This came in the mail today. This stuff is eye candy to me. I was a sub contractor for a lot of years. All my bids and invoices looked like this. It was my thing.
My wife has been working remotely, Most of her outgoing mail she takes to the office to run through the meter, but anything that's personal she gives to me, because she knows I get a kick out of little pieces of art.
The only problem is every time the rate goes up, I run out of space.
Ok, holiday is over, may I please stop eating now? Let's get back to some stamp stuff.
Here is an item that really begs for some background information. An FDC of Belgium B699-701, to aid Belgian settlers extracted from Congo, 1960. If you don't know much about the Belgian experience in the Congo, I urge you to educate yourself. Wikipedia is right there. I have tried for years to find something charitable to say about Belgian colonialism, but I can't so I won't. After WW2, the Belgian government became more and more anxious to get out of Congo. Negotiations leading to independence began in January, 1960, and by June, independence was achieved. Things got out of control very quickly, and in July the entire long haul capability of Sabena airlines, the Belgian national carrier, was enlisted to pull most of the 88,000 Belgian whites out of the country. This set of stamps was issued in August to help raise funds for their resettlement. The designs include Sabena's new 707s and an arc to depict the air bridge from Congo to Belgium.
I'm back....with another first flight cover featuring Pan Am's Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, one of my favorite airliners. This is a cover I bought recently from our friend Dan Shilcrat of Desert Stamps.
I've not found anything about this flight other than it was a special round the world event rather than a regular schedule. This cover is postmarked San Francisco-Rangoon. The 377 was famous for its downstairs lounge with bar.. I've seen the photos. It was more like the back of a Winnebago with a cubbord for bottles and glasses.
This is one that I got recently, that you don't see often. I got the entire set unused, this is just the last one RZ18. If you're not familiar with this area of tax stamps in the US, I would suggest, have a peek at the back of book. There is some really fascinating stuff back there that few are aware of.
Most of you will know that I'm generally a US Specialist, but I have the odd ball bit and piece. This one is a tax stamp from Japan. While most countries have done away with tax (revenue) stamps, Japan has not, and they continue to be a normal part of daily life for many things in Japan.
This one is ¥10,000 JPY (around $100 USD, depending on when you check the value of the currency). There is something a little bit special about this one though. Does anyone see it?
They are not. Both cancels (which actually aren't cancels) are Japanese. I can see why you might think that though. But imagine it in a similar way to an "old english font" might appear.
Nice Phil, you nailed it. Though it's a bit more than just my personal hanko, this is presidential hanko from my company.
This was from a property I bought yesterday, and this is applied to the transfer.
Don, you must be using Edge... it's a new feature in the Edge browser that hasn't been around for too long. Few weeks maybe. The upper center is actually a hologram, though I do think that is cool as.
I was noticing the silk fibers in the paper, like US currency, and what I thought was a hologram. Is there micro-printing also? Has counterfeiting these ever happened?
There is microprinting in the lines (and some not so "micro" you can see in the background in the central outer areas of the stamp).
Whether they have been counterfeited or not is an interesting question, but I think it would be unlikely. Revenue stamps aren't so much like postage stamps. Generally, they are only sold at a location where they are to be used (though the one exception I can think of to this is at the immigration office, where the on-site convenience store is oddly the seller of such revenue stamps, but you have to still ask for it at the counter. So opportunity to really apply a "counterfeit" is limited. And yes, they have a lot of security features built into them to reduce the probability of counterfeit. I believe they are printed by the same printer as Japan banknotes, though I haven't researched this specifically.
And with red CDS nice. One of the great benefits of living outside the US, is I get a lot of great high values (in mass) from other dealers on cover. I've got one $2 Jenny piece that has around $100 in Jennys on it. One dealer sent me a plate block on cover of the $5 1295 John Bassett Moore a few years ago. Classic!
"One dealer sent me a plate block on cover of the $5 1295 John Bassett Moore a few years ago. Classic!"
