I do not recall any significant renumbering of stamps between 1945 and 1959. What changes there were were in some of the definitives as new varieties came up. For example, the Liberty major catalog numbers did not change but whether they are the wet or dry printing did change.
I have been maintaining an databases file of US stamps for over 15 years and I would know it.
"I do not recall any significant renumbering of stamps between 1945 and 1959"
The SG British Empire and Commonwealth catalogue* would be the natural choice for:
- New Republic - 1884-88
- Stellaland - 1884-85
- India - Feudatory States
- Canada - BC & Vancouver Island 1865-89
Michel* would be the natural choice for:
- German States 19th Century
SG and Michel both cover the rest of your list in detail:
- Argentina - 1858-79
- Thrace - 1913-20
- Italian States - 1851-1863
(I expect Yvert & Tellier does too but I haven't seen their overseas catalogues)
but you could also consider:
Hellas* for Thrace (and also very strong for the whole Greek area)
Sassone for the Italian States.
Fischer is the standard catalogue for Poland
as is FACIT* for the Nordic countries,
Maury* and Yvert et Tellier for France,
Zumstein for Zwiterland,
OBP-COB for Belgium
NVPH for the Netherlands etc.
I use the ones shown here with an asterisk and quite a few others.
Hi Lars,
I'm happy to look up a small number of stamps and give you current/recent numbers in any of my catalogues.
However, my oldest catalogue is a 1958 SG British Commonwealth and this might give you the most useful information.
AFAIK Michel has had somewhat widespread renumbering sometime in the 1950/60s, but I really don't know the details besides the random notes I've read from old stamp magazines. I've been a Michel user since 1980s, and the numbering has been somewhat static all these years. The most recent major changes were renumbering of (all) Egypt about 5 years back, and before that they did Russia (Imperial) in 2004/5. And I recall modern Benin too got reworked in early 2000s as well...
-k-
If there is a society for that individual country, they probably have what you are looking for. The Society for Hungarian Philately has a concordance of catalog numbers on their website that cross references 5 different catalogs.
Thanks everyone. That's just what I was looking for. I just purchased:
Michel-Deutschland-Spezial-Katalog 1988
SG Commonwealth and British Empire 1840-1952 2005: v. 1
SG Simplified Whole World Stamp Catalogue 1960
That should get me started!
Thanks Sean for a GREAT idea! I would have never thought of that.
Thanks again, Nigel and scb. I don't mind looking up a few stamps for someone else or asking for a few favors myself, but I'm looking at about 70 stamps I'm interested in. If I can resolve 90 to 95% myself with these catalogs then I may take Nigel up on his generous offer to look up the remaining 4 or 5.
Lars
I got my new catalogues and many questions were answered! Thanks to everyone who posted suggestions!!!
I have 5 issues that I would appreciate alternate catalog numbers on (especially SG, Y&T, and Michel):
Anguilla - issued Nov 5, 1990 - 50¢ Flag - Scott # 830
Lesotho - issued Aug 22, 2005 - M15 Mermaid Statue souvenir sheet - Scott # 1376
Liberia - issued May 4, 2005 - $100 H. C. Andersen souvenir sheet - Scott # 2356
Maldive Islands - issued Sept 20, 2005 - Rf25 Mermaid Statue souvenir sheet - Scott # 2862
Montserrat - issued Aug 15, 1996 and overprinted "O.H.M.S." in 1997. It's the 40¢ Mythical Creatures stamp (Scott 901) with the O.H.M.S. overprint (Scott O131). I think it's SG O125, but I'm not sure.
Any help is much appreciated.
Cheers!
Lars
Hi Lars,
Have you tried https://colnect.com/en/stamps, they provide multiple catalogue numbers for many of the stamps.
However, as Colnect is a collaborative effort in the same vein as Wikipedia, it is far from complete and may not always be completely accurate.
I do have the SG Southern & Central Africa catalogue so I can help with Lesotho. The mini-sheet issued August 22, 2005 is listed as #1986 (MS1986).
