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What we collect!
What we collect!


General Philatelic/Gen. Discussion : Why??

 

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vjones48
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There is brilliance in simplicity

03 Oct 2020
11:16:16am
Found hundreds of these in a box lot purchase.I can understand a penciled
Scott number but not this. Why would anyone spend so much time doing all
this on the back of stamps and in what appears to be a fine felt tip pen?
Must of had a lot of time on their hands.

CryingImage Not Found

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" The Devil is in the details"
Brechinite

03 Oct 2020
11:23:03am
re: Why??

Unfortunately there are a few numbskulls in the world.

I recently bought some British Commonwealth First Day covers from the 1960's. Half of them had been put in ring binders. Not in plastic pockets but having holes punched in them!!!!

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"Gonnae no dae that!..........Just gonnae no!"
AGKING
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03 Oct 2020
02:09:19pm
re: Why??

ouch- that hurt my soul

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joshtanski
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03 Oct 2020
05:16:17pm
re: Why??

Ugh...

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DavidG
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APS member since 2004

03 Oct 2020
07:07:56pm
re: Why??

Question from Josh: Why??

Answer: from your local stamp dealer....

We still see the very odd item like this at the shop. Fortunately, this does not happen much anymore, but up until the mid- to late-1970s, a number of people (mostly men) entered the hobby for the first time.

1. They never read a book about "How To Collect Stamps".

2. They never went to a stamp club or met with a fellow collector.

3. They never read a stamp collecting magazine or Newspaper like Canadian Stamp News, Linn's Stamp News, etc.

4. They had no concept of condition, or preserving what they had for furure generations.

5. They did think they were going to get rich.

Fortunately, most of them are long gone, and the average person entering the hobby to-day really does read-up (on-line perhaps) and gets the fundamentals of the hobby.

David Giles
Chris Green Stamps
Ottawa, Ont, Canada

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"President, The Society for Costa Rica Collectors"
psgStamper
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03 Oct 2020
07:17:46pm
re: Why??

Remember... it is a hobby and different strokes for different folks. If a person wants to drop a couple of hundred thousand on an inverted Jenny and put it in his album with scotch tape... that's his perogative! Laughing

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StampCollector
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03 Oct 2020
07:47:40pm

Approvals
re: Why??

"If a person wants to drop a couple of hundred thousand on an inverted Jenny and put it in his album with scotch tape... that's his perogative! Laughing"



Not only is he a bad collector, also a lousy investor.
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colnect.com/en/collectors/collector/StampCollector1
michael78651

03 Oct 2020
10:10:34pm
re: Why??

I have seen plenty of that through the years. I have also seen the backs of stamps used as a value ledger, with the back of the stamp just about full of writing like the image above. Left side catalogue year. The right side, the catalogue value. Of course with all that writing on the back, the value was nullified.

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cdj1122
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..

04 Oct 2020
02:59:53am
re: Why??

" .... Fortunately, this does not happen much anymore, but up until the mid- to late-1970s, a number of people (mostly men) entered the hobby for the first time. ...."

Yes for about fifty years the hobby was full of "Investors" (a la Joseph Granville ) who actually were the cause of the Mint-Never in the same room as a hinge, matched plate block craze. Today, thanks to them there are still unsold reserves of MNH sheets being sold as discount postage at just about every show and stampstore I have ever visited.

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".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
londonbus1
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04 Oct 2020
09:05:17am
re: Why??

"Writing on reverse side of stamp. Why ?"

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sheepshanks
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04 Oct 2020
09:16:48am
re: Why??

For myself I abhor even a pencilled number on the reverse, can cope with a hinge or hinge mark but hate those numbers, some of which are now incorrect as catalogues have changed over the years.
Even the softest of erasers (rubbers for the UK readers)will damage the paper.

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philb
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04 Oct 2020
10:01:50am

Auctions
re: Why??

Some of it may have been for trading purposes..when exchanging stamps stamps by mail.

