Stamps On the Web

The parenthetical numerical indicator appending the title marks this as the first in what will be an ongoing feature of my blog, bringing to your attention notable philatelic missives and musings to be found elsewhere on the worldwide web. The first two sites to be covered, here, are polar opposites when it comes to their subject matter. One talks about stamps recommended for investment, while the other concerns stamp issues that can be considered anything but.
The Stampselector blog gives investment tips and buying advice on undervalued and overlooked stamps. Written by Alex Rogolsky, the blog covers stamps from all eras and countries, with catalog values running the gamut, from a couple dollars to over a thousand dollars. In each writeup, Mr. Rogolsky presents his investment thesis starting with a summary of the stamp details – the date, purpose, and quantity produced (when known) – followed by a brief  overview of the issuing country, it’s economy, population, and potential collector base.

A recent issue tipped on Stampselector.com, Kazakhstan, Scott #145.

A recurring theme of his is the recommending of recent stamps of emerging economies, such as Kazakhstan and other former Soviet republics, with printing quantities of 100,000 or less. These issues will benefit from the twin catalysts of a growing middle-class population and concomitant collector base, and the resultant increase of interest from worldwide collectors.

The Stampselector blog is not all about investment and profits, though. Interspersed among the stamp investment tips, you will find general commentary on such subjects as stamp grading, the global financial crisis as it relates to stamps, and philatelic trivia, where you can learn the stories behind the stamps.

Jamaica, Scott #28-31. Recommended by Alex Rogolsky in his Stampselector blog.

Now, nobody is maintaining that investing in stamps is the road to retirement nirvana, and there are those in the collecting community who decry even the thought of profiting from your philatelic pursuits. But, I maintain that even the most stoic of philatelic “purists” derives some pleasure from finding that the catalog value (whether said catalog comes from Messrs. Scott, Gibbons, Michel, or anyone else) of their stamps has increased over the previous year.

Whether your interest lies in stamps as investments, or you want to keep abreast of the worldwide stamp market, or, like me, you simply enjoy reading about stamps, I suggest you give Stampselector a look

If one considers the philatelic spectrum in terms of collectible integrity and respect, with investment quality stamps, such as those discussed in the aforementioned Stampselector blog, sitting near one extreme, then the other end is surely anchored by the infamous 1960s issues of the seven sisters of the Arab world known as the Trucial States – Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujeira, Sharja, Ras al Khaima and Umm al Qaiwain. The stamps of these entities, also known as “sand dune countries,” became the very definition of “philatelic junk.” In the 1970s, to assure prospective customers of the quality of their offerings, dealers would include the phrase, “No trucial states,” or “No sand dunes,” in their classified ads.

Over the intervening decades, attitudes toward these issues seem to have softened a little. Though, perhaps, not commanding the respect of even such exploitative issues as those of the Gambia or Bhutan, there appear to be more than a few collector’s who seek out these issues if only for the historical philatelic aspect of their existence. And R. Howard Courtney has even made it his mission to catalogue all the issues of Dubai, prompted by the 1970’s purchase of an auction lot of stamps, proofs, and printer’s waste,  and having no references by which to make sense of his holdings.

Dubai, Scott #1

Mr Courtney’s web catalogue for Dubai starts with several introductory pages explaining his interest in these issues, and of his associations and communications with the major players involved in the production and marketing of these stamps, particularly with one Michel Stephan, owner of the Baroody Stamp Company, and the one-man “philatelic agency” for the sheikhdom of Dubai. As Mr. Courtney writes, “Mr. Stephan had had a less-than-honorable reputation as a dealer for years and was known to traffic in forged overprints,” so it comes as no surprise to learn that Stephan utilized these same traits when creating stamps for Dubai. No security printers were involved in the production of the stamps, and Stephan and his American agent, Ezzet Mosden, often operated the printing machines themselves, deliberately creating varieties and “errors” that never made their way to Dubai, but were, instead, sold directly to collectors through their own shops.

As you might imagine, in dealing with people of such disrepute, Mr. Courtney’s attempts at gathering the information necessary for his catalogue was also fraught with obfuscation and duplicity. Though Stephan was, ostensibly, open and candid about his operations, Mr. Courtney often found his inquiries answered with vagaries and (let’s call a spade a spade) lies. Mosden, himself, tells of being double-crossed by his good friend, Stephan.

Ken Lawrence is quoted from an article, saying, “…most of the Trucial States issues were chronicled as they appeared, if only to provide grist for acid commentary. But, philatelic scholars avoided gathering comprehensive information about them at the time when it would have been readily available, leaving a large void for today’s researchers,” With his web site, R. Howard Courtney is filling the void in this dark period of philatelic  history.