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.