Specialized Scandinavia: A Closer Look at Sweden's 12 öre Vapentyp

After you've been collecting stamps for a while and have come to realize that this hobby is something you are serious about and plan to stick with... the question of whether or not to start a "specialized" collection eventually comes up.

For me, specialization was really an offshoot of the fact that I could no longer afford (in my 20's) to buy the next stamp I needed to fill an empty space, going purely "by the main numbers." The "Specialized Scandinavia" series takes a look at some popular-- and possible-- options for specialization within the field of Scandinavian philately-- often focusing on ways to build a specialized stamp collection withOUT breaking the bank.

Today, we'll take a closer look at Sweden's 12 öre Vapentyp ("Arms type"), first issued in 1858. This is a fairly popular Swedish issue for specialists-- especially in Sweden, but also around the world.

The 12 öre blue Vapentyp was the primary stamp used for regular domestic postage within Sweden, from its issue day on July 1st, 1858 until it was replaced by the first of the Ringtyp (or "Circle Type") series on July 1st, 1872.

Although the stamp is definitely from the "Classic Period," the fact that it substantially carried the bulk of Swedish mail for 14 years means that 107 million 12 öre blue stamps were printed!

Such a large number translates into a wealth of opportunity for specialists, for a number of reasons.

First, because so many stamps were printed, the 12 öre Vapentyp remains quite affordable... notwithstanding that we're talking about a 150-year old stamp. To this day, the catalogue value for just a "basic" copy of this stamp remains around just US $2.00 or less than 20:- Swedish Kr. That makes it relatively easy to get your hands on a number of examples without spending a fortune.

In addition, the stamps weren't printed all at once-- they were supplied in multiple printings and deliveries in the course of 14 years. Sweden's Facit catalogue lists 24 distinct shades of this stamp, and that just covers the basics. Some of these shades can be quite difficult to find, and even though the base stamp is inexpensive, a nice copy of a rare shade might set you back US

Some shades, like this "blackish ultramarine," are quite rare

$100.00 or more.

Next, consider that there were also three distinctly different perforation machines used, and that the stamps were printed from eight different plates.

With these variables as a starting point, we can then add that printing "technology" in 1858 was nowhere near as sophisticated as it is today. This means that it was rather easy for varieties to come up... both as a result of small variations in the original-- hand made-- printing plates, and as a result of plate wear and damage that occurred during the printing process.

The result is a rich source of "raw material" to serve as the basis for a specialized collection,

Of course, there are additional variations-- a collection of the 12 öre Vapentyp could also be expanded with covers and town cancels, adding a postal history element to the collection. In doing so, you can make the scope of the collection almost infinite, as there are literally tens of thousands of possibilities.

One of the benefits of taking on such an old stamp issue for specialization is that it has already been studied extensively by philatelists, so there's a significant amount of specialist information already available. Add to that the way the Internet has helped the spread of information, and you have many sources of information at your fingertips. A few quick searches on Google revealed several collector web sites with lots of detailed information about this stamp.

A cancel like "ALANÄSET" is quite rare and can add a lot
of value to a relatively common stamp.

Although I don't personally have a specialized collection of this stamp, I have definitely considered it as a possible expansion of my Sweden collection.

A good starting point might be to buy an accumulation from a reputable dealer or auction house. Sometimes "lots" of these stamps also show up on web sites like eBay. Naturally, it would be easiest to find such an accumulation at a Swedish auction house.

Some might feel more comfortable with the idea of purchasing a collection that has already been started, and then building onto it.

If you want to go the route of buying one stamp at a time, online sales venues like Delcampe, BidStart or Stamps2Go might be a better option-- but you need a place that has a good supply of lower priced items. Circuit books from an organization like the American Philatelic Society is also a worthwhile place to look.

Whatever way you go about starting your specialized collection, be aware that you'll have to make your own album pages... or do what many do with such collections-- start them out in a stock book, where it is easier to move the stamps around as the scope of the collection grows.

Above all, remember to have fun!

