Stamp Update: So Iceland has Become a "Dead Country?"

Not so long ago, I came across an announcement that Iceland is no longer going to be issuing new stamps, technically speaking becoming a "dead country," in stamp collecting speak.

As I understand it, it's not that Iceland will no longer be using stamps, they just won't be issuing new stamps. Not entirely sure how that's going to work, given that postal rates change.

Times are definitely changing.

Reading the announcement reminded me of a few years back reading that Denmark soon will no longer have post offices. In fact, the last post office stopped selling stamps in 2018... now only serves as a parcel drop off and pickup. 

I remember that particular Copenhagen post office; went in there to mail things from Denmark to the US when I was younger and traveling back and forth.

I started collecting Icelandic stamps in my teens, as part of my general Scandinavia collection. I actually had a pretty good supply, as my friend Henrik's older brother worked in the fishing industry in Iceland, and would periodically send me Icelandic stamps clipped from his — and his family's — mail. This was in the mid-1970's, when Icelandic stamps were very popular.

In a way, I suppose this is just part of the ongoing trend of many "analog" aspects of our world moving from being "current" collectibles to "nostalgic" and "retro" collectibles.

Whereas I recognize that such things as stamps are increasingly obsolete — the the functional sense — the announcement still makes me sad.

It makes me sad because philately is gradually losing one of its historically primary "access points" to the hobby... the idea of collecting stamps that come from your inbound mail. It was how I got started, myself, as a 6-7 year old.

I suppose that makes me "obsolete," as well!

Covid-19 and the Renewed Interest in Stamp Collecting

Since this is a stamp collecting blog, I am not interested in delving into the socio-political and philosophical ramifications of the Covid-19 Pandemic. I'll leave that up to the political punters.

Danish "star" cancel of LANDET

What we can say — without reservation — is that the various degrees of mandated quarantines, shelter-in-place orders and travel/movement restrictions around the world has resulted in most people spending more time at home, and indoors, than normal.

As a result of that, we have found ourselves exploring "indoor activities," in order to keep ourselves occupied, and — in some cases — to keep the insanity of "cabin fever" at bay.

In a strange way... the pandemic has actually been really good for stamp collecting.

I keep data/tabs on a number of stamp-related selling venues and discussion forums, and most have enjoyed a steady uptrend in activity since the spring of 2020. Some are even at their highest level of activity since 2015-16... and we are not even into the traditional fall/winter "collecting months," yet!

Personally, I have picked up the tongs again, after pretty much quitting in 2016 (that was for financial reasons, though...) because I have always enjoyed this strange hobby of looking at little old pieces of paper! In addition, my wife and I closed our local art gallery in mid-2019, and I have been able to start working from home again, allowing for some more flexibility of time. 

As a book editor, I don't have to worry about a "working week" or "opening hours," I just do the work as it comes to me... and whereas I put in many 10-hour days, those days might be from 5:00am till 3:00pm OR from 2:00pm till Midnight, depending on how I am feeling.

I remember these locomotives from my childhood in Denmark

Whereas we are by no means financially "secure," we are managing to scrape by... and I am finding that I can "take my mind off things" by working with stamps. Sometimes it's just finding items for my own collections, but I am also poking through a lifetime of holdings (and ill-advised purchases!) and slowly dribbling what I no longer have an interest in out to the various online sales venues I have used for many years.

It feels good to be "back," and I plan to get back to blogging a bit about stamps now and then, and perhaps giving this old site a bit of an overall facelift.

After all, I did start blogging about stamps in 2006, so it deserves a little TLC!

In the meantime, everyone stay safe out there... and Stamp On!

New Directions

It is summertime, here in the US Pacific Northwest. Historically, I never did much with my stamp collections during the summertime-- I expect this holds true of many collectors. That said, during my childhood years in Denmark, rainy days at the summerhouse usually meant bringing out the stamp collection to entertain myself.

Earlier this year, I wrote about having to sell my Denmark stamp collection out of necessity... a rather long process that is nearing the end. As fall and shorter days close in, I have had time to consider the question I have been asked a number of times: "Are you giving up stamp collecting?"

Not necessarily.

But I will be going in new directions.

For one, I just won't be spending much money on "serious" stamps, anymore, and the future of my stamp collecting endeavors will probably be limited to specializations of inexpensive stamps and collecting town cancels and postmarks on fairly low price stamps. What's more, any new acquisitions have to be funded completely by the sale of stamps I already have.

For seconds, life is now such that I work seven days; about 70-80 hours a week merely to keep our lights turned on. So I won't really have much time for stamp collecting, for the foreseeable future.

"Will you still be writing about stamps and collecting?"

