News — collector

Currently, you can find millions of things to buy on eBay. From clothing to cologne, it seems anyone can sell almost anything. But listing an item for sale is just the first step in starting a successful business as a seller.  Recently, one of our buyers asked for some tips on how he could start his own store, and we thought the information might be interesting to others: Nik and I started selling stamps about 12+ years ago as a hobby.  Nik had collected since he was a kid.  We started out selling some of his duplicates to pay for...

We wanted to pass along a THEFT ALERT from the American Philatelic Society.  They sent out an email alert to dealer members and we wanted to post it so that others could see it. The text of the email from the APS is as follows:   Stamp Theft alert shared for Lawrence Clement:  Stolen collection of World War ll German occupation  stamps, p to z countries and  Japan/Japanese occupation stamps.  There are many Burma occupation stamps with the peacock overprint including 1N1-3, 1N29 (2 copies), 1N45-6, 1NO1, etc.   The stamps are on hanger pages with 3/4 inch white tape with...

There are many interesting varieties present in Colombian stamps, particularly in the early 1900s.     The following are graphical representations of some of these.   Provisional Surcharges of 1907 on Stamps of 1904: This stamp was printed in sheets of twenty-eight and subsequently the surcharge was applied in 1907.  There are many varieties.  See below for a partial list of noted, consistent plating varieties. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE There are 3 different font types and combinations.  They differ not only in the "UN", but also in the "Cvo" - examples of these different types can be found at the following...

In our last post we showed the two stamps below and indicated the one was a forgery.  The one on the left is the original and the other the forgery. Here are some of the differences that we were able to come up with.  There are numerous others but, we thought these allowed for quick identification.  Take a look and have fun!

While putting together some Mexico listings this past week I came across a grouping of relatively common issues from 1864, depicting Hidalgo... often called the "Juarez Issue".  It is a handsome series, engraved, and perforated 12.  The vast majority exist unused and without overprints and are thus relatively inexpensive.  There are numerous forged cancellations.  What caught my eye though, as I was putting together the lots, was that one of them "didn't look right." Pictured below are two 4 Real Brown side by side.  See how many differences you can come up with.  First, figure out which one is the...