StampChat Archives

Archive:  October 1 - 15, 2003

• Last updated:  20 March 2004

October 15, 2003 9:55 PM Blue Rabbit

Imperf of the day
C25 Unlisted?

October 15, 2003 21:08 Jim Watson

PVI Numbers
Jim W-S,
Just a thought on the unidentified four digit field on the PVI labels. Could it be a provision for a serialization of the PVIs issued from the specific machine? Sounds like it might have been an advance provision for something never implemented.

October 15, 2003 21:04 Jim Watson

Tiny Folded Letter, Pre-Stamp
Prometheus,
That is an interesting item. It sounds like it may have been made up by someone as a curiosity. It sounds like it may not have gone through the mail. I'm keeping it in my think-about-it pile. Thanks for bringing it up.

October 15, 2003 Bill Weiss

Scott
JIM G; If you want to take the time, can you tell me what your disagreements are? If you want to do it by private email (wrw43@rcn.com) that's OK but it might make interesting reading here for others too.

October 15, 2003 8:35 Bob in WA

Trevor -- If I lived just across the border in Canada and wanted to sell to the US, I'd probably state a US source also, avoiding hassles and extra costs of international mail, especially for packages. I didn't check the feedback, but the location wouldn't bother me, probably on the contrary impress me as a seller willing to save me postage expense.

October 15, 2003 David Benson

Thanks,

That site is very interesting as it was made to inform collectors about the mistakes that the major Auction Houses make when describing and valuing material that they are not accustomed to.

I have never seen large blocks of them, just pairs and a few blocks of 4 and always at high asking prices.

David Benson

October 15, 2003 Jim Griffith <griffith@dweeb.org> http://album.dweeb.org
 

Jim

October 15, 2003 David Benson

Anyone want to tell Paul (others) on Ebay Chat that the Color Trials of the Sitting Helvetias were unauthorised and not of much value,

I can't log on to Chat but having no problems with anything else,

see,

http://www.swiss-stamps.org/Fonduedir/Color%20Trial%20Proofs.htm

David B.

October 15, 2003 David Benson

Anyone else having problems loging on to Ebay Chat, I want to answer a question but can't log in,

David B.

October 15, 2003 Bill Weiss

Various
Good evening everyone. JIM G; I was wondering if this was your first experience interacting with Jim Kloetzel? I have always found him to be a very agreeable person and open to suggestions. Two years ago I noticed that the listings of US Postal Cards, particularly the errors, was way behind in prices as well as in listings of what exists, so I offered to redo that section. He accepted, and so now that section lists pretty much everything in errors. He is always receptive to serious suggestions, so if you are new with him, do give him any others you come up with.

RICHARD M; That link you posted to the fake 4c Schermack cover is a great illustration of just what kind of problems exist in trying to decide when to interfere. In this case, I think the bidders know full well what they are doing and just want to have a "conversation piece" in their album. At least that's what I am hoping. Now if the bidding ends up getting serious, say over $100., then that might be a different matter.

October 15, 2003 Bob Hohertz

clutter
Terence, yep, but fairly easy to ignore. These listings are hurting themselves since they miss the people who look over categories each day or so - so they miss bids.

October 15, 2003 Terence Hines

Terence Hines

October 15, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

Jim
That thought crossed my mind, but the fact that the postal employees (here at least) have no idea what it's for, led me to throw that one out the window.
I also thought possibly different mail styles, book rate, parcel rate, first class, priority etc.
None of those seem to work either.
Though, through donations, I've usually only gotten the PVI and have no idea what it was on.
The numbers that have been used seem too regular and restricted.
If I were the clerk I'd probably go for my birthyear like 1948.
Rather than something in the +9000 range.

October 15, 2003 Jim Griffith <griffith@dweeb.org> http://album.dweeb.org
 

Jim

October 15, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

Suggestions, knowledge or anything else wanted on PVI labels
What is the meaning of the four digit number?
None of our postal clerks know.
Out of 385 of them, here is the numeric break-down:

0000 = 247 (seems to be the default)
9140 = 12
9142 = 1
9242 = 1
9244 = 11
9251 = 2
9252 = 3
9261 = 66
9262 = 7
9263 = 3
9264 = 4
9265 = 1
9267 = 6
9999 = 21

I see no correlations based on state, numeric amount, or date.

October 15, 2003 David BENSON

Christo, taking back what I said about the price,

see,

http://stampauctionnetwork.com/x/x100348.cfm

Lot # 1032

David Benson

October 15, 2003 David BENSON

Christo, appears to be authentic and nice item (although most probably overpriced). I wouldn't worry about the hinge marks, the only problem is the rough opening which would bring down the value.

David B.

October 15, 2003 Richard M

Amazing
Even a stamp so obviously a fake, and identified as such, on an extremely ratty cover has attracted 5 bids.

October 15, 2003 Richard M

W-F mixes
Brian R belated response to your post from yesterday. I've gone through a few W-F mixes over the years.I've found 4 519s (3 apparently had been removed from the same cover - what a pity - I had one certified), a 461 and a 546, among other things(all used). Best have come from dealers, not ebay. I suspect in some cases they simply cull collection remainders and throw them into a pile until it is big enough to sell as an unchecked (by them) lot - it is quite possible the collectors knew what they had.

October 15, 2003 Christo van Zyl

Ballon Monte Cover
Sorry, I have lost the person's name in the posting below - should have been for David Benson (or anyone else who can help).

October 15, 2003 Christo van Zyl

Ballon Monte Cover
, if you are around, any opinion on this Ballon Monte Cover? Do you think it would be a worthwhile buy? The only problem I really can see is the old hinge stains on back which has affected the envelope and card
Appreciated, Christo

October 15, 2003 01.24 Colin Judd UK http://mysite.freeserve.com/xzephyr_stamps
 

Colin

October 15, 2003 20:53BST PaulB <paulb147 at ntlworld dot com>

3D Stamps
Colin Judd UK

Try #2956937298 a little cheaper!

October 15, 2003 12:45 Trevor Perrons

Butterfly stamps
I don't know if I'm being overly cynical, but I would be a little wary about buying something from a member registered in Canada and listing Niagara Falls, NY. Granted, the distance from Niagara Falls USA is a short walk across an international bridge, but...

The seller's feedback leaves much to be desired, as well.

October 15, 2003 Bill Dempwolf

Bill

October 15, 2003 Colin Judd UK http://mysite.freeserve.com/xzephyr_Japan_stamps
 

Colin

October 15, 2003 Jim Griffith <griffith@dweeb.org> http://album.dweeb.org
 

Jim

October 15, 2003 10:44 Dave F. (moderator)

For the last time: call me the Stamp Gestapo, Stamp Nazi, eBay pinkliner, whatever. As has been said many times before on here, this is a moderated board. ^ END OF THREAD ^

October 15, 2003 prometheus <Prometheus@1Internetdrive.com>

any GB collectors see this + Jim W look
Skool eating me up today (must get back to assignment)
But in the mean time any one see this TINIESTCOVEREVER?

Not to worry Dave ==Nippon are Dry and will scan this evening, back to the grind,
Found it interesting that links to auctions remained on the bay board, what no snitches around over there to hit the Report button. ??

October 15, 2003 !!!

???
The Gestapo rules here.

October 15, 2003 10:28 Dave F. (moderator)

Yes. It was initiated by an anonymous poster unfamiliar to the board or to me. I looked through my email to see if there was a request for a posting id from that individual, and there was not. Your posts were in response to that poster. I would have deleted them from anyone else as well.

October 15, 2003 18:21 Nick I (lotus194)

Deleted
Dave F--Can you please tell me why my post (discussing a stamp magazine) was deleted.

Nick

October 15, 2003 Alison Ruttenberg

Unlisted Iraq stamp on cover
I need help with this. It is a 1963 Iraq internal cover franked with a stamp on the back that is not in Scott. Is it a revenue? Does anyone know what it is? Here is the other side

October 15, 2003 08:48 Jim Watson

Today in Postal History
Vic,
Glad you enjoyed it. Interestingly, it was a recent 'harvest.' The file date is September 11, 2003. It was almost certainly offered on eBay. It probably sold to someone as bidding interest is one of my selection criteria.

October 15, 2003 Victor Horadam <horadam1@airmail.net>

Jim W.: Beautiful cover, I would love to have that. You didn't see it for sale anywhere, did you?

October 15, 2003 06:57 Jim Watson

Illegals and Sand Dunes
Jim,
Happy to be able to oblige.

October 15, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

Jimbo
Thanks again for the very interesting article, looks like I have to try to get my hands on the Official Trucial States Catalog.
It seems from a legal perspective that the Walt Disney company has been more effective in combating what it considers to be illegal stamps than have various postal authorities.

October 15, 2003 time for toil Chris

Finland
Bob In WA Thanks! In the 2004,
that one isn't in the normal place and I can't find which set it has
been stuck in.

Chris - confused by Scott's placement more than once

October 15, 2003 05:15 Jim Watson

Today in Postal History
Good Morning, Everyone!
Today's dated postal history item is a registered airmail cover from Mozambique Company to England in 1935. It is loaded with triangles!

October 15, 2003 04:37 AM Jim Lawler

Jim L.
 

October 15, 2003 David Benson

Just had that warm fuzzy feeling when I just received this nice email from India,

Dear David
many thanks for opening my eyes to the " forgeries " offered for sale in ebay. I think i have lost about USD 40 till now buying such things. I now feel that one shouldn't go for forgeries at all in the electronic auctions as there seems to be too many cheats in the field!!


I have asked him to watch this website and have advised him to be careful with his purchases in the future.

David Benson

October 14, 2003 10pm Bob in WA

more BEP clippings
Looking further, I see the two lots of many that are getting really substantial bids are the #1 and #2, because the others are of normally perforated stamps, so the offerings appear to be prooflike. But the 1847s were imperf, and I assume many bidders think these are the actual stamps. Same high bidder on both. Anybody want to send him a link to THIS lot? Is it auction interference just to say, "Hey, I see you like these BEP souvenirs. Here's another you might like."

October 14, 2003 Jim Griffith <griffith@dweeb.org> http://album.dweeb.org
 

Jim

October 14, 2003 9:37 Bob in WA

Chris -- Scott 971 in my 1998 set.

October 14, 2003 a little later after the chinese rocket launch Chris

Any Idea On Scott Number For This?
There is a stamp in Bill Steiner's Finland pages that I can't find.
It is the 1995 2.8 M Wolverine stamp and is on the page with Scott numbers 960's and 970's.
I can't find it in Scott's. Any ideas?

Chris - almost done with Finland inventory

October 14, 2003 just after chinese rocket launch Chris

Box 'O W/Fs
Brian R. Back when I first started buying on eBay, I saw a lot
that was a real head scratcher. It was a cubic foot box full or red washingtons.
The seller said that there might be some rare varieties in there. (My guess is that
it was some old collector's "not the valuable one" bone pile. It went for about $85, which
meant the guy paid about .01 cents a stamp for it.

Chris - was quite a heap 'o stamps

October 14, 2003 David Benson

coverwiz, leave it stand as it may be known to experts of South Australia. There are a couple who avidly follow every SA lot listed.

David B.

October 14, 2003 7:47 Bob in WA

SwiftPAy
Io -- I got the same offer, same amount and same account number! Wow! What are the odds!

October 14, 2003 COVERWIZ

DAVID - Thanks, I will close the auction on eBay and repost later depending on what I can find out. Your comments and efforts always appreciated...

October 14, 2003 David Benson

coverwiz, never seen it before. It may be authentic. I will mention it to a friend who collects Australian States Specimens. It will take a few weeks before I get an answer,

David Benson

 

October 14, 2003 7:30 Bob in WA

BEP souvenir card clippings
Brian / Michael -- Did you look at the seller's other lots? He has tons of those BEP sheet clippings, many with bids many times the value of the intact sheet. Lambs to the slaughter! My biggest concern is future collectors lost to the hobby when they get disillusioned because of charlatans like this.

October 14, 2003 COVERWIZ

Try again on the link
Out of practice I'm afraid -- script SPECIMEN

October 14, 2003 19:16 coverwiz

SA Wrapper - Specimen in script
D2 David, have you ever seen this script SPECIMEN on a SA wrapper before. It came from a large dealer's stock I bought 20 years ago at auction in the UK. I thought from the oil pattern around the script it was probably a hand stamp, but several " stamp police " are questioning it's genuineness. Comments appreciated. TIA

October 14, 2003 Brian R

It is a perfect example of the type of auction where I would violate ebay's no contact rule, based on moral concern only. Sadly, there are already 18 bids on that item, which I doubt is worth $1 as a curio.

October 14, 2003 19:13 Dave F. (moderator)

Trevor: I was just beginning to come to that same conclusion, that it was a sarcastic comment. My "sar-dar" usually works well, but it must have been down for maintenance I read your first post! Thanks for the clarification!

October 14, 2003 Trevor Perrons

Columbians
Dave F. That was a sarcastic swipe at the Columbian color error discussed earlier (eBay # 2957701800). "Completion error" is the seller's description, not mine

October 14, 2003 Jim Griffith <griffith@dweeb.org> http://album.dweeb.org
 

Jim

October 14, 2003 Jim Griffith <griffith@dweeb.org> http://album.dweeb.org
 

Jim

October 14, 2003 Bill Weiss

4c Columbian Color Error
MIKE W; I understood what you meant the first time - the link to Posner's stamp shows a good 233a, the one being offered in the used group is NOT even close.
JIM G; I would refer you to the Datz catalog of Errors, available from Krause Publications. His book is considered the definitive book on US errors and his definitions are accepted uniformly in the hobby.

October 14, 2003 Victor Horadam <horadam1@airmail.net>

General
Jim W-S: I received the "swiftpay" scam too, just deleted it as I do so many. However, has anyone heard of "paycom.net"? I received 4 charges to my legit credit card from them last month totaling about $100. When I called my credit card company to contend the charges, they did not know what it was, but noted that the charges had been credited back to my account within the last few days. I haven't a clue, but certainly will watch my bills closely.

October 14, 2003 Lavar Taylor

Today's unpleasant surprise: This story . Brian was one of my best friends in law school. The average age of our entering law school class was 31, and a few of us who were 20 formed a tightly knit group. We lost one to cancer during law school. Another went on to become a Champion of Champions on Jeopardy. Brian's sole ambition was to become a US Senator from Wisconsin. Looks like that goal will never be achieved, no matter how the trial turns out. Too bad.

October 14, 2003 Bill Dempwolf

Bill

October 14, 2003 Michael Walter

Bill D
Here is my favorite link to view early U.S. stamps. I think you will enjoy it. Many large true to color pics!
 

October 14, 2003 Jim Griffith <griffith@dweeb.org> http://album.dweeb.org
 

Jim

October 14, 2003 Bill Dempwolf

Bill

October 14, 2003 18:10 Dave F. (moderator)

Trevor: "Columbian completion errors?" What are those? Inquiring minds want to know ... ! (and check their stockbooks!)

October 14, 2003 Michael Walter

Bill Weiss
I posted the pic of the #233a here. I used the link from Gary Posner's web site. The pic of the 233a which I linked here is certified. If I'm not mistaken he is asking $12,000.00 for the stamp. Anyway, I know that it is not a good scan, but the only certified example I could find quickly to link to.

October 14, 2003 Michael Walter

Here is an auction for you all to ponder tonight: here
 

October 14, 2003 Bill Weiss

Various
Been busy on the other board but wanted to check in here too as you have had a busy day!

BOB L; Thanks for the tip about the book, and good work on that 1c modern invert. I am in the camp which believes that even though bidders for such items ARE fools, I think it is only right and moral to try to help them if we can. To stand by and watch some poor soul pay $100+ for something worth a nickel just isn't right.

Tip to everyone about the 4c Columbian error of color - it is almost identical to the color of the 1c Columbian! Just that simple, and the one offeredon eBay and shown here wasn't even close.

Tip on Schermack private coils with "perfins" - they are really not called perfins by specialists but "private controls". They only became listed within the last 15 years or so. I am pleased to say I am the person who last re-wrote that section of the Scott Specialized and my name is still there after 15 years - my claim to fame!

I am disappointed to see that NICK has become threatening in his posts, which, no matter how he feels about this board as it relates to "picking" on him, if he has any sense at all he will understand that this board exists for the greater good, with him and his productions only a tiny part of it, so why, if he has a good heart, would he threaten to hurt the board in any way? Come on, Nick, grow up. Move on.

October 14, 2003 17:47 Dave F. (moderator)

and Alison, whose post mine crossed with.

Sue: Welcome, and thanks for your kind words.

Jim W-S: Will fix html shortly.

October 14, 2003 17:32 Dave F. (moderator)

Jim W-S: I received the same email earlier today. I just assumed it was a scam. Glad to know that you and Mike confirmed it for me.

What the ???: What the ??? are you talking about? The only things I've deleted recently were rude posts written in French and German. I do want to know who you are. If you have a problem with that, as Jim said, please just don't post here anymore. If you do want to post again, email me in advance.

October 14, 2003 Alison Ruttenberg <Ruttenberg@msn.com>

Swiftpay
Swiftpay appears to be a legitimate service, go to www.swiftpay.com. However, I am suspicious of the email Jim got. It sounds like a spoof email but ripping off swiftpay customers instead of paypal. It seems odd to me that you would have to register a debit card in order to use swiftpay.

October 14, 2003 Mike in VA <mikeowsian at aol>

SWIFT
Jim There is a system out there for international money transfers between banks called "SWIFT". It appears the scammers are trying to make their "company" appear more legitmate using the term "Swiftpay". As you said, a scam. Mike in Va

October 14, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

Oops, sorry for the bold.
Dave F
I have no idea as to authenticity of ID's in last post.
However, you may want to delete it, just in case it is someone real.

October 14, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

What the ?
What is your problem?
This is not a carbon copy of ebay chat board.
Either you cannot read or do not realize how many messages have been deleted from eBay.
Perhaps you are delighted that on eBay participants have to recognize themselves in order to post.
Whereas here, people like you can post absolute crap under a non de plume.
If you want to make a meaningful statement, put in your real name and email address.
If you don't like what is posted, place a meaningful, philatelic-related comment.
Otherwise go somewhere else.

There is also a new scam:
ser andy3 just send $476.60 USD to you:
SwiftPay UserID: andy3
Transaction#: 182-91SW-27251
Date: 14-10-2003
Comments: Membership #0218397 was selected to receive this month\'s bonus. We cannot
send funds directly to your debit card\'s bank account because our merchant currently disabled
this option. SwiftPay will not charge your card for the transfer; we already deducted $23.40
from your funds for the service fees.

Your E-mail is not registered with SwiftPay. In order to receive your funds you need to apply
for account with us and verify your identity. All information will be kept confidential. Please
follow the link: http://www.swiftpay.us/signup/?transaction#18291SW2751
When you enter our service your funds will appear in your account balance under overview
page. You can withdraw the outstanding balance to your debit card account that you added
during the registration process.
SwiftPay`s intuitive interface makes sending and receiving money over the web as easy as one
two three. Simply logon at SwiftPay and select which SwiftPay service you wish to avail of,
whether it\'s to fund your account, send money to friends family or businesses, request money
or check your account details. With everything you need available at the click of a mouse,
paying with SwiftPay couldn\'t be easier. Don\'t forget, we value our commitment to Customer
Service at SwiftPay – should you have any queries, please don\'t hesitate to contact us and
we\'ll do our best to answer your query as soon as possible.

