Great Britain & British Empire stamps question

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I've been indulging my new-found fetish for postage stamps, particularly GB and it's Empire 1840 - 1952. I've already made an album for 3rd Reich issues plus one for occupied territories and protectorates. Pretty easy really and already most impressively filled.

There are a few PDF templates around for the GB stuff but they are either grossly inaccurate or they include every variety known to man which excites me about as much as Hillary's legs. So being a perfectionist I'm making them from scratch. Here's the problem, all of the online references I can find have sketchy information, duplicate entries and can't even agree on what year the stamps were issued - much less what colour they might be!

Does anyone know of a reliable online stamp catalog which is detailed, concise and preferably free?

Something along the lines of: date, colour, face value, watermark, catalog ID numbers, print type and size.
Non illegitimis carborundum est.  Excellent advice for all coins.
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Stanley Gibbons have a free download catalogue that gives all the numbers printed for British stamps between 1840 and 1910

http://www.stanleygibbons.com/stanleygibbons/view/content/freenumbersissedthankyou

They used to have a really good free online catalogue, but it looks like you have to join their site and pay a subscription fee to access it now.
Ah yes.  It used to be allworldstamps.com but they closed it down in June this year and forced people to pay £45 pounds to sign up to their site to access the catalogues.

Here's a review of the top 5 online catalogues, hopefully you can find something that suits from there

http://www.stampcollectingblog.com/best-free-stamp-catalogs.php
Perfect, thank you. I've bookmarked stampedia and the wiki and downloaded the catalog to reconcile any differences.

I'll buy you a cold beer next time I'm in NZ, honest.
Non illegitimis carborundum est.  Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!  
It looks like all the free online catalogues are shutting down.  There was a brilliant New Zealand catalogue called "Len Jury" that I used to use when I collected stamps.  They put out a catalogue every year, full colour showing every stamp printed and cost about $15, they also had a free online cataloge, but it looks like the online catalogue has shut down.  I guess they weren't selling as many of their printed catalogues.
I may have a few stamps of interest to you Phil, I think the vast majority of mine are 1953 stamps from the colonies though.
Hi Phil, I have quite few stamps that will be of interest to you, I will sort them out over the weekend and post pics of what I have.
regards
Tony
Thanks fellers. I'm sure there will be something of interest :)

I've been collecting stamps in a half arsed fashion for a few years but my interest really got sparked when I visited my local coin shop and was offered a whole bunch of 3rd Reich stamps. They were from an ex coin and stamp dealer whose widow had brought them in to sell. The owner of the shop doesn't deal in stamps at all so I got two stock books filled to the brim, a couple of nice leather bound albums and a cardboard box full of the showguard mounts for $10. At the back of the stock books were a bunch of full sheets of stamps which I'm told are quite valuable. Nice

Next time I stop by to pick up a few coins she gives me a whole stack of albums, stock books and loose pages of British and Imperial stamps. I haven't even looked at the colonial stuff yet and only had time for the highlights of the UK stuff but there are thousands and thousands of them. Many duplicates of course, there are multiple pages with dozens of the same QV stamps on them.

I've finally worked out, with the help of Neil's links, why I've been having so much difficulty. I was trying to arrange the albums by date instead of by series. It worked for the 3rd Reich stamps but earlier issues are a confusing jumble with overlapping dates.

Happy times indeed.
Non illegitimis carborundum est.  Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!  
Quote: neilithicAh yes.  It used to be allworldstamps.com but they closed it down in June this year and forced people to pay £45 pounds to sign up to their site to access the catalogues.

Here's a review of the top 5 online catalogues, hopefully you can find something that suits from there

http://www.stampcollectingblog.com/best-free-stamp-catalogs.php
Good day to you, young Mr Nightingale, you may also wish to try www.stampworld.com which I found quite good for checking my early Union of South Africa stamps. I also have an almost complete set of GB issues from 1840 to late 20th century (although no 1d black unfortunately) along with a whole bunch of duplicates so let me know if you've got any gaps that need filling  :)
Just because you can't see it ... doesn't mean it isn't there - Anon.

Coin catalogue referee for England, United Kingdom & pre-Union South Africa.
Banknote catalogue referee for England & United Kingdom.
Cheers Mr Jones. That's a most useful site and I've just created an account. While it seems to be a work in progress with several elements still under construction, the catalog part seems to be pretty complete. I'm still exploring but it seems to be possible to manage your collection by creating an online album?

I have the loan of a 2006 Stanley Gibbon and a 2009 Scott Vol. 3, am I right in thinking that Stampworld are using Scott reference numbers?

I hope they find time to make a coinworld.com.
Non illegitimis carborundum est.  Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!  
Phil, I have all volumes of the Scott 2009 catalogue which has been more than helpful identifying stamps and finding some neat varieties. Each file is about some 70MB, so it may be hard to send them.
Kenny

- Verifying your Asian and British-territorial coins everyday with the best quality photos and the best information.

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Thanks Kenny. You can use WinRar or WinZip to compress the files to a size which most email providers can handle. I have a hard copy of Vol 3 which covers GB issues on a semi permanent loan so I have it covered until I start on the colonies but that's going to be a long way down the road.

I wish that the font was a little bigger :( Personal vanity won't allow me to wear reading glasses. I'd be afraid of being mistaken for a PCGS coin grader.
Non illegitimis carborundum est.  Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!  
Welcome to philately! It's a hobby I started a few years ago, but now I am more serious about it.

Try this album:

http://www.stampalbums.com/pages/great_britain1951.pdf
Quote: dptashnyWelcome to philately! It's a hobby I started a few years ago, but now I am more serious about it.

Try this album:

http://www.stampalbums.com/pages/great_britain1951.pdf
Cheers Dan, for both the welcome and the link. I hope you will stay around so I can pick your brains (along with several others) once I start identifying stuff.

That was the first PDF I tried, and the one that came closest. I converted it to Word to get rid of the ugly margins and to rearrange by series separated by the date range and definitions. I want it to match the layout I've been using for my 3rd Reich album. I eventually decided that editing was too much of an embuggeration* so I've started from scratch.

It's progressing quite nicely. I'm excluding such things as plate numbers and very minor colour changes but adding the Scott and Stanly Gibbons numbers. I've got as far as 1880 so things should settle down shortly as the series become longer lived and more consistent.

P.S. A brief question for all you experienced philatelists (that's a stamp collector for anyone getting a Common Core education). Is there an easy way to reveal watermarks? I've tried using a bright light source with mixed success. I've read about fluid which can be applied but I've got a whole bunch of mint state Hindenburg stamps with the original gum which I really don't feel like soaking.

* Note to moderators, this is my new word which I will use to replace more XXX rated expressions. Remember, I know where you live.
Non illegitimis carborundum est.  Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!  
I have an album with stamps of the world from 1860's to 1920's that I would like to sell but unfortunately that wont be happening before I move back to Germany where my collection lies. Bought the album a few years ago at a london antique fair at Spitalfields.
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