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FrequentFlyer
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04 Oct 2020
12:19:07pm
re: Why??

It looks to me like the collector who wrote on the stamps was knowledgeable enough to identify the stamps using a Scott catalog. The numbers and descriptive info match corresponding Iceland Scott numbers and descriptions.


Why? My guess is that the person did not mount his/her stamps in an album but had enough of them that he/she could not remember the data for each, hence the writing on the reverse to avoid having to re-search the catalog for an item at some point in the future.

Writing on the back of used stamps is not a crime, however, doing so in anything other than pencil is not considered good collecting practice, and as noted by some above, even pencil notes are verboten. It is just the way some people collect and we need to let it go.

FF

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DannyS
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04 Oct 2020
09:37:14pm
re: Why??

We may jeer but we are in a hobby with MNH and MH where logic on aging stamps would point towards the removal of gum being in the best interests of condition.

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HockeyNut
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05 Oct 2020
06:08:42am
re: Why??

I found an earlier discussion on this board here :

https://stamporama.com/discboard/disc_main.php?action=20&id=5993


I personally also think that there should be no notes on the back of a stamp.
An exception to this are the expertise stamps, which is common in Germany.
Image Not Found
Certified by Dr Stein and Tust

Today, however, more and more certificates and "kurz-befunden" are issued.

Image Not Found

Image Not Found

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philatelia
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05 Oct 2020
03:11:50pm
re: Why??

My mantra - first do no harm!

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"August 2023 - selling penny start bargain lots on EBay - https://www.ebay.com/str/philatelia"

www.ebay.com/str/philatelia
BenFranklin1902
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Tom in Exton, PA

22 Oct 2020
08:42:01pm
re: Why??

In a postage lot I bought once was a run of 1950s plate blocks that each had the Scott number written n pen on the selvage.

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Author/Postings
Members Picture
vjones48

There is brilliance in simplicity
03 Oct 2020
11:16:16am

Found hundreds of these in a box lot purchase.I can understand a penciled
Scott number but not this. Why would anyone spend so much time doing all
this on the back of stamps and in what appears to be a fine felt tip pen?
Must of had a lot of time on their hands.

CryingImage Not Found

Like
Login to Like
this post

" The Devil is in the details"
Brechinite

03 Oct 2020
11:23:03am

re: Why??

Unfortunately there are a few numbskulls in the world.

I recently bought some British Commonwealth First Day covers from the 1960's. Half of them had been put in ring binders. Not in plastic pockets but having holes punched in them!!!!

Like
Login to Like
this post

"Gonnae no dae that!..........Just gonnae no!"
Members Picture
AGKING

03 Oct 2020
02:09:19pm

re: Why??

ouch- that hurt my soul

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joshtanski

03 Oct 2020
05:16:17pm

re: Why??

Ugh...

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DavidG

APS member since 2004
03 Oct 2020
07:07:56pm

re: Why??

Question from Josh: Why??

Answer: from your local stamp dealer....

We still see the very odd item like this at the shop. Fortunately, this does not happen much anymore, but up until the mid- to late-1970s, a number of people (mostly men) entered the hobby for the first time.

1. They never read a book about "How To Collect Stamps".

2. They never went to a stamp club or met with a fellow collector.

3. They never read a stamp collecting magazine or Newspaper like Canadian Stamp News, Linn's Stamp News, etc.

4. They had no concept of condition, or preserving what they had for furure generations.

5. They did think they were going to get rich.

Fortunately, most of them are long gone, and the average person entering the hobby to-day really does read-up (on-line perhaps) and gets the fundamentals of the hobby.

David Giles
Chris Green Stamps
Ottawa, Ont, Canada

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"President, The Society for Costa Rica Collectors"
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psgStamper

03 Oct 2020
07:17:46pm

re: Why??