Kind Regards,
SwiftPay Customer Support

I have no idea who swiftpay is nor have bought or sold anything that might involve them.

October 14, 2003 what the ....?

This Board
Well, it seems that this board has simply turned into a carbon copy of eBay's chat board. Only difference is that there is no report button for censorship. But, then again, why do you need a report button when you have a pinkie at the board all the time? Please rename this board to chatbay.

October 14, 2003 Trevor Perrons <admiralstamps--AT--sympatico--DAUGHT--ca>

Christo: Nice surprise on your lot of fancy cancels. If only you had known that there were a few rare "Columbian Completion Errors"! You could have set a $90,000.00 reserve!

October 14, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

Speculation, and Monte may want to add comments (BTW hi monte, it has been a while).
Ship bound from Puerto Rico probably had a lot of mail for Spain.
Normally transatlantic crossing from west to east would have been via Gulf Stream or North Atlantic Drift to England.
If gales or hurricanes in the north Atlantic or English Channel had forced ship ashore.
Irun, on the Spanish end of the Paris-Spain route would have been a good place to put ashore and get rid of cargo.
There was also a rail line from Irun to Madrid.
Cadiz would probably have been too far south for N.A.D.
And would perhaps explain the lack of direct deposit.

October 14, 2003 Rob Faux

curriculum chair
Jim W-S Oy! Now that's a rough position to be in! No one is ever happy with the curriculum - and maybe we shouldn't be. But, that's another forum waiting to happen in some other place.

Will see if Peter has any knowledge of George, etc.

October 14, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

Hi Rob,
Don't know how long your geology faculty person has been around but my students name in St. Cloud area was George Dacre.
Just got nominated to chair curriculum committee, more headaches.

Jimbo
Many thanks for the xeroxes that arrived today, haven't had opportunity to open them yet.

For the sake of completeness,
Robertson lists the ship "England" which did one trip for the East India Company in 1826-27.
Acording to Staff there was an "England" owned by the Red Star Line and sold to Black Ball line which operated from 1834 till 1844 when it "went missing".
Neither authors list an Inglesa or Espagna.
I find it strange it doesn't have either a British or Paris cancel (or, for that matter, Madrid and Calais cancels).
Maybe you can find weather conditions for date of arrival in Spain.
It may have meant to have gone to England, but weather so bad it pulled ashore at Irun.

October 14, 2003 Christo van Zyl

Schermak etc
Bob in WA and Bill Dempwolf Thanks for the help - I have got them in the 2001 specialised USA.

I am off to bed now, will try and post some scans of some of the material I am getting as I go through the accumulations. I guess I have already got enough to let rip with another lot of fancy cancels!
Sleep well.

October 14, 2003 nomad55

Bob in WA
Collector cover sent to another address for servicing and cacheting. Cachet large enough so that it overlaps. Not unusual at all, I have seen this before.

October 14, 2003 3:26 Bob in WA

CSA to wherever
Brian -- Interesting that the cachet is ON TOP of the stamps, don't you think?

October 14, 2003 3:23 Bob in WA

Christo -- Thank you for your comment. The 2001 US specialized lists those special perfs starting on p 326. In general they do carry a premium, some rather substantial. But also the W-F were available imperf, and fakes exist of the more valuable ones.

October 14, 2003 nomad55

Brian R
Rate is correct - 5 cents international. The 'confed' serves only as a label and was not used in an attempt to pay postage.

October 14, 2003 23:19 Nick I (lotus194) <nicholas.izzard@ntlworld.com>

Threats
Dave F--I will not disguise this in any other way other than what it is, and this IS A THREAT.

I have very much enjoyed playing with you guys over the past weeks, and I have derived a few giggles along the way. You have said and done some pretty nasty things to me since we first met, but none of it has really bothered me very much.

As I stated many times before, I am not a dealer, I do not sell my items purely for the money (although it does come in handy), but because I enjoy it and really do believe I give my customers a great deal, and even you cannot deny my customers are very satisfied. So if my selling activities came to an end today, I wont exactly be heartbroken, but just move on to my next project.

I have told you (talking to your little selective gang now) many times, stay out of my business and I will stay out of yours. I know that that might not really ever happen, but those are my terms.

Now if you keep it fair, we might only have a few minor clashes now and again, and most of them harmless, but if your posters wish to escalate this little "tustle" to something more than that you better be ready for a rough ride.

If I step out of line I fully expect to be "moderated", I understand that, and I can take a telling off as good as any other nefarious criminal. Just ensure that the same rules apply to all.

That also applies to my listings, if you want to you can complain about every single one of them to ebay, as you are at the moment, as I still think I can beat you in the end. Whatever happens it will be interesting, and fun for a few of us, and remember the only loser here is me.

However, if yourself or any of the other "extreme" posters here overstep the mark and start plying "dirty", I will give this boards life expectancy around 1 Month, and that IS A THREAT.

Lets hope it never comes to that though eh!!!

Nick

October 14, 2003 3:15 Bob in WA

Pan Am follow up
Got a note back from the seller, but didn't check my email in time to see it before his auction ended. (at $102!) He said he had been trying to end auction, and had informed high bidder he wouldn't sell. Sounds honest but naive. I suggested he explain to high bidder the situation, offer to still send it for postage if they wanted, assured him he was not parting with something of value, and the positive feedback and rep for honesty should outweigh the couple of $$ he might be out for fees. Also offered to answer future stamp questions for him.

October 14, 2003 Sound of Silence

Nick I (lotus194)
Mr Lotus, Thank you, some of us will appreciate your silence

October 14, 2003 Bill Dempwolf

Bill

October 14, 2003 22:57 Nick I (lotus194) <nicholas.izzard@ntlworld.com>

Gagged
Dave F--Sorry I appear to have overstepped the mark again with you and your board. I foolishly believed that some of you might be interested in exposing a really big cheat, as I thought that was one of the reasons for this board. I will cease this topic on this board forthwith, as I have now established enough of a "thread" through other channels to take this a few steps further elsewhere.

To the lurkers, keep the info coming please.

Anyway to business, now I am resting and not listing for the time being, I appear to have a bit of time on my hands and thought I might offer you my services. I thought I spotted a few U/M items on ebay that definately look as if they might have been "licked", now do I have your blessing to go after these nefarious criminals on my own, or shall we steam in mob handed?

Nick

October 14, 2003 Christo van Zyl

USA Coils - Advice Needed
It is amazing how many interesting stamps have come to the fore since I have starting classifying my bags of USA accumulations. Franklin $1, Columbians, Mississipians, Pan-Am expo etc, etc.
I have come across a couple of Washington and Franklin coil stamps (mainly 1c and 2c issues) with the so called Schermack(??) perforations. Do these carry a premium above the normal coil stamps.? Is there anything in specific I should look for in these? Where in Scott Specialised (I have 2001 issue0 should I look for the cat no's?
Thanks, Christo.

October 14, 2003 Rob Faux

Sacramento, rocks, etc.
Dave F Thanks for the link (about 4 pages back...) :)

Jim W-S Yes, we are in an interesting area for geologists... Peter Whalen is one of the geology faculty up here - was on the committee that interviewed me - got along quite well. I may traipse on one of his field trips in the future just to learn a bit.

Rob

October 14, 2003 Brian R

Speaks volumes, about how long the "altered plate" CSA stamps, have been circulating.

October 14, 2003 Christo van Zyl

New Milestone for Me!
I had This Lot of fancy cancels up on ebay! I must admit that I am pleased about the outcome. This represents the highest price one of my auctions have ever gone. Previous high was $93 for a nice four margined Penny black.

Bob Lodge Hi! well done. If I were still a newbie, I would have liked someone to protect my back/interests - regardless of naivety!! We are supposed to be a community, right?

October 14, 2003 1:40 Bob in WA <rcl.wa@verizon.net>

This stamp is from the souvenir sheet issued in 2001, a reprint of a valuable 1901 error stamp. See the little 2001 in the lower left corner of the stamp? Your bidders are even more ignorant of stamps than you (ignorant does not mean stupid, just lacking information) apparently assuming this is the 1901 version, but the winning bidder will eventually be very upset to pay substantially for a virtually worthless item. (The missing corner makes it a spacefiller, a penny-box item.) If I were in your shoes I'd close the auction, explaining the situation, but if you follow through and eventually get a negative feedback, even though the bidder's error equals yours, you needn't be surprised, now that you know why the bidding is so high. Did you contact the sender or a catalog at the library after it started going up? I would have expected curiosity to have moved you to discover this on your own and pull the auction by now. Best regards, Bob

October 14, 2003 Brian R

jaywild
I saw that too, but decided to blow my $2 on the w/f's LOL. That seller, had another neat cover up with a #65, which had a very good strike of a masonic cancel from Galena IL. Like the possible #64, it was totally undescribed as well. I watched it until it started to go nuts. Any idea where it ended?

October 14, 2003 Jim "jaywild"

Dave... Regarding your post about Nick, amen!!
 

October 14, 2003 Jim Griffith <griffith@dweeb.org> http://album.dweeb.org
 

Jim

October 14, 2003 gary <bowacka@aol.com>

Dave
Yes, we crossed posts. Your wishes will be respected by me. CYE please. I'm out of here, time for a cold beer!

October 14, 2003 Sue <sbair1 XXXatXXX mindspring.com>

Delurk and Hello to all. I have been following this board since its inception and know the story of the Lotus affair. I am momentarily delurking to thank Dave for his efforts and toss in a brief opinion. As annoying as it can be at times to read the back and forth, those who are dogging Nick do so to protect our hobby. Nick does what he does to make money at the expense of others and the hobby as a whole, and I think there is no excuse for it. This board is Dave's creation and the rest of us have no innate right to post on it. He should feel free to allow or not allow anything he chooses for whatever reason. If Dave wants to ban Nick, its fine by this lurker. Back to lurking.

Sue

October 14, 2003 13:08 Dave F. (moderator)

Point of clarification
Gary: No doubt you were preparing your post as I was posting mine.

To all: Whatever this issue is about a "thief", it is not a topic for discussion on this board. (Moderator's perogative.)

October 14, 2003 gary <bowacka@aol.com>

By all means lets hear all about the $2M "thief", but until you have FACTS that you can BACK-UP quit blowing smoke up everyones rear-end. BTW I know who you are talking about, I suggest you research VERY CAREFULLY your accusations before coming here and throwing mud, who am I kidding, that's what you live for on this board.

October 14, 2003 12:46 Dave F. (moderator)

Nick: At the risk of inflaming you even more, I am asking you to please stop posting on here with threats.

I feel it is fair for you to be able to reply to comments made about your auctions, but this is not a general board for mudslinging, whether philatelically linked or not.

And just for the record for you and everybody else, I have no idea who you're talking about, and don't really have any interest in knowing. If it's as serious as you say, then it will be picked up somewhere else.

The reason your auctions drew attention on here is that you were buying stamps on eBay, then turning around and selling the same stamps with non-genuine overprints. Unfortunately, that's not enough to attract the attention of much of anyone except some of the people who look at this board.

On any other board, you would have been suspended or banned by now. I have been perhaps too gracious to do the same up to this point, and we have probably lost some regular participants as a result. But I am not afraid to do so if need be, and I have every right to be able to do so.

I will be happy to permit a polite reply to my post, but if it's too vicious or disruptive, I will also be happy to delete it and delete any subsequent posts.

This is not an idle threat, as I have the capability to do it. I don't want to, but I will.

This board has other purposes than just arguing with you, and I want to make sure that it fulfills those purposes.

October 14, 2003 20:31 Nick I (lotus194) <nicholas.izzard@ntlworld.com>

Liars
Gary--Trust me mate, you lot have the monopoly on lies and deceit, one of you to the tune of $2,000,000. More and more information on this little scam is coming to light by the hour, pretty soon I feel I will have enough information to do something with it.

I wouldn't think there is a single poster on this board that would not like to see another cheat exposed, or is there, being as he is one of your own?

However there is still the matter of the lie I told reference the pulling of my items.

Fact 1 - Yesterday afternoon ebay changed the category of my items without my say so.

Fact 2 - Early yesterday evening I then pulled all of my listings.

Fact 3 - Mid evening yesterday ALL of my listings were then pulled by ebay.

Now I really do not care whether you or any of your smug arrogant friends believe me, but I have never lied on this board and am not about to start now. I will leave that sort of behaviour to you lot.

Just thought I would say.

Nick

October 14, 2003 1218 Clark (reperf)

Scott insight?
Has anyone noticed the typo on page 44 of the 2004 Scott Specialized? I wonder when I should start looking for 1895 sheets (hard enough to find anyway) with the watermark layout shown?

October 14, 2003 11:56 Jim Watson

Richard B.,
Thanks for your comment on the Puerto Rico cover. I believe that the "España" is used to direct the cover into the pile headed for Spain. I often see covers of that era (and particularly ones from the Americas) with the country in conspicuous spots on the cover rather than what might be considered the 'regular' location. I think it was to get the postal clerk's attention. BTW, I did receive some added e-mail comments from which I have incorporated.

October 14, 2003 Bob in WA

Whoops, now I see your follow up note.

October 14, 2003 11:50 ish Bob in WA <rcl.wa@verizon.net>

For security reasons, the current session with The Postal Store website either timed out or couldn't be retrieved.

You will be redirected to The Postal Store's home page in 25 seconds.

What gives?

October 14, 2003 Jim Griffith <griffith@dweeb.org> http://album.dweeb.org
 

Jim

October 14, 2003 Richard Ballhagen (spain_1850)

postal history
Jim - You could be right. My one and only reference book has been known to be wrong in the past. It states that the "España", along with 5 other ships, was added to the existing roster when the contract was awarded in 1861, and that international operations actually started in 1862. But like I said, this book (A Postal History of Spain by Theo Van Dam) has been incorrect in the past.

October 14, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

Richard
i went that route as well.
However, it seems that Espana was the Edinburgh Castle, bought by Don Jose Campo.


O.N.65708. 2,678 gross tons, length 335ft x beam 37.7ft, iron hull, one funnel, two masts (rigged for sail), single screw, speed 10 knots, accommodation for 1st and 3rd class pasengers. Built by Robert Napier & Sons, Glasgow (Yard No.309) for Donald Currie's Castle Line, she was launched on 27th Mar.1872. On 13th Jul.1872 she left Liverpool for South America on charter to Pacific Steam Navigation Co and on 4th July 1873 arrived back at Liverpool after three South America voyages. She was then placed on the Capetown Mail run until 1880 when she was sold to Don Jose Campo for use on the Cadiz - Manila mail service and renamed ESPANA. In 1882 she commenced a new service between Spain and San Francisco via the Straits of Magellan. 1884 sold to Cia. Trasatlantica, Barcelona. 1898 scrapped at Marseilles. (Taken from "The Ships list)

That is it did not get name Espana until 2 years after Jimbo's cover.

October 14, 2003 11.00 am Colin Judd UK http://mysite.freeserve.com/xzephyr_GB_Machins/
 

Colin
 

October 14, 2003 gary <bowacka@aol.com>

Any comments about your BALD FACE LIE that you closed your auctions and that eBay did not yank them? C,mon dazzle me with your manners!

October 14, 2003 1045 Clark (reperf)

Washington Franklin Mix
Brian R

I found a #545 and a 538 in a small 1 cent mix from Sweden. Unfortunately I did not win the 2 cent mix. If the mix is not been searched, the year range is key. I still have about 400 bundles of 634/634A mix to go through someday. I estimate that there will be about 200 634A somehwere in there based the color of the stamps and some sampling. Coil 599A are much harder to find, making me wonder why it is the cheaper stamp. I also have about 4 pounds of primarily 220/249/250/265 mix. It has been picked over too many times already, but sound type I examples are creeping up in value.

A number of sellers in the past hyped worthless mixes and showed generic scans. The worst of them was newfoundland_stampman, later ss_stamps, now NARU. Avoid mixes of left over seconds especially when generic scans are used. Bundles, on the other hand, can be worthwhile.

Sometimes overlooked perforation varieties will show up in accumulations, but not that often. Unfortunately, most loose Washington Franklin stamps are less than very fine or hopelessly defective.

October 14, 2003 Richard Ballhagen (spain_1850)

postal history
Jim W - I'm not much into postal history and the deciphering of covers and routes, but I'm thinking the name of the ship was actually the "España" (upper right corner) and not the Inglesa. My one and only Spanish postal history book states that the Transatlantica Company was the shipping line awarded the the contract to carry mail between Spain and the West Indies, including Puerto Rico. One of the listed ships in the fleet at that time was the "España". That's about all I can tell you though.

October 14, 2003 Brian R

Nick
May I suggest, that a good place start your new honesty program, with your own victims.

October 14, 2003 18:07 Nick I (lotus194) <nicholas.izzard@ntlworld.com>

Manners
Fred--Sorry mate, if you came to this board to see manners, assistance, advice, guidance or support, you REALLY came to the wrong place.

These people are so full of their own self-importance and arrogance, they were way back in the queue when manners were dished out.

It is sad when you see such an innocent and naive mistake in the listing below, then these people come along with their arrogant, sneering manner and do their best to ridicule the poor guy.

Its such a shame, and I'm sure it was not the reason this board was started, or maybe it was!!!!!

I will drop the poor guy a friendly mail to show that not all the posters on this board are like Brian R.

Nick

October 14, 2003 Brian R

If I'm wrong, this time, I'll only be out $2. :o)

October 14, 2003 Chip G

Well, that link didn't work, but you can find it at shop.usps.gov and then click on "Stamp Issues." Its under 2001
C.

October 14, 2003 Chip G

Pan Am Inverts (2001)
USPS announcement of the Reprints

On the other hand, how many of these have any of you seen on cover?

October 14, 2003 Dave P

Where there is no fraud my view is, leave the buyers to it. A fool and his money will always soon be parted (one way or another).
A day or so ago I mentioned crazy prices for modern GB. People now seem to be going daft over the Concorde set, sets bringing £1.00 or more, and currently a set in sheets (ie 50 sets) is at £75.00. Current retail price for the set is 15 pence....... Think I will look out some stuff from the attic.

October 14, 2003 Brian R

Despite my comments, I too, feel the whole situation is best described as sad.

October 14, 2003 9:35 Dave F. (moderator)

Jim W: I finally had a chance late last night to look at your postal history offering from yesterday. I'm not sure I have much to add, except to say that that I think the flap attached to the front of the envelope was done in Japan. The reason I think this is that I do see the old-style characters for "Kobe" on it.

I seem to recall this same technique used on more modern pieces, but that's the extent of my recollections. So I think the attached flap is a forwarding notice applied in Japan after the original attempt at delivery. It may well be possible that the volume of forwarded mail to ships in the NYK lines was so great that it justified the use of printed labels (with the addition of a small amount of handwriting).

Wish I knew more. Thanks always for your contributions!