Up for Auction: Classic Sweden with Varieties and Better Cancels

It's stamp auction time again, and this week the focus is on older Swedish stamps, including varieties and better town cancels.

Scarce shade of 6ö grey

The Swedish "ringtyp" (or "circle type") stamps of 1872-1891 happen to be one of my areas of specialization-- I collect both plate flaws as well as nicer town cancels on these classic issues. This week I am letting go of a number of duplicates.

All items listed start bidding at just 99 cents, and there is NO reserve... regardless of the stamp's value. Some of these items are quite good, including such stamps as this genuine deep blue-gray 6 öre perf. 14-- the scarcest of the grey shades of this stamp, with a catalogue value of 1000:- Swedish kr. in the Facit catalogue. There are also some nice stamps from the "Arms" (Vapentyp) series.

There are at least a dozen listings featuring plate flaws on these classic stamps-- making this a nice group for the specialist.

This auction series also includes some nice town cancels from Sweden-- currently one of the most popular specialties within Swedish philately.

Go to:  Current stamp auctions with classic Sweden

Bidding remains open till Sunday afternoon, August 12th, so I hope you'll go take a look. Since everything is listed with a low starting bid, there's always a good chance to find some bargains!

A nice WADSTENA cancel

Thanks for your interest!

Classic Denmark and Swedish Cancels on eBay

With fall around the corner, and the weather outside not as friendly as it has been, I have been working more on organizing stamps and sorting through old lots.

As a result, I have been adding new items to my eBay stamp store. As always, I focus on listing good quality and desirable material. It continues to sadden me how many stamp sellers use eBay to "dump their junk." I definitely do not choose to be part of that philosophy... and to the degree I sell "junk" stamps, I usually lump them into one large "floor sweepings" lot, clearly marked as "stamps with problems."

So, what's new?

Denmark 4RBS Chestnut Brown

Right now, I am in the process of adding Danish stamps, most of them pre-1930. There are quite a few from the "Bicoloured" issue, although I have not spent time plating most of these... however, the scans are large and clear enough that collectors should easily be able to determine printings and positions from the scans. I have also been listing a number of better varieties and plate flaws... although I am not going to get into specifics about these, as it seems like they sell almost immediately.

Among the better items going up for auction later today (start Sunday, October 9th, end Sunday, October 16th) is a very presentable copy of Denmark's 4RBS brown (Scott #2b/AFA no. 1IIIe) in the rare chestnut brown shade. Although not listed in US catalogues, this shade is valued at US$300.00+ by European catalogues. As with all my auctions, I start bidding at 99 cents, and no reserve.

Meanwhile, I have been sorting and cataloguing a large lot of Sweden Officials and Postage Dues, bought at auction earlier this year. This has turned out to be a very interesting lot, containing not only some nice varieties, but a large number of really nice town cancels. The lot has an interesting "history," in that it contains all Swedish stamps, but was assembled by a collector in Canada, then sent to Denmark to be auctioned, and now has ended up with me in the USA. An excellent example of how stamp collecting truly is a Global hobby!

Normally, when I sort "messy lots" like these, I end up with a lot of defective and uninteresting stamps. This group, however, has been "cleaner" than most with a surprising number of good cancels. After picking out many stamps for my own collection, there has still been a lot left over to sell as duplicates... or as simply not fitting in with my areas of interest.

Current new listings include this copy of a 20 öre red "long" official with a nice strike of the fairly rare "VESTRA KARABY" town cancel. Valued at 500:- SEK (about US$72.50) in the Swedish Facit Postal cancel catalogue, this is one of the rarest cancels I've had on eBay in several years. Although stamp collecting may not be thriving in a worldwide sense, the collecting of postal history and regional town cancels in Sweden is going strong. Known to many as "Hembygsfilateli" (literally: home area philately), this is a highly specialized area of Swedish philately, where collectors focus on postal history from their county or region. This may sound relatively simple-- on the surface-- but it can be surprisingly challenging, as many small towns and places of the 1800s are no longer active postal places, and some were in use for very short period of time.

