Share anything you have completed; Sets, Pages & Collections

JonEboy · Post by **JonEboy** » 21 Feb 2014 06:35

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Yesterday was a good day in that I finally completed a set I'd been slowly collecting for about a year.

As with all these things I'd set myself limits on what I would pay and of course that meant waiting a little bit longer to complete but I think it was worth it.

Having placed the last stamp in its mount it struck me that I hadn't seen a thread on which you could post anything that you had completed.

There are various threads for specific completed collections, such as johncrow's excellent Complete at last: The entire SG43 mint collection but not one that I could see where anyone could post anything.

So come on, let's see what you have

To start the ball rolling how about yesterday's completed sets? I use the printed pages from Stampalbums.com to house the collection and I had been slowly filing the gaps on the George VI Ascension sets, mint and with all the different perf varieties. This is what they now look like;

Of course all I now need to do is get the RSW set

, but for now I'm happy that the GeoVI Commemoratives are all in place and correctly identified.

What have you completed recently??

Jon

Lakatoi 4 · Post by **Lakatoi 4** » 21 Feb 2014 09:50

Nice set 8)

KGVI issues are one of my main collecting interests but one problem I have in finishing a true complete set is the rarer shades of the large key plates.

For those you need deep pockets and even deeper pockets if you want to get the plate flaws of those

The alternative is to get all the perf. varieties as you have done and some of the colour shades.

BTW - are there any spaces in those computer generated pages for the plate flaws such as the well known "davit" or "mountaineer" flaws

JonEboy · Post by **JonEboy** » 21 Feb 2014 10:01

Hi Tony,

One of the advantages of using these pages is that there is no space for flaws or colour shades

One simply collects one of each and moves onto the next country....

Of course if you do want to collect the flaws or covers or anything else then they do a neat templated blank page onto which you can mount anything you like. Should the urge take you!

These are therefore ideal for people like me with shallow pockets and even shorter arms

Jon

SMSSLT · Post by **SMSSLT** » 21 Feb 2014 15:03

Just completed this page....A "POSTAGIE", a "PCSTAGE at right and a "Deformed 'd'" all on one page.

What more could one want in life..Lakatoi bliss...

pookie9121 · Post by **pookie9121** » 21 Feb 2014 15:12

Fantastic idea for a thread and great looking completed sets so far.

Cheers,
Erik

traralgon3844 · Post by **traralgon3844** » 21 Feb 2014 15:45

Sorry a few are used.

I bought the £2 at the Melbourne 2013 Exhibition to finish of the page. One more to go for the third watermarks.

S Wilson · Post by **S Wilson** » 21 Feb 2014 18:37

Wow traralgon3844. What a great "roo and map" set. I have also completed that set as a part of my Australian collection but the watermarks are "all over the place"

Anyway, I have attached a short "one page stamp essay" that I had recently completed. German World War 1 occupation stamps. All of them have clear postmarks on them. A lot of history !
The last stamp at the bottom right is actually not an occupation stamp, but it is a war wounded surcharge stamp.

S Wilson

JonEboy · Post by **JonEboy** » 21 Feb 2014 18:59

Lakatoi's and Roo's - brilliant

And now German WW1 occupation

Looking good everyone. Offline now for a while as off to Stampex but keep them coming....

Jon

Lakatoi 4 · Post by **Lakatoi 4** » 21 Feb 2014 19:43

Paul, a very nice lot indeed but dunno about "used", the 2/- , 5/- and £2 Roo's are CTO. The £2 is the April 15th. CTO and cat. at a nice $5,500 8)

Though I'm sure you knew all that

traralgon3844 · Post by **traralgon3844** » 21 Feb 2014 20:23

Tony, the full perfed Hardy CTO was invoiced out at $2 shy of $6,700. I had my eye on the stamp above during the show and bought it on the last day for about half the Hardy price from a U.S. dealer at the show who probably didn't have the new Kangaroo catalogue.

I am pretty sure I have seen another sell for a similar amount since, so that catalogue price is already out of date. That price will draw them out.

The 4d is a lovely yellow orange and MNH. I bought that a number of years back from Issacson in Adelaide, who's stock may have been purchased by/become Philatelics Australia.

