Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Thanks for any help,
WB
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Staffa, which is located in the INNER HEBRIDES Islands, is totally uninhabited. Landing to visit Fingal's cave is sometimes possible but usually tricky because of rough seas. Contrary to some peoples belief there is no ferry service.
It is owned by the National Trust for Scotland; a registered Charity.
The labels are not stamps they are bogus, and never had postal validity Many have fake cancellations.
You might glean more information about a certain Clive Feigenbaum, who seemingly was the main perpetrator of these labels, or more precisely, cinderellas.
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Good grief, how many crooked dealings can one man get away with in a lifetime?!! It doesn't sound like this guy spent one single hour of his life trying to make an honest living!
Thanks for the info Ningpo, it has been marked for what it is.
WB
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What makes matters worse, he had dealings (mentioned in the same article) with a certain Paul Fraser. If you were to have a little look at the 'Australian Forum' and search on that name, you may be even more horrified.
PS we now use the term 'Australian Forum', in a similar vein to 'the Scottish Play' (Shakespeare).
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Staff Island did have a postal service - the man who took tourists to the island erected a mailbox and people could buy "stamps" from him for Staffa Island. They also had to apply the proper British postage as well, then he emptied the box each day and took the postcards/letters to the local post office. This service ended when the man stopped his tour service. Another owner did produce Staffa stamps briefly but did not have a mail service. Then the National Trust bought the island - they may have issued some stamps from time to time for fund raising purposes.
The label you show above does appear to be one of the bogus issues. But there are legitimate issues out there: It is the quality of the stamp that tells you it is real, they look like real postage stamps as opposed to the one above which looks cheap and shoddy. Happy hunting!
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Regarding Clive: He did actually operate a stamp business so he earned something honestly (I assume). However he produced a number of Cinderella labels: Nagaland - northeast India was threatening revolution so that spurred the production of "stamps" for that state. State of Oman arose when there were internal conflicts between the east and west portions of the sultanate. Zhufar or Dhufar, west Oman also got stamps for themselves - although it is highly unlikely anyone in the region ever saw them.
The Princepality of Thurmond in Ireland also got stamps but I am not sure if he produced them or someone locally did it (Thurmond did exist at some point in the past and is now Irelands airport - Shannon? I think it is called.
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Clive Feigenbaum...
There are so many stories about him!
I am familiar with some unsavory connections to Middle East counterfeits.
Most stories are not very favorable!
Isn't he behind most of the flood of "Dune countries" Stamps of the late 1960s-1970s as well? And wasn't he the CEO of S&G? (Did they ever recover? 
)
rrr...
Ref: ""9 June 1972: Dhufar covers mailed from Damascus - first and last postal use
Meanwhile, the first definitive sets of 8 Dhufar stamps had been ordered from Clive H. Feigenbaum's company in London. Feigenbaum had already produced most of the "State of Oman" stamps for Tadros. A special "Dhufar Philatelic Agency" was set up in London for distributing the stamps - another one of Feigenbaum's numerous companies. """
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Hi,
"Staff Island did have a postal service - the man who took tourists to the island erected a mailbox and people could buy "stamps" from him for Staffa Island. They also had to apply the proper British postage as well, then he emptied the box each day and took the postcards/letters to the local post office. This service ended when the man stopped his tour service."
I've seen claims like this before but this was never a genuine postal service and there was no need for the stamps.
I've sailed close to Staffa and seen the magnificent basalt columns and the entrance to Fingal's cave. It's a great little island but it's not an easy one to land on.
I'm sure the odd tourist was relieved of some cash for stamps on the odd boat trip but there would never have been enough tourists to service a decent mail service never mind enough to require one.
There was no local post office. Anyone forwarding letters or cards would have had to travel a fair distance to find a post office.
All of this was just an excuse for selling wallpaper to the tourists and the stamp trade.
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"Clive Feigenbaum...
There are so many stories about him!
I am familiar with some unsavory connections to Middle East counterfeits.
Most stories are not very favorable!
Isn't he behind most of the flood of "Dune countries" Stamps of the late 1960s-1970s as well? And wasn't he the CEO of S&G? (Did they ever recover? Laughing)
rrr...
