a scanner and a computer made it easier for me...

Scott BR 0087a var?

Scott BR 0087a with a dot

Right is the 'normal' one, with the dot.
Let's have a closer look :

without dot?

with dot

comparing positions

The 1884 (bluish green) has no dot. With chemicals it is possible to turn it into an undotted olive green version. The 'undotted' 1887 version has a value up to 8 times the value of a stamp with dot.
The stamp I have might be a fake one, but therefore I need to let it examined by an expert.

50 Reis

Similar to the 20 reis stamp,  a 50 reis stamp was emitted in 1887.
This stamp is ultramarin blue. The number 50 and the "R", are coloured on a white field.

Scott BR 0093

700 Reis

For the 700 reis the circle around the number is more like a flower.
Together with the 1000 reis, this is a key value for the whole set.  (for the mint stamps, the 1000 reis and the 'dotted' 20 reis are the key values).

Unfortunatly, my copy of the 700 reis is damaged as well. Nevertheless I'm posting it, so you can all have a look at this nice violet stamp that was emitted in October 1888.

Scott BR 0097 - damaged

Microstates : 16 Eynhallow (bogus)

The neverending story continues...

For a change, let's go to Scotland. I really like the Scottish, and they have a beautiful coutry, but when it comes to stamps ...

Eynhallow is an uninhabited island off the north coast of Scotland. It is part of the Orkney Islands, but is privately owned and is currently a bird sanctuary. 

Orkney Island - Northern Scotland

Eynhallow at the western side of Rousay (main island)

The stamps of Eynhallow have no postal validity within the UK and thus attract postage due charges if used without current UK stamps.

As for most cinderellas of that region, (and cinderellas in general) the main topics on the 'stamps' are nature, transport, historic figures and so on.

I recently got some sheets with those cinderellas and they are all showing ships. Although no philatelic value, theme collectors seems to be attracted to them, as an additional asset to their collection.

Eynhallow labels

Eynhallow labels

Eynhallow labels

Theme : Volkswagen Beetle - 16

After the split of the former republic of Yugoslavia, many countries were formed. (See post 15 in this series)
One of them is the beautiful country of Kroatia.

They made me very happy in 2008, when they issued a special stamp, dedicated to my beloved car.
I was lucky to get not only the stamp, but also a label and a tab!
3 for the price of one...

Kroatia - 2008 - Volkswagen stamp, label and tab

As you can see in the detail below, similar to Serbian language, a beetle is also called 'Buba'.

The word 'Buba' was replaced, because this was actually a very special beetle that was used for the design of this stamp...
You might have remarked the gold colour of the Beelte.

Kroatian stamp - detail

This isn't an ordinary one, but the 1.000.000 th Beetle!
After the Allied Forces restarted the factory in Wolfsburg, after the second World War, the Beetle became more and more successful. Less then 10 years later, in 1955 the millionth car was produced in Wolfsburg.

1 million people in the pic? or 1.000.000th Volkswagen Beetle?

1 millionth Volkswagen Beetle indeed!

For this special occasion, the car was put into a gold colour.
The car can be seen at the new 'Autostadt' in Wolfsburg, Germany.
I was lucky already to see the car myself.

1 millionth Beetle, now in Autostadt, Wolfsburg, Germany

Who could ever have guessed that many years later, the Volkswagen Beelte would even celebrate the 20.000.000 th Beetle, and had become the worldwide most sold car ever!