I hope you'll take a moment to check out my eBay stamp store, today!

Finding "Treasures"

For me, a large part of the joy of stamp collecting comes from finding "unexpected treasures" in a lot of stamps.

Sure, we can go out and find a stamp dealer, or go to an online stamp store, and buy precisely the one stamp we need to fill a very specific space in the album. And I won't deny that this may be the most appropriate way to collect, for many people.

For me? Not so much.

Most of my collection has been built through buying fairly large lots, collections or accumulations... and slowly sifting through the "mess" to find the few "gold nuggets" I wanted to include in my collections. Sure, I do end up with quite a bit of duplicate material... but there are ways of trading or selling that to other collectors who may need what I don't need.

Recently, I splurged and bought a fairly large lot of classic used back-of-the-book issues from Sweden. Well, for me it was fairly large outlay-- about US $375.00, from a stamp auction firm in Denmark.

Sweden Scott O10, XF-S with rare FRÖSKOG cancel

Buying these classic issues-- most from the period 1874 to about 1900-- is always a bit risky, especially if you can't be present to check the condition. The Swedish "Long" officials (Scott O1-25, Facit TJ1-24) are especially notorious for poor condition-- thins and tears are common, and most stamps are somewhat to extremely off-center. Often the cancels-- especially on the higher values, which were used on parcel cards-- are heavy and unattractive, and will have bled through to the back of the stamp. Collecting a set in VF+ sound condition can be quite challenging... and many collectors just give up on such a proposition, settling for a "reasonable" in Fine or better condition.

As expected, condition was somewhat "mixed." That's typically "dealer speak" for "all the better values are damaged, the cheap stamps are mostly OK." After sorting through the lot, almost 50% of the stamps ended up in my "junk pile" because they were damaged/faulty to some degree. However, there were also some very nice stamps-- with very attractive cancels, one of my specialties-- in the lot.

The "upside surprise," however was that the very best stamp in the lot was also the one with the highest catalogue value:

The pictured stamp is a near-flawless copy of the Sweden 50 öre "long" official, perfed 14, from 1874, Scott no. O10. Not only does it have almost perfect centering, it is very fresh and bright, it has full perfs and no back faults, and a lovely upright town cancel from the village of Fröskog-- a smaller, hard-to-find place. There is a faint hint of a pencil line in the upper right corner, but otherwise it's as close to perfect as they get. This is a difficult stamp to find in merely "sound" condition... but in "gem" condition like this, it an extreme rarity. If I were to try to purchase this stamp individually at a stamp auction, in this condition, chances are I would have to pay well in excess of the $125.00 stated catalogue value.

Needless to say, I was very pleased with the outcome of this purchase, and I am still left with lots of trading and approval book material. Which just goes to show that it's not always the highest value stamps that are in the most "mixed" condition!

Auction News: Philea Auction 297, August 24th, 2011

I've spent part of today looking at Swedish Auction firm AB Philea's online catalogue listing for their August 24th public auction.

As usual, there are thousands of lots offered, with the majority of the weight being on Sweden. I've found that summer auctions are often a good time to buy, as many collectors in Scandinavia are preoccupied with things other than stamp collecting, while the weather is nice.

6 öre Ringtyp with two pre-printing paper folds

I am always looking for interesting and unusual items for my collection of the "Ringtyp" series; in this particular sale, I am considering a copy of the 6 öre perf. 14 stamp, with TWO pre-printing paper folds. With an opening bid of 500:- Swedish Kr. (about US $78.00) it's by no means cheap, but I've not seen one like it before (photo at left).

Of course, it's typically "lots and collections" that really catch my interest. However, since I made quite a few "box lot" purchases this spring, I am in a rather "picky" frame of mind, these days... but by no means so picky I'm going to pass up what appears to be a true bargain. Naturally, true bargains are rare, when you are looking at the auction catalogues of firms with thousands of clients worldwide.