Remember... it is a hobby and different strokes for different folks. If a person wants to drop a couple of hundred thousand on an inverted Jenny and put it in his album with scotch tape... that's his perogative! Laughing

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Members Picture
StampCollector

03 Oct 2020
07:47:40pm

Approvals

re: Why??

"If a person wants to drop a couple of hundred thousand on an inverted Jenny and put it in his album with scotch tape... that's his perogative! Laughing"



Not only is he a bad collector, also a lousy investor.
Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.

colnect.com/en/colle ...
michael78651

03 Oct 2020
10:10:34pm

re: Why??

I have seen plenty of that through the years. I have also seen the backs of stamps used as a value ledger, with the back of the stamp just about full of writing like the image above. Left side catalogue year. The right side, the catalogue value. Of course with all that writing on the back, the value was nullified.

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.

Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
04 Oct 2020
02:59:53am

re: Why??

" .... Fortunately, this does not happen much anymore, but up until the mid- to late-1970s, a number of people (mostly men) entered the hobby for the first time. ...."

Yes for about fifty years the hobby was full of "Investors" (a la Joseph Granville ) who actually were the cause of the Mint-Never in the same room as a hinge, matched plate block craze. Today, thanks to them there are still unsold reserves of MNH sheets being sold as discount postage at just about every show and stampstore I have ever visited.

Like
Login to Like
this post

".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
Members Picture
londonbus1

04 Oct 2020
09:05:17am

re: Why??

"Writing on reverse side of stamp. Why ?"

Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
sheepshanks

04 Oct 2020
09:16:48am

re: Why??

For myself I abhor even a pencilled number on the reverse, can cope with a hinge or hinge mark but hate those numbers, some of which are now incorrect as catalogues have changed over the years.
Even the softest of erasers (rubbers for the UK readers)will damage the paper.

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
Members Picture
philb

04 Oct 2020
10:01:50am

Auctions

re: Why??

Some of it may have been for trading purposes..when exchanging stamps stamps by mail.

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.

"And every hair is measured like every grain of sand"
Members Picture
FrequentFlyer

04 Oct 2020
12:19:07pm

re: Why??

It looks to me like the collector who wrote on the stamps was knowledgeable enough to identify the stamps using a Scott catalog. The numbers and descriptive info match corresponding Iceland Scott numbers and descriptions.


Why? My guess is that the person did not mount his/her stamps in an album but had enough of them that he/she could not remember the data for each, hence the writing on the reverse to avoid having to re-search the catalog for an item at some point in the future.

Writing on the back of used stamps is not a crime, however, doing so in anything other than pencil is not considered good collecting practice, and as noted by some above, even pencil notes are verboten. It is just the way some people collect and we need to let it go.

FF

Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
DannyS

04 Oct 2020
09:37:14pm

re: Why??

We may jeer but we are in a hobby with MNH and MH where logic on aging stamps would point towards the removal of gum being in the best interests of condition.

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
Members Picture
HockeyNut

05 Oct 2020
06:08:42am

re: Why??

I found an earlier discussion on this board here :

https://stamporama.com/discboard/disc_main.php?action=20&id=5993


I personally also think that there should be no notes on the back of a stamp.
An exception to this are the expertise stamps, which is common in Germany.
Image Not Found
Certified by Dr Stein and Tust

Today, however, more and more certificates and "kurz-befunden" are issued.

Image Not Found

Image Not Found

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Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
philatelia

05 Oct 2020
03:11:50pm

re: Why??

My mantra - first do no harm!

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2 Members
like this post.
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"August 2023 - selling penny start bargain lots on EBay - https://www.ebay.com/str/philatelia"

www.ebay.com/str/phi ...
Members Picture
BenFranklin1902

Tom in Exton, PA
22 Oct 2020
08:42:01pm

re: Why??

In a postage lot I bought once was a run of 1950s plate blocks that each had the Scott number written n pen on the selvage.

Like
Login to Like
this post

"Check out my eBay Stuff! Username Turtles-Trading-Post"
        

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