Clive
Clive,
Thanks for the SG number, and thanks for the link. The only stamp listed was the Anguilla stamp, but I got Michel and Y&T numbers for that one.
Thanks again!
Lars
Hi Lars,
Here are another three from my old 2008 SG Stamps of the World:
- Lesotho - issued Aug 22, 2005 - M15 Mermaid Statue souvenir sheet - Scott # 1376 - SG MS1986
- Maldive Islands - issued Sept 20, 2005 - Rf25 Mermaid Statue souvenir sheet - Scott # 2862- SG MS3988
- Montserrat - issued Aug 15, 1996 and overprinted "O.H.M.S." in 1997. It's the 40¢ Mythical Creatures stamp (Scott 901) with the O.H.M.S. overprint (Scott O131). I think it's SG O125, but I'm not sure. - very close! It's SG O126
The Liberia listings hadn't been updated for 2005.
I hope this isn't drifting too far off topic, but when I was amassing my Vietnam collection, I was stymied by Scott, because in the 1970s into the 1980s, Scott was not listing the North Vietnamese stamps. I found stampworld.com, and discovered that they have a decent catalog for Vietnam online.
I really don't want to spend the money to amass a room full of catalogs. And I understand that catalog producers would want to keep their product proprietary. And I also understand that it is impossible for ONE catalog producer to be the be-all, end-all for all collecting areas. But it SURE would be nice to have more online resources that could be directly related to an established catalog system (unlike stampworld).
And, yes, I also have hard-to-find stamps that I feel the need to search for using multiple catalog numbers.
I'm going to have to spend some time at colnect.com!
Just my $0.02.
Thanks, Nigel. That helps!
Lars
I'd like to identify the SG and Michel catalog numbers of some stamps, but they are too numerous to list. Fortunately, they are mostly prior to 1950, so buying old catalogs isn't out of the question. Scott did a complete renumbering of U.S. stamps between 1945 and 1959. Are there similar concerns with GB and Michel after 1950? Is there a reasonable alternative to buying old catalogs?
Thanks!
Lars
re: Alternate Catalog numbers
I do not recall any significant renumbering of stamps between 1945 and 1959. What changes there were were in some of the definitives as new varieties came up. For example, the Liberty major catalog numbers did not change but whether they are the wet or dry printing did change.
I have been maintaining an databases file of US stamps for over 15 years and I would know it.
re: Alternate Catalog numbers
"I do not recall any significant renumbering of stamps between 1945 and 1959"
re: Alternate Catalog numbers
The SG British Empire and Commonwealth catalogue* would be the natural choice for:
- New Republic - 1884-88
- Stellaland - 1884-85
- India - Feudatory States
- Canada - BC & Vancouver Island 1865-89
Michel* would be the natural choice for:
- German States 19th Century
SG and Michel both cover the rest of your list in detail:
- Argentina - 1858-79
- Thrace - 1913-20
- Italian States - 1851-1863
(I expect Yvert & Tellier does too but I haven't seen their overseas catalogues)
but you could also consider:
Hellas* for Thrace (and also very strong for the whole Greek area)
Sassone for the Italian States.
Fischer is the standard catalogue for Poland
as is FACIT* for the Nordic countries,
Maury* and Yvert et Tellier for France,
Zumstein for Zwiterland,
OBP-COB for Belgium
NVPH for the Netherlands etc.
I use the ones shown here with an asterisk and quite a few others.
re: Alternate Catalog numbers
Hi Lars,
I'm happy to look up a small number of stamps and give you current/recent numbers in any of my catalogues.
However, my oldest catalogue is a 1958 SG British Commonwealth and this might give you the most useful information.
re: Alternate Catalog numbers
AFAIK Michel has had somewhat widespread renumbering sometime in the 1950/60s, but I really don't know the details besides the random notes I've read from old stamp magazines. I've been a Michel user since 1980s, and the numbering has been somewhat static all these years. The most recent major changes were renumbering of (all) Egypt about 5 years back, and before that they did Russia (Imperial) in 2004/5. And I recall modern Benin too got reworked in early 2000s as well...
