The Philatelic Database – Stamp Archive

By Rail in Japan (1898)

This article gives a fascinating insight into railway activities and life in Japan at the close of the nineteenth century.

Originally published in “The Railway Magazine” in March 1898, the author D.T. Timins looks at what to an occidental eye must have been a very strange place indeed. I note with interest that he felt somewhat “inebriated” after drinking a few cups of green tea.

I hope you enjoy this glimpse into the past. Railway/railroad buffs should find the images of engines and rolling stock of interest…

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Australian Stamp Varieties: Summary of 2006 Australian Issues

What a record breaking year 2006 was for stamp variations! Australia Post marketing exceeded their previous high of 262 in 2005 with a mammoth 352 variations last year. In 2006 they had 29 issues with a total of 215 stamps. Collecting one mint gummed stamp from each issue cost $282.20. This is high because the 3 reprints issues were not sold at face value and the imperf $5 ‘Treasures from the Archives’ could only be obtained in a sheet of 10 stamps. Also contributing were the 4 Commonwealth Games sheetlet issues of 107 stamps. Collecting each of the 2006 variations cost over $1900!
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Stamp Collecting in Indonesia (1976)

This article was originally published in the New Zealand “Stamp Collector”, the official journal of the Royal Philatelic Society of New Zealand (December, 1976).

Almost everyone you meet in Indonesian office or business circles seems to collect stamps. There is keen competition for any stamps arriving on office mail, particularly for attractive pictorials. Not all of these collectors are building up their own collections–there is a steady demand for used stamps from the philatelic trade and many people make money on the side, accumulating and selling stamps. There is a market, too, for unused stamps prised off letters submitted for posting; so it is customary to match your mail being stamped and cancelled before you cave the post office counter.

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Cetinje, Montenegro Via Suez From Mackay, Qld: 1894 Postcard

The Queensland Universal Postal Union 1½d postcard has the ’Rays 33′ on the printed stamp with a MACKAY/ D/ JY 21/94/ QUEENSLAND postmark alongside, as well as a transit BRISBANE/ JY 24/ 94/ QUEENSLAND postmark. In addition there is a transit SUEZ/ A/ 27 ( ) 94, as well as a partial transit of CONSTANTINOPLE (date illegible). The postcard is addressed to Frau Leonie B. Bergner, Citinje (sic), Monte Negro (sic), Europe (Figure 1 below).
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Turkey & Greece Map (1889)

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The Printing of United Nations Stamps (1956)

This interesting article originally appeared in a booklet entitled “United Nations Postage Stamps” published by the United Nations Department of Public Information, New York in 1956.

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Postmen In Other Lands

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Australia: Urunga Post Office, NSW 2455 (2009)

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Germany Map (1921)

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Clarrie King: Putting more fun in Philately

Amongst the many WWII Military covers I’ve handled over the years, occasionally a humorous illustrated cover with the attribution “Clarrie King” would emerge. I noted a number of different cartoon-like illustrations as time went by, but it wasn’t until the 1990s that I made a determined effort to research the series. That decision was ably assisted at the time by the acquisition of an unused “set” of nine “King” illustrated covers. These had apparently been bought in the 1940s by a Philatelist who had decided to retain rather than use them. It appears that there are only the nine types as represented in this acquisition.

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S.S. Wairarapa Shipwreck on Route from Sydney to Auckland 1894

On Monday, October 29, 1894, the S.S. Wairarapa, with more than 230 passengers aboard, besides the crew, crashed on to rocks at Miner’s Head on Great Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand. Captain McIntosh, the master, and initially 134 passengers and crew were quoted as having perished (later figures were higher). The covers rescued from the wreck are rated as rare, and the numbers in existence are probably unknown. Here are 3 examples, and the best example is shown first.

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Air Mail Stamps: Made to Fly

I rather like Air Mail stamps of the world, used on airmail covers (of course), which logically is why they were issued. The sight of the familiar blue and red bordered airmail envelope emits a subliminal message, evoking images of distant, beckoning, exotic places. For me, at least.

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