Nearly Complete Scott "Blue" Up For Auction (Again)

This appears to be a re-listing by HR Harmer of the collection that didn't sell last December. I say "appears" as what was originally described as complete is now "virtually every space filled." It is still estimated at $15-$20K. The collection is part of their Sale G196, March 27-28, 2009, lot 2225. Here is the description:

"STUNNING WORLDWIDE COLLECTION 1840-1940 housed in an expanded four volume Scott International albums representing one collector's lifetime labor of love which is evident not only by the mere fact that virtually every space is filled, but also in the careful mounting and attention paid to preservation by use of interleaving. Those dealers familiar with the Scott International will remember that this album does not provide spaces for the top values of long definitive sets or rarities, however, there are literally dozens upon dozens of complete sets and singles in the $50-$100 range with some much higher. For example better mint include Austria B81-6, China 78, 276-9, Greece C5-7, Iceland 213-15 and C4-8, Malaya - Johore J1-5 and Trengganu J1-4, Mongolia 62-74, St Helena 118-27, St Pierre &: Miquelon J21-31 and Spain 611-14. Better used include Austria 1, Canada 4, 14, 17, 27, 28, 46, 47, Cape of Good Hope 13, Ceylon 1, China 80, Denmark 3, Great Britain 1, 96, 126, Hong Kong 24, Italy 22, 72, Japan 229, Korea 6-9, Netherlands 18, Newfoundland C8, Philippines 213-19, Russia 551-4, 559-68, C53-7, Switzerland 38, United States 1 (red grid cancel), 2 (faint pen cancel), 69, 71, 72 SE, 76, 78, 112, 113, 115, 116, 117, 119, 240, 242, 291, 294-9, C1-6, C18, Q1-12, and much, much more. Remember, virtually every space is filled making this a philatelic accomplishment that would be difficult to duplicate if not impossible. Condition is little mixed in areas, though the vast majority are useful and Fine to Very Fine. We can say without fear of contradiction that it will be a long, long time before you see another collection with this level of completion. Truly, an exceptional collection!" (From http://www.hrharmer.com/sales/196/G196_07.html#Anchor-2224)

Scott Brown International 1939-40

This is a revised followup to airpostman's comment on the Brown Internationals (February 21, 2009 8:28 PM). I remember reading somewhere that Scott never published a Brown International for 1939-40 and it was Vintage Reproductions, the company that brought the Brown Internationals back in print, that was responsible for filling in the missing two years.

According to an email, Vintage Reproductions believes they were "the first to compile the years 1937 1/2 through the relatively ragged interface with Scott International (blue) II (1940-45). The [company] found some hints that supplements to the Brown series were published by Scott, but [being unable to locate them, built their own]."

I had forgotten I had an image off of eBay displaying the title page for 1939-1940 (click the image to enlarge):


The title page states: "Contains spaces for every major variety of Postage Stamp issued by any Government in the World during the years 1939-1940, which have been listed for the first time in the 1941 Edition of the Standard Postage Stamp Catalog."

In any event, Subway now owns the rights for these reproductions and sells the pages for 1939-1940 for $164.80.

[Update 3/23/09: The 1941 Scott catalog contains an advertisement for "Annual Albums." According to the ad, "these annual albums are complete units providing spaces for all new stamps issued during the corresponding catalogue years." The ones listed are 1934-35, 1935-36, 1936-37, 1937-38, and 1938-39. On another page is an ad for the "Brown" International series. The last volume listed was No. 5, 20th Century section, part IV, and covers September 1934 through August 1938.]

[Update 6/2011: I have a copy of the 20th Century Part Four volume, copyright 1942, which I believe was the last printing. The title page states "Contains spaces for every variety of Postage Stmp, (omitting differences of perforations) issued by any Government in the world, during the years 1934 to 1939 as listed in the 1942 Edition of the Standard Catalogue." Interestingly, even though the title page says 1939 there are no stamps later than 1938. I don't have a copy of the 1942 Scott Catalogue, but the 1941 edition does include many stamps from 1940 if not all. So there is no obvious reason why the Brown Volume Four stopped somewhere in 1938, the title page to the contrary.]

