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Used Catalogs and Stamp Books

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On To The Fun Page

Used Catalogs and Stamp Books:

The local stamp shop use to be a great location for finding old specialty catalogs and stamp books. Unfortunately, there are not many local stamp shops left ;and those that are have nothing to offer in used books. Elsewhere I have suggested some ideas for using old Scott catalogs, but foreign catalogs of bye gone years are just as useful for cutting up to make sorting charts and handy reference cards. In addition, old used catalogs published in foreign countries are a great source for providing information with which to expand your collection of a foreign country. Never pass up the chance to pick up an old Michel from any area of the world. Michel lists all kinds of stuff that Scott doesn’t, all of which is eminently collectible.

Let us say you have been collecting Austria for a number of years and have obtained just about everything that you can afford and can find. What to do? Get an old Michel (yes, it is in German and it is very hard to translate in places) and look up Austria. It is listed under Österreich (see you learned something already). In 1919, Austria issued a set of bicolors showing the parliament building (Scott 219-26). These stamps come with perforation varieties most of which Scott lists but Michel lists more. More importantly, many of these stamps can be found without the engravers name at the bottom of the stamp. Scott does not list these, but Michel does. In addition, they are common enough you can find them in your duplicates. This is just one example of how a foreign catalog can expand your collecting horizons.

Don’t worry about the foreign languages. Believe it or not, you can muddle through them to a reasonable extent . Some are harder than others, with French and Spanish on the easy end and Chinese and Hungarian on the harder side. If you are able to find old, used, specialty catalogs, you will find even more to collect. In the catalogs for Belgium, all the printed precancels are listed. The specialty catalogs for France and Colonies list all kinds of imperfs.

If you are a real fill-the-hole collector, numeral cancels might be an interesting way to build your collections. You will find many foreign catalogs list the numerals cancels for the early issues for countries like France, Denmark, and some of the early German States. In addition, proofs, postal stationery, semi-officials, locals, booklets, first flights and all kinds of other neat stuff are listed. Of course, the prices are out of date; but you can still use the prices as a rarity guide.

Where can you find old catalogs and stamp books? The best place to find these books is in an auction. Often you buy a whole box of this stuff for a few bucks. What you don’t need, sell at your stamp club or throw it away. In addition, if you are looking for something that is not too common or is popular (like a Sanabria airmail catalog which lists all kinds of airmail stamps that Scott doesn’t), contact a literature dealer. Some of them are on the net. Visit them.

Did you know that there is a catalog for telegraph and telephone stamps? Can you recognize the cancels from the Congo riverboats? Do you know what the railroad post office cancels of French Africa look like? There are all kinds of neat little books out there. If you collect the US or Canada, there are some really fine specialty books around and many of them don’t require a loan to purchase. When you come across something new, pick it up,look it over and buy it if it is cheap. It will come in handy.

Ken Stewart