Yes the other two are CTO as well, but as the rest were mint I was generalising the condition.

Lakatoi 4 · Post by **Lakatoi 4** » 21 Feb 2014 21:13

Mate, all nice stamps and well bought

Clive · Post by **Clive** » 21 Feb 2014 21:21

What a great idea for a thread, and some great 'completes' already.

Traralgon, that's a drop dead eye-watering page. It would be good if you could post a scan of those CTOs over at the Official CTO thread, especially the April 15 two pounds.

Clive

ewen s · Post by **ewen s** » 22 Feb 2014 00:56

Great idea for a thread and am loving what has been shown so far

S Wilson · Post by **S Wilson** » 22 Feb 2014 15:08

... here is my "Sudan Camel Postman" essay. A nice composition filling a page in my album. The set is not complete but my 1-page essay on the subject is ...

S Wilson

PeterD · Post by **PeterD** » 22 Feb 2014 17:58

Thought I might share my set of Australian KGV, next step may be to replace cancels with MNH.

S Wilson · Post by **S Wilson** » 22 Feb 2014 18:18

...what a "satisfying" complete collection Peter D

Why don't you try for two complete collections. One unused (MNH) set, one cancelled set ?.

S Wilson.

S Wilson · Post by **S Wilson** » 24 Feb 2014 11:11

Following on from a previous email, here is my "simplified complete Australian Roo and Map" set. Watermarks are all over the place but the full set is there. I have chosen the best representatives from each of the denominations in my collection for this display

First watermark - 1/2 d, 1d, 4d, 5d, 6d blue
Second watermark - 2d, 21/2d, 1/-, 2/- brown
Third watermark 3d, 6d brown, 5/-, 1 pound blue/grey
CofA 9d, 2/- red/brown (gutter), 10/-, 1 pound grey, 2 pounds

S Wilson

JamesFJacob · Post by **JamesFJacob** » 24 Feb 2014 11:39

Fabulous complete sets, gentlemen! I hope to one day have my collection built to such stature!
Keep them coming!

JonEboy · Post by **JonEboy** » 24 Feb 2014 19:35

This morning's offering was completed by a nicely used copy of the 'Gull over the City' just last week, so the page is now complete (mint and used, but used only shown here) of France Air stamps 1946-50.

These beauties have all 'done their duty' and been cancelled accordingly.

Keep 'em coming folks!

Jon

mads1983 · Post by **mads1983** » 24 Feb 2014 20:34

JonEboy wrote:This morning's offering was completed by a nicely used copy of the 'Gull over the City' just last week, so the page is now complete (mint and used, but used only shown here) of France Air stamps 1946-50.

These beauties have all 'done their duty' and been cancelled accordingly.

Keep 'em coming folks!

Jon

Very nice jon. And nice to see other people using the Steiner pages. They do look especially when they are full.

JonEboy · Post by **JonEboy** » 24 Feb 2014 20:45

Thanks mads1983, they work for me. And yes they do look rather pleasing when completed

Jon

ewen s · Post by **ewen s** » 24 Feb 2014 22:09

A classic set beautifully presented. Loving your work JonEboy

JonEboy · Post by **JonEboy** » 25 Feb 2014 06:08

Thanks ewen s

...and tonight's postbag just happens to have the very last stamp I needed in this set, the £1 used value;

I had previously managed to complete the mint set so these now sit back to back in the album;

The beauty about these, and I'm sure others here will appreciate it, is that they have taken some time to get. The Bahamas sets were started during Autumn Stampex which was last September and since then I've been slowly filling the gaps with the right stamps at the right price.

Maybe that's the completionist in me; I get more satisfaction and return to them more often than if I buy a set outright in one go.

Jon

Clive · Post by **Clive** » 25 Feb 2014 06:42

Jon,

Lovely. Just lovely.

What are those album pages you are using - DIY or store bought?

Clive

JonEboy · Post by **JonEboy** » 25 Feb 2014 08:07

Clive wrote:Jon,

Lovely. Just lovely.

What are those album pages you are using - DIY or store bought?

