Another edition of Who is this dude?

Another of my favorite chases....so who is this dude? and how did he end up on a stamp?

 Juan de la Cosa was a Spanish explorer and cartographer best known for his 15th century voyages with Christopher Columbus in which they discovered the lands of Americas.  In 1492 Juan de la Cosa joined Christopher Columbus on his voyage to the America as the owner and master of the expedition flagship "Santa Maria". Almost five months later his ship sunk near the coast of Haiti, an event for which Christopher Columbus blamed him. (Wiki)

So, there it is.  He was a dude who hung around with Christopher Columbus exploring the world....reeking some level of craziness on the new world...upsetting the natives... Sounds like he pissed off Columbus by sinking the Santa Maria.....wondering if it was an accident or if he was sailing drunk and did something stupid like the Captain of the Concordia...that one, I will let you, the reader, chase.

Just another old, washed out stamp.....You can have for $500,000

  

This is an old, washed out stamp from who knows where.   I add it only illustrate the variety of these old, worldwide stamps.  This is on very light paper....There seems to be some writing on the top of the stamp but I cannot make it out even with my best magnifier.  This is one that will just go down as a curious piece of unidentified history.  I would estimate, however, it is from the 1800's......just the condition, lack of identifying characteristics.  Anyone want to identify it and tell me it is worth a million?   Feel free, you can have it for a measly $500,000

An unusual stamp..rare color..

This stamp has long held some curiosity for me.  It is faded, from the country of Mauritius.   Yet, it has a vivid 4 cents in rich violet color on the bottom.   Hard to get a clearer picture of this stamp as the age has affected the integrity of the stamp.    Mauritius is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) off the south east coast of the African continent.^[7] The country includes Mauritius, a mountainous sub-tropical island, the island of Rodrigues, 560 kilometres (350 mi) east of the principal island, the islands of Agaléga and theSaint Brandon Rocks. The islands of the Republic of Mauritius form part of the Mascarene Islands, which also include the neighbouring island of Réunion. The area of the country is 2040 km², its capital is Port Louis.  

From what I can tell, this stamp is from the 1900-1905 period...a definitive..coat of arms. As to inherent value...can't say.....any collectors out there?  Make me an offer.

Some stamps are worth some serious money

  Certainly not, or at least probably not the stamps pictured below.   However, I don't know and therein lies the rub.   The top stamp needs a better photo but it is akin to Foundry Man, a blog from earlier.  This looks to me like a vertical gutter pair.  The Foundry Man horizontal gutter proved to be a hot stamp.   The edges are uneven, but there are no perforations.  The back of the stamp is not pristine.  The stamp seems to have been taken directly from an envelope through a process I have not yet taken the time to learn or understand.  There are no cancellation marks that I can see.  There is the slight fold across the middle.  So for now, I will hold on to this, do some research and maybe call the "stamp guys."  I feel "pretty, pretty good" about this one.

Now the stamp below is another possibility.  It came in a glassine that said 634a which I am quite sure is the Scott number.  However, most interesting is the straight edge on the right and bottom.  That plus the ng designation (no gum) makes this a stamp of interest.   Updates forthcoming on these two.

Update #1---So this Washington stamp might be a 634a stamp..then again, it might be a 1923 washington stamp.  So far I cannot tell.  However, assuming for a moment it is the 634a stamp, and with
2 imperforated sides, and in totally mind condition....a collector might want this stamp and might pay $500.  Assuming it is a 1923 edition of this stamp, might be worth nothing.  Some people can tell the difference...on this one, so far I cannot.

As far as the one quarter cent vertical pair from Spain, I don't know.  I did find a single version of it on a spanish stamp collector's site.  It as asking 1,00 E which I suppose is Euro, but I don't understand the 1,00.  Plus the value of a gutter pair can be very substantial as learned by the Foundry Man.   I think I will set these aside for possible auction action.

Sometimes, it is just about the color

Both of these stamps are pretty cool in their own right.  The monkey is well.... a monkey.  The original collection from which many of these stamps came to me was called the Drunkn' Monkey Collection by Les Brown.  One of the pieces I held on to was a multi page collection of stamps of monkeys from all over the world doing rather monkeyish things.  This is just one and from Mongolia.  Nice headlight on the bike eh?  

Peter Rabbit.  The Year of the Child. This stamp is English or from one of England's collection of countries they preferred to call colonies.   It is worth 9 pence....(that being an educated guess.)  

So Who is this Dude?