Ref: ""9 June 1972: Dhufar covers mailed from Damascus - first and last postal use
Meanwhile, the first definitive sets of 8 Dhufar stamps had been ordered from Clive H. Feigenbaum's company in London. Feigenbaum had already produced most of the "State of Oman" stamps for Tadros. A special "Dhufar Philatelic Agency" was set up in London for distributing the stamps - another one of Feigenbaum's numerous companies. """"
Hi RRRaphy,
I see you are quoting from my little piece on Dhufar, http://oman.org/phil85.htm
Whatever one may say about the late Clive Feigenbaum, he was creative, charming and great to talk to. It takes two to tango, and people who feel they have been deceived by him either wanted to believe his fairy tales and fantasy materials, or else they were just philatelic nitwits who could have known better if only they had tried a little bit.
Cheers
Joachim
(Modified by Moderator on 2017-02-05 15:33:40)
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Hi Joachim...nice to meet the author of this article!
I am constantly scouring for information from experts on the Middle East area, one region that fascinates by its complexity, and its difficulty, politically as well as in philately.
Are you aware of any published papers on the early (1924-1926) Saudi Arabia stamps of Hejaz and Nejd? I am actively working on this collection, and as most stamps are rare, quite expensive and with an array of overprints, I am looking for some definitive analysis of counterfeits and how to detect them. (Transjordan stamps as well for this era, with the o/p on British and Ottoman stamps).
You are indeed correct about him, as I did meet him at a APS show many years ago, when he was still allowed to have a table and sell his stuff.
"Whatever one may say about the late Clive Feigenbaum, he was creative, charming and great to talk to."
He was indeed quite interesting to talk to.
He also had some genuine material, some of it pretty amazing (as I specialize in the Middle East, he showed me quite a range of rarities). Most of it was priced right (and expensive), given its rarity.
But one never knew if what you were going to buy from him was authentic! I was warned by other dealers.
He also was willing to buy some my rare duplicates to add to his inventory of authentic stamps. As you said, if you knew what you were doing, he did not try to fool you, but it takes "two to tango" and he was quite a talker, and a good con-man! Not surprised if many of his customers ended up with no bargain at all.
rrr...
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As far as I know, other then tourists going to Fingal's Cave, Staffa Island is basically uninhabited. Was this a philatelic item aimed at tourists and sent from the Island to the mainland? I don't find it listed anywhere.
Thanks for any help,
WB
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this post
re: Staffa Island?
Staffa, which is located in the INNER HEBRIDES Islands, is totally uninhabited. Landing to visit Fingal's cave is sometimes possible but usually tricky because of rough seas. Contrary to some peoples belief there is no ferry service.
It is owned by the National Trust for Scotland; a registered Charity.
The labels are not stamps they are bogus, and never had postal validity Many have fake cancellations.
You might glean more information about a certain Clive Feigenbaum, who seemingly was the main perpetrator of these labels, or more precisely, cinderellas.
Login to Like
this post
re: Staffa Island?
Good grief, how many crooked dealings can one man get away with in a lifetime?!! It doesn't sound like this guy spent one single hour of his life trying to make an honest living!
Thanks for the info Ningpo, it has been marked for what it is.
WB
Login to Like
this post
re: Staffa Island?
What makes matters worse, he had dealings (mentioned in the same article) with a certain Paul Fraser. If you were to have a little look at the 'Australian Forum' and search on that name, you may be even more horrified.
PS we now use the term 'Australian Forum', in a similar vein to 'the Scottish Play' (Shakespeare).
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: Staffa Island?
Staff Island did have a postal service - the man who took tourists to the island erected a mailbox and people could buy "stamps" from him for Staffa Island. They also had to apply the proper British postage as well, then he emptied the box each day and took the postcards/letters to the local post office. This service ended when the man stopped his tour service. Another owner did produce Staffa stamps briefly but did not have a mail service. Then the National Trust bought the island - they may have issued some stamps from time to time for fund raising purposes.
The label you show above does appear to be one of the bogus issues. But there are legitimate issues out there: It is the quality of the stamp that tells you it is real, they look like real postage stamps as opposed to the one above which looks cheap and shoddy. Happy hunting!
Login to Like
this post
re: Staffa Island?
Regarding Clive: He did actually operate a stamp business so he earned something honestly (I assume). However he produced a number of Cinderella labels: Nagaland - northeast India was threatening revolution so that spurred the production of "stamps" for that state. State of Oman arose when there were internal conflicts between the east and west portions of the sultanate. Zhufar or Dhufar, west Oman also got stamps for themselves - although it is highly unlikely anyone in the region ever saw them.