One lot that caught my eye is a collection of "ringtyp" stamps chosen for cancels. Although the online photos suggest that maybe one-in-ten stamps meet my own criteria for cancel quality, the appeal of a lot like this is that most cancel collectors are not interested in plate flaws... and so, once I'd removed any desirable cancels, I would be able to go back through the lot a second time and scan for varieties. That said, the opening bid of 4000:- Swedish Kr. (about US $625.00) is a bit "stout" during these meager economic times. I'll have to consider whether or not I'd be able recover some of the cost of the lot with subsequent sales on eBay... seems like a fair percentage of the cancels still look "collectible" enough to warrant interest from those not quite so particular about obtaining perfect strikes.

Over in the Denmark section, I noticed several very nice lots of duplicates. When looking for Danish stamps, I prefer lots that only run to about 1960, 1970's at the very latest... as I just don't have much interest in more modern material. Unfortunately, several of these lots already have gone 50% past opening bid from online bidding and I feel hesitant to place a bid beyond that. These higher prices are no doubt due to the fact that the economic recession in most of the world is fairly mild in the Scandinavian countries.

I took a brief look at Overseas lots, because I do collect a few items from outside Scandinavia-- and found a fairly appealing lot of used Australia, which is now up for serious consideration... part of the appeal here was the descriptive text that it includes "more than 200 kangaroo stamps." One of my specialized collections is the Kangaroo and Map issue, and finding these stamps in quantity outside Australia (where specialists have already picked over most lots) holds a lot of appeal.

eBay Time: Worldwide bits and pieces at auction

It is already May, and only now am I getting around to listing my first set of stamp auctions on eBay, this year!

Up for grabs are 50 better items, predominantly Western Europe with most of the weight on Scandinavia. Lots include some Danish Bicolours, Swedish with better cancels on classics, some better Germany, France and Switzerland. There are also a few bits and pieces from the US.

This group is not typical of how I like to offer things for sale on eBay, but these were a bunch of "leftovers" I just didn't have any other place to put.

Like is the case with most of my eBay auctions, everything starts with an opening bid of just 99 cents, and there is NO reserve on any lot-- and there are some items here with catalogue values running to US$700.00.

I hope you'll stop by and check out this week's offerings! The auctions end on Sunday, May 15th.

Click here to visit my eBay listings!

Classic Swedish Cancels

I started collecting town cancels on classic Swedish stamps in the mid-1980's.

A nice "SKENINGE" cancel on 5ö green

The collection started more or less "by accident:" I was at university in the US at the time, and had gone "home" to Denmark for the summer-- in part to visit family, and in part to work (I didn't have a work permit for the US, at the time) to make money for school.

One day, I found myself strolling through the streets of central Copenhagen, looking at stamp shops. This was back in a time where "street level" retail stamp shops were still fairly numerous; there were at least 12-15 shops I liked to check out, on a regular basis.

One stretch of Gammel Kongevej had several dealers clustered together-- one of them was a favorite: Usually a "cluttered mess" of boxes and albums; this dealer's specialty was to take in people's collections-- and even entire holdings-- on consignment "as is." His opening hours were... well... sporadic, and I expected depended on whether he was out making a "house call" to an estate or someone who wanted to get out of the stamp collecting business. I don't think more than maybe 1/4 of the shop's stock was actually the dealer's own material. Anyway, this shop offered a constantly rotating "treasure hunt" for stamp collectors-- no knowing what might show up.

Of course, being just 24 at the time and a "starving student," my stamp budget was quite limited. Besides, I was in the business of saving money... not spending it; I needed to pay for my classes. However, I was working the 11pm to 7am shift at a factory AND taking on all holidays and weekends I could get (at the time called "antisocial hours"), and making a rather good wage-- so I had allowed myself a little "stamp money."

At the time, my primary stamp collections were Denmark, Sweden and France. I had pretty good collections for someone my age, and had even (hesitantly) started a couple of specialized collections... Danish numeral cancels and the Danish "Bicolours" issue.