October 14, 2003 9:26 Dave F. (moderator)

Does anybody know how much the Scott catalog value is for that recent 1-cent under discussion? That really is an unfortunate situation.

Monte: Great to see you here! As soon as I saw your post, I realized that I owed you an email. Very sorry. Will reply today. (It's been that kind of month!)

October 14, 2003 09:21 Jim Watson

Today in Postal History
Monte,
Nice to have you with us again. It's been a while. The Puerto Rico cover is 'borrowed' from the internet and no contents were shown. I'll go with your recommendation that it is more probably a sender's mark rather than a forwarder's mark. I also recognize the suggestion that Inglesa may be a ship rather than a routing via England. I think that may still be an open question. I've updated the page appropriately.

October 14, 2003 Brian R

I can't help you about what was in it, other than at a 3X rate, it didn't weigh very much.

October 14, 2003 Brian R

BTW--Who p***ed in your Wheaties this morning?

October 14, 2003 Lavar Taylor

nomad -- Thanks. Already in my sights.

October 14, 2003 Michael Walter

I just won this neat little piece: mailing cylinder Anyone here know what was mailed in these?
 

October 14, 2003 Fred

nine born every minute
Brian R: Instead of taking the p*** why don't you educate the newbies or even the seller. Or is it just cause you have some knowledge about stamps makes you feel superior.

October 14, 2003 Brian R

nine born every minute
This is why newbies get laughed at.

October 14, 2003 8:32 Monte Hensley <amepsi@yahoo.com>

Another surprising thing is that it went by way of Irun rather than direct to Cadiz, considering Cadiz was a much busier port. This would especially apply if it did indeed go by way of England with the large amount of shipping between England and Cadiz with Cadiz being only a few miles from Jerez, where Sherry comes from. No route markings from England also supports my belief that it didn't go by way of England.

October 14, 2003 0810 Jim "jaywild"

Oops! Got beat to the punch. I guess good news travels fast!

October 14, 2003 0809 Jim "jaywild"

Bargain o' the Century
Oh boy.

October 14, 2003 nomad55

Lavar Alert
Does this float your boat?

October 14, 2003 Michael Walter

prometheus
Here is a pic of a real #233a that I pulled from Posner's wab site. 233a
 

October 14, 2003 time to jump to lightspeed Chris

Just A Quick Post Before Toil
What I did to try and involve kids in stamp collecting.
Daughter and I made up enough packets of foreign stamps so that she could
give one to everyone in her grade level at school. These were 12 different stamps
in a small glassine envelope. She took them to school and handed them out.
Don't know if any collectors resulted, but am hoping that someone will get interested
later.

Also gave the daughter of a friend a German album and a recent Scott's and some German
stamps. She worked on the album for a while, but abandoned it when she headed off to college.
I hope she will take it up again later in life.

Chris - 22,569 different stamps in my albums

October 14, 2003 Michael Walter

prometheus
Over sized stamp just has large margins. Nothing special. The 4 cent issue is NOT the blue error. For color reference you can check Posner's auctions I think that he is selling a real one on ebay or his own site.

October 14, 2003 gary <bowacka@aol.com>

Lotus
Don't let Nick snowball anybody, eBay pulled those lots, not him. If he closed them himself they would show up in his closed sales. If you check any lots from 10/10 that had no bids, there is a relist link, click it and the lot is an invalid item, meaning eBay closed these sales and pulled them from their database. Nice try Nick.

October 14, 2003 prometheus

Won't stay over there
Figured this would not stay over there so grabbed it in case anyone has comments
Columbians
Poster seemed to think this description was all wrong.Any opinions on the Oversized stamp?

Classes today some stamps to look at this afternoon for those Nippon knowers amongst us.

 

October 14, 2003 06:31 Jim Watson

Kirkham
Lavar,
That's a neat cover. Someone might be able to find Kirkham in one of Helbock's books. It isn't in the Western Post Offices which I have.

October 14, 2003 Chip G

Starting Kids on Stamp Collecting
(with spaces added for readability)
Bill D: Here are some resources and ideas (which you probably already know about, but are good to show):

The American Philatelic Society (APS) has a lot of resources for kids available. There is a tab at the top of their (home page that says "Kids." This takes you to their kids site. Don't ignore the menu choices to the left. There are many links available there.

First day cover - Made one with my son for the Greetings From America stamps. He picked a state and drew the cachet. We took it to the show and had it stamped and cancelled. For new issues, you have 30 days? (or is it 90 days?) to send off covers to Kansas City to have the first day cancellation put on. There are a number of Reptile and Amphibian resources and ideas on the APS site.

The American Stamp Dealers Association (ASDA) also has kids resources, such as My Stamp Album. This can be printed from their site or ordered for the cost of postage.

You might show the kids the Junior Philatelist of America site. They can see what other kids have done. Kids seem to like seeing other kids' projects. Also, there are many links and resources there.

Stamps designed by kids - there are a number of these. In the US, there are some space stamps, some Christmas stamps, etc. You can have them design a stamps. Print up a page with a big box with "Perforations" printed around it, and have them draw their idea for a good stamp.

Boy Scout Merit badge - they may be a bit young for this, but the requirments for the Boy Scout Merit Badge provides a solid basis on what is important for a young collector. The list is down at the bottom of this page.

Above all, make sure they do what they want to, rather than what you want them to. at 8, they have about 15 minute attention spans (if you're lucky).

October 14, 2003 Chip G

Starting Kids on Stamp Collecting
Bill D: Here are some resources and ideas (which you probably already know about, but are good to show):
The American Philatelic Society (APS) has a lot of resources for kids available. There is a tab at the top of their (home page that says "Kids." This takes you to their kids site. Don't ignore the menu choices to the left. There are many links available there.
First day cover - Made one with my son for the Greetings From America stamps. He picked a state and drew the cachet. We took it to the show and had it stamped and cancelled. For new issues, you have 30 days? (or is it 90 days?) to send off covers to Kansas City to have the first day cancellation put on. There are a number of Reptile and Amphibian resources and ideas on the APS site.
The American Stamp Dealers Association (ASDA) also has kids resources, such as My Stamp Album. This can be printed from their site or ordered for the cost of postage.
You might show the kids the Junior Philatelist of America site. They can see what other kids have done. Kids seem to like seeing other kids' projects. Also, there are many links and resources there.
Stamps designed by kids - there are a number of these. In the US, there are some space stamps, some Christmas stamps, etc. You can have them design a stamps. Print up a page with a big box with "Perforations" printed around it, and have them draw their idea for a good stamp.
Boy Scout Merit badge - they may be a bit young for this, but the requirments for the Boy Scout Merit Badge provides a solid basis on what is important for a young collector. The list is down at the bottom of this page.
Above all, make sure they do what they want to, rather than what you want them to. at 8, they have about 15 minute attention spans (if you're lucky).

October 14, 2003 04:27 Jim Watson

Today in Postal History
Jim W-S,
Thanks for the info on Irun. I've corrected the page and including some links on the area. There is one nice panorama of the harbor at San Sebastian. Thanks, too for trying the forwarder's mark. It may just be a return address.

October 14, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

And cannot find forwarder, closest is Sobrino De Pi v Marquez in San Juan.

October 14, 2003 before dawn, local time Chris

Well Done Marius
Marius Very nice exhibit. Very cleanly put together
and attractive to the eye.

I did notice one thing that struck me
as very funny. On the last page showing ship cancels, the one in the
middle seems to say "SHIT" instead of "SHIP". I've wanted to stamp that on quite a bit of
mail I receive. (This just jumped out of the page at me and made me laugh.)

Chris - Is there a collecting catagory for bizarre things stamped on mail?

October 14, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

Jimbo
San Sebastian mark is IRUN.

October 14, 2003 Christo van Zyl

Nice volcano image from ASTER data (for those interested) and to whet Jim W-S's appetite!

Mt Taranaki

October 14, 2003 Bill Dempwolf

Bill

October 14, 2003 04:27 Jim Watson

Today in Postal History
Good Morning, Everyone!
Today's dated postal history item is a cover from Puerto Rico to Spain in 1878. I need some help on a possible forwarder's mark.

October 14, 2003 04:25 AM Jim Lawler <jlawler@comteck.com>

Jim L.

October 14, 2003 Mauro Mowszowicz <salesATurured.com> http://www.uruguaystamps.com
 

Roger H.
Roger, how you started to collect Switzerland?
(also, got the cover i sent you? re: eBay)
Regards

Mauro

October 14, 2003 1:47 am Bob Lodge (Bob in WA) <rcl.wa@verizon.net>

Wilson book
Bill W -- Be aware that Wilson book came in both cloth and leather bindings, the latter more pricey, naturally. I paid $350 for mine about 20 years ago, only later realized the two types and mine was the cloth. Still an OK price but took the edge off a bit. A friend paid $65 for just the color plates from the book (12 pages I think) in a stamp auction about the same time. One of my favorite items depicted, unfortunately only in B&W is a mint plate block of four of the £100 1935 KUT, and no, NOT the specimen overprint!

October 14, 2003 09:44 Nick I (lotus194) <nicholas.izzard@ntlworld.com>

WARNING
Anti Nick Campaigners (your words not mine)--Please, please, please let me know next time you are thinking of issuing a moratorium on me as a subject, as I have never had so much mail to answer.

You seem to have inadvertantly turned me into some type of involuntary crusader against the evil STAMP POLICE. I received 17 letters of support, and people pledging their support for me yesterday, and I have still yet to answer them all. I will have to take some time off from work next time, so would really appreciate a little warning of some description.

One of them picked up on my post about the cheat who stole $2,000,000, and who posts on this board. They tell me the whole story is in Lynns Stamp Monthly (not sure about the spelling), but neglected to tell me if it was an old issue or not. If any of you out there still have a copy I would really love to hear from you.

Roger--Please, I never said I thought it was you, I just thought you got out of your pram a bit when I mentioned it, and of course why wouldn't you. After all, you lot are whiter than white aren't you, I mean none of you would rip anyone off would you, and if you did I'm quite satisfied that you would have a very good reason for doing so.

Watch this space.

Just to clear up the reason why my items were removed last night, just in case any of you are patting yourselves on the back thinking it was down to your actions. Due to one of you reporting me, my stamps were moved to the cinderella category (including some genuine items). I would not have had time to get ebay to put them back, and if I had left them there they would not have realised their true worth, so I pulled the lot rather than let them go for next to nothing.

After all in a few years time an authentic "lotus" could be fetching quite a bit, might be worth tucking a few away, know what I mean!

Will talk again later, have to speak to a man reference stock.

Nick

October 14, 2003 Dave P

Forged Machins
Jim W-S There was a lot of correspondence in the UK philatelic press about the legality of these. The authorities wrote to the trade association and confirmed that it is illegal to own them, whether or not there is criminal intent. In fact the only defence would be that the owner was unaware that they were forgeries and had no reason to suspect they were. The penallties include imprisonment and/or heavy fines.
In the UK it is illegal to possess forgeries of any current stamp, banknote, coin, or bearer instrument. The original Act referred to UK material, this was later extended to items issued by any foreign state. If you come across a forgery you are supposed to immediately hand it over to the appropriate authorities, You get an official receipt and you can use that to take civil procedings against whoever passed it to you. In my note-dealing banker days we saw a lot of dud US dollar bills and used to send these direct to the appropriate section of the US secret service. The receipts we got back were fascinating, with a file code for the front and back plate used, and when it was first reported. Although I got fairly good at spotting duds I was always nervous when we got one of the really big denomination notes, $5000 and above. Although withdrawn from circulation, at that time they were still wafting around Europe.

October 14, 2003 Lavar Taylor

Once in London the cover was forwarded to Germany, c/o the US Consulate in Kiel. B.F. Stevens was a forwarding agent, and he added his own marking to the front of the cover on June 22. The nicest marking on the cover is on the back at the top. That is a special commemorative cancel for the Kaiser-Wilhelm Canal opening at Kiel, used only for about 19 days. Finding it used non-philatelically as a receiving mark was a real surprise.

October 13, 2003 john

thanks to all
I just returned from going to pick up a load that was supposed to be ready at 6p.m. on the 13th needless to say they called at 11p.m. saying it would be ready when I got there,well here it is almost 1 in the morning and its still not ready.What a way to run a business!
Now I'm off to bed and I'll be late getting to D.C on wendsday.Because it won't be ready till 8 a.m.Oh well hope everyone has a blessed day,and I'll check back when I return.Thank goodness next week is vacation,I still have 2 weeks left.Oh Joy.
John

October 13, 2003 David Benson <dbenson@bigpond.net.au>

Lavar, he is most probably correct about the uniqueness of the item. How high will it go, it all depends on the depth of the pockets of the bidders and whether they consider a rare cancel on a rare stamp to be an advantage or disadvantage. The early date would be of interest to general HK collectors but a Kowloon on a Jubilee is a real specialist item and wouldn't be of especial interest to many. As a guestimate $1750-2000.


David B.

October 13, 2003 Roger Heath

I Don't Know Jack
John -
Thanks for showing your stamps. I don't believe I've ever had one in hand to look at, neither have I had other early US. When I was a young kid a Columbian was real old, and classic US were unobtainable.

Roger

October 13, 2003 Christo van Zyl

French-USA cover
Nomad55, Dave PThanks for the explanation on that postage due cover. The answer was actually pretty easy, more a dumb question from my part. I should have realised that France was part of the UPU by that time. Pity about the loss of the four postage due stamps though!
Regards, Christo

October 13, 2003 Lavar Taylor

David B -- Wonder how high this will go? Much more collectible than the "pre-first day" cancel, IMO.

October 13, 2003 Bill Dempwolf

Bill

October 13, 2003 prometheus

Jaywild
Sorry I didn't look closer first time, it's in a special heading of naval covers That's Submarine Mail. Own little subdivision of collecting kinda like the differences between airmail to RPO

October 13, 2003 Lavar Taylor

Bill D -- I have never followed up with the kids themselves (although I will do just that with my son's 3rd grade class this year because my wife is the "Room Mom"). I have found that my son's sense of geography has markedly improved this year, so I suspect that 3rd grade on up is fine. I did not try it with my son's 2nd grade class.

October 13, 2003 prometheus

John Thanks for sending Dave those Pics
Neat looking display.

Bill D - Have you thought of Topics for the younger set, I have my Three year old interested in Triangles just based on shape , hope it expands in the future to include more stamps (although the album I picked up this weekend had 9 new for her stamps)

Space might make an interesting thing to Cub s or Animal Kingdom,
Sports etc.

October 13, 2003 David Moser <stamphick@dospalos.org>

David

October 13, 2003 20:28 Dave F. (moderator)

Colin: As far as I'm concerned, please feel free to share some of the non-controversial material here as well. It may elicit a different discussion thread here, just depending on who's around at a particular time. (Also, there's a slightly higher effort threashold for posting over there. I know sometimes it keeps me from sending off a quick comment, since it takes a few more steps to be able to reply there.)

Jim G: Thanks for your perspective. I really appreciate it. (And if you know of a website that discusses "Moderators for Dummies", let me know.)

October 13, 2003 Bill Weiss

Thanks!
To PROMO - for digging up the info on the book. I thought it might be very good.

October 13, 2003 Bill Dempwolf <bdempwolf at austin.rr.com>

Bill

October 13, 2003 20:10 Dave F. (moderator)

Here are the pages John was mentioning:

one page

another page

 

October 13, 2003 John

By the way I have a few George Wasington post cards made by Tucks in about 1915 in unused condition,if anyone needs or desires them,I bought them as part of a lot last week in order to procure a cover that I wanted.

October 13, 2003 Lavar Taylor

How to get kids interested -- Here is a technique I have used. I buy modern post cards used from foreign countries from postcard dealers. Usually you can get them pretty cheep (10c to 25c each). I make sure that the card is colorful or interesting in some other way and that it has a stamp from the country shown on the picture side. Then I give 30 or so cards to a teacher, and suggest that the teacher have his or her students do a report on the stamp and the card. Great way to link history, geography and stamps.

October 13, 2003 john

Roger.
Thanks.

Dave.
Depending on how long it takes e-mail to get across the big pond,you
should be recieving those pictures about now.

October 13, 2003 Roger Heath

Not simple
John -
Trust me it's not simple, until you've done it sucessfully about 100 times. Then you make mistakes, because some silly little letter is left out, or added. Posting links has nothing to do with intelligence, just practice and good luck. Sort of like a last second snipe, you click the button then look at the refreshed page to see if you are a winner or a goat. I look forward to seeing the pictures.

Roger

October 13, 2003 1922 Jim "jaywild"

Jim Griffith Very well said. I especially like the line "'less is more' is the number one rule of persuasion."
I don't want this taken however as a slam against those who have done heroic, frequently unsung work exposing the frauds on eBay. You all have done an immeasurable service to our community.

October 13, 2003 john

Its not that I don't have a scanner or the proper equiptment.Its a matter of knowing how to use it.I believe That in the past I have sent Pictures to Professor Stark and Bob in Wa. So heres what I will do I will send the pic's to to dave and maybe he can upload them as don't know how.Its the simple things in life that give me fits.So Dave I'll have them to you in 30 or less.
Thanks....John

October 13, 2003 Roger Heath

Naval Cover and me Dad
John -
I even have a Naval cover. (The only problem I have is with the spelling.)
It is interesting to me because my Dad’s middle name was Ailwyn, his home town being Ramsey, Huntingdonshire. Here’s a little history of the area. My grandmother was buried in 1918 in the graveyard of the parish church, St Thomas a Becket. Also the first Lord Mayor of London , 1189-1211 was named Henry Fitz Ailwyn. I think it would have been more interesting if the ship had been given the name Ailwyn and not misspelled. ( This is not for trans-Atlantic discussion, just a personal commentary based on family history.)

Roger

October 13, 2003 07.03 pm Colin Judd UK http://mysite.freeserve.com/xzephyr_GB_Machins/
 

Colin
 

October 13, 2003 Jim Griffith <griffith@dweeb.org> http://album.dweeb.org
 

Jim

October 13, 2003 Bill Dempwolf <bdempwolf at austin.rr.com>

Bill

October 13, 2003 prometheus

BILL W
The book you mentioned I found 6 available cheapst =Dropmore 1952 1st Vg. Small folio Sumptiously bound in full red leather with raised bands, gilt edges-a remarkable job of book production. $499.00

Wilson, Sir John. $$ 1590.93 The Viscount Kemsley at The Dropmore Press 1952 Folio. Bound in full red morocco, gilt titles and decoration to spine, raised bands, gilt decorative motif to lower board and royal coat of arms to upper board, gilt ruled inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt. with 13 colour plates and 52 other illustrations A little general wear to cover. otherwise internally clean and in very good condition. School prize label to front paste down.

I found this one priced in middle to be the most interesting
facsimile letter from Treasury Dept. official allowing this title into the U. S. , 2 collotype portraits, 12 color plates, 4 double-p. plates printed recto and verso, 48 other plates illustrative of the catalogue proper; perforated stamp in margin of title-p. else a fine copy in original full crimson morocco gilt, slipcase with library call numbers on back panel. Catalogue of the combined collection of the Kings George V and George VI of stamps of the British Empire
$895.00

October 13, 2003 Jim Griffith <griffith@dweeb.org> http://album.dweeb.org
 

Jim

October 13, 2003 prometheus

Thank goodness I opened a new Page
JIM G - Thanks for the well thought out ideas I was just getting ready to hit the submit button on a long rambling post that you put better than I did

Don't feed the trolls.........