Fiji Key-Plates & other Stamp Collecting Gotchas

I realize that the emphasis of this blog so far has been on the mechanics of collecting rather than on the stamps themselves. I promise this is not from a lack of interest in philately but rather that the kinds of comments I might make are already regularly published in most every issue of Linns, Scott Monthly, the APS Journal, etc. (As an aside, subscribers to either Linns or the Scott Monthly have recently been given access to the digital editions of both publications--now there's a bargain and a good incentive for subscribing even with the current economy!)

Speaking of the Scott Monthly, the April 2009 issue has an article by APS President Janet Klug titled "Collecting challenges abound among Fiji's key-plate stamps." In two pages, she presents some handy tips on differentiating the Edward VII and George V issues (and noting that higher values were often used as revenue stamps) as well as covering the history of early Fiji issues. Inspired by the article, I decided to check my Fiji stamps and sure enough either or I or the previous owner of my International had an Edward VIIth stamp (one of "the baldies") misplaced among the George V issues. This led me to consult the Scott Classics Catalogue so I could pencil in numbers for the Fiji issues I'm missing. This in turn alerted me that a couple of the pictorials weren't right either. It seems that the 1 1/2p, Scott 119 with an empty boat, and 2p, Scott 120 with no 180 degree mark, from 1938-40 were reissued with design changes in the 1940s, Scott 132 and 133 respectively. (A small consolation is that Scott 133 is worth more than the 120 but that's still no excuse for having it in the wrong space.)




The point of this is that I'm invariably sitting on the couch, working with two open albums, transferring stamps from one to another, and juggling collecting paraphernalia such as hinges, mounts, tongs, magnifying glass, etc. Trying to keep the Scott catalog open at the same time goes beyond both my dexterity and available space. So for obviously convoluted issues (e.g., the US Washington Franklin Heads Bureau Issues or the Austrian Franz Joseph definitives 1890-1904) that often can't be identified by the cut or descriptions in the International album), I mark the page with a post-it note so I can come back catalog in hand. But my hope has been that in most cases it should be obvious in what space a stamp belongs. Even relatively simple Fiji shows that I may have been deceiving myself. But if it were easy, everybody would have a filled Blue International on their bookshelves right next to their complete State Quarter Collection. (At least I think I've got the quarters in the correct slots.)

Postscript: Austrian Stamps and their Background 1850-1937 by Marian Carne Zinsmeister is helpful on sorting out stamps of this country. By way of example, the book offers this note on distinguishing the Scott 86-105 sequence of Emperor Franz Josef regular issues: "(A-19) numerals colored in white circle, (A-20) numerals (colored in 1906 and 1907 issues, black in 1904 issue) on white square; (A-21) numerals white on colored hexagon." Fortunately the International ignores varnish bars and perforations. Zinsmeister provides similar helpful summaries for other issues.

As noted elsewhere in this blog, a great resource for sorting out the Washington Franklin issues is: http://www.1847usa.com/washfrank/washfrankmain.htm

Country Musical Chairs

I don't know why it should be so difficult for me to identify the differences in coverage between the 1947 Blue and later versions. Actually, I suppose I do know and it is a combination of factors:

1) Most vexing is that some of the early Scott "table of contents" are in the order that countries appear in the album making comparisons more difficult with those albums that are in strict alphabetical order. For example, in the 1947 through at least the 1969 editions, Cochin China falls between British Honduras and Brunei. Many times the countries that are out of order occur because Scott has saved space by placing multiple countries with only a few issues on the same page. I believe when Scott switched to 4 parts (and perhaps even earlier when the 2-part version was released), all of the pages were put in alphabetical sequence. However, the multiple countries that previously were on a single page are the most likely to have been dropped in the multi-part versions.

2) Names of countries have changed: most famously, Siam is now Thailand and Abyssinia is Ethiopia. More obscure for most of us are countries like Belgian East Africa in the 1947 edition becoming East Ruanda-Urundi by 1969.

3) There is at least one transliteration change: Corea in the 1947 version is Korea in later editions.

4) Offices, occupations, states and other political changes can be problematic. For example, Columbia in the 1947 version originally included Bolivar, Boyaca and Cundinamarca that are missing in the 1969 version. All of the Columbian States are left out of the latest 4-part version!