Clive

Hi Clive,

These are all from Bill Steiner's website http://www.stampalbums.com/ where you can subscribe and download any pages from any country. They are all arranged in Scott order so Semi Postals and Airs come at the back with the Postage Dues which for a SG man like me was disconcerting at first, but I've kind of got used to it now

Jon

Clive · Post by **Clive** » 25 Feb 2014 08:55

Jon,

Many thanks for that Jon, I'll go have a look right away.

Clive

mads1983 · Post by **mads1983** » 25 Feb 2014 15:51

JonEboy wrote:
Clive wrote:Jon,

Lovely. Just lovely.

What are those album pages you are using - DIY or store bought?

Clive
Hi Clive,

These are all from Bill Steiner's website http://www.stampalbums.com/ where you can subscribe and download any pages from any country. They are all arranged in Scott order so Semi Postals and Airs come at the back with the Postage Dues which for a SG man like me was disconcerting at first, but I've kind of got used to it now

Jon

Hey Jon

For me it has also taken some getting used to because Michel dosen't put those in the back eother.

On topic, that is a beautiful set, and nice work findig the £1 in a postbag. Was it kiloware bag or?

JonEboy · Post by **JonEboy** » 25 Feb 2014 18:53

Hi mads1983,

I'm afraid I don't have much time these days so sorting through kiloware is off the agenda. No, this one came from eBay for £1.75 which is about right as I'd set myself a target of getting it for less than £2

Completion, but not at any cost

Jon

mcgooley · Post by **mcgooley** » 25 Feb 2014 19:24

Apart from my main collecting interest (which will never be complete

) I have one collection which I have high hopes of completing one day....

Self-designed pages, and the above is the only one I've managed to fill. Mint, used; I grab all examples which come my way.

Of all the issues in the Brunei 'canoe' series; the 1922 overprints are (along with the Occupation series) the most problematical, due to the plethora of forgeries.

Above is one of the remaining dozen or so pages of different values.

So, for this collection -> -> -> I've got 1 page completed.... 8)

mads1983 · Post by **mads1983** » 25 Feb 2014 21:30

JonEboy wrote:Hi mads1983,

I'm afraid I don't have much time these days so sorting through kiloware is off the agenda. No, this one came from eBay for £1.75 which is about right as I'd set myself a target of getting it for less than £2

Completion, but not at any cost

Jon

I think all stampcollectors have that completionist mind, so it's always nice to have the full series. Time always the enemy of stampcollecting, there is never enough of it

mads1983 · Post by **mads1983** » 25 Feb 2014 21:32

WOW mcgooley, that's some nice looking DIY pages, looks very nice. Forgeries are a constant bother, and can be so hard to detect. I find it very difficult myself.

gharvey5 · Post by **gharvey5** » 25 Feb 2014 21:41

Nice set of Roos and KGV's, one day...one day...

PeterD · Post by **PeterD** » 28 Feb 2014 16:59

Keeping with the KGV theme, appears to be popular, I have added my KGV New Zealand Series 1 & 2 page. I have not included my KGV NZ Officials as yet, as I still need the 8d Brown.

mads1983 · Post by **mads1983** » 28 Feb 2014 17:11

A very good looking set PeterD. And some nice pages.

PeterD · Post by **PeterD** » 28 Feb 2014 17:49

Thanks Mads1983, I like the Pre-decimal era, especially KGV (and earlier).

Got the Pre decimal NZ seven seas album off ebay for a reasonable price, just about filled it up now, need a few Officials, OPSOs, a couple more Chalons and the usual suspects, Auckland Exhibition 3d & 6d and the 2/ & 5/ QV. Getting there...

JonEboy · Post by **JonEboy** » 06 Mar 2014 19:54

Nice Brunei mcgooley and I do like the album pages; very nice

Peter, great NZ; I came across half a dozen of these the other night and hinged them to the appropriate page but I think I'm going to have to go some to fill the rest. Given that I started at A it might be a while before I focus properly on New Zealand

This is a set I acquired about six months ago but never got round to mounting until the night before last. I decided I needed to switch off before bed so twenty minutes with my stamps....

An hour and a half later

I was happy with this;

OK, so perhaps sleep is overrated these days

Jon

mads1983 · Post by **mads1983** » 06 Mar 2014 22:30

Very nice Jon, looks very good. I hope to be able to fill some complete sheets myself soon.