October 13, 2003 Bill Weiss

Current Topic
By the way, please let me add to my earlier post, that by me stating my opinion that the anti-Nick folks should be given more slack in trying to do GOOD against someone doing BAD, that does NOT mean that I am being critical of anyone's right to disagree and to wish there was a stop to all the Nick-chat. God bless how anyone feels. It's their right and I did not mean to imply anything negative about anyone who may disagree.

DAVE; No, I'm watching the board, but you are correct, I've been more active on RF's now that Scott Trepel is coming on there and some of the chats are right up my alley.

BRITISH BOOK; Does anyone know the value of a book published in 1952 entitled "The Royal Collection". I am told it cost $180. as new, so suspect it's a good book. Any advice appreciated.

October 13, 2003 Jim Griffith <griffith@dweeb.org> http://album.dweeb.org
 

Jim

October 13, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

George
There is no stealing.
Sheryll and I just outlined the problems.
It takes a lot of hard work to prove them.
As you have demonstrated.
I just lack the time and inclination to personally follow every ebay malfeasant to their just deserves.
I, like you, are not paid for it.
And, it seems, those that work for eBay are largely incapable of doing so.
Unless they are acquainted with the facts.
Whereupon it seems that sometimes they respond.
Dang we don't even get ebay "skippies" anymore.

October 13, 2003 18:05 Dave F. (moderator)

I made several serious typos in my last post below. Please re-load the board and re-read that post, if it looks like I lost my marbles.

October 13, 2003 George K

Now, back to the balcony so real philatelists can talk about "stamps".

October 13, 2003 18:01 Dave F. (moderator)

I don't want Bill D. to take a beating for this. To him, and to others I am sure, it seemed like the same old arguments being made again and again. Each side just talking "at" the other side. I was pretty much with him on this.

Over the weekend, what I was prepared to do was to declare a moratorium, where we would agree to stop talking about that particular situation for a period of time. (I was thinking of maybe a week.) As it turned out, eBay took some action, and it was important not to end the discussion just yet, so I didn't declare it.

I do want to clarify that it would not permanently end discussion about a difficult subject. We would just agree to take a "time out" for several days.

At this point, I think we're ok just moving forward with our regular discussions.

Bill W: Good to see you back! I was afraid we had lost you completely to Richard's board! : )

October 13, 2003 Roger Heath

While I'm scanning you guys are writing, wierd!
John -
Here are my teasers, 9 postal stationary covers with Sitting Helvetia, no explanation. There's enought psychic stuff going on right now so you should figure out why I like these covers. );>)
group 1,
group 2,
and group 3.
Roger

October 13, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

John
Just looked and can't help you with #65's.
You page layout sounds neat though.

Dave F
I think it is a matter of people beating their heads against the wall when some of these forgeries keep reappearing.
Even UK stamps, illegal, punishable by imprisonment 24p postal forgeries of machin were exhibited in 2002 in London.
Were they removed, no.
Was exhibitor imprisoned, no.
They weren't actually used to mail an envelope.
At least by the owner.
Owning them is not a crime.
Dang, I think even SG sell them.
At least images of used copies appeared in their magazine.
Why should these pieces of unissued, poorly produced, philatelic crap command greater prices in excess of the real thing?

Do philatelists admire "entrepreneurs" who go out of their way to attempt to corner "a piece of history" by producing easily recognizable forgeries.
Lets face it.
Nicks forgeries are difficult to distinguish from originals.
At least as really bad scans using ipix imagery.
Except by maybe a few experts and constant monitoring of ebay auctions.
Who really wants to look at every auction Nick lists?
I don't ever want to buy swastikas on channel island stamps, nor, any more, official overprints.
Other idiots apparently do.
(sorry Mark, not meaning you are an idiot for collecting official overprints).
Though if you buy them from Nick with a suspicion that they might be genuine, you need help.
 

October 13, 2003 prometheus

jaywild
Naval Cachet Makers Catalog
Nearly 600 pages of text and illustrations of 950 individuals or groups
who have sponsored cachets for Naval covers since 1930.

Complete catalog, 8 1/2 x 11, punched for a three ring binder, $27.50 postpaid

Found here LINKY
 

October 13, 2003 Bill Weiss

Board Discussions
I have not posted for a few days only because I am currently very busy breaking down a specialized collection for auction, but I just wanted to chime in about the ongoing discussions about Lotus' fakes.
While I sympathize with folks like Bill D. who feel it's like beating a dead horse, I honestly feel that the much greater good is done by the folks like George K. and Roger H., etc. Matter of fact, I wish there was some way to actually take a POLL of everyone who regularly reads here, and my guess is that honorable folks would side with the people who are trying to do GOOD for our hobby rather than with those who would do BAD.

You would need to be brain-dead not to agree that what Nick does is simply WRONG. Until he sells his products ACCURATELY DESCRIBED and BACKSTAMPED, no right-thinking person will ever side with him. Frankly, I'm bored of all the talk from him and about him too, but I'll take the intentions of the anti-Nick crowd over Nick any day of the week.

Just my opinion, and I'm sticking with it.

October 13, 2003 prometheus

A reoccurring request
Would you folks stop sending Telepathic messages out into the ether, I have enuf voices in my head already,

Jaywild I hope you get many opinions on that Naval cover, I myself have always thought that kind of cover was made up for those that collect Naval Cachets and cancells, Keel laying, Decommissiong, etc., Some are still done but seem to be dying art?
as recently some ships get built/de listed with no fancy Cover.

I like Naval covers(actually any military) but am Biased toward those sent by regular sailors home or to pay bills, etc. Just picked up a nice USS Pensacola sent to the Phone company I'm sure he was paying bill

October 13, 2003 nomad55

for jaywild
IMHO, Cancel is genuine, but its a philatelic cover.

October 13, 2003 17:28 Dave F. (moderator)

OK, this is frightening. Roger obviously read my mind.

(I hope this is a limited-time offer. Otherwise you're in for some big surprises!)

October 13, 2003 17:25 Dave F. (moderator)

John / Magnolia: You were obviously reading my mind as I was composing my long post! Thanks very much for sharing.

I can't remember whether you fall into the scanner or the non-scanner camp, but it's the former, feel free to share some pages. (If you need help uploading or hosting images, I can host them for you. You can just send them as an email attachment.) Naturally, if you don't feel like it's ready for prime time yet, I certainly understand that as well.

I have thought on several occasions that we should have a day where it's "Show us a page from your album!" day. No reason not to do that!

October 13, 2003 1724 Jim "jaywild"

Jim

October 13, 2003 Roger Heath

John's Stamps
John -
I can remember when you first started posting on Ebay Chat. It has been fun from the start, considering we're a bunch of people who didn't know their way around HTML or a posting images! Well it's time for you to take the next step. I would really like to see your pages. When are you going to get a scanner???¿¿¿ Money is not the object, so step up and scan something for us! I'm getting real impatient, and when I get impatient you're likely to start seeing more Swiss stuff as a penalty.

Roger

October 13, 2003 5:15 Mark B.

Bookmark :o)
.

October 13, 2003 17:15 Dave F. (moderator)

Let me just jump in and add that: a "moratorium" is not the same thing as a "truce".

If we were to go with a moratorium, it would be simply an agreement to withhold public comment on a particular subject for a given period of time. I see it as a "cooling off" period. This technique has been used on other, professionally moderated boards I am familiar with, where the ability to close a thread is available.

I would not be interested in declaring a "truce". That would suggest that people have had to give up on a particular subject, kind of like a "draw".

I think we owe it to our successors in philately not to call it a draw.

Think back to the past, and if others had been successful in stopping Sperati, Fournier, Wada (even Scott!) and all the lesser-knowns, then there would be much less chaff to separate out today. So whatever gets eliminated (and documented) today, makes it easier for successive generations of collectors. I think that's what motivates some of the people on here.

Moreover, for those of you who care about such things, there is a provision in the APS Code of Ethics that says, in so many words, that if you are aware of a philatelic fraud taking place, you are obliged to call it to the attention of the proper authorities. You cannot look the other way.

That's why I don't think Nick will ever be able to negotiate a buy off from this board, even if the board were able to negotiate as a body, because a number of "conscientious philatelists" support this notion, including me.

Although this board has hopefully many purposes, I think one of them is to bring to light at least some of the most egregious cases, or, in some cases, draw together enough expertise to determine if philatelic misrepresentation is occurring and be able to construct an argument for an entity to take action. Several people, loosely affiliated as SCADS, have already proven that this works.

The problem is, and I think this reflects some of the frustration expressed here, is that it shouldn't be all we discuss.

I'm no expert on chat-room dynamics (although I may end up becoming one before all is said and done!), but I suspect that the board could tolerate some discussion of disreputable sellers and misrepresented lots if it didn't comprise such a large chunk of it.

It seems like we end up talking a great deal about talking about stamps, but don't end up nearly as much actually talking about stamps themselves.

That's what I'm trying to fix by encouraging positive philatelic posts, and particularly trying to welcome and nurture de-lurking posters.

I encourage your part in helping make that happen.

Have I more or less gotten the issues about right?

October 13, 2003 prometheus

roger
Same Razors as you shared all as Outies not innies , But will start watching for Receiving Use if that's what you need.

October 13, 2003 John

Darn I forgot to proof read
Oh well it won't take a brain surgeon to find my misspellings!

October 13, 2003 John

stamps
Ok since nobody else wants to restart this I will.
These past few days have been filled with joy for me as sat and redisgned some pages in my album.1st off I reworked several pages for the U.S.# 73 I placed a beautiful 7 inch color photo of Andrew Jackson in the center of the page and still had room to neatly place
12 # 73s aroud it.And then I placed a 5 inch b&w photo of Jackson on another page and placed 8 # 73s around it.These in conjunction with the regular pages look really great.Next I'll be adding extra pages for the #63s and 93s and if I can come up with enough #65 variations in color for the U.S. #65 I will do a page of those also.Any donations of this stamp would be appreciated.I have plenty of everything else.I have also reworked my Canada collection which is now complete from 1851 to 1995 Thanks to Sneaky and Bob in Wa.and David B.Whom helped me get it started or gave advice along the way.
This should be more relaxing than some of the other things that I have read today,So enjoy it.I still have not managed to secure a collection as large as Mitch in Ks.has or sold2net in chicago.But I am enjoying what I do have all 22 volumes of U.S. and of course the Canadian albums.
I know that nobody cares about stuff like this but I figured I would try to give a break from the other.

John@Magnolia Stamps
 

October 13, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

Further.
I would not describe myself as altruistic, perhaps midway between an altruist and egotist.
So although I get the urge to warn others, I, like Mark, get pretty incensed when stamps that I may collect are messed with.
As it is, I have never bought a single GB "Official" overprint for the reasons stated in article with Sheryll (whose name I will spell correctly this time) and that's before the present situation came to light.

October 13, 2003 john

David B.
ok thanks.I thought for a minute that I had missed something.

john

October 13, 2003 David Benson

John, there have been other comments commending Addies creations in helping world wide collectors fill in the void spaces.

David B.

October 13, 2003 David Benson

John, it has never been posted but there have been a few comments addressed to Lotus and Addie that have made statements that they see nothing wrong with selling their home made fakes on Ebay.

IMO it is because the material doesn't affect them as their interest is limited but it has affected philately and especially the reliability of offerings on Ebay such as SPECIMEN overprints, British Officials, etc. Ebay should have been much more diligent and immediately zapped all of Addies material and most of Lotus's as soon as it was listed.

David B.

October 13, 2003 john@magnoliastamps

David B.
Not trying to start a fued because I respect you,but where did you see that posted? Are you refering to the American stamp co. post? If so I did not read it that way.

John

October 13, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

George

Glad you used the word "mostly".
Sheryl and I wrote what was I think the first article in the philatelic literature discussing the shenanigans on eBay.
Like Bill D I find the constant repetition by Nick and his detractors somewhat tedious.
However, as David wrote, he had worn out his mouse wheels by scrolling.
I'm afraid my mouse doesn't have a wheel, so it's still in pretty good shape.
If, as seems to be the case, eBay has finally taken action to remove modern self-made forgeries more power to them.
From what I've seen of Addies forgeries, they are so bad that no one should be taken in.
Except perhaps the grieving spouse of a recently departed collector who has no idea of what they are dealing with.

October 13, 2003 David Benson

George, what annoys me more is the comments from respected philatelists (American)who make comments such as " I see nothing wrong with selling that type of material " they should know better.
The GB Official fakes are more akin to adding Grills to US stamps than overprints but if these sellers were adding grills and then offering them they would all be up in arms to get the sellers booted and would be complaining ad nauseaum,

David B.

October 13, 2003 Jim Lawler

Bookmark

October 13, 2003 David Benson

promo, that is not a postal marking and I don't think there is a list anywhere although they are perfectly collectable but shunned by philatelists as they are not postal.

p.s. the NZ beer label is scarce,

David B.

October 13, 2003 George K

However, the fakes and alterations from chickfrdstk, Addie, Mr. 194 and others will pollute this hobby for decades to come. I AM talking about "stamps" when I discuss them; I am trying to assure that when people shop for them on eBay, they will get what they pay for - stamps.

October 13, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

Mackay catalog includes everything but consular cancels.

Came across my copy of Maximus catalog whilst searching for Mackay.
Penny blacks on cover starting at £12 or $30.
SG Queen Victoria catalog for £2.25
 

October 13, 2003 prometheus

Various
Dave,Chris and others The Nippons are drying a couple will fill holes and I need to know if real, A couple have neat Brown(age) cancels that are interesting.

David B Upon further study it turns out to be Baltimore office of British Consulate (i was hoping for exotic location)
also In the album I bought a neat giant New Zealand beer duty stamp 5 gallons 1sh 3 pence Mint Hinged (gonna frame it )
and some odds and ends from all over the world, China overprint on hong kong stamps, bunch of different Official ovpt on New Zealands and a Giant Chinese stamp for express letters and a Shanghai local post 1/2 cent

 

October 13, 2003 Marius

Exhibit
David...Those extra 1 or 2 points would have given me the vermeil I was aiming for, but I am still happy with the result. Next time.

October 13, 2003 Marius

Brisbane Exhibit
HERE t'is

October 13, 2003 Roger Heath

Pro Razors
Prometheus -
Here’s a link to razor examples that I expect you have collected.
The top right should look the same as your Lausanne (28 iv 00).
Your Lausanne 18 iv03, could be one of two.
The top left, which best I can tell is identical to top right, just use dates different, or bottom left, which has simplified lower lettering from EXP. LETTR. to EXP. LETT.
Finally the Geneve Rue Du Stand should look like the bottom right.
I assume they are all outgoing cancels, if not, please contact me. );>)

Roger

October 13, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

Have been in a meeting for last 90 minutes and just caught up.
Richard, no it was David B with comments on the Royal though I do concur. Hardest problem I had was finding the front door. They also make pretty decent coffee.

October 13, 2003 David Benson

Marius, I am in agreement with almost all of the marks except a couple more for Philatelic Knowledge & Research and Study would have been more appropriate,

David B.

October 13, 2003 14:32 Dave F. (moderator)

Marius: Still, congratulations on the great job. Feel free to post a link to the exhibit if it's online already. (I seem to recall that it is.)

October 13, 2003 14:28 Dave F. (moderator)

Nick: I've been thinking about this for some time with regard to your auctions. If your auctions withstand review by eBay and are allowed to stand, then good for you. But you can't blame others if your auctions are removed by eBay. What eBay considers acceptable is different than what a conscientious philatelist might consider acceptable. I think most people would agree that eBay's screening criteria in general are a lot more relaxed than, say, a philatelic auction house.

My point is that if it couldn't make it through eBay's review, then it was material that should not have been offered on eBay.

I also need to say to everyone that I feel a greater duty to keep this board on track than to allow everyone the opportunity to say whatever they feel. I believe that I have tried to act fairly with everyone. I'm sure some will feel that I do not always do so. I don't just leave the things I want to hear or just the things I agree with. No one individual has an absolute right to an open forum on here. (That should be obvious, and we've discussed this in depth before.)

To those people who are posting with a company name, or a nickname, or a real name that's unfamiliar to us, please either include an email address that I can verify (because I will contact you and expect a reply) or else contact me privately. I've tried to be a little more lax about this, but that's proving to be not such a good idea. Thanks!

October 13, 2003 22:24 Nick I (lotus194)

Grudges
Mark B--I do not hold grudges, life is too short, I congratulate you on your little victory, a wothy opponent at last.

Only kidding, might have lost me a couple of bob though, that can't be nice.

Richard W--For educated people you really have bad memories, I told you before, I only post when you are messing with my listings. Ever get the feeling that I am going to be around for a very, very, very, very long time!

Of course I have friends, but they are nowhere near as much fun as you guys.

Nick

October 13, 2003 Roger Heath

$2 million
Nick -
No raw nerves here, if I had two million dollars I would most certainly not be substitute teaching!!
More a sense of outrage. You are deepening your hole with an ever longer handle, do you plan on jumping in, blaming us all the way to the bottom? My advice doesn't mean much to you, but take a tip. Each time you have come back to this Board, you have been more forthright and open, which I think is admirable. The problem is you are admitting more an more frequently, things are not on the up and up. I'm not surprised, as from the start of these communications with you, it was apparent you would never get out of a business that is direct conflict with the goals and ideals of our hobby (business for some).

Roger

October 13, 2003 Marius

I think this bears out what David told me about Marcopily not getting the same type of results as postal history. My presentation and treatment got very high marks yet the Importance and Rarity fell down badly.

October 13, 2003 David Benson

Richard, that was moi. There are very few good Philatelic clubs left and a visit to the Royal is a learning experience as it shows the standard that one can aspire too.

David B.

October 13, 2003 David Benson

Mark, it appears that Ebay.UK has more commonsense about forgeries, fakes or whatever anyone wants to call them than Ebay.Com. It could be that Ebay.Com now refers anything contentious to the APS which appears to be working very slowly.

I have just sent a letter regarding another self admitted forger to Ebay.UK.

David B.

October 13, 2003 Roger Heath

"unmoderatored"
David -
Welcome back! I did not mention libel laws as a starting point for a free for all.

I find it offensive that a person "threatens" to post elements of an email message in retaliation for auctions, which were not in compliance with Ebay's rules, being removed from Ebay.
It is in effect blackmail to stop discussion of that persons auctions.
It was stated:
"In fact I was thinking of taking a few days off to replenish my stock, as I have actually been selling items I no longer have in
stock due to business being so good. "

Here is part of the Ebay rule related to pre-selling:

"A seller who lists a pre-sale item on eBay must clearly indicate within the listing the fact that the item is a pre-sale item and a delivery date that indicates the item will be shipped by the 30th day from the end date of the listing. Additionally, this text must be HTML font size 3 (at a minimum). eBay will end any listing that is a pre-sale which does not include this information."