As I looked through the shop's endless piles of boxes and albums, I came across a battered shoebox marked "old Sweden." Inside was an unruly mess of old yellowing glassine envelopes with thousands of classic Swedish stamps, from the "Arms" issues to the "Oscar" issues. Some seemed sorted by stamp; some seemed all mixed together. Mostly, I noticed that there was extreme duplication on some stamps-- and I guessed that was why the box was only marked at 1200,- Danish kr. (about US $200, but still a hefty sum in 1984, to a young man with little money). After all, who would want 1000+ copies of a 10ö red Oscar II stamp? I didn't know much about classic Sweden, but I did know that "bundleware" (even old) tended to be cheap.

Originally, I included the Oscar II series

I am not sure what possessed me to take a second look-- but as I scanned through the old glassines, I noticed a few had been marked "better cancels" (in Danish) in pencil. I also noticed that these "better" cancels were lovely strikes, by any measure-- most of them were on 12 öre blue "ringtyp" stamps, as well as the "Oscar II" issue. Having recently started my collection of Danish numeral cancels, I decided that collecting old Swedish cancels might be a fun sideline-- since I had reached a point with my Sweden collection where adding more stamps generally required me to spend $20 or more, per stamp.

I should add that I really "didn't know what I was doing," at the time. In my mind, I had a notion that perhaps I'd get a hold of a map of Sweden and cross off (or highlight) town names as I found them. I should also add that I found this box before cancel collecting in Sweden really became "a big deal."

My Swedish cancel collection started quite humbly. I bought a 32-page stockbook, which gave me a page per letter of the alphabet, with enough left over to make a separate page for major cities like Stockholm and Göteborg. Aside from that, all I did was put stamps in the stockbook, alphabetically, by place name.

It was actually several years before I learned that there was such a thing as a Swedish cancel catalogue-- the "Facit Postal" catalogue, issued every 4-5 years. And then I was amazed to discover that quite a few of my original "shoebox cancels" had considerable value... and they went on to form the basis for my Swedish cancel collection.

That was 27 years ago. A some readers may know, Swedish cancel and postal history collecting has since become a "big deal." Although "ortstämplar" and "hembygdsfilateli" are mostly Swedish philatelic interests collected in Sweden, I have met many fellow specialty collectors around the world-- from Denmark, to the UK, to the US, to Australia.

"Finds," like my original shoebox lot, are rare these days because awareness of this type of material is so much higher than it used to be. Top quality classic cancels sometimes sell for extraordinary prices at large Swedish philatelic auctions. Even those from relatively common (large) towns have been known to sell for many multiples of their catalogue values.

"WESTERÅS" on an early printing of 20ö red

About ten years ago, I decided to narrow down the scope of my Swedish cancel collection, limiting the stamps to only the "Vapentyp" (arms type) and "Ringtyp" (circle type) issues, Facit numbers 1-51. I still have many of my Oscar cancels, but am not actively collecting them any more-- and periodically have sold off some of the better items on eBay. Even so, my collection has grown to several thousand stamps and continues to grow-- albeit slowly-- as I visit stamp shows and pick up an occasional "box lot" or collection from a stamp auction.

Part of the slowness of the collection's growth can be directly attributed to my own rather particular requirements of the quality of cancel I am willing to include. From time to time, I realize that I may have put unreasonable constraints on myself-- but I am in no great hurry, and hopefully have at least another 30 years of collecting ahead of me!

Along the way, I have had the good fortune to pick up a few rarities-- at least within the limited context of Swedish cancels. That said, I am still missing quite a few "fairly common" cancels... just waiting for examples to show up, in the right condition.

Postmarks: Hagelsrum, Sweden

Pictured here is a copy of Sweden Facit nr. 33, 20 öre bright red Ringtyp perf 13, with an attractive "HAGELSRUM 18.12.1883" town cancel. It looks a bit like the cancel is from 1888, but the line at left is stray cancel ink-- when viewed from the back, you can clearly see the "3" of the date stamp. This is a nice example of the "normalcancellation 16," widely in use in Sweden during the latter part of the 1800s.

