Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
My wife and I in the midst of a dream trip across Europe (well, some of it) and are taking a break from our vacation in Provence. It's been a fun month travelling through southern Portugal and Spain to get to this point.
One of the highlights of the trip have been two large Sunday stamp and coin bourses I visited in Madrid and Barcelona. I had heard about the market in Madrid before but stumbled across the Barcelona market last Sunday quite by accident.
The Madrid market is held in Plaza Mayor, a fine open square in the centre of the city. There must've been fifty tables with people selling coins, stamps, cava bottle caps, and accessories. Plaza Mayor is cool because there is also a full block of coin and stamp dealers right off the plaza. We were there over Easter weekend so many of the shops were closed, but a few were open and they seem to have more specialist material, whereas the open air market has more common stuff - but lots of it, especially if you collect Spain. Not so much if you collect Canada or Sweden.
Here's a few pics from Easter Sunday in Madrid:
That's not all collectors. There was also a band in the square for Easter!
When you don't have any stamps from Spain, it's hard to decide what to buy!
Barcelona's is in a square just off Las Ramblas. It's quite a bit smaller than Madrids, but still way bigger than our annual stamp show. Maybe 30 tables in all? What's interesting here is that the coin dealers and bottle cap sellers all have red tablecloths and are on one side of the square. The stamp dealers have green tablecloths and are on the other end of the square. Why can't we all get along?
Coin collecting seems a lot more popular here, as at home. I estimate 2-3 coin table to every stamp table, but there was still plenty to look at.
I bought a set of Spanish castle stamps for way too much as a souvenir. Was glad to pay a little more because it came on a staff card. Hopefully I can get them home safely.
Mark
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My late good friend Joe used to rave about the Plaza Mayor stamp bourse..my wife and i went to an outdoor stamp dealers thing in Amsterdam but it was disappointing as i recall only 4 or 5 vest pocket dealers.
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Those Sunday meetings are not what they used to be, I visited both, Plaza Mayor in Madrid and Dam Square in Amsterdam in the late 90's and early 00's and was disappointing with the small turnout, now back then in the 60's it really was elbow to elbow. And if you notice on the pictures most collectors are of about our age, we need new blood!
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"... all have red tablecloths and are on one side of the square ... have green tablecloths and are on the other end of the square. Why can't we all get along? ..."
That is getting along.
You should have seen what it was like back when they thought they were stealing each others' hobbyists.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield at imdb
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield on deWiki
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Hello from rainy Arles, France.
My wife and I in the midst of a dream trip across Europe (well, some of it) and are taking a break from our vacation in Provence. It's been a fun month travelling through southern Portugal and Spain to get to this point.
One of the highlights of the trip have been two large Sunday stamp and coin bourses I visited in Madrid and Barcelona. I had heard about the market in Madrid before but stumbled across the Barcelona market last Sunday quite by accident.
The Madrid market is held in Plaza Mayor, a fine open square in the centre of the city. There must've been fifty tables with people selling coins, stamps, cava bottle caps, and accessories. Plaza Mayor is cool because there is also a full block of coin and stamp dealers right off the plaza. We were there over Easter weekend so many of the shops were closed, but a few were open and they seem to have more specialist material, whereas the open air market has more common stuff - but lots of it, especially if you collect Spain. Not so much if you collect Canada or Sweden.
Here's a few pics from Easter Sunday in Madrid:
That's not all collectors. There was also a band in the square for Easter!
When you don't have any stamps from Spain, it's hard to decide what to buy!
Barcelona's is in a square just off Las Ramblas. It's quite a bit smaller than Madrids, but still way bigger than our annual stamp show. Maybe 30 tables in all? What's interesting here is that the coin dealers and bottle cap sellers all have red tablecloths and are on one side of the square. The stamp dealers have green tablecloths and are on the other end of the square. Why can't we all get along?
Coin collecting seems a lot more popular here, as at home. I estimate 2-3 coin table to every stamp table, but there was still plenty to look at.
I bought a set of Spanish castle stamps for way too much as a souvenir. Was glad to pay a little more because it came on a staff card. Hopefully I can get them home safely.
Mark
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re: Open Air Stamp Bourses in Madrid and Barcelona
My late good friend Joe used to rave about the Plaza Mayor stamp bourse..my wife and i went to an outdoor stamp dealers thing in Amsterdam but it was disappointing as i recall only 4 or 5 vest pocket dealers.
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re: Open Air Stamp Bourses in Madrid and Barcelona
Those Sunday meetings are not what they used to be, I visited both, Plaza Mayor in Madrid and Dam Square in Amsterdam in the late 90's and early 00's and was disappointing with the small turnout, now back then in the 60's it really was elbow to elbow. And if you notice on the pictures most collectors are of about our age, we need new blood!
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re: Open Air Stamp Bourses in Madrid and Barcelona
"... all have red tablecloths and are on one side of the square ... have green tablecloths and are on the other end of the square. Why can't we all get along? ..."
That is getting along.
You should have seen what it was like back when they thought they were stealing each others' hobbyists.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield at imdb
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield on deWiki
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