Hard to determine which items may be out of stock from the listings.

Roger

October 13, 2003 22:10 Nick I (lotus194) <nicholas.izzard@ntlworld.com>

Cheats and Frauds
Roger H--Sorry Roger have I hit a raw nerve there, I thought that this was one of the main purposes of this board, to uncover, expose and discuss cheats and frauds?

Thing is Rog, do I not have to name the person I am talking about for it to be libelous?

Of course I might be wrong, US laws are a bit odd, especially when they allow cheats and frauds to walk away with $2,000,000 of someone elses money.

Only my opinion, for what its worth.

Nick

October 13, 2003 Richard Warren

The Royal
On a proper philatelic subject, was it on this board that Jim W-S (I think?) was advising folks to get into the Royal Philatelic Society in London whenever they could? Went there for the first time on Saturday - an India Study Circle meeting, Gerald Davis presenting Burma - and yes, indeed, it's quite something. I'm not really one for the philatelic establishment, but the meeting room is exceptional, the library is most impressive, and they serve a decent cup of tea at half-time, too. So I concur ...

October 13, 2003 Marius

Inv Jenny
If anyone has a few $ lying around spare, there is an inverted Jenny up for auction in New Zealand on Nov 6th at Mowbray's. Reserve NZ$125,000. Position 8, a reperfed straight edge.

October 13, 2003 14:08 Dave F. (moderator)

In this role as moderator, I am often torn between replying to something and risk fanning the flames, or ignoring it on the possibility that that was its last gasp. There is no perfect balance, and I will sometimes get it right and sometimes get it wrong.

Today we really need to focus on positive philatelic topics.

Prometheus: I, too, will be looking forward to the Japan scans.
 

October 13, 2003 Richard Warren

lotus
Nick, I'm sorry you don't have any real friends to mess around with. But hey, don't foul up this board by using it to play out your therapy, please. Dave F - I know. Feel free to remove this. Sorry, I just wanted to say it.

October 13, 2003 2:04 Mark B

Deleted auctions
David B.

Welcome back to the board - hope you enjoyed your vacation.

I too was surprised that they had acted so quickly. The same happened just over a week ago when I put in a complaint about 3 lots - they were taken down within 36 hours of the complaint.

I've kept the latest guys email addy and will probably use it to make any further reports that need doing as he seems to be on the ball.

Nick - as I have already said, this isn't a personal attack ( I would happily bid on one of your penny black if it had the check letters MB ), I am just trying to get rid of forgeries that really aren't needed in the philatelic community.

Mark.

October 13, 2003 All American Stamp Co.

Allright Childern lets play nice.Name calling has no place here,
lets get back to stamp talk,and leave old lotus(nick)to his forgeries.As he did in my opinion have them identifide as BOGUS what else do you want!Think of it like this the remaining stamps that have not been tampered with that is the stamps that have not been overprinted are now worth more because there are fewer of them.Then again I never see any discussion on the guy in Fla. who is allways passing off deperfed #30s as #12s in those large collections that he sells.I have noticed at least 4 in the last 2 months.Nor have I saw anything about the guy in N.J.who advertises a collection from 1847 to 1999 thats no more than a collection that starts at 1890 with a faulty #1 thrown in as a enticer.So lets get back to stamp talk and leave the rest alone!
 

October 13, 2003 13:18 Bjorn Munch

Norway stamps
Greg, the rarity tables for Norway #1, 4, 8, 14 and "red posthorns" for three-ring numerals and one-ring CDS are listed in Norgeskatalogen now and then. There's one in the 2004 edition, which I haven't bought yet, so I'm using 2001. The Facit tables for numerals on #1 can only be assumed to apply to numerals on #1. For example, "364" is 4R on #1 (6 in Facit), i.e. very rare, but it's probably THE most common cancel on #2.
 

October 13, 2003 Roger Heath

Philatelic Topics
Nick -
Start a philatelic thread! You have accused me of making personal attacks, so I put up a philatelic post and you brush it off. This Board was started so people could discuss philatelic items, usually for sale, not for discussing people.

What do you collect? How many years have you been collecting? Do you belong to any clubs or societies? Were you collecting or selling prior to Ebay? Have any interests outside of collecting? These are all valid topics for conversation purposes. There's no need to imply you have special knowledge about any person who posts here, and if you are not careful, legally, you could discover more than you want about American libel laws. Just a hint, since you seemed to be a little unclear on the concept a while back!

That's my 2¢ worth.

Roger

October 13, 2003 David Benson

Mark, it seems strange, you get a letter that states that they are transferring Nick's material to Cindies then POOF (nothing personal Nick) appears to be the work of two different sections of Ebay.UK.

At least they are on the ball and handling problems unlike Ebay.Com even with the help of the APS,

David B.

October 13, 2003 David Benson

Promo, what are you calling Consular marks. If you mean the cancels on the Consular Revenue stamps I doubt you will find them listed anywhere,

David Benson

October 13, 2003 13:07 Dave F. (moderator)

In my post just made, I was attempting to spell the word "unmoderated", but ended up with "unmoderatored". I may have stumbled upon a more accurate term!

(I can usually spell -- just sometimes can't type.)

October 13, 2003 13:06 Dave F. (moderator)

I am back from an appointment this morning. I have fixed html errors, but have not yet replied to emails. I have only skimmed the board, and have some idea of what's going on, but have not sat down and studied it thoroughly yet.

I apologize to all readers and posters for the times when the board seems to go unmoderatored. I am at least usually checking in every 4 - 8 hours (24 hours/day) and handling the most egregious problems. Some that require more dexterity can take a little longer.

I'll post a more thorough reply later. Thanks!

October 13, 2003 Dave P

I checked my copy of Booth, just lists the revenues, no consular list.

I unfortunately don't have the Oversea offices book by Parmenter, somehow I missed it. John Parmenter has done an awful lot of work on cancellations of the period, if it is half as good as his works on the UK duplexes and London cancellations it will be well worth having, I rate his work very highly. I have many of Mackay's books, I find the more general ones rather rambling, but the more specialised check-list types and local histories are excellent. I don't believe his England & Wales postmarks covers consular marks, but cannot currently locate my copy!

October 13, 2003 1:56 Mark Bardell

none
Nick, I don't count it as a "victory" - All I am trying to do is to stop these stamps getting into peoples hands who then try to sell them on as the real thing. I collect this era myself but have stopped buying GB Ovpt's as I really do not want to end up with any of your badly made forgeries in my collection.

Mark.

October 13, 2003 20:45 Nick I (lotus194) <nicholas.izzard@ntlworld.com>

Your First Victory
Mark B--Well done you on your success on getting my items removed, I have to take my hat off to you. Unfortunately it is really only a small glich, when Mr Denny Overton reads the instructions now tied to my account, they will be relisted immediately, but hey, enjoy the glory whilst it lasts.

In fact I was thinking of taking a few days off to replenish my stock, as I have actually been selling items I no longer have in stock due to business being so good.

Anyway being as I now have some time on my hands what will we talk about????????

I could start the bidding on a nice email I got from one of my new friends from using this board. He thinks we should discuss one of you, which one of you, how about "the one who stole over 2 million U.S. dollars in cash and stamps from the people that he worked for and or represented"

Any comments?

How about a moratorium on THAT subject then?

Just thought I would mention it!

Nick

October 13, 2003 Greg Ioannou (g.1)

Norway
Thanks, Bjorn. Now, of course, I'm wondering about the 1s that also went crazy. Fine by me! Where are you getting the data on postmark scarcity? My old (1987) Facit only gives that for Norway #1.

October 13, 2003 Lavar Taylor

Addie -- I am serious about my offer to help you find a qualified appraiser to help you donate what you are trying to sell on ebay to a qualified charitable organization (such as the APS). And I do hope you share with us your postal history of the Cuban troop involvement in Africa.

October 13, 2003 12:21 Bjorn Munch

Norway #4 and #11
Greg, I answered someone else about the #4 on eBay chat. Now, here is a good illustration of why to snipe. Had the high bidder sniped this, he probably would have got it for $22.78 instead of $198.50. As to why these two bid so high, I have no idea. Congratulations!
 

October 13, 2003 Roger Heath

Not Offering
This occured during the last 1/2 hour, previously at least 20 auctions were listed. I guess someone at Ebay is getting a message and not only shifted them to "Cinderellas", but in doing so they've turned into pumpkins.

Roger

 

October 13, 2003 12:47 Mark Bardell

Lotus / Ebay
Afternoon all, just arrived back from my weekend away. I have received an email from Ebay regarding Mr Lotus's listings as follows :

Hello Mark,

Thank you for taking the time to write to eBay.

Please be advised that the listings of user, lotus194, should have been
listed in the following category,Stamps:Philately:Cinderellas
, I have now moved them there, thanks for your report.

Denny Overton
eBay Trust and Safety


Not sure if this has been discussed, but at least it may lead bidders into thinking that they're not actually receiving real stamps but forged ones.

Off to check over 100 emails.

Mark.

October 13, 2003 Greg Ioannou (g.1) <gregioannou at rogers.com>

Norway #4
Bjorn M Thanks for your bid on this. Would you care to enlighten me on why a $12 catalog value stamp went for $121.50? Sure, it is a pretty copy, and that postmark couldn't be more perfectly placed, but ... !!

October 13, 2003 Roger Heath

Miro Print
Mr Addie -
Since you are around and monitoring this Board. What happened to the $10,000 print you were offering, I always wanted to ask? Another point. You are very clever marketing your current auctions. Do you find it effective to nearly always include a Nazi, or anti-Jewish propaganda stamps in your selections?

Roger

October 13, 2003 prometheus

Jim W-S
Your Right But my album has them as Part of South America , need any of those I seem to have quite a few both stars types.
They are nice looking stamps.
Back to cutting pages out of album and soaking nasty hinges.

October 13, 2003 ATDINVEST

REPLY TO ROGER HEATH
Mr. Heath.- every time you say something about me is pure nonsense,please educate your self first before you talk.Yes I am not selling because a was forced by any of the goddess,I am selling because of my health,my company is very ,very,very and very succesful on the trade,not only on ebay but in my mail order too,you got that Mr.?
I'll be doing business until find the proper person to continuo what I began.Iam commited to my customers and to thephilatelic international community,I have behind me millions of supporters.Iknowyou don't like that,but I don't care,I don't have to please your nonsense.addie

October 13, 2003 Brian R

My next action was to bid on an obvious Upham forgery like it was real. I can't tell you how pleasurable it was, to see one of them take the bait, and outbid me! LOL

October 13, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

Pro
Most of the volcanoes are on central rather than South American stamps,
particularly Nicaragua and Salvador. Primarily because of the Confederation which had the five volcanoes as its emblem.

October 13, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

Just did a quick search at Leonard Hartmann's store.
There is

Great Britain Used Abroad, Cancellations and Postal Markings by John Parmenter The cancellations used on 19th century GB stamps in foreign and colonial post offices plus the crowned circles and consular post. Markings are well illustrated, described and priced, good background information. 1993, 344+28 pages, cloth, a useful book, sold out

and

Encyclopedia of British Revenue Stamps by Roger Booth The 3rd and current edition, covers England, Scotland, Wales, Channel Islands, Ireland and the Consular and Foreign Offices. A magnificent work, unfortunately the paper is a bit on the thin side. 1990, 797 pages, housed in special four ring binder $95.00

I have the latter but I don't remember if it lists consular offices.

October 13, 2003 David

Philatelic fun - nasty but legal
I had been watching a particular cover on ebay over the past few days. The top bidder was one of my primary competitiors, with a high bid of about 1/10 of what the cover should sell for. He only bids once with a high proxy. Time to have fun. I entered one bid and jacked him up darn near close to retail. He won the lot, but at about 10x what he expected.

To answer the question before it's asked - had I been high, I would have paid for the cover and then resold it.

October 13, 2003 prometheus

Jim ws
Are you lacking any of the south american stamps that depict Volcanoes, (email a list ) I have lots of extras in south american (except Brazil)
Also Found a business 22 miles away that has a Volcano with palm trees (15 foot tall ) on the top of their building want a photo, will pass it again this weekend it puts out a Mist of water that looks like smoke. I am guessing tht it is their Logo.

October 13, 2003 Roger Heath

In support of Dunc
When a seller of stamps makes the following statement and can chide other collectors into believing he's an OK guy, it makes me want to scream. Nick wrote on this Board on October 10:

"Since deciding to sell my "specialised" stamps on ebay (Dec 2002), I have sold in excess of 1,750 lots (including
2nd chance offers), not including "genuine stamps" and not including private sales (a lot of them, I am ashamed to
say through advertising through this board).

This represents approx 4,500 individual stamps (a guesstimate, but nevertheless a good one)."

The silent majority is allowing a fraud to occur. George K was also told to stop rocking the boat, but my guess is he almost singlehandedly got a handfull of the most notorious fakers off Ebay. I can't imagine business is as good as it was two years ago for them. Addie has been forced to end his business, don't believe the illness. The first Addie auction I ever saw was not a stamps auction, but for an art print by Joan Miro opening at $10,000. Before the close of auction it was withdrawn as "lost or damaged". Do you think with his printing capability, he was possibly copying art prints and offering them for sal, not disclosing the fact he may have been printing them. Close scrutiny of flatulent (oops fraudulent) activity always stirs seller's rath. They have just been exposed, and success in the fake business relies on quiet. So if you wish to give security to sellers like Nick, who require quiet to continue their successful businesses, support the moratorium, you'll be doing him a favor! Otherwise, use that link above and make your vote count - you don't want to see homemade fakes sold in the stamps categories, no matter the terminology.

Roger

October 13, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

Finally got to see the crown jewels etc.

Mackay also has several books on British Postmarks.
I think one is called Postmarks of England and Wales, another Postmarks of Scotland.
I can check this evening. They are on 8x14 paper and look like they have been run off a stencil rather than being printed. They are profusely illustrated but I don't know if they include consular markings.

October 13, 2003 prometheus

Chris reply
the nippon's are soaking as I type this , Those olde type paper hinges are tuff. At least the adhesive they used was/is.

October 13, 2003 John

Brian R.
i was going to bid on Ft Knox,until I figured out what the taxes were! Chuckle chuckle!!!

October 13, 2003 Dave P

Prometheus Whitney lists British PO's abroad, but not consular markings. Has full listings of squared circles, spoons, duplex etc., but for most of those there are books with more specialist listings.

October 13, 2003 time for oatmeal Chris Kobans-R-Us.com
 

Prometheus' Japanese Album
Prometheus I'd like to see that Japanese album, post a link
when you get it scanned. One can never see too many Japanese stamps.

Chris -

October 13, 2003 David Gellisen

David Moser
I read everything.........so little time.....so much to do...fades back to balcony for good.

October 13, 2003 Duncan D

Bill Dempwolf!! sorry again!

Dunc

October 13, 2003 David Moser <stamphick@dospalos.org>

David

October 13, 2003 Duncan Doenitz

An apology
Thank you David G, you are correct.

Especially I owe an apology to Bill Dempwolf, I should've had much more respect for someone of his stature. I'll keep up the fight but I'll try to keep it off these pages. I just wanted you all to know that there was much more than just talk going on.

Please forgive me for the recent posts, I have to admit that I allowed Lotus to get to me. Sorry.

Duncan Doenitz

October 13, 2003 Brian R

Maria Come back, with scan! Finally, something I can answer, and i'm gone for a few days :o(

October 13, 2003 David Gellisen

I for one do not want to keep on reading the same old story which this is, no matter which way you twist and turn it. Please don't try to justify yourself Duncan as I will do the same as you seem to be doing which is not reading or ignoring other peoples reasonable requests.

October 13, 2003 16:20 Nick I (lotus194) <nicholas.izzard@ntlworld.com>

Whats in a Word?
I just realised, I can go on ebay, revise my word "representative" to either:

a)Kithen Table Handstamp
b)Illegal Counterfeit
c)Bogus Rubbish

It would take minutes, and by the time ebay investigate Dunc,n,Daves complaints they would be groundless.

I don't think that's what Dunc,n,Dave really want though so I will leave well alone and risk the wrath of ebay again, and as you are fully aware I will let you all know the outcome.

I reckon if I hang around for a few more weeks, we could reach that 20,000 in no time, you think.

Just thought I would say.

Nick

PS.I don't suppose there is anyone out there who would like to go into business with me, as I have spotted a great opportunity and its only $69,500, bargain!

October 13, 2003 nomad55

For Christo
The cover from France has no origin postage stamp, so double the UPU rate was assessed as postage due - the normal 5 cent rate times 2 equalled 10 cents. Therefore, 4 due stamps are missing.

October 13, 2003 15:55 Nick I (lotus194) <nicholas.izzard@ntlworld.com>

Moratorium
Can someone tell me what is going on, is there a moratorium on anything to do with lotus or not?

I thought it was a good idea, but others on this board seem to want to keep the issue going.

Unless of course the moratorium was only on ME, in other words it is only ME that cannot discuss ME on this board.

Confused.

Nick

October 13, 2003 Richard Ballhagen (spain_1850)

Prometheus - I'll be glad to offer anything I can on items from my area of interest.

October 13, 2003 Duncan Doenitz <croberts33@juno.com>

Moratorium

To a large extent I agree with you Bill.

However, I see a difference between talk and action. Trust me, there is a lot going on in the background, this forum is just the tip of the iceberg, just as Lotus' sales are the tip of the iceberg concerning the open sale of bogus items often via misleading ads on eBay.

Hopefully you filed a report against Lotus194 as well as posting here. If you choose to report me instead, fine. Just be sure to take a stand and do something. If you would like to do more you (or anyone) can reach me at croberts33"at"juno.com and I can give you insight into methods that are far beyond what you can expect from eBay.

On that same vein, I am exploring this week the possibility of co-writing an article about the problems of sales of forgeries on eBay, in cooperation with a local reporter and I'll also be contacting Linns weekly stamp newspaper about the same article. Anyone with input or suggestions, anecdotes, whatever, about such an article please contact me, your help would be appreciated. Bill I would have no problem whatsoever including your disfavor with how such activity has drawn too much attention at chat boards, contact me.

Meanwhile this venue still serves, as it was intended, as the best pipeline to report activities that would be censored if mentioned at eBay's own board.

How bad is the problem?

As I've reported elsewhere, if you go to eBay and do a search for "forger*" (the star in the search gives you results for "forgery", "forgeries" and "forger")... if you do that search at eBay, 90% of the responses will be in the Stamps category. You'll get about 250 returns. And remember, those will be ONLY those ads that use the word in their ads, again the tip of the iceberg. many bogus ads will not come up in the search.

Incidentally, reporting the information in the previous paragraph to the FBI Internet Fraud division (while reporting ATD's bold ad to sell a $70,000 forgery business on eBay!!) is indirectly probably the reason that eBay has instructed Lotus to eliminate the word from his ad.

So you see, Bill, there is indeed something to be gained from Lotus' boasting. The FBI report was filed October 4th, and Lotus was casually mentioned as an example of another bad seller who repeatedly has sold forgeries via eBay, and a few days later Lotus is instructed to remove the words from his ads. You tell me if you smell a cover up, my opinion is that eBay was contacted by the Internet Fraud division.