What is the value of this stamp? This is Facit 33e, the orange-red shade on "soft" paper, which has a catalogue value of 11:- Swedish Kr. The slightly yellowish shade of the stamp is normal on the soft paper printings-- the paper was typically slightly "cream" colored. The Hagelsrum cancel is a difficult one for cancel collectors to find, and this is a very nice example. Readable cancels from this postal place carry a premium value of 100:- Swedish Kr. and up. Given the quality of the cancel on a fault-free (although a bit off-center) stamp and the scarcity of the place, I'd estimate this stamp would sell for about 200:- to 250:- Swedish Kr. (US $31.50-39.50) at auction, perhaps higher if you were to buy it from a specialist dealer.

A bit about the place this stamp was postmarked: Hagelsrum is located just outside the small town of Målilla in Kalmar county in southeastern Sweden. Strictly speaking, it cannot even be characterized as a village; it is more like a "manor" with associated buildings, and a very small iron smeltery. However, it was-- in the 1800s-- significant enough to warrant its own postal collection point, most likely due to the commercial activity from the iron ore mill.

The blast furnace at Hagelsrum

Local accounts suggest that the first settlements here were by Viking chieftains who'd "rest" in the area between long trips overseas. The first written accounts referring to the manor at Hagelsrum date to 1320, when the farming was most likely in care of a monastery based in the city of Vadstena. There were at the time three farms, a grain mill and an eel fishery in the vicinity.

Between 1447 and 1748, the property changed hands a number of times, was periodically claimed by the Swedish crown, and was burned down/ destroyed and rebuilt several times. There may have been a small castle built during one reconstruction, but this is uncertain as there are no remains found, today. For a while, the buildings were used for a munitions works; the iron smelter oven (basically a "blast furnace")-- which remains largely intact today-- was built from the ground up in 1853, and was in operation till 1877. The furnace is the only one of its kind in Kalmar county to remain well-preserved.

The postal station at Hagelsrum was active from December 1877 until January 1963. Today, mail from the area is processed at nearby Målilla. The current population of Hagelsrum is about 30 people.

Fine and Rare, Number 3

The "Fine and Rare" pages of this blog is a space where I sometimes share some of the "gems" (in my opinion) and favorites from my personal collections. Some will be rare, some will just be of exceptional quality, some will merely be unusual-- a few will be "all of the above."

Sweden 1877: 50 öre rose Ringtyp perf 13, very fine used example with manuscript marking "Aneby 2/3 82" in black ink, Facit number 36e.

For a lot of people, an "ink cancelled" stamp is either considered to be defective or worthless. After all, when we get a letter or package in the mail and the stamps have been "cancelled" by the mail carrier's ballpoint pen or marker, we tend to get annoyed because we think the stamps have been "ruined."

Indeed, this is true for most stamps, from most countries-- even old stamps. 

Ink "cancels" come about when postal workers at the original source post office somehow overlooked canceling the stamp on an envelope or package. Typically, it falls to the mail carrier making the final delivery to notice-- and then act on-- an uncancelled stamp in the mail stream. 

In Sweden, it was quite rare that stamps in the "classic" period (pre-1900) did not receive a proper postmark-- as such, ink cancellations are quite collectible, and become part of Swedish postmark collections. Unlike many other countries, an early ink cancellation from Sweden does not indicate a "revenue" usage... all such markings were applied to stamps in the actual mail stream.

What makes this particular stamp interesting is that it has the actual town and date fully written on it. Many stamps were canceled with a simple "X", OR the town and date were large enough to spill over onto the envelope. Although not really a "cancel" in the strict sense, stamps like these are prized by postal historians and cancel collectors alike.

This stamp came to me in an approval selection where it was marked "defective" and offered at 10% of the stamp's catalogue value. Needless to say, I was very happy to be able to add it to my cancel collection!