S Wilson · Post by **S Wilson** » 09 Mar 2014 13:15

...here is a recent "miniset" that I have just completed.
Some Colonial Samoa stamps from the transition from German to New Zealand occupation.

The set shows an interesting succession. I found this quite by accident. The first stamp on the left hand side is from the German Colony and the postmark is dated 5th August 1914, a few days after the start of World War 1.
The New Zealand Expeditionary force landed in Apia just over three weeks later on the 29th August 1914.
The next stamp is the "GRI" or "Georgius Rex Imperator" overprint stamp of the New Zealand occupation. This one is postmarked January 1915.
The remaining two stamp sets are "Samoa" overstamped New Zealand stamps dated 13 April 1915 and June 1916.

S Wilson

JonEboy · Post by **JonEboy** » 23 Mar 2014 07:34

A couple more that ended up being completed this week, although its taken till now to actually mount them up

First up the QEII set from KUT 1954-9

I'm not desperately happy with the £1 value so that will go on the 'must get a replacement' list. Then there's the early QEII set from Nigeria 1953;

A couple more pages ticked off. Nothing too expensive but all lovely line engraved stamps. Sad as it seems, these sets marked the end of an era as litho was ushered in shortly after and Commonwealth stamps were never the same again

Jon

S Wilson · Post by **S Wilson** » 23 Mar 2014 12:24

I have just recently completed my "one page essay" of used German Colony stamps. An amazing page of postal history

They have the following postmarks:

German East Africa: Amani, Bagamoyo, Bukoba, Dar-Es-Salaam, Dodoma, Kilossa, Mikindani, Tanga, Usambarra Railway (Train 1)
German Southwest Africa: Karibib, Luderitzbucht, Otavi, Otjiwarongo, Swakopmund, Windhuk
German Kamerun: Duala, Kamerun, Victoria
Togoland: Anecho, Klein-Popo, Lome
German New Guinea: Friederich Willhelmshafen, Herbertshohe, Matupi, Rabaul, Stephansort
Karoline Islands: Angau, Ponape, Yap
Marshall Islands: Jaluit
Mariana Islands: Saipan
German Samoa: Apia
Kiautschou: Tsingtao (also the name of China's best beer - maybe a German influence here

)
German Post Offices in Morocco: Mazagan, Saffi, Tangier
German Post Offices in China: Hankau, Shanghai, Tientsin
German Post Offices in the Ottoman Empire: Beirut, Constantinople

S Wilson

JonEboy · Post by **JonEboy** » 23 Mar 2014 18:56

Agreed S Wilson, that is an amazing page

How long did it take to put that little lot together?

Jon

S Wilson · Post by **S Wilson** » 24 Mar 2014 09:27

Thanks Jon

I was inspired to start the collection when I was a wee lad in High School, many years ago...
But at the time I was preoccupied with collecting Australian pre-decimal stamps.
I started the German colonies collection in earnest mid last year. A couple of local stamp dealers had good supplies so I was able to select stamps with good postmarks from the stock. Many of the stamps cost less than $10 apiece.
I have a second page that I am working on which includes unused German colonies stamps and also stamps from the Entente occupation of the German colonies. I will show this page when I have completed it.

S Wilson

JonEboy · Post by **JonEboy** » 27 Mar 2014 19:01

Very nice, and that is what this thread is about. Sometimes you get satisfaction from buying a complete set and mounting them properly on pages but on many occasions it is the thrill of the chase and the completion of the set.

I have hundreds of pages with just one or two gaps which are prime to be filled but there's no rush. I'm at a local stamp fair this Saturday and might find one or two of them but there's no guarantee; and that's the fun of it!

Here's another one I completed earlier, the Martinique set from 1947. Beautifully line engraved and although single colour on each stamp they make a lovely page

Jon

hutch · Post by **hutch** » 27 Mar 2014 19:33

Wow! You guys are amazing and your pages look awesome!

I will never get to where you are. Collecting WW and having them on Vario sheets instead of individual pages means they will never look as good.