The Princepality of Thurmond in Ireland also got stamps but I am not sure if he produced them or someone locally did it (Thurmond did exist at some point in the past and is now Irelands airport - Shannon? I think it is called.
Login to Like
this post
Approvals
re: Staffa Island?
Clive Feigenbaum...
There are so many stories about him!
I am familiar with some unsavory connections to Middle East counterfeits.
Most stories are not very favorable!
Isn't he behind most of the flood of "Dune countries" Stamps of the late 1960s-1970s as well? And wasn't he the CEO of S&G? (Did they ever recover? )
rrr...
Ref: ""9 June 1972: Dhufar covers mailed from Damascus - first and last postal use
Meanwhile, the first definitive sets of 8 Dhufar stamps had been ordered from Clive H. Feigenbaum's company in London. Feigenbaum had already produced most of the "State of Oman" stamps for Tadros. A special "Dhufar Philatelic Agency" was set up in London for distributing the stamps - another one of Feigenbaum's numerous companies. """
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this post
re: Staffa Island?
Hi,
"Staff Island did have a postal service - the man who took tourists to the island erected a mailbox and people could buy "stamps" from him for Staffa Island. They also had to apply the proper British postage as well, then he emptied the box each day and took the postcards/letters to the local post office. This service ended when the man stopped his tour service."
I've seen claims like this before but this was never a genuine postal service and there was no need for the stamps.
I've sailed close to Staffa and seen the magnificent basalt columns and the entrance to Fingal's cave. It's a great little island but it's not an easy one to land on.
I'm sure the odd tourist was relieved of some cash for stamps on the odd boat trip but there would never have been enough tourists to service a decent mail service never mind enough to require one.
There was no local post office. Anyone forwarding letters or cards would have had to travel a fair distance to find a post office.
All of this was just an excuse for selling wallpaper to the tourists and the stamp trade.
Login to Like
this post
re: Staffa Island?
"Clive Feigenbaum...
There are so many stories about him!
I am familiar with some unsavory connections to Middle East counterfeits.
Most stories are not very favorable!
Isn't he behind most of the flood of "Dune countries" Stamps of the late 1960s-1970s as well? And wasn't he the CEO of S&G? (Did they ever recover? Laughing)
rrr...
Ref: ""9 June 1972: Dhufar covers mailed from Damascus - first and last postal use
Meanwhile, the first definitive sets of 8 Dhufar stamps had been ordered from Clive H. Feigenbaum's company in London. Feigenbaum had already produced most of the "State of Oman" stamps for Tadros. A special "Dhufar Philatelic Agency" was set up in London for distributing the stamps - another one of Feigenbaum's numerous companies. """"
Hi RRRaphy,
I see you are quoting from my little piece on Dhufar, http://oman.org/phil85.htm
Whatever one may say about the late Clive Feigenbaum, he was creative, charming and great to talk to. It takes two to tango, and people who feel they have been deceived by him either wanted to believe his fairy tales and fantasy materials, or else they were just philatelic nitwits who could have known better if only they had tried a little bit.
Cheers
Joachim
(Modified by Moderator on 2017-02-05 15:33:40)
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Approvals
re: Staffa Island?
Hi Joachim...nice to meet the author of this article!
I am constantly scouring for information from experts on the Middle East area, one region that fascinates by its complexity, and its difficulty, politically as well as in philately.
Are you aware of any published papers on the early (1924-1926) Saudi Arabia stamps of Hejaz and Nejd? I am actively working on this collection, and as most stamps are rare, quite expensive and with an array of overprints, I am looking for some definitive analysis of counterfeits and how to detect them. (Transjordan stamps as well for this era, with the o/p on British and Ottoman stamps).
You are indeed correct about him, as I did meet him at a APS show many years ago, when he was still allowed to have a table and sell his stuff.
"Whatever one may say about the late Clive Feigenbaum, he was creative, charming and great to talk to."
He was indeed quite interesting to talk to.
He also had some genuine material, some of it pretty amazing (as I specialize in the Middle East, he showed me quite a range of rarities). Most of it was priced right (and expensive), given its rarity.
But one never knew if what you were going to buy from him was authentic! I was warned by other dealers.
He also was willing to buy some my rare duplicates to add to his inventory of authentic stamps. As you said, if you knew what you were doing, he did not try to fool you, but it takes "two to tango" and he was quite a talker, and a good con-man! Not surprised if many of his customers ended up with no bargain at all.
rrr...
Login to Like
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