Well, I am not sure, yet.  All I know for sure is that Robert Kreutz died at a young age of 21.  The stamp itself is from Magya Posta.  This is just one stamp from the much larger collection entitled, "So Who are These Dudes?"   Prominently featured picture stamps of someone who merited their face image being put on a stamp....I have enough of these to look up to keep me going till the next time the Patriots play another Playoff Game.  I will update post very soon because I want to learn who this dude is.

UPDATE:  1974 stamp from Hungary commemorating the 30th anniversary of his death....but still, who is he?  One stamp site declares him to be an anti fascist martyr.  I want more.   There stands a placque for him in Memento Park in Budapest. (very interesting read)...but I want more.  Who was he?  How did he die?  Looking further at an image of said placque, in it he is blindfolded....I want to know more!

Robert Kreutz was an ironworker who distributed communist leaflets and also joined the resistance movement against the Germans.  He was executed in 1944.   Just another dying hero.  Now, I know enough.

Speaking about the Patriots, let me say this about that.  Excellence is tough to achieve...in the school office, on the football field or anywhere else.  The quest for excellence ..the chase for excellence...that is the value of it all.  Kraft, Belichik, Brady et al have chased excellence for twelve years running.  I respect that.  They have provided me many hours of excellent viewing and reading pleasure.  I do not need them or any sports team to win the Championship to validate me.  Just allow me to enjoy the chase of excellence from the sidelines.   Beats watching mediocrity every day of the week.

That is why I love the great TMS....chasing education excellence everyday.

 

The Black and White Collection

The Black and White Collection....the beauty of this page is the diversity of stamp, country, visuals yet all within a black and white context.  Many of these stamps scream to be researched....just who are these faces and why are they so honored, as it were?   One of the beauties of stamps is their vivid color and the fact that color has maintained integrity often for 25-50-75 and even 150 years.  So the etiology of this collection is the yang of that.  Black and White.  Simple.  Beautiful.

Update:  So I decided tonight to research the Grenada stamp...long a favorite...totally mind condition in all regards.  I find a very used version on ebay....$18  and many other similar stamps selling for a dollar or less.  It is a 1952 postage due stamp....but clearly this particular stamp is valued higher than similar issues.   Now I have to chase more information that is difficult to find....but if a used version is worth $18---then this totally mint version may actually have some value to a real collector.

Foundry Man

So to make a very long but interesting story about stamps and auctions very short, the stamps above provided great fun this past year.  The picture of Foundry Man came from a stamp auction catalog.  The catalog is a beauty with rich colors and excellent stamp descriptions.  This particular stamp sold for nearly  ten times the predicted amount.  "It was a seller's dream" said the venerable, senior,  Chairman of the Board of the Auction Company, when I met him by accident at a local stamp show recently.  At that same show, I bought the stamp above so I could have a real copy of the "dream" stamp.  I paid .65 cents for it.  Funny thing, the price was written in tiny font (proper use of word-or does that only apply to computers?), with pencil, and me without my glasses thought it said $65.   The seller corrected me.  I might have paid the $65 just to have the combination above.   1939 Russian stamp honors foundry workers of Russia.  There might be more to the story...and if so, and I can find it, I will update later.

So how does a stamp (or any collectible) sell for ten times the predicted value of real experts?  As my best friend John always said, "All you need is two people bidding."  Two people in the same room each wanted that stamp for personal reasons that I will never know.  I got to watch the action (the audio action) live online.   How fun was that??

Yuuup....viva Foundry Man!

Save The Children/The Hungarian Revolution of 1956

 This stamp has always been one of my favorites...one I held back from the original collection that passed my way.  The research and learning of history is absolutely the beauty of these stamps.  From the best I can tell, this stamp is Austrian from 1966 and was created to honor the ten year anniversary of the involvement of "Save the Children" to assist in the aftermath of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.  "Save the Children" is an international organization created to, well, save the children.  It has active branches around the world.  Now further reading took me to the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.  The very short version is the Soviet took control of the country after WW2 and the people revolted in 56 before being tortuously put down.  Suffice to say, there were many children who needed to be saved.

Sometimes, it is just about the color

As for the first two stamps above, sometimes it is just about the color.  Sometimes it is about frustrating research results.  Sometimes, I just like the stamp.  All apply 

Then there is the Confederate flag....real? conterfeit?  likely the latter.  

                                  

The Tools...

Now this is a great photo...problem is I haven't figured out the settings on my camera so I am randomly getting what I want and sometimes not.   This box is filled front to back on the left with glassines filled with two or three stamps, sometimes more....all of which are worthy of a look, a comment, a historical research project or serious art appreciation.   Now, when I figure out how to configure this blog like I want, this photo could easily be part of the header....or gasp! a business card logo.