I applaud you all for a job well done! Keep up the good work. It's a pleasure seeing your finished pages!

hutch

mads1983 · Post by **mads1983** » 27 Mar 2014 22:31

JonEboy wrote:Very nice, and that is what this thread is about. Sometimes you get satisfaction from buying a complete set and mounting them properly on pages but on many occasions it is the thrill of the chase and the completion of the set.

I have hundreds of pages with just one or two gaps which are prime to be filled but there's no rush. I'm at a local stamp fair this Saturday and might find one or two of them but there's no guarantee; and that's the fun of it!

Here's another one I completed earlier, the Martinique set from 1947. Beautifully line engraved and although single colour on each stamp they make a lovely page

Jon

Very true Jon, the chase is the most thrilling part. And that set looks beautiful. Do you both collect mint and used?

JonEboy · Post by **JonEboy** » 28 Mar 2014 00:57

mads1983 wrote: Very true Jon, the chase is the most thrilling part. And that set looks beautiful. Do you both collect mint and used?

Sadly, yes

This means I have lots of albums with these pages back to back and plenty of gaps to fill. In some cases the mint sets are easy but getting the stamps fine used is a much harder proposition, particularly the higher values.

And the reason I say sadly is that I have collections of.....GB, Barbados, France, French Colonies, Spain, Nicaragua, Australia, British Commonwealth (all of it) and Czechoslovakia. And covers. And First Day Covers. And a couple of other sideline collections.

For some reason there's never enough hours in the day or money in the account....

So hutch, when you say you will never get to where we are I say "never say never". All you need is Bill Steiners' pages and when you get any set in your worldwide collection you can mount them on the pages.

Jon

mads1983 · Post by **mads1983** » 28 Mar 2014 05:20

JonEboy wrote:
mads1983 wrote: Very true Jon, the chase is the most thrilling part. And that set looks beautiful. Do you both collect mint and used?
Sadly, yes This means I have lots of albums with these pages back to back and plenty of gaps to fill. In some cases the mint sets are easy but getting the stamps fine used is a much harder proposition, particularly the higher values.

And the reason I say sadly is that I have collections of.....GB, Barbados, France, French Colonies, Spain, Nicaragua, Australia, British Commonwealth (all of it) and Czechoslovakia. And covers. And First Day Covers. And a couple of other sideline collections.

For some reason there's never enough hours in the day or money in the account....

So hutch, when you say you will never get to where we are I say "never say never". All you need is Bill Steiners' pages and when you get any set in your worldwide collection you can mount them on the pages.

Jon

I can see that is quiet a lot of collecting areas to cover when it's both mint and used. I only collect used, but then it's also WW, so there's also enough spaces to fill in my Steiner pages.

But you should try it Hutch, it's a nice feeling to fill some of the gaps on the pages, and at some point you will start to have complete pages.

JonEboy · Post by **JonEboy** » 28 Mar 2014 05:34

It is quite satisfying mads1983

Oh and I forgot Belgian Congo! Got an almost complete collection used and am gradually getting them mint. Pages to follow at some point in the future. Oh and Algeria but I guess that's under French Colonies.

This is getting confusing

Jon

mads1983 · Post by **mads1983** » 28 Mar 2014 06:11

JonEboy wrote:It is quite satisfying mads1983 Oh and I forgot Belgian Congo! Got an almost complete collection used and am gradually getting them mint. Pages to follow at some point in the future. Oh and Algeria but I guess that's under French Colonies.

This is getting confusing

Jon

Ohh I will look forward to seeing the Belgian Congo.

JonEboy · Post by **JonEboy** » 01 Apr 2014 06:49

Thanks Mads, I'll get to Belgian Congo sometime. The problem I have there is that I had quite a few completed pages but I then decided to split them and do one page for mint and one for used.

So now I have lots of half filled pages

In fact there is only one full page at the moment and it is this one;

Getting this lot mint may take a bit longer.....

Meanwhile through a combination of online purchases and my local stamp fair I completed another three pages. nothing spectacular but moving slowly in the right direction.

Here's one from the Commonwealth collection, used sets from Nigeria Geo VI

And to add to my ever growing postally used Barbados collection here's another two pages all done and dusted.

Getting properly postally used Barbados is tricky and nigh on impossible for the mini sheets. But I like a challenge

What's anyone else completed lately?

Jon