Lets See Your Souvenir Sheets!

khj, I believe he was also postmaster of the British colonies, which made him Canada's first postmaster as well.
A joint issue stamp (US #1690, Canada #691) was released in 1976 commemorating this.

Very nice, revenuecollector! France IPEX S/S's for 1925 and 1937; not found in most collections, especially the 1925 issue!

k

Apologies if someone has shown this one before:

Franklin was Postmaster of Philadelphia starting in 1737, and was appointed Deputy Postmaster of North America in 1753 along with William Hunter. Hunter took care of everything south of Annapolis, while Franklin took care of things north -- so yes, that included the Canadian colonies.

When things go reorganized much later on, James Morris is listed as the first Postmaster General (1851-1853) of the Province of Canada while Alexander Campbell is listed as the first Postmaster General (1867-1873) of the Canadian Confederation.

It hadn't been shown in this thread! Even if it had, no apologies necessary -- it's a great souvenir sheet!

k

This is actually the first souvenir sheet in my collection. Had to dig out part of my archived China collection to scan it. A gift from Mom, to what she feared was a terribly bored son (probably to keep him out of trouble, little did she know... ). It was one of several souvenir sheets she gave me.


Scott China(ROC) #1114a
Date of Issue: 20May1955
Quantity Issued: 20,000
Mi #212-215 Block 2
SG (#203-206) don't know the SG# for the S/S
2011 Scott catalog value = $175

Some tidbits:

Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek was one of the 3 Allied leaders who met at the Cairo Conference in November of 1943. The other 2, of course, were President Franklin Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The better known Tehran Conference was held 2 days later without Chiang, but with Josef Stalin.

S/S commemorates the 1st anniversary of the re-election of Chiang as President of the Republic of China. Did that sound confusing enough? He was first elected 1948, and then re-elected in 1954; so this stamp was issued one year later in 1955. He went on to be re-elected in 1960, 1966, and 1972, and served as President until his death in 1975.

Using the exchange rate at that time, Mom paid the equivalent of 24¢ US for it. Looks like Mom (err, I ) got a great deal!

I've liked the set (1111-1114), but it is a bit late for my interests, so I've always passed it by...I don't recall running across the S/S.

Nice buy on a nice sheet. If she only knew...

For decades, it languished at under $20 in the catalogs. Because of the low print quantity, even if you wanted it, you couldn't find it at full catalog. But since few collectors wanted it or even knew about it, the catalog value stayed low.

Then in the late 1980s, the speculators came in. I think they drove the price up to somewhere around $400 before they cashed in. The current catalog price is now quite stable and far more reflective of actual collector demand and supply. One of the few cases in which speculators ended up helping to make the catalog prices more accurate.

She bought several S/S's during that time period at face value. These S/S's weren't simply available at any post office. Because of the low print run, you had to go to the right one, or had to have the right connections. There were some S/S's with even lower print quantities (~10,000) that she was never able to get. But I can't complain.

Next up...


Scott China(ROC) #1126a
Date of Issue: 31Oct1955
Quantity Issued: 20,000
Mi #219-221 Block 4
SG (#218-220) don't know the SG# for the S/S
2011 Scott catalog value = $160

Some tidbits:

Most ROC stamps of that time period were issued without gum, mainly because of the island humidity. This stamp set is one of the few exceptions -- according to SG, the stamps were issued with gum. I actually don't have a mint set to confirm. However, the S/S was still issued WITHOUT gum.

The stamp commemorates the 69th birthday of Chiang Kai-Shek. He was born on October 31, 1887 in Xikou, China. I didn't know until now, but it turns out his ancestral hometown is same as my ancestral hometown -- Wuxi!

Chiang had stamps issued honoring his birthday in 1946, 1947, 1953, 1955-1958. Must be nice to have the post office issuing a stamp for your birthday; although not my cup of tea. I guess he got tired of being reminded his age after 1958.

Gum is not the only difference between the stamps and the S/S. The normal perforated stamps are perf 13.5. The stamps on the S/S are imperforate, but the selvage is perf 12.

Thanks again, Mom!

k

From the United Nations:

Got this one a while back and never really found out much about it. It's similar to Scott #B108K (I believe), and it does mention imperf sheets, but not with the printing errors. There should be 5 vertical rows, the last row being 30c stamps, which are omitted, and the 4th vertical row of 10c designs is double printed. Interesting to say the least. The Edifil catalog also does not mention this (at least not that I can make out, not being able to read Spanish hardly at all). I'm thinking it might be printers waste, but it's cool anyway.

Very interesting item, spain_1850!

What is the control number on back, and is it gummed?

Also, what are the dimensions in millimeters?

khj - It measures the correct 133mm x 175mm, but is ungummed and has no control number, which is why I'm guessing printers waste. I'd love to hear other opinions though.

I agree with you: it should be printer's waste, as not even Edifil specialised catalog lists a sheet missing 10 pta stamps. The Edifil and Anfil catalogs, just list and quote the unperforated mini-sheet.