One of my worst investments. I have a #1295 $5 plate block in my collection, that I bought from the Post Office back when twenty bucks would 'of been over a days labor for me.
Comments
Thanks Scott, but you might be showing your age.
It wasn't wood shop, it was computer science.
Programing laser engravers and 3d printers.
Damn kids.
Fr. Polynesia 251-52, 1969.
Cameroun 323-25, 1954.
New Caledonia C85, 1971.
New Caledonia C106, 1973.
New Caledonia C104, 1973.
This stuff is eye candy to me.
I was a sub contractor for a lot of years. All my bids and invoices looked like this. It was my thing.
My wife has been working remotely,
Most of her outgoing mail she takes to the office to run through the meter, but anything that's personal she gives to me, because she knows I get a kick out of little pieces of art.
The only problem is every time the rate goes up, I run out of space.
The 37 is one of my personal favorites.
Here is an item that really begs for some background information. An FDC of Belgium B699-701, to aid Belgian settlers extracted from Congo, 1960.
If you don't know much about the Belgian experience in the Congo, I urge you to educate yourself. Wikipedia is right there. I have tried for years to find something charitable to say about Belgian colonialism, but I can't so I won't. After WW2, the Belgian government became more and more anxious to get out of Congo. Negotiations leading to independence began in January, 1960, and by June, independence was achieved. Things got out of control very quickly, and in July the entire long haul capability of Sabena airlines, the Belgian national carrier, was enlisted to pull most of the 88,000 Belgian whites out of the country. This set of stamps was issued in August to help raise funds for their resettlement. The designs include Sabena's new 707s and an arc to depict the air bridge from Congo to Belgium.
I've not found anything about this flight other than it was a special round the world event rather than a regular schedule. This cover is postmarked San Francisco-Rangoon.
The 377 was famous for its downstairs lounge with bar.. I've seen the photos. It was more like the back of a Winnebago with a cubbord for bottles and glasses.
This is one that I got recently, that you don't see often. I got the entire set unused, this is just the last one RZ18.
If you're not familiar with this area of tax stamps in the US, I would suggest, have a peek at the back of book. There is some really fascinating stuff back there that few are aware of.
Most of you will know that I'm generally a US Specialist, but I have the odd ball bit and piece.
This one is a tax stamp from Japan. While most countries have done away with tax (revenue) stamps, Japan has not, and they continue to be a normal part of daily life for many things in Japan.
This one is ¥10,000 JPY (around $100 USD, depending on when you check the value of the currency).
There is something a little bit special about this one though. Does anyone see it?
Both cancels (which actually aren't cancels) are Japanese.
I can see why you might think that though. But imagine it in a similar way to an "old english font" might appear.
This was from a property I bought yesterday, and this is applied to the transfer.
Don, you must be using Edge... it's a new feature in the Edge browser that hasn't been around for too long. Few weeks maybe. The upper center is actually a hologram, though I do think that is cool as.
and what I thought was a hologram.
Is there micro-printing also?
Has counterfeiting these ever happened?
Whether they have been counterfeited or not is an interesting question, but I think it would be unlikely.
Revenue stamps aren't so much like postage stamps. Generally, they are only sold at a location where they are to be used (though the one exception I can think of to this is at the immigration office, where the on-site convenience store is oddly the seller of such revenue stamps, but you have to still ask for it at the counter. So opportunity to really apply a "counterfeit" is limited. And yes, they have a lot of security features built into them to reduce the probability of counterfeit. I believe they are printed by the same printer as Japan banknotes, though I haven't researched this specifically.
And with red CDS nice. One of the great benefits of living outside the US, is I get a lot of great high values (in mass) from other dealers on cover. I've got one $2 Jenny piece that has around $100 in Jennys on it.
One dealer sent me a plate block on cover of the $5 1295 John Bassett Moore a few years ago. Classic!
One of my worst investments.
I have a #1295 $5 plate block in my collection, that I bought from the Post Office
back when twenty bucks would 'of been over a days labor for me.
Now it's discount postage,