In the earlier years of philately, faking and forging was big business. In many ways, it still is, with money to be made by unscrupulous types offering dodgy imitations of current issues on eBay at knockdown prices. But in the first one-hundred years of philately, much of this activity was targeted primarily at philatelists who […]
Brian Moorhouse estate to be sold by Corinphila
The late Brian Moorhouse’s entire estate is to be sold by Swiss auction house Corinphila. In what promises to be one of the most important sales of Central and South American material in many years, the esteemed dealer’s stock holding will be sold off in a series of auctions. Brian Moorhouse died in July 2017 […]
Haiti specialized auction – time to take a Liberty?
Specialized single country Latin American auctions are occasional events: even more so as far as Haiti is concerned. However, next week sees an expansive, dedicated auction to just one stamp: the 1881-1887 Liberty Head. Soler y Llach in Barcelona is offering the ‘Hispaniola’ collection of Liberty Heads on the 31st January 2019. There is a […]
New specialized Argentina catalogue published
It wasn’t so long ago that stamp catalogues contained a handful of grainy, black and white images to help identify an issue. The new GJ Argentina Catalogue shows just how far things have come. Profusely illustrated in full colour on heavyweight, glossy paper, this A4 format catalogue brings the stamps to life and conveys a […]
The Collector | John Shaw | Paraguay
In the first of a new series, Latin America collectors share an insight into their passion for Central and South American stamps. Here, John Shaw MBE FRPSL discusses – amongst his many interests – his collection of early Paraguay, which was recently displayed at the Royal Philatelic Society London… CLA When and how did you […]
A visit to the Edificio Correos in San José
I visited Costa Rica last week and took some time out to take a look around the Edificio Correos in the heart of San José. In a country not known for its architectural beauty – not least because so much has been razed by successive earthquakes – the Central Post Office is a rare gem. […]
Philatelic Societies – a review
I’ve recently updated the Resources pages. Part of this exercise was to revisit links to philatelic societies and investigate others that I wasn’t so familiar with. In reviewing so many sites in a relatively short space of time, you quickly get a feel for what seems to separate the well-organised societies from those that ‘could […]
Tasty Brazil, Bolivia and Chile at Gartner
Watching the postman struggle to our door the other morning could only mean one thing: it was time for another Gartner auction. Of all the international auction houses, Gartner probably produces the most substantial catalogues. They are usually multi-part affairs which even need their own separate booklet to enable the hapless bidder to navigate the […]
Which country has the world’s worst postal service?
Which countries should you avoid shipping to? Let’s say you put a few items up for auction on eBay and one lucky winner has an address in Haiti. Would you post it using regular mail? If you’d just read the Universal Postal Union’s annual report on the global ranking of postal services around the world, […]
Collect Brazil? You probably need this…
Pre-internet, collectors tended to be far more reliant – dependent even – on the catalogue that was written in their own language. Buying and selling was limited to the relationships with dealers you knew, and the auctions you attended were those nearer to home. I’m generalising but you get the picture. Move on to the […]
Hackmey’s Chile to be sold
Conveniently following on from my plug for SOFICH a few weeks ago, comes the news that Joseph Hackmey is to part with his Chile collection. This is set to be a landmark auction with rare and exceptional items from one of the most important classic Chile collections ever formed. You’ll need deep pockets for this […]
SOFICH, so good
I recently acquired a very nice collection of pre-1940 Chile that had been collected by SOFICH and cross-referenced by Scott. It clearly shows just how much room for expansion there is by collecting using this specialized work. The SOFICH catalogue is published by the Chilean Philatelic Society (Sociedad Filatelica de Chile). It is a lavish, […]