I recently purchased a 1947 Blue which contained the countries A-E plus US. Here are the non-US differences between that version, the 1969 edition, and part 1-A of the 4 part latest edition. (As I only have part 1-A, it is not impossible that some countries noted as missing below might be in one of the 3 other parts.)

ANJOUAN - The country is in the 1947 version, but is missing in the 1969 and 4-part versions.

BADEN - in 1947, missing in 1969 and 4-part versions.
BRUNSWICK - in 1947, missing in 1969 and 4-part versions.
BERGEDORF - in 1947, missing in 1969 and 4-part versions.
BREMEN - in 1947, missing in 1969 and 4-part versions.

All four of the above German States are on the same page in the 1947 version.

CARINTHIA - in 1947, missing in 1969 and 4-part versions.

CHINA - 1947 version has a page for Offices Abroad (31 stamps) that is missing in the 1969 and 4-part versions.

CILICIA - In 1947 and 1969 but not in the 4-part version.

COLUMBIA - 1947 version has pages for Bolivar, Boyaca and Cundinamarca that are missing in the 1969 version. None of the States are in the latest 4-part version which ignores Antioquia, Santander, Santander Cucuta, and Tolima in addition to Bolivar, Boyaca and Cundinamarca.

COOK ISLANDS - This really doesn't belong here because the Cook Islands are represented in all versions, but for the record, the 1969 and 4-part versions are missing an entire page (37 stamps) that is in the 1947 version.

DALMATIA - in 1947, missing in 1969 and 4-part versions. In 1947 Dalmatia was on the same page as the end of Cyprus and all of Diego Suarez but before Cyrenaica.

EASTERN RUMELIA - in 1947, missing in 1969 and 4-part. In the 1947 version, Eastern Rumelia, Elobey/Annobon/Corisco and the first part of Curacao are all on the same page.

EASTERN SILESI - in 1947, missing in 1969 and 4-part versions.

[Update 2-17-09: Although outside the A-E span, the page for Hamburg, Hanover and Heligoland in the the 1947 is missing in the 1969 version.]

So this means the current 4-part version, although reportedly more complete than the 2-part, is still missing entire countries that were in the single part versions through 1969.

The Error World: An Affair with Stamps

I've been anxious to read Simon Garfield's book since it appeared last year in England to favorable reviews in philatelic and non-philatelic publications on both sides of the Atlantic. My only trepidation was the author's main stamp collecting focus of modern British errors--specifically, missing colors and design elements. I had succumbed to a similar interest with modern U.S. errors decades ago which lasted perhaps six months. Admittedly, Garfield's errors were the much more elusive stamps while mine were only "oddities" such as miss-registrations and erratic perforations. Fortunately, while the error-related parts of the book are interesting, they comprise a comparatively small part of the book. In fact, there is a goodly amount of non-stamp material, although most of it collecting related, ranging from David Hockney prints to antique Jags.

What I enjoyed most were the observations and characterizations of our beloved hobby. Some were personal: "My children though stamp collecting both strange and perverse, and inevitably used that same phrase they employ to describe anyone over twenty-five in trainers and into rap music: 'Sad.'" (Page 11)

Others were from professionals. A dealer described a collection of worldwide stamps "with a phrase that put a chill around my heart. He called them 'mostly small nothing stamps.'" (page 71) Now that's 'sad.'

Any "Blue" International stamp collector will recognize him/herself in passages throughout this book. A quick, entertaining and informative read.

My Scott International Album Wishlist from Santa (Part 2)

Christmas is rapidly approaching, so I better get the rest of my Blue International wishlist into the mail to Old Saint Nick.

5. Restore stamps dropped in later revisions

There are literally hundreds of stamps that were in the 1947 version that disappeared when Volume 1 was split into two parts. Some of these were restored in the four part version, but there are still ones missing. While many of these are Back-of-the-Book issues, some are later regular issues and commemoratives.

An example of an entire page that has gone AWOL is the one containing 33 spaces covering Austrian Military stamps from 1915-1917 (K.U.K. FELDPOST). The page was in the 1947 edition but had disappeared by 1969 and wasn't restored in the 2008 reprint.

