Patiala #4a

Here is an unusual example of India - Patiala #4a.  Normally the black and red overprints are offset by a millimeter or two, but here they are almost perfectly overlapping.  I had to do a double take and look at it under magnification to make sure my eyes were not playing tricks on me.  But yes, there are two overprints here.
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Approaching Mixtures

Image
I always enjoyed buying worldwide mixtures on or off paper and sorting them out.  My first sort of a big mixture is usually by first letter of the country name, but sometimes I simply sort by continent first.  Since I am fascinated with postmarks, I often keep a pile of those on the side.  When sorting A to Z, having 26 piles would take up too much space, but there are some first letters that are hardly used at all, so piles like D-E, J-K, N-O, P-Q, U-Z just happen naturally.  This will still fit in two lids of bankers boxes, four rows of three piles in each lid.  I have always had cats, so it's easy to stack the lids and put them in the closet if I don't finish the sort in the first sitting. There is a general economics of getting a general world mix at maybe $180 per 10 pounds and ending up with some smaller amounts of much less common mixes.  Country-specific mixes always cost more on the source price lists, so maybe an ounce of Japan might sell for $6, and a really odd mix
Read more

Quick Intro - a Stamp Life

Image
My Dad got me interested in stamps when I was 6, so this year marks officially 50 years in the hobby for me.  My very first job was helping a stamp dealer in Port Jefferson Station (NY) price stamps for his shop -- I got paid about $15 in catalog value per hour, my pick.  Perfect.     I would get to see things like this India States issue... I started a mail order mixture company when I was a senior in high school (1984) and it moved with me over the years from CT to NY to California.  I got on eBay in 1996 and their computer algorithm booted me off as I was gearing up for a 20th anniversary promotion (long story).  I'm sure I have gone through 1000 pounds of mixtures over the years, made 20,000 lots for sale, got my eBay ranking up to almost 10,000 so I had at least that many sales ... as well as cataloging hundreds of collections for Lee Clark Stamps over 20 years.  So, I have seen a few million stamps. I still have a significant stash tucked away for a rainy day.  The biggest at
Read more

Local Shows II: Country Folders

Image
One thing I always look for at local shows are the dealers who have country folders.  These are stacks of album pages usually stapled to a folder with an overall catalog value and typically a big discount.  These are usually priced from 20% to 30% of the total value, and they are easy to flip through. I look for ones from places that always sell well, like Italian Colonies, Offices Abroad, etc, or I look for a good chunk of complete pages or an overall high count of complete sets.  If it's all broken sets or mixes, it's not going to be easy to flip. I also typically make a stack of about 50% over my budget and then slowly pick through them and put back ones that don't measure up to the others.  I have 40 years of know-how in this business now, and have a good eye for what will make good lots and what won't. Today we were at Sandipex in Poway, CA.  There were about $500 of other folders of those Italian back-of-book issues, so I wish I had more of a budget.  But I like s
Read more