I certainly am quite sure of little in life, but I am quite sure I nailed the name of my blog.  This is so random how I am going about this.

Pittsburg, The Royal Wedding and so much more

Coming soon.....Pittsburg, 2012 and forever ago.  The Royal Wedding...The Steelers..Roberto Clemente and the Pittsburg Pirates..Bill Mazerowski...Patriots-Steelers....so much...

UPDATE:  So much here...not sure I have as many rather mythical connections to any other city as I do Pittsburg, and I was never there until this past summer.  My daughter and her girlfriend flew in on Saturday, my son, his girlfriend, Gail and I on Friday.  My brother and sister in law  from Arizona was there a day early and our sister Susan and her family a day earlier still in celebration the wedding of her son Chis and his new wife Marie.  It was a Royal Wedding in all regards...rare to get so many family and close friends together for 48 hours of fun and celebration.  Walked to the Andy Warhol Museum, the Pirates new baseball park and the new 3 Rivers stadium, Heinz Field.  There was a big C&W concert at 4 and the tailgating very strong at 10am.   Great walk.  Statues of Bill Mazerowski and Roberto Clemente and  of course others.  Riding the bus to the church through the neighborhoods of Pittsburg, where those hard working people root as hard for the Steelers as we do for the Patriots.....people just being people.

So Roberto Clemente is a hero right?   I remember that he was an excellent ballplayer...a very smooth rightfielder with a great arm and speed.  Next I hear he died in plane crash delivering humanitarian need to earthquake victims of Nicaragua.......the same Nicaragua that years later my daughter Amy decides to make her home for some four month, but I digress.   I need to look up his baseball stats and more about the earthquake and circumstances of his death.    From the baseball and very tangential perspective, he was their city's Tony Conigliaro.... but I digress again.

Pittsburg more......I hired an Director of Resident Services back in the day.....and he was born and raised in Pittsburg...great guy too.   Our neighbors in Ct---the wife was from Pittsburg....fun and good lady she was.

So I ask, who was pitching for the Yankees when Mazerowski hit the series winning homer?   My guess was Ralph Terry....and the answer is ......Ralph Terry.   How can I remember that and not remember my work keys in the morning?   How does that even work?

Patriots-Steelers in the recent ten years.....some great games there I would say.

Random day, random beautiful warm stamps

 So I have a ten minute time limit..dinner is coming.  I have a few photos to post as today's effort was more about photography and learning my camera.  It is winter, so the stamps above demand play.  15 degrees here today...what do think today's temp is where these stamp images were created?  Next research project is to find out what this little collection is all about.

Malcolm X...Billy Shakespeare...Marilyn Monroe...when was the last time these three hung out together?

So, what is this random collection?

  Well, now that I have actually accomplished the set up, and the uploading of a photo....I have actually begun.  Never much gave thought to stamps until early this year.  The Les Brown collection came my way and I have been enthralled since.  Those who know me know the auction house story...and those who know me know I like to write.   Those at work can view the blog, "Musings of the Office Supply Clerk."   I held an ample piece of the collection for myself and the vision of this blog quickly came to life....all I needed was a quality camera and some assistance to begin.  

   Why random?  The answer is simple...at least to me.   Most real collectors collect by country and year and Scott catalogue number and assign monetary value to it.   Not for me.   I group stamps based on any number of criteria very few that will make any sense.   Sometimes I will get into the history of the stamp, sometimes I will actually chase real dollar value, and sometimes I will write nonsense...but I will have fun.  As for the reader(s)....not sure I will see any of those, but maybe a few in time.

#dcalsrandomcollection-stamps.blogspot.com

Nederland--The Eyes, a most deserving first stamp post

  So here is my first stamp blog post.....a good place to start, and of course, after an hour or so of research, I cannot tell you much about this stamp.  It is from the Netherlands and does show a red stamp indicating 1945-1975.  The visual is astounding....the barbed wire and the hungry, lonely, desperate eye.  I did find the image on a dutch web site that looks like an photo clearinghouse, and also on ETSY as a stamp necklace--hello Amy!

So days later, I am sitting here at the working station (ie the dining room table) with Gail, and while I am trying to figure out this camera, Gail is researching further the stamp above.  Seemingly it is a commemerative..30 years. hence the '45-'75 stamp in red. Something happened back early 40's in the Netherlands...there was a Nazi invasion, many prisoners, many deaths....my guess is this stamp was made in 75 to remember that period in the country's history.

PS.  frustrating to suck so much a quality digital photography.