That is part of the impetus for publishing the story publicly, if eBay wants to take a Watergate approach to bogus sales in their Stamps categrory, let the facts be revealed.

Hopefully no one would advocate instead for apathy, ignoring the problem.

Y'all can choose and speak for yourselves. If you'd prefer to take action instead of reading the same crap here every week, give me a helping hand.

Dave if you can eliminate the link to my email in a week or so, I'd be grateful, I hate spambots too.

Duncan Doenitz

 

October 13, 2003 prometheus

Reply Dave P
Thanks Dave - Must get one My GB pile is getting rather large and must be sorted, I like the Squared Circles , The spoons I must learn more about, Also would you know if the Book lists the British Consulate Cancels?

October 13, 2003 Dave P

GB Postmarks
Prometheus Best general guide is Whitney's (posthumous) "Collect British Postmarks", latest edition is the 7th 1997. Often comes up on Ebay, or I belive you may still find Vera Trinder and others stock it.

October 13, 2003 prometheus <Prometheus@1Internetdrive.com>

Various messages to different peeps
Roger H- added a couple of razors to my pile this weekend
Lusanne 28 iv 00 , lusanne 18 iv03, Geneve 15 iv 03 (rue du stand?)

NOIP added a Crash Cover and a flown on the Hindenburg to my Postal History pile.

GB dudes Can you reccomend a book on the Cancels of GB

Japanese Collectors - Bought an old album with a batch of
Japanese will try to get uploaded so you can look
JFR Most of my money got waylaid by the stampless stuff so I didn't pick up that stamp will have to wait till dec show

Jeff L Please email me at above RE: Rockfords
Ferd Those A's are hard to find but I keep looking
Richard B Picked up a couple of Spains in the Album I bought will also get posted so you can tell me what might be real

Any one else I have a lookout list for email me, i guess I need to get specifics on what you want to spend, saw many cards that fir needs but didn't know if 3-3 dollars was Too much for your collections.

Danzig ? can't find danzig with D M overtprint in my book where do I look ?

Rick M CYE when you get the chance.

October 13, 2003 Dave P

Christo I have little knowledge of US rates, but generally postage due marks on international mail were expressed in Gold Francs (and centimes) as the UPU standard by the originating country and in local currency by the receiving country, so the due mark would be for 10 US cents.

October 13, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

Dave P

No idea.
Buyer could have bought them from SG at less than start price.

October 13, 2003 Christo van Zyl

French - USA Cover
Hi to all.

I have come across This cover on ebay. It is a taxed cover from Le Havre. No postage applied in France, so marked with a T 10 centimes marking. On rear of cover 6 x 1c USA postage dues applied. Seller states that it appears as if four postage due stamps are missing. Does anyaone agree with his observation or is the postage due stamps the correct amount (I remember nomad55 a while ago had a conversion from centimes to USA cents, but unfortunately I am not home to check on my PC), or is the due amount cents and not centimes??

October 13, 2003 Bill Dempwolf

Bill

October 13, 2003 04:32 AM Jim Lawler

Jim L.

October 13, 2003 04:00 Jim Watson

Today in Postal History
Good Morning, Everyone!
Today's dated postal history item is a cover from China to Japan in 1927. It had a flap added to carry all of the handling instructions. It also was forwarded after it got to
Japan. There's a lot of Chinese and Japanese here to be translated if anyone can help. Also find out how the cherry trees got to Washington, D.C.

October 13, 2003 Dave P

Modern UK
I sometimes think Ebay exists in its own little bubble within the philatelic world. What have I missed in this auction? The Machin 2/6 is currently available from a major GB dealer on the net at 12p, discounts for a sheet. Lats week a 1957 Parliamentary conferance, easy to purchase at 50p or less, went for over £3.00, and there were several similar examples. No criticism at all of the sellers, but what exactly is going on?

October 13, 2003 Duncan Doenitz

Moratorium revisited
A special note to those who are fed up with the entire Lotus194 crap...

USE THE LINK at the top of this forum, and do something to help!!

Some important things to note...

EBay tends to only respond to links to specific auctions. So if, for example, you correspond with eBay about Lotus' Swastika items, they will only take action on one item unless you list them all. A seller might have 20 bad listings but if you list only one as an example, only that one will be affected.

Explain everything to eBay. Don't depend on them to look anything up. If a seller has a long history of abuse, explain all of that. You have to take their hand and walk them through everything, explain it as if you were talking to someone who is unfamiliar with eBay.

Don't expect any response except for some kind of form letter, you'll usually detect some generic wording with no reference to specifics in the case. EBay tells us that they obviously don't have time for actual replies, and that's a good thing. Let them concentrate on the job to be done.

If you see more bad listings later by the same seller, file another report.

The link at the top of this Chat Board takes you to an excellent page at eBay. Even if you don't intend to file a report, it is helpful to check out the page. There are many links there and some important eBay rules are explained there. So it is worth investigating, and it helps to see the rules so you can judge for yourself if a seller is really in violation or if eBay is enforcing their own rules.

C'mon, enough is enough. Take action.

Dunc

October 13, 2003 Duncan Doenitz

Moratorium

Nick if I recall correctly the moratorium was a two way street dependent on your own behavior regarding your sales. Blame yourself.

Lets forget the baiting and have a SERIOUS discussion about your complete lack of ethics.

DD

October 13, 2003 00.17 Knud-Erik Andersen

October 13, 2003 Lavar Taylor

Answer: Napoleon I !

October 13, 2003 David Benson

Knud, back now from 2 weeks up north. Still haven't caught up with the mail and have passed a pile to the packing department which should all be posted by the end of the week. She has to complete her Exhibition entry by early next week as well.

David B.

October 13, 2003 Lavar Taylor

This is a true last date of rate usage, and, as a bonus, is a supplementary mail usage. In theory it could be a double weight cover, but that appears to be unlikely.

October 13, 2003 23.57 Knud-Erik Andersen

October 13, 2003 David Benson

Nick, thanks for your kind remarks,

BTW, I just reported you to Safeharbor.UK and asked them if the word REPRESENTATIVE being used a a synonym for FORGERY was allowable,

David Benson

October 13, 2003 07:33 Nick I (lotus194) <nicholas.izzard@ntlworld.com>

Moratorium
Duncan D--What happened to the moratorium then? even I was obeying it as I thought it was a good idea. Just couldnt resist it could you?

Dave F--Of course if there did not exist a moratorium on me I could have discussed wording with you for my Swastikas (just like I did with the other overprints), but remember you recommended (amongst others) to ignore me, so what would have been the point in posting. By the way, if you think I used the word "representative" to "bait" you would be wrong, I just thought it sounded "right".

Congratulations on your 10,000, although without me and Addie you would still be around the 9,000 don't you think?

Dave B--Welcome back from your break I have sorely missed you, but don't worry Dunc and the others have been looking after me.

Course I know, what with the moratorium and all, this post will be ignored, but lets post it for all of those lurkers out there, just to give the arguement perspective an all.

Dave F--If you dislike me blaming this board for my grievence, then is it any wonder when the likes of Dunc are allowed to encourage the interference in my business with instructions to use links supplied by this board, by people on this board?

Course you could have just asked me to consider changing my wording, but then again how could you with a moratorium on me?

Just thought I would say!

Nick

October 12, 2003 Richard Ballhagen (spain_1850)

All American - Yep, looks like a bunch of space fillers to me too. I especially like the note he added on to the description as an extra "incentive".

October 12, 2003 All American Stamp Co.

This seller says his lot is worth 10k plus.Where doe he find it,since he bought most of them from Georgetown Law as a faulty lot
for less than $20.00.Faulty lot

October 12, 2003 Duncan Doenitz

Word Games

Aw Jeez! Lotus194 is now listing his stamps with forged overprints as "representative copies"!

If anyone doubted how cleverly deceptive this seller could be, there's your answer because my Websters Dictionary defines "representative" as "typical".

Of course a "copy" could be just about anything, from an original copy, (say for example a single copy of a US stamp from an original pane of 100) to a forged copy.

So Lotus is being allowed by eBay to offer what can be interpreted as "typical examples" of his items, listed under the actual stamp topics and with no reference to forgeries or fakes in his descriptions.

Man I gotta tell you, eBay is worse than useless. I see a Watergate style cover up happening here, and it would be delightful to see the press pick up on it. And with a firm the size of eBay behaving in such a manner, it could be big news. When a gigantic company sells its soul for short term profits and is willing to sacrifice its reputation while its customers get cheated, I have no respect whatsoever for such a business. No conscience, just like the sleazy sellers they support.

End of rant.

However, if you agree that such behavior is wrong. it may be helpful to use the link at the top of this forum to voice your displeasure to eBay. If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. Apathy is what has allowed this bizarre situation to reach this stage. By the way, ATD is offering to sell his forgery business on eBay again. Unbelievable.

Duncan Doenitz

October 12, 2003 time for a beer Chris

For Roger
Roger If the Sheilds Up website can't see you, what that means is that someone
is filtering the connection requests. It could be happening at your ISP, it could be happening at
your cable modem, it could be happening at your operating system level. If the ISP can't tell
how many computers you have connected, the cable modem is doing something called NAT and translating the
IP addresses. My bet is that it is the cable modem that is acting as a hardware firewall and ignoring all the
connection requests on the various ports. This makes you relatively safe from attack from outside, so all
you have to worry about are viruses and trojans that get sent to you via email, or that you download off the net.
Remember, practice safe computing and be careful what you download, you don't know where it has been.

Chris - someone needs to invent the equivalent of the cyber-condom.

October 12, 2003 Bill Weiss

Love Bug?
Maria; You need to be more specific. Are the stamps green or blue? Used or unused? Gum or no gum if unused? Sound or with faults? Scott number if you know it?

October 12, 2003 Maria <Lovebug127@aol.com>

1861 Block of four CSA stamps green
I own a block of four genuine 5 cent Jefferson Davis Stamps. I wanted to know what would the market value be? If you can help me please email me at Lovebug127@aol.com.

Thank you

Maria

October 12, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

$25.00 S&H.
Only 3 times base price of auction.
Sheesh!!!!

October 12, 2003 John

Bob H.
thats kind of what I was thinking too.I have several of that same kind same date.

October 12, 2003 Bob H.

And I wonder where he finds R154's with postal cancellations?

October 12, 2003 Bob Hohertz

IR overprints

Hi, John,
A first day of those probably could bring $50 to as much as $100, and it looks like this is one. However, this is the much more common variety of the IR overprint - the sans-serif overprints - R135 - are much more difficult to find on a document and bring well over $100 when they appear. I found a first day check with those, too, and would ask a lot more if I ever sold it - but not $25 s&h, which is silly.

October 12, 2003 Magnolia Stamps

Now here is one guy that thinks he has a gold mine.Let alone $25.00 S&H in the U.S. check this I think if it were me I would ship it for free if I even got a bid.

October 12, 2003 7:45 p.m. c.dt. Magnolia Stamps

Jim W Starke
try this link,maybe it will work!You'll love it.
John

October 12, 2003 15:14 Bjorn Munch

Yet another non-eBay purchase
And now I've bought three items at yeat another non-eBay site, the first were these from Hawaii at under 10% of of 1993 CV. I wonder if others can see this?

I've discovered one thing exploring these other sites: it's not always good to get something free. The previous site I mentioned has free listing at least for ordinary sellers. Result: a handful of heavy volume sellers flood the lists with page after page of cheap stamps, posted one at a time. Or as I saw on another site: page after page of good stamps priced around 3x what they could resonably sell for.

No, if and when I start selling on one of these sties, I'll pick the one where I have to pay for the listing.
 

October 12, 2003 3:40 PM Blue Rabbit

Seller Needs a Mentor
Would someone be willing to contact the seller about this and other US listings?

October 12, 2003 Roger H

Danzig
Knud-Erik -
Thanks for the information. I agree with Jim, take it easy, but this time it was OK to stay up late. );>) I hope you are recovering and following the Doctor's orders.

Bjorn - This was used in normal period, but the Michel had a footnote, which when translated via "google", made for a risky gamble. Now it is worth considering!

Roger

October 12, 2003 15:22 Bjorn Munch

Danzig
OK, I guess the domestic rate card had somewhat limited usage within Danzig itself. :-)
 

October 12, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

K-E,
you are up late my friend.
Don't overdo it.

Colin
I think it is more the unpredictability of the RM foistering new items on an unsuspecting public.
For investment purposes, if it is a single stamp in a prestige booklet, buy all you can get your hands on.
Especially if RM doesn't sell them over the counter.

October 12, 2003 14.51 Knud-Erik Andersen

October 12, 2003 14:44 Bjorn Munch

Danzig
Ah, but an uprated postal stationary can be much more worth than the sum of its parts. But sometimes less. In this case I will guess more if this is within the normal usage period of both.

 

October 12, 2003 14.25 Knud-Erik Andersen

October 12, 2003 Roger H

Danzig link
Da link!

October 12, 2003 Roger Heath

Danzig
Can anyone find a catalogue value for this uprated postal card? I have an old Michel specialized, but can't figure out a value for the card, which went to Switzerland. Thanks in advance.

Roger

October 12, 2003 01.08 pm Colin Judd UK http://mysite.freeserve.com/GB_Special_Issues/
 

Colin

October 12, 2003 12:25 Bjorn Munch

The unusual thing is the destination Iceland, that can't be very common. I paid $1.15 for the cover. I also bought this German 1960 FDC, sent registerd to Denmark, for just under 10% of CV.
 

October 12, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

Thanks Bjorn, that I can see.
Can you explain why you find it unusual.
I know Phil collects similar items.

October 12, 2003 12:09 Bjorn Munch

My non-eBay purchase
Jim, you can't see it? Well, it does say "you won this object" at the bottom, but the URL seems quite generic. Maybe you can see the picture instead?
 

October 12, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

Dang Colin,
and you had doubts about buying "smilers".
Minimum 400% return isn't bad!!
Could get better.
You might consider retiring :-Þ
Yet again. This time from ebay!

Bjorn
I'm afraid I'll have to take your word for it.
Seems you have to join to see auctions and my knowledge of Norwegian is miniscule.

October 12, 2003 11:43 Bjorn Munch

First non-eBay purchase
Well, I just bought my first five items from another auction site than eBay! They all ended on the same second, but the one I got confoirmed first was this unusual modern cover.

BTW, on their active item pages, if you have JavaScript enabled, clicking on the small image opens the bigger image in a popup-window of the right size. If you don't have JavaScript, then the small image just gives an ordinary http reference to the bigger image. I wish eBay could do the same magic.
 

October 12, 2003 Roger Heath

Computer Techies
Thanks for all the information about security.
I've always wondered about my situation. I toook all the tests on those two sites and apparently my Mac is invisible to the internet. Is this becasue it goes through the cable company's modem on my wife's desk? I was told that even the cable company can't tell how many computers are using its cable. Theoretically the wireless we have in the house can be accessed by neighbors, practicality says not likely at our location.
If someone with a PC knew we had a wireless network could they use it, or would it be necessary for them to have a Mac?

Chris - When disabling Javascript, as was mentioned below, I can't see the second image enlargement on an auction site. When looking for cancels that is very important, so I will keep it active.

BTW - I can't see anyting on the site linked to by John, so I won't participate either, but it had better not have been a razor cancel!

Roger

October 12, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

Colin
had a look through my duplicates of Japanese National Parks.
Unfortunately I have none of those on your list in used condition.
Maybe they are undervalued in Scott.
Will take list with me at Christmas when I get to go to shows in NY.
I hope.

October 12, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

John
Still get nothing with that link.
Will try tomorrow at work.

October 12, 2003 09.39 am Colin Judd UK http://mysite.freeserve.com/xzephyr_stamps
 

Colin

October 12, 2003 Magnolia Stamps

oh yes and you can also have the Brooklyn Bridge (this should be of interest to Bob in Wa.) and the crown jewels (Professor Stark in Tx.)that should be your area.And of course Ft Knox which I will bid on myself,(even as it is empty)
John

October 12, 2003 09:13 Bjorn Munch

Mushroom season++
No, it isn't necessarily over but I haven't got place for more in the freezer section of my fridge. My old fridge died a few weeks ago and it took a few days to get a new one, but I was able to evacuate my mushrooms to a shared big freezer in the basement. Haven't been out lately anyway, since I twisted my ankle two weeks ago and weather hasn't been good. Maybe if we don't get any frost I can go look for some late late mushrooms next weekend.

I've started looking at some Norwegian auction sites this week. One was absolutely positively impossible to use without JavaScript, and logs me out after only 2 minutes of inactivity. Another apparently does not support aliases, so sellers have to put their actual email address on the item page. A third s free(!) causing the stamp section to be flooded with very ordinary or grossly overpriced stuff. Blaeh!
 

October 12, 2003 Richard Ballhagen (spain_1850)

Dave F - Thanks for acknowledging my request. I'll keep checking back here. I've also done something I haven't done in quite a while.....I posted the request on the ebay board.

October 12, 2003 8:24 Dave F. (moderator)

And Bjorn: Good to see you on here, too! Is the mushroom-picking season over yet? I saw some of the pictures you posted on eBay and it all looked delicious.

October 12, 2003 8:22 Dave F. (moderator)

computer security
Mauro & Chris: Excellent points. I will attempt to use the sites you've linked to and let you know how it goes. I'll hold off on more questions until I've checked that out.

Jim/jaywild: Understood about your situation. (I remember reading about either here or on the eBay board.) Although it sounds trite, I've taken comfort in the old saying about when one door closes, another opens. (In my case, they seem to flying open and slamming shut a lot these days!) Best regards for your efforts.

October 12, 2003 for paranoia! Chris

Sheilds Up!
Mauro made a very important point.
Use the grc.com site to test the security of your system.
The first time I did (back in '99) I damn near PIMP over how open
things were. That is when I got my first software firewall. I still
check every so often to make sure nothing is open.

For work, we use a multi-compartmented system with the DMZ being the only thing available
to the outside world and a fire wall with only a few select ports open to the back area where
the ap servers and database machines are. We use a VPN (virtual private network) client to
get to things in production from the development subnet.

Chris - check you outgoing ports too

October 12, 2003 06:14 Bjorn Munch

JavaScript
I also have always run with JavaScript disabled unless I absolutely need to. This is primarily for two reasons: to avoid pop-ups, and because many pages take much longer to load (and my computer is slow by todays' standards). The only trouble on eBay is that some item pages use it to "view a larger image", but then I can click the middle button to open it a new window, then manually cut away the Javascript part of the URL and there is the picture. :-)
 

October 12, 2003 05:29 Jim Watson

Today in Postal History
Good Morning, Everyone!
Today's dated postal history item is an airmail first flight (and also first day cover) sent from Argentina to United States in 1929. If flew on 5 different airmail routes to get from here to there.

October 12, 2003 04:38 AM Jim Lawler

Jim L.

