Duphar, are they stamps or not?
In Southern Arabia lies a small area near Hadramaut named Duphar or Zufar. It belongs to the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, as it was known before August 8, 1970. During the reign of Sultan Sa'id bin Taimur...
Eiffel Tower, why?
A few weeks ago, Gerrit Jan let us know that he had been to Paris. And naturally, he climbed the Eiffel Tower (or did he take the elevator?). He also showed us some stamps. But why the Eiffel Tower? The tower is...
Helgoland, British territory in the German Bight?
The island of Helgoland currently belongs to the state of Schleswig-Holstein. The island is 1,7 km² in size and has approximately 1.650 permanent residents. During the tourist season, many day-trippers come to visit the island because of the nature and the many migratory birds and...
Devil's work?
The Kingdom of Bavaria in southern Germany was part of the Federal German Empire from 1871. Bavaria remained autonomous in many areas. The Bavarian kings of the House of Wittelsbach retained their own army and postal service and also issued their own stamps...
Longest place name in the world
Wales can boast of being home to the longest place name in Europe and ranking third in the world. The inhabitants themselves say that it is the longest name in the world, and so it stands...
Airmail by Zeppelin
In a shoebox, among a number of postcards at a flea market, I found a card that immediately caught my attention. The card featured an aerial photograph of an enormous 91-meter-high monument. It turned out to be the Völkerschlacht-Denkmal in Leipzig...
You see all sorts of things every day!
You might not say it immediately, let alone see it right away, but the stamp above, an example from the 1981 Export series, features the famous Mercedes logo: the star. Whoever literally gets the exhaust manifold on the left thoroughly...
What about Robert Goddard?
Never heard of him? He was the first person to launch a rocket using liquid fuel! Robert Hutchings Goddard was born on October 5, 1882, and died on August 10, 1945. I ran into him at a...
Picture postcard posted underground…
Have you ever been to Wales, or as they spell it themselves, Cymru? Then you know that mountains of grey waste rock lie in North Wales. Remnants of a time when there were many slate quarries here. Like the Pentre Llechwedd, close to the village of...
Stamps on repeat…
Postal administrations all over the world know that the first stamps issued by the country itself are eagerly collected. But they also know that it is impossible for most collectors to obtain those stamps. Therefore, especially...
Do you also collect stationery?
Postal stationery? Such as postcards, change-of-address cards, and airmail sheets? Yes, postal stationery can also be collected. They are highly prized by collectors of special postmarks, because the impression can come across very well on them. A stamp affixed to a card or envelope is always a little bit...
Blocking values in the Netherlands?
Are the postage stamps of f 2,50, f 5, and f 10 issued in May 1946 to be considered, as they are called in philatelic circles, harmful issues? There is quite a bit of confusion regarding this! Therefore, it seemed appropriate to me to clarify the regulations, which...