6. Give the Indian Convention States Their Own Spaces

Scott departs from providing for specific stamps in the Convention States of India instead giving collectors a single page labeled at the top

INDIA Stamps of British India overprinted for use in the Convention States Chama Faridkot Gwalior Jhind Nabha Patiala

The page is blank below these headings. I think Scott intended that stamps for the States be mounted in rows vertically below the appropriate headings.

By Palmer's calculation there are some 250 inexpensive Convention States that a collector might acquire that deserve to have their own pages. With some work, I bet most of these could be accommodated in just two pages front and back.

At one time Scott treated the so-called Feudatory States the same way, but by the 1947 edition, at least, the larger of these had their own identified spaces. However, there are easily acquired Feudatory States stamps that also deserve better coverage.

7. Add inexpensive stamps that have never been in the Blue International

There are well over a thousand stamps that fall within the scope of the International but, for whatever, reason never made it into the album. In a few cases, the omissions are perplexing: for example, why are there no spaces for the omnibus 1935 British Coronation issues for Ascension, Barbados, Gilbert & Ellice Islands, Mauritius, St. Helena and the Solomon Islands?

The largest concentrations of missing issues according to Palmer's study are from Austria, China, Columbia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Turkey. Some of these were originally in the 1947 edition; others have never been blessed with a space.

8. Remove stamps that are no longer in the Scott Catalog

Perhaps a few dozen stamps that were in the Scott Catalogs when the Internationals were originally published are no longer given catalog numbers. According to Palmer, this includes Armenia's 1920 pictorials, Latvia's 1919 Russian Occupation issue, Spain's 1928-1938 Postal Tax Stamps (?), Ukraine's 1920 pictorials, and the Upper Silesia 1921 Occupation issues (?). Since none of these are particularly expensive, removing them might not be worth the trouble although the process might free up space for missing issues that are in the catalog.

9. Add Scott Catalog Numbers to every cut or description

If this list were in priority order, putting a Scott number with every stamp would be right after keeping the album in print. One of the frustrations with the Internationals is that too many of the descriptions and sometimes even the cuts are inadequate to accurately identify the correct stamp. Even with the Scott catalog, you occasionally are playing a guessing game with the editors. This seems to me to be a win-win scenario for Scott because even knowing the Scott numbers, you'll still need to have their catalog.

Albums with catalog numbers has been done before. Later editions of the Minkus Master and Supreme Global albums incorporated Minkus catalog numbers for every stamps. Even Scott included numbers in their short lived Grand Award world album and in some of their Speciality Albums.

I bet Scott no longer has any record of which stamps are in the International. If the company is interested in correcting mistakes, adding or restoring missing issues, etc., they are going to need to perform this process internally, any way.

If it is too expensive to add catalog numbers to all of the International pages, what about including a notation directly in the Scott Classics Catalog? An advantage of this approach is that it would be easier to change numbers in the catalog than in the album. For example, a notation e.g. [I] could be added directly to the listings themselves:

6 A3 3s red & silver [I] 15.00 2.75

If Scott doesn't want to muddle their catalog entries, perhaps the information could be included in an Appendix. Depending upon the formatting, this would also take care of the tenth item on my wishlist. I would even forgive them if they wanted to publish the listing separately to help defray the cost.

10. Give Collectors a Checklist

As long as I am wishing for the moon, what about publishing a checklist that would make it a breeze to maintain our wantlists, collection inventory, etc.? Ideally, this would be online a la Stanley Gibbon's My Collection service, but I'm easy.

11. Add British Commonwealth Stamps 1940-1952

This would further bring the Blue International into parity with the Classic Specialized Catalogue, and, I would hazard, not be difficult or expensive for Scott to accomplish. After all, the required pages already exist in the International Volume 2 and 3s (although some of the pages in Volume 3 probably include post-1952 issues). One big argument against this: if Scott puts these issues in Volume 1, what do you do about collectors who have no interest in pre-1940 stamps and start with Volume 2 or 3? (And collectors with all 3 volumes would have duplicate pages.)

But I'm certain Santa can work all that out.

