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Sudan Military Telegraph Stamps

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The Camel Corps Military Telegraph stamps were released in 1898 for telegraphic purposes until 1901 between towns in Sudan. On the stamp is the Camel Corps of the Sudan Defence Force marching through the desert with telegraph lines depicted in the background. The Camel Corps was established by the Egyptian army in 1883; it was then reformed again in 1884 for the Gordon Relief Expedition.  For this issue, telegraph stamps were bisected in the middle with a central perforation for the ease of separating the telegraph and its receipt. Not an error, rather for convenience. When separated, sender would receive the telegraph receipt with half portion of the stamp affixed while the post office keeps the other half attached to the telegraph form. It is an interesting find because it is very creative considering that the top half of telegraph forms used then was the receipt. Some time ago I came across just that example commented by Dave on Stampboards in 2019, which provided a visual explanat

Fugitive Ink: Don't soak the purple ones!

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The conventional method of removing stamps off paper is by soaking in lukewarm water. However, there are certain stamps that should stay far from the soak-in-a-bulk technique especially those that were printed with fugitive ink .  Fugitive ink wash off when exposed to water or any organic solvent such as spirits, which will stain the stamps and other unlucky stamps too that soaking together. Thomas De La Rue & Co., a firm based in London is quite well-known in terms of the usage of fugitive inks especially shades of purple to magenta and green. The nature of fugitive ink, I believe, is solely to combat the issue of reusing stamps by removal of postmarks. From all the gentle scrubbing while removing postmarks, one could potentially smudge the entire stamp in purple or green. With that, it is important to have knowledge of which printing firm responsible for any said stamp prior to soaking. If not, separate the purple and green ones for careful removal and to avoid the washed off ink

German Reich Newspaper Stamp

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This is quite new, and it just further proves the elaborate use of stamps beyond mainstream postage purposes. Newspaper stamps as the name suggests are affixed on newspapers or newspaper wrappers as means of paying the cost of mailing them. Quite specific, isn't it? There are many examples of newspaper stamps issued by many countries but since I happen to collect German stamps, I think that it is great to feature an example here.  1943 German Reich - Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia 7 Heller brick red  These are with left margin There are two versions of newspaper stamps (Zeitungsmarken) for this protectorate: the first set being released in 1939 (MiNr. 42-50) with nine denominations, and the second set being released in 1943 (MiNr. 117-125), also with nine denominations, however, bearing an additional inscription 'Deutches Reich'.  For the newspaper stamps that were released in 1943, they were the only stamps that were allowed to be used after the re-establishment of th

World Pneumonia Day and COVID-19

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First and foremost, happy World Pneumonia Day (12 Nov 2020). I personally find that the significance of World Pneumonia Day this year has been greatly redefined by the COVID-19 pandemic. Pneumonia is the infection and inflammation of lungs that lead to fluid-filled air sacs (alveoli). This respiratory disease has long existed and therapeutic solutions against it includes vaccines and steps to lower its risk factors such as smoking. However, with the current pandemic affecting every country, the availability of medical oxygen has been put into attention - thus, this year's theme is 'Every Breath Counts'. 1989 Taiwan - Anti-smoking campaign Pneumonia was not as popular in philately compared to other medical themes such as Tuberculosis, Malaria, diabetes, AIDS, and now, COVID-19. Speaking of COVID-19 stamps, they fetch quite a premium with most, if not all, sold at several times their face value. Hence, after weeks of browsing through stamps that were offered by local sellers,

Rocket Mails: Up and Beyond

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Mail-carrying rockets?  It was a plan first proposed by Heinrich von Kleist, a German editor of the Berliner Abendbl ä tter (Berlin Evening Papers) in 1810. However, the first rocket mail, after decades of fascination towards delivering mail via a faster projectile led the launching of the first rocket mail by Friedrich Schmiedl. Among other pioneers are Hermann Oberth, Gerhard Zucker, and Stephen Smith.  Friedrich Schmiedl To be honest, I was not aware that rockets were ever considered as another mode of mailing. The idea of mail being shot up the sky and finally parachuting down to its destination sounds cool but at the same time, quite risky. Changes in wind direction may steer the rocket off course.  In spite of that, there were numerous successful launches containing postal covers commemorating such. For instance, the launch of a long range rocket mail from the US submarine USS Barbero in 1959 to a naval station in Florida.  At the time of writing, I had only acquired one example

WWII Censored Military Mail - Manila, Philippines to Amsterdam, New York

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US Army Postal Service Collecting and studying Army Post Offices (APO) is a vast subject with over 1000 different A.P.O's between 1941 and 1945. One of the main reasons, if not, the prime reason for the development of A.P.O's is to enable soldiers to receive mail whilst maintaining anonymity.  When the opportunity presents itself, by opportunity I mean military covers that are sold at very cheap prices by local sellers, I would always grab a few to study.  This was sent from A.P.O. 704 (Manila, Philippines) [1] to Amsterdam on a 6¢ orange air post envelope/ postal stationery envelope (PSE) dated 26 OCT 1943.  Mail under the care of postmaster of San Francisco, California. Passed by US Army Examiner 16470 Now that I wouldn't want to plagiarize information, make sure to check out Jim Forte's website. I have learnt a great deal from that site alone [2].  References: 1. A Price Guide to U.S. A.P.O. Cancels of the Second World War by Jim Forte & Richard W. Helbock 2. htt

Basics in Philately #2: Postmarks, Killers, and Cancellations

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In the previous Basics in Philately, date stamp or postmark (used interchangeably to some extent) were mentioned in one of the examples. The concept of postmark is very easy: It is any markings done which is made on both the stamp and the mail to indicate that the stamp has served its purpose sufficiently in terms of postage charges. Postmarks are vital to prevent repetitive usage of the same stamps for postage. Air mail from Singapore to India dated 30 JUN 57 on SINGAPORE circular date stamp (CDS) It is a common sight on mails - recipient's address in the centre, stamps on the upper right corner, and a circular postmark overlapping both the stamps and the mail. Get enough mails and you would notice that the circular postmarks vary from size, style, and at times even shape.  Postmarks, in general, are applied either via handstamp or machine cancellations.  General classification of postmarks according to mode of cancellation. *Update: The term, 'Frank' is put under machine