Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
I’ll post around 25 pages per post, here is the first group…
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I know nothing about the Hermes heads but presentation is nice. I have played with the reverse text (dark background with white text).
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Impressive! I do miss some guidance here, like an explanation of why most stamps are collected in such numbers. Are they all, one way or another, different?
Colour difference is relatively easy to spot, but other than that...
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Greek Hermes heads (Grece’s first stamps) came in a number of different printings that span over 20 years. Even the very first stamps in the period between 1861 and 1862 came from two different printings; the Paris printing and the Athens printing. For the large Hermes Heads design there were 10 different printings. (These printings are called out in the pages above.)
In some ways, Herme Heads can be as daunting as the US Washington/Franklins or the Great Britain machins to properly ID. While there were indeed color differences between some of the printings, I generally would not recommend that this be used except in cases where primary colors are different. In cases of subtle color deltas we should remember that seeing color is 100% subjective with many, many additional factors (ink and paper colors change over time, ambient lighting, etc.) coming into play. Imagine if we tried to differentiate stamp gum types by taste; like vision, another sensory perception.
Given the significant differences in values of these Greek stamps, it is worth spending a bit of time learning how to ID them. In this respect, especially if person wants to build a good Greek collection, having a good number of stamps for reference can be extremely helpful.
I always start my Hermes Head ID process by looking at the back of the stamp for control marks. I find that the control number are the best ‘first pass filter’ for quickly narrowing which printing the stamp might come from. Here is a control number guide which might help folks getting started on the large Herme Heads.
Of course control numbers are just the first step, additional ID gets into of paper type and some design differences.
If there is interest, I can post some additional ID images which outlines how to properly ID these stamps.
Don
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Excellent presentation and a great help to the Greece Hermes collector.
Now I feel I am much better equipped to tackle this. In the past, I have avoided actively looking for my collection missing stamps, and just "inherited" more Hermes, as part of lots or accidental finds.
This may change now.
I will be using this instead of Scott to ID my stamps.
Thanks again
rrr...
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"If there is interest, I can post some additional ID images which outlines how to properly ID these stamps.
Don"
Yes please Don, if it is not too much work
Rrr...
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Below are a few of the English language pages that I have pulled from this book (one of the best Hermes Head identification guides I have found)...
Don
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Amazing collection! Thanks for sharing. I also agree with the comments of others - a great reference since the Hermes stamps are hard to categorize. I will look into my small "collection" and hope to bring some order using the information shared here.
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Someone mentioned in passing to me the other day that they thought I was mostly a postal history collector. I greatly enjoy both stamp collecting and the postal history aspect or our hobby. I still have my 16 Volumes Scott International albums from the 1970s along with a number of specialized stamp albums along side of my postal history albums. My Early Greece specialize album contains both postal history and stamps so I thought I would share it here. This group has material originally collected by noted Greece collector/author Robert O. Truman. It has over 2000 Hermes head stamps, I am far from an expert on this era, and these can be a daunting area of study. By posting these pages, I hope it helps other as a visual guide.
I’ll post around 25 pages per post, here is the first group…
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re: Greece: Hermes Heads And Other Classical Era Greek Material
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re: Greece: Hermes Heads And Other Classical Era Greek Material
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re: Greece: Hermes Heads And Other Classical Era Greek Material
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re: Greece: Hermes Heads And Other Classical Era Greek Material
I know nothing about the Hermes heads but presentation is nice. I have played with the reverse text (dark background with white text).
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re: Greece: Hermes Heads And Other Classical Era Greek Material
Impressive! I do miss some guidance here, like an explanation of why most stamps are collected in such numbers. Are they all, one way or another, different?
Colour difference is relatively easy to spot, but other than that...
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re: Greece: Hermes Heads And Other Classical Era Greek Material
Greek Hermes heads (Grece’s first stamps) came in a number of different printings that span over 20 years. Even the very first stamps in the period between 1861 and 1862 came from two different printings; the Paris printing and the Athens printing. For the large Hermes Heads design there were 10 different printings. (These printings are called out in the pages above.)
In some ways, Herme Heads can be as daunting as the US Washington/Franklins or the Great Britain machins to properly ID. While there were indeed color differences between some of the printings, I generally would not recommend that this be used except in cases where primary colors are different. In cases of subtle color deltas we should remember that seeing color is 100% subjective with many, many additional factors (ink and paper colors change over time, ambient lighting, etc.) coming into play. Imagine if we tried to differentiate stamp gum types by taste; like vision, another sensory perception.
Given the significant differences in values of these Greek stamps, it is worth spending a bit of time learning how to ID them. In this respect, especially if person wants to build a good Greek collection, having a good number of stamps for reference can be extremely helpful.
I always start my Hermes Head ID process by looking at the back of the stamp for control marks. I find that the control number are the best ‘first pass filter’ for quickly narrowing which printing the stamp might come from. Here is a control number guide which might help folks getting started on the large Herme Heads.
Of course control numbers are just the first step, additional ID gets into of paper type and some design differences.
If there is interest, I can post some additional ID images which outlines how to properly ID these stamps.
Don
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re: Greece: Hermes Heads And Other Classical Era Greek Material
Excellent presentation and a great help to the Greece Hermes collector.
Now I feel I am much better equipped to tackle this. In the past, I have avoided actively looking for my collection missing stamps, and just "inherited" more Hermes, as part of lots or accidental finds.
This may change now.
I will be using this instead of Scott to ID my stamps.
Thanks again
rrr...
Login to Like
this post
Approvals
re: Greece: Hermes Heads And Other Classical Era Greek Material
"If there is interest, I can post some additional ID images which outlines how to properly ID these stamps.
Don"
Yes please Don, if it is not too much work
Rrr...
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this post
re: Greece: Hermes Heads And Other Classical Era Greek Material
Below are a few of the English language pages that I have pulled from this book (one of the best Hermes Head identification guides I have found)...
Don
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re: Greece: Hermes Heads And Other Classical Era Greek Material
Amazing collection! Thanks for sharing. I also agree with the comments of others - a great reference since the Hermes stamps are hard to categorize. I will look into my small "collection" and hope to bring some order using the information shared here.
Login to Like
this post