October 12, 2003 Mauro Mowszowicz <salesATurured.com>

Security II
forgot to mention that after doing the Leak test linked below you should try the ShieldsUp one in here https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

Regards
Mauro

October 12, 2003 Mauro Mowszowicz <salesATurured.com>

Security
David F, Chris & any other concerned about comp. security: i do not recommend Symantec firewall products, and can not recommend Symantec tests! (biased IMHO). If you want to really test your comp. go to http://grc.com/lt/leaktest.htm and then share the results here, i will glaldy help anyone to solve any problem found (By email if possible to avoid clogging the board)
So far the best combination i've found for home computers is Symantec AV Corporate edition + ZoneAlarm firewall + AdAware6.0
Chris, i also work in a high security comp. network and we have solved the internet access problem setting up a sep. network, setting VMWare on each terminal and accessing Internet from disposable, 1-time only Virtual Machines! (oh yeah, we're REALLY REALLY REALLY paranoid)
Regards
Mauro
 

October 12, 2003 02.00 Knud-Erik Andersen

October 12, 2003 1:36 a.m. Jim "jaywild"

Gray Davis

October 12, 2003 0031 Clark (reperf)

Bad Cert Day
Oops! bad cert

October 12, 2003 0030 Clark (reperf)

Bad Cert Day
When buying flat plate coils, make sure they are returnable.

This, for example, is a US #344 altered to resemble a #349. Sad, because there are two layout dots to the left, quite unusual. The scan of the coil replica cannot be aligned because the edges are not parallel to each other. And it earned this accompanying bad cert.

Who would be willing to bet that the majority of the uncertified US perf 12 flat plate coils on eBay would not suffer the same fate?

My two cents.

October 11, 2003 22:32 Dave F. (moderator)

Jim / jaywild: I didn't, although for once I did know about something like this in advance. I'm trying not to acquire new material for a while, and those places can just be too tempting. That's also part of the reason I didn't go to SESCAL this year. But do think about going to the APS meeting in Sacramento next August. I have never been to the main APS annual show, but did go to their Winter show when it was held in Riverside a couple of years ago, and really liked it.

Jim W-S & Roger: Glad to know that the link worked for you. I think that set up is pretty typical of what's going on on commercial sites these days, so I think it makes the point that you've both said that IBM/eBay is doing some things to really complicate their site. (Although I do like the feature that shows what you've just looked, and it's got to use some of those high-falutin' techniques to accomplish that.)

Roger: Your system sounds otherwise so state-of-the-art that I wonder if you should upgrade the memory on your computer, if possible. (Maybe that's the limitation you've run into. I've maxed mine out.)

Chris: Thanks for the explanation. Sadly, because of my recent baptism by fire with Windows XP, I understood what you were saying.

Richard B: I'm sure someone with a more current Scott's than I (2002) will show up and chime in soon. I used to update the full set every year, but they start piling up fast. (And the Classic volume got so expensive!)

October 11, 2003 9:10 pm Jim "jaywild"

October 11, 2003 Chris

Computer Security
Dave F. Security is the primary reason, because it is untrusted code running on your computer
in your security domain. It isn't typesafe and malicious javascript can crash your computer or
transmit info to someone else. It also is used much to often to redirect you or pop up windows
that you don't want. The only really honest use for it is to validate user input before you send the form
in to the server. Most sites run just fine without it.

Mauro You are absolutely right, but you did not go far enough. There are no safe computers period.
Really high security machine have no connection to the outside world.

What do I run? In between me and the DSL modem is a NetGear Prosafe Firewall with no incoming ports
configured. The computer behind it is running NT4 sp6a with ZoneAlarm set to no incoming ports and ask
mode on all requests out from anything other than Netscape. I run Norton Anti-virus and update weekly.
I also use AdAware 6.0 to get rid of the spyware that various sites try to leave. I usually run with Java, Javascript
and cookies off. I turn them on if a specific site needs them.

I do not use Internet Explorer or Outlook, they are too prone to virus attacks.

Chris - yes I'm paranoid. The question is am I paranoid enough

October 11, 2003 Roger Heath

Browser
David -
I have no problem at all seeing W-S page and the pop-up image works perfectly.
I went to the Symantec site and tested my computer, everything is "Stealth". My set-up is cable into the house, a modem splitter to my wife's computer and wireless basestation to mine in another room.

Chris-
I had Javascript turned on and have now turned it off. I report any issues once I get back to surfing the Web and Ebay.

Jim -
With 4.8 I have no problem at all using Ebay links from here or searching. I can do everything I expect to do on the Web and Ebay except the following:
1.) On "My Ebay" page I cannot delete items from the "I have won" section. I can only reduce the number of days I track the items and since the whole page is synchronized to view items for the same number of days, that is not practical. I can delete any items I've been "watching" individually having no effect on the rest of the page.
2.) I always open new pages in a new window. It is quicker to close a window than "back" and wait for the referring page to refresh. This works over the entire Ebay site except after being on an auction page, then deciding to go to "Sellers Other Auctions". Trying to open any page in a new window on the Sellers Other Auctions Page gives the error - invalid item. If I wish to see any auction from the sellers list I must click the link and have it open on that page. This mean I must wait for the seller list to refresh before proceeding..
3.) I think you should try to download 4.8. Right now it is allocating 12.7 MB to Netscape, and I can't open 7.0 because it needs more memory available to open. I only have 60 MB in use, so even with 128MB RAM it apparently needs more. I've never fully understood this whole memory issue with 7.0 as my hard drive is always working when I go to sites, but 4.8 is invariable quiet.

Thanks everyone for adding your comments.
Roger

October 11, 2003 19:56 Dave F. (moderator)

On a different note, we are just 57 (after this one, 56) posts short of 10,000! And we're already over 140,000 hits. (Not bad for a little less that 5 months.)

October 11, 2003 19:43 Dave F. (moderator)

computer security
Mauro: Then would you say something like Norton Internet Security (Personal Firewall & Anti-Virus) really isn't adequate?

Do their site and tests give a false sense of security for their product users?:

http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/home.asp?langid=ie&venid=sym&plfid=23&pkj=QOSPJUIYCZRWEJGSSKE

October 11, 2003 Richard Ballhagen (spain_1850)

Scott Prices Help
Hello all, just wondering if I could employ some help from anyone here with a current (2004?) Scott cat.?

I need CV's on the following Spanish stamps:

#42 (used)
#47 (used)
#56 (used)
#58 (unused)
#60 (unused)
#61 (used)
#64 (used)
#64 (unused)
#67 (used)

I know, I know, it's time to ditch my 1999 set and upgrade.

October 11, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

Dave F
I can see your Williams-Sonoma site no problem with netscape 4.5.
I can also see the blow up.
I cannot read ebay links from this board.
I cannot read ebay links through search function.
I can read ebay links if I just use their section headings and most of the time I can read ebay auctions if I have saved auction to my pages.
Otherwise my search function and ability to bid on weekends knowing what I am doing is zero.
Though I could change to netscape 7 if I really wanted to.
Just don't put three day auctions up on Fridays.

October 11, 2003 Mauro Mowszowicz <salesATurured.com>

Computers and security
If you have reallly really really important information just don't put it on a computer there is no such a thing as a safe home computer .... just my 2cts ...
Mauro

October 11, 2003 18:47 Dave F. (moderator)

Chris: Is your opposition to javascript from a security standpoint or for another reason? It's so common on your standard e-commerce site that it's pretty hard to avoid. (Maybe that's your point, too.)

October 11, 2003 yust a bit before 7:45 Chris

Additional note for Roger
Roger I should read more carefully.
You want to get popups.
Just turn on Javascript.

Chris - I think this is a bad idea, but ...

October 11, 2003 yust a little after 7:30 Chris html_is_not_your_friend.com
 

Popups and auctions with no body oh my
Roger There are several things going on.
First the auctions with no body. The person placing the auction is submitting bad HTML.
Specifically, in a table tag, they are not closing out a tr or td tag. Internet Explorer is pretty
lax about the HTML that it accepts. Older versions of Netscape are pretty picky and won't
display the table unless everything matches up.

On popups, those are usually done using Javascript. Javascript is evil.
I run with Javascript turned off and then only turn it on when there is a specific
page that needs it. Trying turning off Javascript and seeing if that fixes the problem.
I can still bid on things on eBay with Javascript turned off.

Chris - Just Say NO to Javascript
(Note: Javascript and the Java programming language are two unrelated things.)

October 11, 2003 18:15 Dave F. (moderator)

Roger: OK, this is not as good an example as I would have liked, but it demonstrates the point.

I'm going to link to a page in the Williams-Sonoma website, for a KitchenAid coffee grinder.

First, my question would be whether or not you or Jim W-S can actually view the page, because I think it uses a lot of the more recent bells and whistles.

Second, once you get that page, if you click on the "+ larger view" text below the image, an additional, smaller window pops up to show you a larger image, without closing the original window. I do find it handy.

I note that I had to "allow" the Earthlink pop-up blocker to honor pop-up requests on this site. Otherwise I just get a little symbol (a fist, actually) indicating that the pop-up blocker was alive and kicking and doing its job.

Here's the link:

KitchenAid coffee grinder from the Williams-Sonoma site


 

October 11, 2003 18:06 Dave F. (moderator)

Roger: I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure it's a browser thing, rather than a Mac vs. PC thing. There are times when it's helpful, because it doesn't have to be an ad, but rather where you click on something and a little window opens up to offer a definition or something. (A lot of them are javascript based.)

I can't think of a good example right now to demonstrate its use for good. I'll come back if I think of one. Probably somebody will jump in with a good one.

October 11, 2003 Roger Heath

Pop-ups
I wrote too much and made miself unclear. I don't get them, and never have. I wondered which versions of Browsers allowed pop-ups so I can avoid them in the future. Is it PC thing that a Mac owner doesn't need to worry about, or is it a browser thing that I might get if I upgrade?

Roger

October 11, 2003 ?

Browsers
roger

you can stop popups with the google toolbar

it is free - get it on the google site

October 11, 2003 Roger H e a t h

Browsers
I've read on Ebay Chat Boards that pop-ups are becoming a complete nuisance and even directing buyers to "other items of interest". This is infuriating to many sellers to have pop-ups direct people away from their auctions.
I have never seen a pop-up on Ebay. Is there anyone knowledgeable who can tell me exactly which versions of browsers are required to view pop-ups? Also, what is it in sellers auctions that stop Netscape 4.8 from viewing the descriptions? I have only one regular seller where I will open Netscape 7.0 to see his item when the title "makes" me look. All the other auctions I just keep moving and click out, because, and it's a big because, more and more those auction pages are freezing my computer, and I can say for a certainty that never happened before IBM came into the background. On these occasions I must force quit all applications which were open, push the power button on my computer, because it won't shut down normally, then restart. Then I must use normal shut-down procedures and restart. This never happened to me prior to my vacation that started June, so something's up!!
Roger

October 11, 2003 ?

What the ?
dave - nope, that's a different ?

i do not do attack posts or links to lots on any auction sites

that will never be me

October 11, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark <jlwstark@icestationzebra.com (just kidding)>

Roger Heeath,
seems I have same problem with "what the.......?"'s post.
Why do people need to assume anonymity?
If you won't admit to your identity, don't post.
If you attempt to assume someone else's identity you are beyond redemption.

October 11, 2003 15:34 Dave F. (moderator)

Roger H: (I'm going with "H." to be on the safe side...) The link works for me. Perhaps you need to pull up one of the alternative versions of Netscape that you have as backup.

what the ?: Please email me. Are you the same as "?", or at least related? Your posting this way when others do not is really disrespectful to everyone else here who does post normally.

October 11, 2003 Roger H

I may stop using my last name when posting on this Board. I'd hate to be criticized for not spelling my name correctly. );>)

October 11, 2003 what the....?

Here is your chance to own the inverted jenny

October 11, 2003 Roger Heeath

Modern Cancels
After seeing the disaster, I thought I'd show a selection of clean cancels I've received recently.
Top: Australia - spray jet just touched one stamp, others = skips
next: GB £1 + .05 underinked machine cancel
next: a cutout from a large envelope nice cancels posted on my birthday!
next to bottom: Swiss cover, clear single cancel on top right corner of stamp
bottom: Norway, clear legible cancels across top of cover.

I haven't counted the number of covers I've received from overseas since buying on Ebay, but I really appreciate contemorary stamps as opposed to "discount postage" used by so many American sellers. Torn blocks of low denomination stamps with roller cancels are not collectable and doesn't help the hobby.

Roger

 

October 11, 2003 Duncan Doenitz

Nick / Lotus

I see no point in debating issues with Lotus, he has been and will continue to be a deceptive seller no matter whether we address him or ignore him.

Thank you though Roger for speaking up on my behalf. Ignoring Lotus certainly does not translate into approval of his actions. And his claims of interference with his auctions are of course ludicrous since he has moved them to private transactions.

Personally while I find his postings here ridiculous, I'd urge patience and consider him a temporary nuisance. There is reason to believe he has attracted attention that will result in a negative impact on his little racket and occasionally his posts bolster a case against not just him but far more importantly against all the schemers who are bringing disrepute to the eBay Stamps category.

Duncan Doenitz

October 11, 2003 David Benson

Back again, now for about 2 weeks to catch up on all the emails and letters.

I totally agree, enough with Lotus, it is only the foolish buyers who buy handstamped overprints to use a sspace fillers that are being deceived.

I noticed that Nick made a comment that the words forged or forgery are not allowed on Ebay.UK so he has changed his wording to bogus. I wonder if that was made in consulation with Ebay.US.

I will ask Ebay.UK (when I have time) if using words that mean forgery are also banned. This has nothing to do with Nicks offerings but may be of use in the future when another enterprising seller decides to make and sell similar material.

I noticed Addie has reoffered his business but upped the ante to $69,900 and has changed the wording which definitely admits that he has been forging stamps and has all the equipement to prove it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=696&item=2956392943


Description

Successful business specializing in worldwide reproductions of authentic classic stamps. Established for over five (5) years with over 6000 regular customers plus mail orders. Business includes vast inventory of over 20,000 sheets (all different) reproductions with a solid amount on retail value; thousands of blocks and singles; hand stamps by hundreds (worldwide),hand stamps cancellations of the german colonies and offices overseas,complete;french colonies,offices and expeditionary forces hand stamps cancellations complete, also overprints and surcharges worldwide,such an historical treasure to be on a museum ;perforation equipment and tools,and the most valuable, 85 CD's with data of proofs and documents. Information that is used for preparation of plates (paper or metal) for printing. Web-site included with domain. Three months training with full knowledge of advanced technology upon completetion of sale. This will put the buyer in full charge of a gold mine with great potential. There is no competition in this business because this company is the leader in worldwide reproductions of classic stamps. Will supply additional information and pictures only to serious prospects, the technology and secrets of the trade will be given only in training. The description doesn't begin to describe the full potential of the business. Owner is selling due to health problems.


David Benson

 

October 11, 2003 Dave P

UK Postmarks
David F Consider yourself lucky, mine often arrive with the dreaded biro cancel, or completely uncancelled. I really do not understand why, in general, UK cancellations are so much worse than most continental ones. Most mail I receive from, for example, Germany, Netherands, Switzerland, has neat legible cancels, whether machine or hand-stamps.

October 11, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

David F.
ROTFLMAO
Unfortunately that is about par for UK post offices.

October 11, 2003 Colin Judd

Coin

October 11, 2003 12:41 Dave F. (moderator)

Colin: Your letter arrived today. Many thanks!

others: Colin very nicely requested a light cancel. That must have been like waving a red flag!

October 11, 2003 Chris

Sardinian Stamps Page
Paolo A beautiful and informative website!
I have bookmarked it so that I can peruse it at my leisure.
Very well done!

Chris - Some day I will do a similar site about the 4 cent US commems
 

October 11, 2003 10:42 Dave F. (moderator)

still tidying up ...

Colin: Congratulations on the nuptials in your family! I am hoping to take a look at the Japanese catalogs this weekend, if this board does not end up taking all of my unaccounted for time this weekend. Cheers!

October 11, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

To reiterate Dave F's point and to perhaps make it slightly clearer for others.
Posters to this board have one thing in common, they collect or deal in stamps.

I have personally met a number of posters to the board and yes we do communicate via email, but usually it is about our personal philatelic interests.
I was going to list all I have met but it would be of little interest.
Needless to say, I have been impressed by the abilities of all and hope to think I have made many new friends.
There are others I have never met - the west Coast and mid-west collectors in the US and others I may never meet - those in Australia.
Perhaps in Washington 2006?

October 11, 2003 10:28 Dave F. (moderator)

Roger: I agree with you. In fact, I had forgotten about that point. That re-emphasizes my point that the board is not an appropriate entity with whom to attempt to negotiate. This board is not an organization, with a charter, constitution, ability to call for a quorum, or anything else.

Bill D: Point well taken.

October 11, 2003 Roger Heath

Petered Out
David -
I think Ann, David Benson, and Duncan would object strenuously, if they discovered that due to their absence their votes had been cast in support of Nick.

"I have to take it that the regular posters (ie, Mr Benson, Anne, Dunc and the others, who were
noticeable by their absence) agree with my methods,"

We don't need this "crack house" mentality into our neighborhood, and I think it should disappear. I don't mind if you delete every post referring to Nick. Stricken from the record, so to speak.

Roger

October 11, 2003 Bill Dempwolf

Bill

October 11, 2003 10:16 Dave F. (moderator)

still catching up (sorry for the all the little posts):

Paolo: Thanks also to you for your thoughts on this subject. And even though I don't collect Sardinia, that is a pretty impressive sight. It would be great to have a network of similarly thorough sites organized. I had fleetingly hoped that the links page here could do that, but building a good set of links is a more time-consuming job than I can handle right now.

Speaking of which, does anybody know what happened with Joseph Luft's site? I see that he has not added any new links since the first of the year. (I had at one time submitted this site there.)

October 11, 2003 10:08 Dave F. (moderator)

Nick: I hate to specifically engage you on this, but, again, I remind you, this board has no coordinated effort to "get you". You again make the assumption that the board is in a position to negotiate with you. It isn't, I can safely assure you. It is not an organized entity.

October 11, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

My apologies to Bill Claghorn for misspelling name.

As a testimony to the power of the internet I just did a quick survey with no statistical significance of three sites.

Knud-Erik's site has been monitored fo 659 days, has witnessed 13,001 unique visitors and (excluding unknown, US commercial, and .net sites) the most visitors have been from Germany and US Educational.
Bill Claghorn's site has been monitored for 603 days, has witnessed 13,964 unique visitors and (same exclusions) most have been from Canada and Australia.
My own site monitored for 699 days has 11,617 unique visitors and US Educational and UK are most frequent.

October 11, 2003 10:05 Dave F. (moderator)

catching up on other stuff:

Mel B: Thanks for letting us know. Have a good trip, then come back and join us again!

Philip Q: Thanks for your suggestion. Although I knew about both of those programs, and had used one of them before, it occurred to me that perhaps I was smug in thinking that Norton Firewall was taking care of everything, so I downloaded and ran the newest release of Spybot, and it still found a few things. Am about to run AdAware, to see if it detects anything else. This is probably a part of good computer "hygiene" that we all should be doing. Thanks for the reminder!

October 11, 2003 18:02 Nick I (lotus194) <nicholas.izzard@ntlworld.com>

Tip for Bill
Bill D--Nobody is getting more bored with this "thread" as you call it more than me, so tell your friends to leave me alone and I will go away.