The base value of the 50 öre stamp in pale rose (Facit 36e) is 70:- Swedish kronor (or about US $11.50). The additional value of a "town and date" marking like this on a loose stamp from the classic period is a minimum of 400:- Swedish kr. (or about US $65.00), making this quite the "bargain" compared to its original price of about 70 cents. 

Variety Focus: Sweden's 20/20 öre "Double Print" Stamp

A closer look at Sweden 1876: 20 öre red on 20 öre faint orange Ringtyp perf 14; Facit no. 23/Scott no. 23b

One of my specialized collections is of the Swedish "Ringtyp" (sometimes called "Circle Type") issues of 1872-99. Within these old sets of stamps, my favourite issue is the so-called 20 öre "Double Print" stamp, which is unique in the world of philately.

The first ringtyp stamps were issued on July 1, 1872, to replace the previous "Vapentyp" ("arms" type) stamps. Nine values between 3 öre and 1 riksdaler were issued, all perforated 14, all with the same basic design: a large central numeral of value inside a circle or "ring." One of the primary reasons for this stamp issue was that the numbers on the previous vapentyp stamps were small and sometimes difficult to read-- the ringtyp design featured a much more prominent numeral inside a circle in the center of the stamp.

Facit Nr. 22f, 20 öre printed in extremely pale orange

The 20 öre value was printed in red. A number of printings between 1872 and 1877 produced an assortment of shades of red-- red was a difficult color to reproduce exactly. However, one of the printings of the 20 öre stamp was done in a colour of "dull orange" SO pale that the design could almost not be seen (Facit no. 22f). This printing was sent to post offices in 1875, but it quickly became a problem. Either the colour was too difficult to see, OR the stamp was confused with the yellow-orange 24 öre value.

As a result, the stamps were recalled by the Swedish Port Office (towards the later part of 1876), and it was decided that the stamps would be printed a SECOND time, this time in a brighter red colour-- rather than be destroyed.

Of course, with the fairly simple printing technology of the 1870s it was almost impossible for the printers to get perfect registration between the two colors, so most often the examples of the "double print" stamps we find have a faint "ghost image" of the paler colour-- on the stamp below, it can be seen in the right margin, and inside the large number 20. For a better look, click on the stamp and you'll get a much larger image to look at.

A genuine example of the "Double Print" stamp

The listed catalogue value is relatively low, especially for a classic stamp of which only 180,000 were printed, and most were used and discarded on ordinary mail. I expect this is largely because only the Swedish Facit catalogue recognizes the stamp as a "main" number, while for all other catalogues the stamp is listed as a "variety." For Scott it is no. 23b, the other primary Scandinavian catalogue-- AFA-- lists it as no. 22x. As a result, most pre-printed album pages for Swedish stamps do not have a separate space for this stamp, even though it was an "official issue," and not an "error." If the album designers did include a space for the Double Print, the stamp would probably be worth 4-5 times more, because of the much higher demand to fill those empty spaces.

Another thing that makes this stamp interesting for collectors of Sweden is the "treasure hunt" factor. Although the variety is listed in most major catalogues, very few descriptions exist to tell people what to look for. Most copies I have found have come from duplicate stocks of the "normal" 20 öre stamp. Odds are good that next time you find yourself at a stamp show, you might just find one of these in a dealer's box, not marked as a vareity!

Stamps For Sale!

Because I have philatelic material for sale in so many different locations, and the material often changes, I have decided the easiest way to keep announcements all in one place is to simply have this post always sitting at the top of the blog.

Here, then, is a listing (with brief description) of the places I have stamps for sale (titles are links to the sites):

Delcampe Stamp Auctions:

Currently 200+ lots stamps from Sweden, almost all used, with better and some of the "tricky" mid-priced items. All are identified by the Swedish Facit stamp catalogue. Please note that the bidding here is in EURO.