-k-
re: Alternate Catalog numbers
If there is a society for that individual country, they probably have what you are looking for. The Society for Hungarian Philately has a concordance of catalog numbers on their website that cross references 5 different catalogs.
re: Alternate Catalog numbers
Thanks everyone. That's just what I was looking for. I just purchased:
Michel-Deutschland-Spezial-Katalog 1988
SG Commonwealth and British Empire 1840-1952 2005: v. 1
SG Simplified Whole World Stamp Catalogue 1960
That should get me started!
Thanks Sean for a GREAT idea! I would have never thought of that.
Thanks again, Nigel and scb. I don't mind looking up a few stamps for someone else or asking for a few favors myself, but I'm looking at about 70 stamps I'm interested in. If I can resolve 90 to 95% myself with these catalogs then I may take Nigel up on his generous offer to look up the remaining 4 or 5.
Lars
re: Alternate Catalog numbers
I got my new catalogues and many questions were answered! Thanks to everyone who posted suggestions!!!
I have 5 issues that I would appreciate alternate catalog numbers on (especially SG, Y&T, and Michel):
Anguilla - issued Nov 5, 1990 - 50¢ Flag - Scott # 830
Lesotho - issued Aug 22, 2005 - M15 Mermaid Statue souvenir sheet - Scott # 1376
Liberia - issued May 4, 2005 - $100 H. C. Andersen souvenir sheet - Scott # 2356
Maldive Islands - issued Sept 20, 2005 - Rf25 Mermaid Statue souvenir sheet - Scott # 2862
Montserrat - issued Aug 15, 1996 and overprinted "O.H.M.S." in 1997. It's the 40¢ Mythical Creatures stamp (Scott 901) with the O.H.M.S. overprint (Scott O131). I think it's SG O125, but I'm not sure.
Any help is much appreciated.
Cheers!
Lars
re: Alternate Catalog numbers
Hi Lars,
Have you tried https://colnect.com/en/stamps, they provide multiple catalogue numbers for many of the stamps.
However, as Colnect is a collaborative effort in the same vein as Wikipedia, it is far from complete and may not always be completely accurate.
I do have the SG Southern & Central Africa catalogue so I can help with Lesotho. The mini-sheet issued August 22, 2005 is listed as #1986 (MS1986).
Clive
re: Alternate Catalog numbers
Clive,
Thanks for the SG number, and thanks for the link. The only stamp listed was the Anguilla stamp, but I got Michel and Y&T numbers for that one.
Thanks again!
Lars
re: Alternate Catalog numbers
Hi Lars,
Here are another three from my old 2008 SG Stamps of the World:
- Lesotho - issued Aug 22, 2005 - M15 Mermaid Statue souvenir sheet - Scott # 1376 - SG MS1986
- Maldive Islands - issued Sept 20, 2005 - Rf25 Mermaid Statue souvenir sheet - Scott # 2862- SG MS3988
- Montserrat - issued Aug 15, 1996 and overprinted "O.H.M.S." in 1997. It's the 40¢ Mythical Creatures stamp (Scott 901) with the O.H.M.S. overprint (Scott O131). I think it's SG O125, but I'm not sure. - very close! It's SG O126
The Liberia listings hadn't been updated for 2005.
re: Alternate Catalog numbers
I hope this isn't drifting too far off topic, but when I was amassing my Vietnam collection, I was stymied by Scott, because in the 1970s into the 1980s, Scott was not listing the North Vietnamese stamps. I found stampworld.com, and discovered that they have a decent catalog for Vietnam online.
I really don't want to spend the money to amass a room full of catalogs. And I understand that catalog producers would want to keep their product proprietary. And I also understand that it is impossible for ONE catalog producer to be the be-all, end-all for all collecting areas. But it SURE would be nice to have more online resources that could be directly related to an established catalog system (unlike stampworld).
And, yes, I also have hard-to-find stamps that I feel the need to search for using multiple catalog numbers.
I'm going to have to spend some time at colnect.com!
Just my $0.02.
re: Alternate Catalog numbers
Thanks, Nigel. That helps!
Lars