Well, your quest to have a "complete" collection of DWI will certainly be easier.
For what it's worth, gaining full appreciation for the vagaries of the Danish printing process is, to me, not a "hassle". In actuality, it's like a treasure hunt.
-Paul
I appreciate your opinion and I will probably go there at some point - just not right now. I'll get the basic collection and then will probably branch out. Right now I have enough to handle with the early Ireland overprints, early US stamps with all the differences inherent in the early Washington and Franklin stamps and the Russian BoB stuff. But, you're right, after I complete the basic DWI collection I'm sure I will go for the varieties. It's hard for me to leave a job half done!
Hi, Harvey!
I specialize in DWI -- as Paul said, it should be a fairly inexpensive for you to put together a nice collection if all the varieties are left out. Are you going the canceled or mint route? Or both? If you'd like some assistance, contact me via PM anytime! Have fun!!
Thanks Sean, if I need help or advice I will definitely get in touch. This is a brand new area for me so I'm going to keep it simple for a while. I have a stamp dealer who I have been dealing with (him and his father) since about 1972. He says he has a fair bit of DWI hanging around, I told him I wanted to avoid varieties for a while. That mainly affects numbers 5 to 28 anyway. He also has most of the Ryukyu islands hanging around on a regular basis and since I am only going to 1955, that should be OK since only a few are pricey. The reason for my 1955 cut off for a lot of countries is that I use Vol 1 - 3 of Scott's international for all countries except for my big 4 - Canada, US, Russia and Poland. Thanks for the advice, I'll probably start expanding DWI when I have most of the rest.
That's great! When you have time, post your findings if you wouldn't mind!! Just an FYI, DWI bi-colors are often misidentified, which is how I find a lot of tough stamps (if its a dealer friend, though, I let him/her know). There are also a lot of fakes of the postage dues, with some looking quite similar to the real issues. I'll post some this week so that you can see the differences. Right now Hipstamp is loaded with them...even though I've let them know they are fake and how to spot them...
For DWI here's my starting position, i.e. the ones I have now:
Danish West Indies: Have: (NOT doing a,b,c,etc. yet) 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 15, 17 – 19, 21, 27, 31 – 35
J1, 2, 4, 5 – 8
So, I have a fairly modest starting point. I also have a collection of spares which might have some of the color and frame varieties represented - time will tell!
As most collectors do, I have a substantial want list for all areas I collect.
I've decided to expand my US collection to two more "protectorates", The Danish West Indies and the Ryukyu islands. The second one is quite simple because, since I'm using my normal 1955 cut off, it only includes the first 34 stamps and some postage dues. For DWI I decided to wimp out and not include any a,b,c,etc. varieties so I don't have to look for all the color shades and the inverted frame. I'm wondering if anyone else decided to do this, or am I the only wimp out there? I used my own discretion and decided I didn't need the hassle!!!
re: DWI and The Ryukyu Islands
Well, your quest to have a "complete" collection of DWI will certainly be easier.
For what it's worth, gaining full appreciation for the vagaries of the Danish printing process is, to me, not a "hassle". In actuality, it's like a treasure hunt.
-Paul
re: DWI and The Ryukyu Islands
I appreciate your opinion and I will probably go there at some point - just not right now. I'll get the basic collection and then will probably branch out. Right now I have enough to handle with the early Ireland overprints, early US stamps with all the differences inherent in the early Washington and Franklin stamps and the Russian BoB stuff. But, you're right, after I complete the basic DWI collection I'm sure I will go for the varieties. It's hard for me to leave a job half done!
re: DWI and The Ryukyu Islands
Hi, Harvey!
I specialize in DWI -- as Paul said, it should be a fairly inexpensive for you to put together a nice collection if all the varieties are left out. Are you going the canceled or mint route? Or both? If you'd like some assistance, contact me via PM anytime! Have fun!!
re: DWI and The Ryukyu Islands
Thanks Sean, if I need help or advice I will definitely get in touch. This is a brand new area for me so I'm going to keep it simple for a while. I have a stamp dealer who I have been dealing with (him and his father) since about 1972. He says he has a fair bit of DWI hanging around, I told him I wanted to avoid varieties for a while. That mainly affects numbers 5 to 28 anyway. He also has most of the Ryukyu islands hanging around on a regular basis and since I am only going to 1955, that should be OK since only a few are pricey. The reason for my 1955 cut off for a lot of countries is that I use Vol 1 - 3 of Scott's international for all countries except for my big 4 - Canada, US, Russia and Poland. Thanks for the advice, I'll probably start expanding DWI when I have most of the rest.
re: DWI and The Ryukyu Islands
That's great! When you have time, post your findings if you wouldn't mind!! Just an FYI, DWI bi-colors are often misidentified, which is how I find a lot of tough stamps (if its a dealer friend, though, I let him/her know). There are also a lot of fakes of the postage dues, with some looking quite similar to the real issues. I'll post some this week so that you can see the differences. Right now Hipstamp is loaded with them...even though I've let them know they are fake and how to spot them...
re: DWI and The Ryukyu Islands
For DWI here's my starting position, i.e. the ones I have now:
Danish West Indies: Have: (NOT doing a,b,c,etc. yet) 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 15, 17 – 19, 21, 27, 31 – 35
J1, 2, 4, 5 – 8
So, I have a fairly modest starting point. I also have a collection of spares which might have some of the color and frame varieties represented - time will tell!
As most collectors do, I have a substantial want list for all areas I collect.