StampWants Auctions:

Currently about 250 lots mid- and lower priced Swedish stamps, from classic to the 1960's, some mint, but mostly used. All listed by the Swedish Facit catalog as well as Scott, with varieties, town cancels, and more.

eStampAuctions UK:

About 120 lots older Denmark, mostly mid-priced material. Please note that the bidding here is in UK pound Sterling, and that stamps are listed by the Danish AFA stamp catalogue. However, the descriptions are clear enough that you can easily "convert" to your own catalog of choice.

In general, there are some good values to be had, with many stamps offered for as little as 20% of catalogue value.

Postmarks: Göteborg, Sweden

One of my stamp collections-- probably my favorite of all-- is my collection of town cancels on classic Sweden. I chose to start this collection after buying a large batch of early Swedish duplicates from a dealer in Copenhagen-- and I noticed how "clean and neat" many of the cancels were... and how they were of a size that fit well on the stamps issued at the time. So I decided to save them.

I have been working on this particular collection for almost 25 years, and it helped develop my interest in "socked-on-the-nose" cancels of all countries.

Anyway, I thought it might be interesting to create periodic posts featuring a stamp with a great postmark, alonf with a little information about that place. Not sure how many of these I'll feel like doing, but here's a start.

12 öre Ringtyp, perf 14, with GÖTEBORG cancel

Göteborg, Sweden

Here is a nice copy of Facit no. 21, 12 öre ringtyp perf 14, issued in 1872, with a nice cancel of "GÖTEBORG 24.10.1876."

For collectors of Swedish town cancels, this is by no means scarce, but this is a nice strike of the early "large diameter" postmark, on a well-centered stamp. This was actually one of the stamps in that first lot that got me interested in collecting Swedish cancels, which is why I chose to include it here.

Because Göteborg is a large city, many different cancelling devices have been used, and it can be a challenge for the cancel collector to assemble a complete set of all the possible "Göteborg" cancels.

What is this stamp worth? The stamp itself has a catalogue value of 10:- Swedish kr. A clear readable cancel from this time period carries a premium of another 10:- Swedish kr. Given the condition of the stamp and the quality of the cancel, a stamp like this would probably sell for about 50-60:- Swedish kr. (about US$7.75-9.25) at auction; somewhat more from a dealer.

About the city: Göteborg-- known in English as "Gothenburg"-- is Sweden's second largest city, with a population of a little over half a million people, although almost a million live in the greater metropolitan area. Located on the west coast of Sweden, facing Denmark, it was one of the first places in Sweden I became aware of, as a child growing up in Denmark.

View of the city of Göteborg

Founded in 1621, Göteborg is also Scandinavia's largest and busiest seaport. Geographically, the city is strategically placed almost at the midpoint of the three Scandinavian capitals, Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm. The city's early history was heavily influenced by Dutch traders (and invaders), who designed much of the early city. In fact, the Dutch influence was so strong that-- for a while-- Dutch was seriously under consideration for the official language of the city.

The city is located at the mouth of the Göta River, where it empties into the Kattegat Sea, at one end of the North Sea. Because it is in a location that is natural for having a port, it is likely that there have some kind of settlements here, long before Göteborg officially became a town.

Today, Göteborg is a cultural center in western Sweden, with many things to offer visitors, from museums to festivals to excellent restaurants. It is also home to Liseberg, Scandinavia's largest amusement park, as well as the most visited tourist destination in Sweden. Apart from its busy port, the city is served by two commercial airports and a major railway line.

Selling on Stamp Wants

I have recently signed up on the Stamp Wants web site, with the hope of having found an "eBay alternative" that allows me to sell lower priced items without getting skinned alive with fees.

It seems like a neat enough site, and looks like it was created by people who actually know both stamps, and the technology that's needed to drive an auction web site.

I have decided to try having one of their "Stores," and have gone back to the trade name I have used in the past, Scandinavian Stamps, Etc. So far, having a store there is free, but I feel pretty sure they will start charging for them, after some time. Perhaps once there is enough traffic to justify it.

So far, I have just listed a few stamps from Sweden, and plan to continue getting some of the medium and lower priced material over there. Here, have a look at the Scandinavian Stamps, Etc. store!