I plan to, in a somewhat limited way. Recently, I had to let go of two of my stamp web sites-- the cost of hosting and domain services for something that couldn't pay for itself was no longer feasible. In a sense, it was a bit sad... one of the web sites had been "up" since 2001-- which could be considered "ancient" in terms of the age of the Internet. But if it doesn't help us live, we really don't have space for it.

"Are you still going to sell stamps online?"

Well, as long as I have anything worthwhile to offer, yes. Still selling off from my Denmark collection, and now I am going to move on the my collection of town cancels on classic Swedish issues. In general, if you'd like to see what I have available, look at the "Places Where I Sell Stamps!" box in the right hand column.

Otherwise, I will generally be moving more towards "nice stamps" in a lower price range. I still have thousands of duplicates from almost 50 years of collecting, and I will trade them online... perhaps moreso than before, as I simply can't afford to have "unneeded material" sitting in my closets.

"Are you sad/angry/disappointed about having to sell your collections?"

I have gotten a lot of enjoyment from assembling my collections. I am grateful that I followed my father's advice to "only buy the best quality stamps you can find" because he was right: top quality stamps offer a "store of value" you just don't get from "spacefillers" or low quality stamps. So whereas I am a little sad that I don't get to continue my collections into retirement, I am also grateful that my efforts now help us survive during difficult economic times. On top of which, there's also the opportunity offered in terms of starting new collections.

Even if I don't really have any time on my hands for it.

Till the next time-- thanks for reading!

The End of a Stamp Collection

I am selling my life-long collection of stamps from Denmark.

It's an odd-- and totally unexpected-- thing for me to be writing. After all, I had expected I would continue the collection into my 70's and eventually "cash out" to have a measure of comfort-- and perhaps travel-- during my "golden years."

Instead, I find myself starting to sell my collection because of a series of (costly) personal circumstances most recently culminating with my wife's 82-year old mother-- who has severe mobility issues as well as dementia-- moving in with us. As a result of a lifetime of poor decision making and personal self-neglect she is incomeless, penniless and assetless, so the cost of her care and living has come out of our pockets... already empty from a decade of medical bills, kids in college and several other unforeseen disasters that drained our savings to zero.

So the decision was made to sell my Denmark collection, in order for us to not head for complete financial ruin. Oddly enough, it was my idea-- my wife thought I should keep the collection.

I suppose I should feel grateful that stamps, indeed, are a "store of value" of enough significance that they can help us pay our way through the current situation.

The whole situation made me sit and ponder the whole idea of "why we collect things." Whereas "worth" was never of major importance to me as a stamp collector, I did always follow my late father's advice to "always buy the very best quality you can afford." That advice seems to be standing me in good stead, today. I am grateful I paid attention to his words...

My dad's line of reasoning was that a "mediocre" quality stamp had no way to become a "top quality" stamp... but a "top quality" stamp could always have an accident and get damaged, and become a "mediocre" stamp. Thus, top quality stamps-- especially the classic and older ones-- can ONLY become scarcer with age.

Whereas I always knew-- and even planned-- that "someday" my stamp collection would be sold, I never spent much time thinking about how I would feel about 40+ years of effort going away. Specifically, I never considered how I would feel about all those years of work getting "dissolved" in a matter of months. I feel somewhat sad to see these "old friends"-- many of them with stories and memories attached-- leaving my albums.

On reflection, it seems like a very poignant reminder of the impermanence of most things in life.

On the upside, I am grateful that I get to personally handle and oversee the sale-- through eBay, mostly-- thereby being able to make sure that every item is "presented" properly and offered the best possible chance to find its way into the hands of another collector/specialist who will enjoy it in their collection. I'm also glad I have the luxury of a little time, and am not forced to drop the collection for "whatever quick offer I can get."

Someone asked me if I was "giving up stamp collecting."

The answer to that is no, but it is going to be "collecting on a shoestring" from this point forward. It would seem that my days of making any significant investments in new higher value stamps are behind me. For the foreseeable future, 110% of our income will go towards healthcare, living expenses and whatever follows thereof. Yes, I just wrote "110%" because this endeavor is somewhat beyond our means... the indirect "cost" of living in a country/society that has no social safety net for people who have little of their own.

But that's besides the point.

Most likely, I will continue to collect Danish town cancels on inexpensive stamps. And I will continue collecting plate flaws and varieties on the GB Machin issue-- again, something that can be done for a few cents per stamp. But I will no longer be a "serious" stamp collector, in the traditional sense of the word. I haven't lost interest in stamps, however...

It will be interesting to see how things go, with the sales... which I plan to have unfold over the next few months. Hopefully there are still some Denmark collectors and specialists with a taste for top quality material and varieties you rarely see.

Anyway, if you are reading this and happen to be a collector of Danish stamps-- especially nice (and unusual) ones, I hope you'll check my eBay page from time to time. You can find the first set of items here. Maybe there is something you could use?

Danish West Indies Stamps at Auction!