My Scott International Album Wishlist from Santa (Part 1)

I was reading the impressive list of changes in the 2009 edition of the Scott Classics Catalogue, and was reminded how far each year Scott goes beyond simply updating prices. According to the press release, the 2009 edition "boasts an additional 23 pages due to a number of important editorial enhancements. Listings for Canadian Semi-Official Air Post stamps have been added....In Puerto Rico, forerunners have been added....New major numbers have been added in Afghanistan, Queensland, Rhodesia and Tasmania....Very significant numbers of new minor listings are evident in United States, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, French Offices in China, Great Britain, Spain, Tasmania and Victoria."

Considering Scott's commitment to classic stamp collecting evidenced by this and previous years' enhancements, I started to think how wonderful it would be if the company devoted at least some of its expertise to improving the landmark album with equivalent coverage--yes, I'm taking about the Scott Blue International Volume One! The "Blue" will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2014. So in that spirit, here are suggestions for changes that Scott might consider implementing over the next six years. Many of these would be inexpensive for Scott to make, although some would involve fairly large revisions.

Arthur Palmer Jr.'s "Study of omissions made in the last revision of Scott's Internaional Postage Stamp Album" was invaluable in preparing this wishlist.

1. Keep Volume One in Print in Perpetuity

Kudos to Scott for bringing back all four parts of Volume One which have been out-of-print for years at a time. Of course, I wish they hadn't increased the price, but at least the complete album is once again available, hopefully this time for good. Now, if they make the improvements I'm suggesting, then price increases would be easier to swallow.

2. Nuke the handful of excessively expensive stamps that are outside the album's scope

The Blue Internationals were originally aimed at aspiring collectors with the focus of providing, to quote from the title page, "for a representative collection...of the varieties ordinarily found in most collections and blank spaces for such rare stamps as may be acquired." What was once common and inexpensive is not necessarily so today, but, in my opinion we're still not talking about much that would deter a serious collector.

And Scott's reasoning for providing spaces for a few stamps that have always been comparatively expensive is understandable. Surely every collector aspires to have Great Britain's Penny Black, the first stamp issued, and every U.S. collector, at least, the 5c 1847 Franklin, our inaugural issue.

In a couple of cases, though, I believe Scott slipped in stamps that cannot be justified. One of these is the 10c 1847 Washington. This was not in the original Internationals but was added in the 1964 or 1969 revision. Although readily attainable, Scott #2 is probably the most expensive stamp in the album. Even a space filler will run you hundreds of dollars. And, if you've been reading my blog, you already know about the scarcest stamp in the album, Syria 106a, that absolutely has no business being part of the volume. It would be easy for Scott to eliminate these by removing the cut or description and leaving the existing space blank. That way should the collector obtain either stamp, he or she can still add it. But the rest of us won't feel it incumbent to fill the space.

3. Bring the scope of coverage for the United States in conformity with other countries

Scott provides spaces for U.S. Back-of-the-Book categories that it doesn't include anywhere else in the album: envelope cut squares and hunting permit stamps are the most obvious examples. (I could also have used the hunting permit stamps as examples in #2 supra--Sam Houston Duck Company charges $400 for used copies of these admittedly attractive seven pieces of paper--about the cost of the albums themselves.) Scott has previously done some pruning of its U.S. coverage over the years--the 1947 International included Revenue stamps which are no longer in the latest edition. Fortunately, this is a cheap wish: all Scott has to do is to remove the pages. Which means they can afford to...

4. Add/Restore missing countries

If you compare the "table of contents" of the 1947 Scott International with some subsequent editions, you'll discover whole countries have disappeared. Fortunately, many of these came back when the International was revised into four parts in 1994. The countries that were left out for several decades include Benin, Cochin China, Corfu, Moheli, Obock, Rio de Oro, and Tobago.

In addition, there are some countries that are in the Catalog but have never to my knowledge been in any edition of the album: Cilicia, Dalmatia, Eastern Rumelia, and Eastern Silesia. Plus there are a variety of Chinese Offices, former German States, Roman States, among others which are in the Scott catalog but not in the album. Admittedly, I haven't checked these out carefully--one of my projects for 2009.

TO BE CONTINUED...