We have just completed another large update to our website with a very nice selection of high quality British Commonwealth Stamps. Visit the links below to see what’s new.

Our Featured Items list on the home page displays a selection of better items. Here are some highlights:

Bermuda SG120a Used

Jamaica SG901s LH

Newfoundland C18 NH

Sierra Leone 165 NH

And there is so much more. The Recent Acquisitions List provides quick access to the full range of our newest material.

On the Search page you can choose to view a more expansive list of recent offerings, or you can narrow your search to just your areas of interest.

Remember also that our full price list can be accessed on the website through our Search or Browse options and contains thousands of stamps from all the British Colonies, each one backed by our no-questions-asked money-back guarantee.

It has been a very busy Fall season for us. We have made significant purchases in British Commonwealth Stamps and continue to add new items at a brisk pace.

Yesterday we completed another large update to our website with a very nice array of high quality material. Visit the links below to see what’s new.

Our Featured Items list on the home page displays a selection of better items. Here are some highlights:

Burma O1-14 LH

Hong Kong Sc63 SG50 VLH

Saint Kitts Sc60 SG64 NH

Virgin Islands Silver Jubilee Set with Kite and Log Varieties SOLD!

The Recent Acquisitions List provides quick access to the full range of new material.

On the Search page you can choose to view a more expansive list of recent offerings, or you can narrow your search to just your areas of interest.

Remember also that our full price list can be accessed on the website through our Search or Browse options and contains thousands of stamps from all the British Colonies, each one backed by our no-questions-asked money-back guarantee.

We are especially pleased to be able to announce the latest update to our website, completed today. Due to the purchase of a substantial, diverse British Colonies collection we have added a large number of sets and singles, both mint and used, that we have not had in stock for some time. We highly recommend that you visit our website to explore these new offerings.

As always, the Featured Items list on the home page displays a selection of better items, while the full range of new material may be viewed on our Recent Acquisitions List.

To see more of our expansive stock, or to view your specialties, you can choose to Browse or Search our Online Price List. There you will discover the breadth our our huge selection of British Commonwealth Stamps.

Recently there has been a lot of disturbing news about internet security. Last week it was revealed that certain types of ‘secure’ web pages have been compromised by a major security bug called ‘Heartbleed’. As soon as we heard about this, we contacted our website administrator to ask if our website was at risk.  We have been working with the same web development company for many years, and our administrator has always been consistently reliable and knowledgeable. Here is his reply:

The server techs are very good about always applying the latest security patches.  They say, “Our servers are not vulnerable. They have never run the vulnerable versions of OpenSSL.”

Everyone who uses the internet for commerce, whether buying or selling, has a right to know that their sensitive information is secure. We are pleased to be able to reassure our customers that our online ordering process is trustworthy and safe to use.

For those of our customers who would still rather not use the internet to make purchases, please always feel free to place orders by phone at 718-788-3978.

Thank you as always for your interest.

Our most recent update to the Online Price List was completed yesterday. Included are a few things worth special mention.

Most notable are the four rare Specimen stamps we have already written about in our Blog post HERE.

We have also added a very attractive selection of New Zealand stamps, in particular the Arms Type Postal Fiscals. We have found that these stamps are often misdescribed, but we are meticulous in verifying the paper type and watermark for each stamp we offer. Here are some highlights:

AR90 SGF207 VF VLH:

AR60 SGF152 VF LH:

The 1942-45 Issue Surcharge set:

There is much more. Be sure to visit our website to see all the latest additions.

Collectors occasionally have an opportunity to acquire extremely rare, expensive stamps by choosing an example with some fault (or worse), or a fiscal cancel. But this is always a difficult compromise.

Another option is to look for elusive but at times less expensive Specimen stamps. We recently acquired four early high value stamps with Specimen overprints, each offered at a fraction of the price for an un-overprinted mint copy.

K.U.T. 41c SG102 Specimen Lightly Hinged
Price: $1175
Catalog Value for un-overprinted mint example: £27,000

Straits Settlements 173 SG412 Specimen Hinged
Price: $1095
Catalog Value for un-overprinted example: £8000

Straits Settlements 203 SG240c Specimen Never Hinged
Price: $1150 SOLD!
Catalog Value for un-overprinted example: £7500

Zululand 24 SG29 Specimen Never Hinged
Price: $695
Catalog Value for un-overprinted example: £5000

Specimen stamps such as these are highly collectible due to their scarcity and value. The Specimen overprint was used to mark sample copies of issues that were sent to local postal authorities for reference, rather than for postal use. Condition for Specimens can be dreadful, as they were sent out to various Colonial outposts, but these gems are an exception.