Last week I wrote about my introduction to the stamps of the Danish West Indies-- an area that is part of both many Denmark and Scandinavia collections-- but also an area that's considered part of quite a few US collections.

I spent part of the week sorting through my files and stock books, and decided that it was time for me to get organized and allow a number of stamps from my personal holdings to find happy new homes.

The thing is that-- in spite of my good intentions-- I am never going to have time to take on another specialty collection... so rather than sit on these fine old stamps any longer, I thought I should let go of them.

In the end, I came up with 53 of what I consider "better" stamps; good enough to have individual interest and these I have now put up for auction on eBay... and I'd like to invite my fellow collectors and readers of these pages to go have a look.

This is not "cheap junk" I am trying to unload, but some really GOOD stamps... with values to over US $300.00 in the Scott catalogue.

As I always do when I run auctions, I started all sales at just $0.99 with no reserves-- I think it's just fair that the market should set the price... and who knows, you might pick up a real bargain or two!

There's a strong selection for those who specialize in the "Bicolour" issues (many of them plated), as well as quite a few others. The link below takes you directly to the auctions:

My Danish Weat Indies stamps for auction on eBay

Don't wait too long! The auctions end on Sunday, November 15th at 6:45pm US Pacific Time or 9:45pm US Eastern time. 

Thanks for your consideration! This is probably one of the best offerings on eBay in quite a while.

When Denmark had Palm Trees: Stamps of the Danish West Indies

These days, St. Thomas and the US Virgin Islands are a popular holiday destination. Every year, millions of people visit these tropical islands in the Caribbean, seeking sun and fun.

Cruz Bay

What many people are not aware of is that this tropical paradise used to be a Danish colony, originally annexed in 1672 and eventually issuing its own postage stamps with images of the (at the time) current Danish monarchs. It has been almost 100 years since Denmark sold the islands to the US in 1917, for the sum of US $25 million, but quite a few "very Danish" things can still be found there, as reminders of the islands' history.

As a kid growing up in Denmark, we briefly touched on the "Danish West Indies" in history classes, but I don't remember much of what we learned.

However, my interest was somewhat increased as a result of collecting stamps because there were pages for this strange tropical place in my first Danish stamp album. Those pages remained largely empty for many years since I-- as a child-- really had no significant access to stamps from places that no longer had postal service.

That said, I developed my fascination in an unexpected place. From time time, I would go with my parents to visit my Aunt Ulla in the city of Copenhagen (we lived in a suburb outside of town)-- she lived in a house that had been my grandparents' and had been in the family since 1903.

As a young stamp collector, what fascinated me was all the boxes and bags of old letters and family correspondence stuffed into cabinets and drawers in less used rooms of the house. My aunt was always quite happy for me to help her "sort things" and always willing to let me keep a few stamps as a reward for my efforts.

1912 Danish West Indies Christmas Seal

To my youthful eyes, what made these explorations feel like a "treasure hunt" was the sheer age of all these envelopes and post cards-- most of them dating to about 1905 to 1940. And they came from many interesting places around the world-- in "the old days," my family was evidently very well traveled.

Along the way, I came across a great aunt and uncle's letters home from a trip around the world. Among other things, they had seen the (then) under construction Panama Canal, and they had spent Christmas in 1912 in the Danish West Indies. The stamp on the letter was actually less interesting to me than the colorful Christmas seal with the map... which sent me off to look up the islands in my Aunt's big atlas.

Looking out at our frozen Danish winters, the idea of spending Christmas on the beach with palm trees was something far outside the realm of reality!

However, that particular visit to my Aunt's house did secure me my first stamp from the Danish West Indies.

The Danish West Indies had its own (Danish) postal service and stamps from 1856 till the islands were formally conveyed to the United States on March 31st, 1917.

Going purely "by the main numbers" a total of about 60 stamps were issued during that time. However, because of the era and relatively "primitive" printing methods of the time, a wealth of varieties exist, and DWI (as many stamp collectors call the nation) has become a very popular area with specialist stamp collectors.

The islands even had their own version of the popular Danish "Bicolours" stamp issue, which offers a sub-specialty of its own. Many of the early stamps issued were basically variations of commonly used stamps in Denmark, except denominated in "cents" rather than "øre."

A DWI "Bicolour" stamp used at St. Thomas

Part of what makes the Danish West Indies a very popular collecting area even in 2015-- in spite of being what philately calls a "dead country"-- is the fact that not a lot of stamps were issued, and yet the appeal is fairly extensive. How so?

Aside from being a collecting area in its own right, stamps of the Danish West Indies are often included if a collector is trying to build a comprehensive collection of Danish stamps. If you are working with the Danish AFA stamp catalogues, DWI is considered a subsection of Denmark. As such, there are spaces for DWI stamps in many Danish stamp albums.

