The Pacific Ocean island Kingdom of Tonga, Polynesia, went into the history books as the first country to issue self-adhesive stamps in 1963. The series, circular in shape, was printed on embossed gilt-foiled paper and commemorated the 1962 first issue...
In 2014, The Netherlands issued stamps featuring its newly-crowned king, Willem-Alexander. But something didn’t quite fit on the stamps – and I’m not talking about the size of the new king’s head. Those responsible for the design had placed a...
Wherever people work, mistakes will be made. The business of postage stamp design is no exception. Many stamps have been issued with design flaws or flaws of a different nature. And these are of great interest to many collectors. Below...
Every year, PostNL issues a set of stamps entitled 'The Netherlands and Beyond". This year’s stampset spotlights and celebrates Japan, a country with which the Netherlands has enjoyed close ties for many centuries. Starting out as trading partners, the two...
During Postex, I saw on display by a stamp dealer an envelope on which was stamped a very familiar picture for a Dutchman: the statue of the Docker in Amsterdam. Why would you find such an image on an envelope...
Once, long ago, I purchased a book: The Guinness Book of Stamps, Facts & Feats. It stood a little lost in a corner of a bookcase. I noticed it again when I was looking for another book, that’s how it...
I bought a fake. No, I 'm not being ripped off, I knew that the stamps were not right, but I bought them anyway. I wanted them because I wanted to study the forgeries more closely myself. There are many...
Recently somebody asked me if I knew anything about two Dutch "te betalen / port" (postage (due) to be paid) stamps. The stamps in question are the 11 and 15 cent overprints shown below. Intuitively the first place to look...
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