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Introduction

Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 7:00 pm
by Genuinely Used
Hello! My name is Ralph and along with my wife, Sue we have recently joined the Society. I started collecting stamps as a schoolboy when I was given a small World stamp album as a Christmas gift. After setting out with the intention of collecting every stamp ever issued, I soon realised that my small stamp album was not large enough, and this was in the days when the SG Simplified was one small volume! Sue also collected whole world stamps in her teens and even attended the stamp auction with her mother.

Since then our collecting has been honed down. Our main interest is GB pre-decimal used. Sue also has a modest collection of Italian and French, again used. However in recent years She has spent more time on the GB collection. My particular interest has always been the four Kings and especially George V. I am no expert but enjoy reading and learning about my chosen period. Recently after a few finds in an inherited collection we have started to look at the Victorian line engraved issues. This is something we intend to educate our selves on over the next few years!

Although the internet has done a lot for specialist interest hobbies, I am not a great fan of purchasing via the web. It seems to me if you have deep enough pockets, you can buy anything you want just by carrying out an internet search taking what I consider the fun out of the hunt. Having said that I have been tempted from time to time...

By being fussy we can keep the interest going. We much prefer attending stamp fairs, auctions and stamp shops, where we can hunt for the nicely centred, perfect perfs and lightly cancelled copies. Recently I have inherited my late father's enormous collection of all world, GB mint commemoratives and FDCs. This collection will take a long time to sort and there are several stock books full of mint stamps that have been purchased as they were issued for the past 40 years. His collection was more about quantity with little or no order but he enjoyed it!

We have always been interested in definitives and although we have a few odd Machins it is something that neither Sue or I have ever studied in any great detail. My father did not collect them either so we are devoid of any in depth knowledge of this subject and will no doubt be seeking advice.

We attended Stampex, last Saturday, and attended the GBPS meeting for the first time. I must say we were made to feel very welcome and we are looking forward to the next meeting in October.

Other than collecting stamps, we are keen Meccano enthusiasts and attend meetings and shows around the country on a regular basis. It is interesting just how many Meccano people are also stamp collectors. If you are interested you can see more about our Meccano adventures on our Meccano website - Just Google "Ralph and Sue's Meccano".

So, there it is I have told you a bit about our stamp collecting and us. I am now off to have a look around as see what is going on and ask the odd silly question. I hope, in time, we will be able to contribute to this board and the society as a whole.

Ralph

Transfer from previous board: original post 1873

Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 7:05 pm
by asmodeus
A warm welcome!

Regards

Denis (asmodeus from stampboards)

Transfer from previous board: original post 1874

Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 7:10 pm
by robinT
When you sort out what you have - you then need to decide what is interesting and what is not! To you, that is.

My thinking is that definitive stamps are necessary to the system as is... special issues/commems etc. are not

Do you just like pretty bits of coloured paper or do you want to find out how they caqme into being.

Your choice is absolute

Welcome and the best of luck

Transfer from previous board: original post 1878

Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 7:00 pm
by Genuinely Used
Thank you for the kind welcome...

Robin,

Sort out is the name of the game with my late father's collection. The other word that springs to mind is 'organise' and as I type this another word that is relevant is 'dispose' the amount of duplication is incredible...

My dad enjoyed 'collecting' vast quantities of stamps to him it seemed to be a very private thing (he was not one for sharing his interest)We just agreed, many years ago, that I would collect pre decimal GB an he would collect EVERYTHING else!

We have sorted out all the GB now and have a vast collection of FDCs and Mint stamps covering the period. Although there are a few Machins around there is a lot to do it this part of the collection is to be fairly represented. This is good news for us as it will inject some new life into our stamp collecting - I have even been soaking some stamps off paper - something I have not done for years! So, for the next few months we intend to soak up as much information on the subject as possible.

Ralph.