At the same time, since the Danish West Indies became the US Virgin Islands-- a dependency of the US-- DWI stamps are also included for those building a comprehensive collection of USA stamps. If you pick up a copy of the US-published Scott Specialized catalogue, you'll find pages listing and valuing DWI stamps. And there are a LOT of stamp collectors in the US, which means a lot of people are looking their albums.

Last-- but certainly not least-- we must also consider the specialists, previously mentioned. Specifically, those who collect the Bicoloured stamps of Denmark often add the DWI versions to their collections because... technically speaking... it's all part of the same stamp series. In fact, the frames of the Danish West Indies Bicolour stamps were printed with the same plates used for the Danish stamps-- only the central ovals are different.

One of the first stamps issued by the Islands

Although I was always interested in the place itself, I never became much of a collector of Danish West Indies stamps. Earlier in my stamp collecting "career" they were generally too expensive for my pocketbook... Later on, I had already specialized in other areas of Scandinavian philately and didn't really feel like picking up yet another area to collect.

This article was inspired by the recent discovery of a group of old Christmas Seals-- "Julemærker"-- from the Danish West Indies, tucked in a glassine envelope in a box of random stamps. Included was the colorful 1912 issue with the map that sent me off to research this strange part of "Denmark with Palm Trees," when I was just a boy. Seeing it again brought back some old memories of a time when life seemed a lot simpler, and more innocent.

I still don't have much of a collection of Danish West Indies stamps, but at least not all the album pages are empty, anymore. However, I do find myself wishing that I still had some of those old family members I would sit in the living room and look through, while "the adults" were having their drinks and conversations in other parts of the house. Unfortunately most of those have been lost to time and numerous moves by other family members.

Thanks for reading and sharing in my little trip down "memory lane!"

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If you are interested in the stamps of the Danish West Indies, a limited number are usually available:

Danish West Indies at my eBay stamp shop

Danish West Indies at my Delcampe stamp shop

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Debut of new "Stamps for Sale" page

As this blog and web site approaches its 10th Anniversary, I have been doing a bit of "house cleaning" around here, checking to make sure that everything posted (links and so on) is actually working.

I do this periodically, because (to me!) there are few things sadder than finding what seems like a really nice web site... only to discover that it feels like "nobody has been home" for several years.

I have never made a secret of the fact that I occasionally sell stamps. I don't do so "for profit," and I don't consider myself a "stamp dealer." Rather, I am a very active collector who trades duplicates online-- and I think that in the "Age of the Internet" I am not alone.

Anyway, as part of yesterday's site update, I decided to add a new feature here... which is a "Stamps for Sale" page. You can get to it either by clicking the link, or by clicking on the "Stamps for Sale!" tab immediately below the site name and description.

I don't actually sell stamps here on this blog site, but the new page has links to-- and descriptions of-- what you might find at each of the sites where I do offer my duplicate stamps to fellow collectors. As of this writing, the links connect you directly to almost 3000 items for sale-- almost all of them "extras" from my own Scandinavian collections.

I hope you'll go take a look!

As part of my "housecleaning" efforts, I also updated and added a number of links to forums and web sites for stamp collectors, trying to remain true to the idea that this is a site primarily about Scandinavian philately.

As always, I appreciate your visits here!

Stamp Collecting Season is about to start!

Here in the USA, it was just Labor Day Weekend.

Out through my window I have been seeing more heavy grey skies with low clouds; there have been stiff cold breezes and it has been raining... more rain on the way although it is sunny, for the moment. The leaves on the trees are starting to get that "tired" look, and soon I will mow the lawn for the last time until spring.

As a stamp collector, Labor Day weekend has always marked the beginning of the stamp collecting "season" for me. Although this first weekend in September seems fairly random, it often marks a significant change in the weather... the first reminder that we will soon be focusing more on indoor activities.

Much as I would like to think of myself as a "serious" stamp collector, I must confess that I am largely a "seasonal" collector. By the time May rolls around, I spend far more time in the garden than I spend with stamp albums... and it's really not until the days start to get shorter that the stamp albums start to sound interesting again.

As I started looking at the new "season" ahead of me, I made the decision to get a bit more focused with my collection interests... and also determined that it is time for me to start getting rid of the many "bits and pieces" I have accumulated over the year with the intent of "eventually turning them into some kind of collection."

Fact is, I have more than enough on my "collecting plate" as is, and I don't need to be adding any new things. I also realized that I have a substantial amount of money tied up in "dormant" stamp collections-- and that it would serve me much better (not to mention keep me interested) to sell off those stamps and use the money to buy something I am really and actively interested in.

Good intentions are nice, but they really don't (at least for me) lead to anything much more than a slight annoyance at the things I never seem to have enough time to get around to.

And that doesn't work-- because I want to enjoy stamp collecting, not feel like I am failing to make good on "obligations" I have set for myself.