Each value in a given issue has the same number of Specimen examples,  around 400 for the King George V issues. The printing figure is the same regardless of the scarcity of the underlying stamp.

This makes every Specimen stamp equally scarce, and often prices for Specimen copies of lower values fetch higher prices than more common un-overprinted copies.  The situation is reversed for very scarce high value stamps such as those pictured above.

These stamps are an excellent way to acquire a rarity otherwise out of the price range of most collectors.

In our last post we mentioned the WWII German Propaganda Forgery of the KGVI Coronation issue.  We also have a set of 6 propaganda forgeries of the 1937 KGVI issues of Great Britain, SG 462-467. In these forgeries the cross on King George VI’s crown is replaced by a Star of David, and a hammer and sickle appear in the flower at top left.

Here’s a little gem we are admiring in the latest group of additions. The New Hebrides 1972 issue 5 Centimes color error, with map same color as ship. This is an attractive, inexpensive corner margin plate number copy.

Our stock regularly includes a broad selection of the King George V Seahorse type. The Irish seahorses have great visual appeal and are more affordable than Great Britain examples, even in pristine condition or in multiples. Here are two blocks currently in stock. Note that the 5 Shilling also features the ‘R’ over ‘SE’ overprint variety.

Speaking of Ireland overprints, here are two more blocks worthy of note, each with accent missing varieties.

And lastly, we thought we would highlight an item from our small and carefully chosen selection of covers. This interesting 1925 example from Tristan da Cunha features Cachet III (SG C3), a GB 2d Postage Due stamp and Durban C.D.S. & backstamp.

As long as they are still available, all of these items can be viewed on our Online Price List by clicking on the images in this post.

If you are a specialty collector and would like to hear more about our offerings in your area of interest, please contact us and we will be happy to assist you.

We have just completed an update of our online price list with a selection of new material in British Commonwealth Stamps. Among these new additions there are a few notable items worth special mention. Click on any image to go view the listing on our online price list.

Here is Cape of Good Hope Mafeking Scott 179 SG20, featuring the portrait of Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Scouting Movement and hero of the Siege of Mafeking.
This key stamp for collectors of the Scout theme is far more readily found in used condition, and collectors who prefer a mint copy often despair of completing this section.  This exceptional example offers the opportunity to obtain the stamp in Mint Lightly Hinged condition, with excellent color, and no compromise on quality.

Overprints on India King George VI issues in good condition are increasingly sought after.  We are offering the Pakistan 1947 issue, Scott and SG numbers 1-19, in Mint Never Hinged condition with unusually fresh gum.

We have added a large number of items in Leeward Islands. Included among them are new additions to our selection of plate flaws and multiples of the One Pound value:   (update: first three items have SOLD)

This WWII Propaganda forgery of the Great Britain Coronation issue, with a portrait of Stalin in place of the visage of H.M. King George VI, is a reminder of how stamps of the Empire are historical documents. 

For the rest of our latest additions, see our Recent Acquisitions list.

Our most recent updates include a broad selection of British Commonwealth material. To see the last two weeks’ additions, take a look at our Recent Acquisitions list. We have added a large group of early New Zealand, plus selections in Newfoundland, Gibraltar, Aitutaki, and much more. Among our Featured Items, note that we are offering a fresh, lightly hinged, complete set of the 1943-50 Malaya Kelantan issue. This is one of the rarest sets of the King George VI Era and often one of the last items on George VI collectors’ want lists.

If you would like to explore our website further, or to view your specialties, you may Browse or Search our Online Price List, where you will discover the full range of our stock in British Commonwealth Stamps.

New Email Newsletter: We are offering our visitors regular updates via email. Simply click on the “Sign up for Email Updates” link found on the left side of every page on our site. When you join our list, you can also select how often you would like to hear from us about new material on the website.

We look forward to the opportunity to serve your collecting needs. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments.

Sincerely,

Aron Halberstam