However Bill, since when do YOU decide what SHOULD or SHOULD NOT be discussed on this board. Some advice, either:

a.Use your mouse and scroll up or down.
b.Use the page up or down key.
c.SIMPLY DO NOT READ THEM IF THEY DO NOT HAVE ANY INTEREST TO YOU.

Nick

October 11, 2003 9:56 Dave F. (moderator)

I should also have added that it is also possible, with some restraint on our part, that the thread could peter out on its own, without resorting to threats of deletion (which will no doubt create a whole new thread of protests, comments, etc.).

October 11, 2003 Dave P

As the one who unwittingly started the whole blasted topic I totally agree with the moratorium idea. Nick who?

October 11, 2003 9:52 Dave F. (moderator)

Bill D: Your suggestion of a moratorium, considering the thread "closed", has crossed my mind as well. I'd like to hear some other thoughts about this.

Georges: Please email me, en anglais, s'il vous plaît. Merci.

October 11, 2003 09.14 Knud-Erik Andersen

October 11, 2003 David Moser <stamphick@dospalos.org>

David

October 11, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

Additionally, the ability to recognize forgeries, both old as illustrated on Bill Cleghorn's site and new as illustrated by comparing eBay auctions, is resulting in a more educated generation of collectors.
 

October 11, 2003 Bill Dempwolf

Bill

October 11, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

To return to question of collections and experts.
Perhaps today it would be universal to recognize D.G.A. Myall as "the expert" on the machin issues of GB.
However, if you read through his Deegam Report, you will find constant reference to discoveries passed on to him by other collectors.
He published his email address in the Report and I'm sure is widely used by other collectors.
Were Myall to have attempted such an endeavour in pre-internet days, I am sure it would have been no where near as comprehensive as it is today.
The ability to transmit the discovery of previously unrecognized varieties rapidly, is unprecedented in the evolution of philately.
Likewise the ability to compare ones own collection with that of a recognized "authority" with a web site is priceless.

October 11, 2003 Dave P

More kudos!
Paolo I agree, what a great site! The depth of background information is wonderful, thank you for posting the link.

October 11, 2003 Guillaume van Turnhout

Paolo: That site you linked to is absolutely fantastic. Putting the stamps in context is one of my favorite pastimes. Congratulations to you and the creators!!

October 11, 2003 07:53 Jim Watson

Gulf of Mexico Environmental Problems
The Naples Daily News is in the 14th day of publishing a fabulous series on the environmental problems of the Gulf of Mexico. Fish are dying. The coast is shrinking. Pollution is rising. And the people keep coming. It is well worth reading for anyone.

Sorry for the off topic post however . . .

October 11, 2003 07:09 Mel Bohannon

Links
Dave F:

I deleted the toolbar and redid all my bookmarks. I then went back in and tried the links on the chat board. Deleting the toolbar seemed to work. I had no problems getting the correct picture. However, I still have a problem using my favorites file. When I hit one of my ebay favorites I sometime get the home page, but if I hit it again the correct page appears.

Philip Quirk: Thanks for the info. As you can see from above note to Dave, most of the problems has been fixed, but will try your advise to try and get a total clean system. Again, thanks.

Will be away from the chat for a week while I take my annual trip to Vegas to see my mother and loose some of my hard earned money. Will catch up when I return. Mel

 

October 11, 2003 07:09 Jim Watson

Paolo's Site
Paolo,
That's a wonderful site! I note that you had a hand in creating it. The creator and his contributors should be proud of it.

October 11, 2003 06:58 Jim Watson

Today in Postal History
Good Morning, Everyone!
Today's dated postal history item is a reply postl card sent from Labuan to Ceylon in 1899. Learn something about tea.

October 11, 2003 Paolo B.

Good day all.
Dave F. Thanks for your interesting insight on the topic of philatelic literature. No need to reply to my last e-mail.

There has also to be kept in mind that, those "classic authors" I mentioned and you referred to regarding your field of interest, had potentially much more reference material available, also due to its lower cost. Large genuine reference collections were created, like for example the one of the Diena's, which could be passed through along the heritage axis for generations or be kept in museums.
Progress or philatelic intellectual evolution may only stop, or decrease celerity, when collectors lose their original passion and come to appreciate a collectible solely for its monetary value.
For example, progress in preservation also means abandoning old collecting traditions such as hinging the stamps. Other examples in the progress are the diffusion of ideas and genuine reference material facilitated by the internet, the computer aided philately, the usage of advanced scientific techniques applied to philately, etc.
That said about stamps or history of the stamps. I did not refer to postal history, where the necessary auxiliary sciences can be more (e.g. including history itself and paleography). I had a discussion on this topic with a pre-philately enthusiastic collector who introduced me to his Italy XIV and XV century letters collection. I was specifically researching evidence of the "Gorgia" Tuscan dialectal inflection in ancient texts written in vulgar, but without success in that case.

Dave P. I'm glad it was of some help.
Regarding that topic, more information can be found in this web-site (at the purpose, I'd suggest "1st ISSUE" > Introduction).

All the best, Paolo
Paolo

 

October 11, 2003 Victor Horadam <horadam1@airmail.net>

All, from overcast Dallas.

October 11, 2003 14:21 Nick I (lotus194) <nicholas.izzard@ntlworld.com>

WEEKLY REMINDER
Dear All--I am possibly going to post this message to you on a weekly basis, save me repeating myself over and over.

YOU invaded my life uninvited, not the other way around.

YOU used THIS board as a tool to attempt to close me down and point out to my bidders my nefarious ways.

After YOU reported me to ebay, GSM, APS and just about anyone else you could think of YOU then interfered with my auctions, once again using THIS board as cover.

YOU are still interfering with my sales (even today) and using THIS BOARD as mentioned above.

YOU used THIS BOARD to encourage other members to report my listings to ebay, encourage the only customer I ever lost because of your actions to post NEGATIVE FEEDBACK on me.

YOU, through THIS BOARD made a suggestion that members should buy some of my items under other names, just so YOU would get the opportunity to post NEGATIVE FEEDBACK on me. At least this offer was not taken up.

YOU have never, not even once offered me a compromise where we can all get along in reasonable harmony, I HAVE.

I HAVE re-wrote my listings several times in order to accommodate your recommendations.

I HAVE refrained from insults to other members of the board at Daves request (and quite rightfully so), unlike our new friend Georgie.

I HAVE registered with this board and supplied my details as requested.

I HAVE not reported you for publishing my personal details on THIS BOARD and using THIS BOARD to encourage persons unknown to visit me. (thank you again Dave for deleting the details).

I HAVE, almost on a weekly basis, asked you to leave me alone and not interfere with my sales (I would not expect that request to be honoured if I began breaking new rules, or selling other questionable items-like overprinting USA stamps etc) and in return would willingly go the whole ten yards and backstamp my stamps.

I ONLY post on THIS BOARD when ONE OR THREE of you start playing your silly games, otherwise you do not hear from me (I just lurk).

I apologise to Dave and anyone else who have played no part in these underhanded actions but appear to be getting tarred with the same brush, but as long as they use THIS BOARD as a tool in their activities and for their anominity, then I am forced to blame THIS BOARD collectively.

For those people (and I know who most of them are as does ebay) if you want me to go away and crawl back under the stone from whence I first appeared its simple, KEEP YOUR NOSES OUT OF MY BUSINESS AND STOP INTERFERING WITH MY AUCTIONS. The HATE EMAILS can stay, I quite enjoy reading them!

So the next time Knud-Erik asks me why I do not backstamp my items, or Roger gets exasperated that I am still on the scene or anyone else for that matter, I will either refer them to this post or repost it over again.

Nick

October 11, 2003 Georges

Lotus194
Crétin.

October 11, 2003 12:43 Nick I (lotus194)

Morning All
Knud-Erik--Thanks for the link, yes I will have a look at them later on today. As for your question about marking my stamps, please re-read some earlier posts where I offered to carry out this very same request in exchange for certain members of this board to leave me alone. Offer still stands.

Dave P--No Dave you would be wrong, in fact no mention was really made of the Swastikas in their instructions to me, but it was very clear about other items I sell.

Georges--Many thanks for those kind words. I do not speak French, but probably get your drift anyway. Some mention of liking my words or something, and further mention of impecable?, does that imply you find my methods impecable?, and some mention of buying?, does this mean you wish to buy from me?, if it does I am afraid I must tell you the same as others on this board, if you want my items you will have to bid for them like everyone else. You will not get any special treatment from me just because you say a few kind words about me, sorry.

Talk again later

Nick

October 11, 2003 Georges

Lotus194
Si vous croyez le tout que des déchets que vous avez écrits alors vous êtes un imbécile de biger qu'I pensé vous à être.

October 11, 2003 jim_lawler

Jim L.

October 11, 2003 Dave P

Nick Bearing in mind the calibre of people Ebay seem to employ, I am guessing that the "ban" on the use of the terms forgery etc. was specifically intended to refer to your swastika overprint listings, rather than be general, however Ebay have been known to do dafter things so I maybe wrong.
Again thank you Dave F for this board, can you imagine how long this post would have remained on the Ebay board?

October 11, 2003 02.41 Knud-Erik Andersen

October 11, 2003 10:31 Nick I (lotus194)

It's Been Emotional!!!
Many thanks to all of the posters who chose to debate last night on my topic of "Bogus" vs "Forgery".

Some of you call it "baiting", but I would rather you look on it as a kind of philatelic therapy, used to stimulate all of this pent up anger and frustration out of members of this board.

I think I now have a fairly good idea what percentage of this board (and therefore I make that a good representation of the philatelic community at large) are happy with my present selling and marketing methods, and what percentage just want me to "Die". I have to take it that the regular posters (ie, Mr Benson, Anne, Dunc and the others, who were noticeable by their absence) agree with my methods, but would rather not post it for all to see.

I am still left with one concern though, and somehow it got buried amongst all of the excitement last night. Now that ebay have forbidden the words "fakes" and "forgeries", other sellers (less ethical than myself) might now use this as a strong arguement to misdescribe their listings and intentionally mislead buyers!

It warms me to also see that the Swastikas now have almost a seal of approval from most on this board.

Gentlemen, it's been Emotional!

Nick

October 11, 2003 02.28 Knud-Erik Andersen

October 11, 2003 Dave P

Paolo Thank you for your answer, another increase in my philatelic education to file away.

Tom M I hadn't thought of "bart", it is a definite possibility, more research.

Nick Re the swastika overprints, that is exactly the point I was trying to make, which is why, personally, I was never that bothered by them, and actually have never criticised you for those.

October 11, 2003 Roger Heath

Possibly My Last Word
Nic -
Here is what you wrote below:

"People want what I can supply, is what it tells you."

"I reckon there is only room for one of my kind on ebay, now would you really want to see me pack up shop and make way for a new
guy on the block, who may after all give you all the "bird". "

You're sinking lower by quoting every "dealer" ever arrested on a street corner. I suggest you take a time out and consider that your braggadocio is burying you further than an comment I make.

Roger

October 11, 2003 22:32 Dave F. (moderator)

Jim / jaywild: I didn't, although for once I did know about something like this in advance. I'm trying not to acquire new material for a while, and those places can just be too tempting. That's also part of the reason I didn't go to SESCAL this year. But do think about going to the APS meeting in Sacramento next August. I have never been to the main APS annual show, but did go to their Winter show when it was held in Riverside a couple of years ago, and really liked it.

Jim W-S & Roger: Glad to know that the link worked for you. I think that set up is pretty typical of what's going on on commercial sites these days, so I think it makes the point that you've both said that IBM/eBay is doing some things to really complicate their site. (Although I do like the feature that shows what you've just looked, and it's got to use some of those high-falutin' techniques to accomplish that.)

Roger: Your system sounds otherwise so state-of-the-art that I wonder if you should upgrade the memory on your computer, if possible. (Maybe that's the limitation you've run into. I've maxed mine out.)

Chris: Thanks for the explanation. Sadly, because of my recent baptism by fire with Windows XP, I understood what you were saying.

Richard B: I'm sure someone with a more current Scott's than I (2002) will show up and chime in soon. I used to update the full set every year, but they start piling up fast. (And the Classic volume got so expensive!)

October 11, 2003 9:10 pm Jim "jaywild"

October 11, 2003 Chris

Computer Security
Dave F. Security is the primary reason, because it is untrusted code running on your computer
in your security domain. It isn't typesafe and malicious javascript can crash your computer or
transmit info to someone else. It also is used much to often to redirect you or pop up windows
that you don't want. The only really honest use for it is to validate user input before you send the form
in to the server. Most sites run just fine without it.

Mauro You are absolutely right, but you did not go far enough. There are no safe computers period.
Really high security machine have no connection to the outside world.

What do I run? In between me and the DSL modem is a NetGear Prosafe Firewall with no incoming ports
configured. The computer behind it is running NT4 sp6a with ZoneAlarm set to no incoming ports and ask
mode on all requests out from anything other than Netscape. I run Norton Anti-virus and update weekly.
I also use AdAware 6.0 to get rid of the spyware that various sites try to leave. I usually run with Java, Javascript
and cookies off. I turn them on if a specific site needs them.

I do not use Internet Explorer or Outlook, they are too prone to virus attacks.

Chris - yes I'm paranoid. The question is am I paranoid enough

October 11, 2003 Roger Heath

Browser
David -
I have no problem at all seeing W-S page and the pop-up image works perfectly.
I went to the Symantec site and tested my computer, everything is "Stealth". My set-up is cable into the house, a modem splitter to my wife's computer and wireless basestation to mine in another room.

Chris-
I had Javascript turned on and have now turned it off. I report any issues once I get back to surfing the Web and Ebay.

Jim -
With 4.8 I have no problem at all using Ebay links from here or searching. I can do everything I expect to do on the Web and Ebay except the following:
1.) On "My Ebay" page I cannot delete items from the "I have won" section. I can only reduce the number of days I track the items and since the whole page is synchronized to view items for the same number of days, that is not practical. I can delete any items I've been "watching" individually having no effect on the rest of the page.
2.) I always open new pages in a new window. It is quicker to close a window than "back" and wait for the referring page to refresh. This works over the entire Ebay site except after being on an auction page, then deciding to go to "Sellers Other Auctions". Trying to open any page in a new window on the Sellers Other Auctions Page gives the error - invalid item. If I wish to see any auction from the sellers list I must click the link and have it open on that page. This mean I must wait for the seller list to refresh before proceeding..
3.) I think you should try to download 4.8. Right now it is allocating 12.7 MB to Netscape, and I can't open 7.0 because it needs more memory available to open. I only have 60 MB in use, so even with 128MB RAM it apparently needs more. I've never fully understood this whole memory issue with 7.0 as my hard drive is always working when I go to sites, but 4.8 is invariable quiet.

Thanks everyone for adding your comments.
Roger

October 11, 2003 19:56 Dave F. (moderator)

On a different note, we are just 57 (after this one, 56) posts short of 10,000! And we're already over 140,000 hits. (Not bad for a little less that 5 months.)

October 11, 2003 19:43 Dave F. (moderator)

computer security
Mauro: Then would you say something like Norton Internet Security (Personal Firewall & Anti-Virus) really isn't adequate?

Do their site and tests give a false sense of security for their product users?:

http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/home.asp?langid=ie&venid=sym&plfid=23&pkj=QOSPJUIYCZRWEJGSSKE

October 11, 2003 Richard Ballhagen (spain_1850)

Scott Prices Help
Hello all, just wondering if I could employ some help from anyone here with a current (2004?) Scott cat.?

I need CV's on the following Spanish stamps:

#42 (used)
#47 (used)
#56 (used)
#58 (unused)
#60 (unused)
#61 (used)
#64 (used)
#64 (unused)
#67 (used)

I know, I know, it's time to ditch my 1999 set and upgrade.

October 11, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

Dave F
I can see your Williams-Sonoma site no problem with netscape 4.5.
I can also see the blow up.
I cannot read ebay links from this board.
I cannot read ebay links through search function.
I can read ebay links if I just use their section headings and most of the time I can read ebay auctions if I have saved auction to my pages.
Otherwise my search function and ability to bid on weekends knowing what I am doing is zero.
Though I could change to netscape 7 if I really wanted to.
Just don't put three day auctions up on Fridays.

October 11, 2003 Mauro Mowszowicz <salesATurured.com>

Computers and security
If you have reallly really really important information just don't put it on a computer there is no such a thing as a safe home computer .... just my 2cts ...
Mauro

October 11, 2003 18:47 Dave F. (moderator)

Chris: Is your opposition to javascript from a security standpoint or for another reason? It's so common on your standard e-commerce site that it's pretty hard to avoid. (Maybe that's your point, too.)

October 11, 2003 yust a bit before 7:45 Chris

Additional note for Roger
Roger I should read more carefully.
You want to get popups.
Just turn on Javascript.

Chris - I think this is a bad idea, but ...

October 11, 2003 yust a little after 7:30 Chris html_is_not_your_friend.com
 

Popups and auctions with no body oh my
Roger There are several things going on.
First the auctions with no body. The person placing the auction is submitting bad HTML.
Specifically, in a table tag, they are not closing out a tr or td tag. Internet Explorer is pretty
lax about the HTML that it accepts. Older versions of Netscape are pretty picky and won't
display the table unless everything matches up.

On popups, those are usually done using Javascript. Javascript is evil.
I run with Javascript turned off and then only turn it on when there is a specific
page that needs it. Trying turning off Javascript and seeing if that fixes the problem.
I can still bid on things on eBay with Javascript turned off.

Chris - Just Say NO to Javascript
(Note: Javascript and the Java programming language are two unrelated things.)

October 11, 2003 18:15 Dave F. (moderator)

Roger: OK, this is not as good an example as I would have liked, but it demonstrates the point.

I'm going to link to a page in the Williams-Sonoma website, for a KitchenAid coffee grinder.

First, my question would be whether or not you or Jim W-S can actually view the page, because I think it uses a lot of the more recent bells and whistles.

Second, once you get that page, if you click on the "+ larger view" text below the image, an additional, smaller window pops up to show you a larger image, without closing the original window. I do find it handy.

I note that I had to "allow" the Earthlink pop-up blocker to honor pop-up requests on this site. Otherwise I just get a little symbol (a fist, actually) indicating that the pop-up blocker was alive and kicking and doing its job.

Here's the link:

KitchenAid coffee grinder from the Williams-Sonoma site


 

October 11, 2003 18:06 Dave F. (moderator)

Roger: I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure it's a browser thing, rather than a Mac vs. PC thing. There are times when it's helpful, because it doesn't have to be an ad, but rather where you click on something and a little window opens up to offer a definition or something. (A lot of them are javascript based.)

I can't think of a good example right now to demonstrate its use for good. I'll come back if I think of one. Probably somebody will jump in with a good one.

October 11, 2003 Roger Heath

Pop-ups
I wrote too much and made miself unclear. I don't get them, and never have. I wondered which versions of Browsers allowed pop-ups so I can avoid them in the future. Is it PC thing that a Mac owner doesn't need to worry about, or is it a browser thing that I might get if I upgrade?

Roger

October 11, 2003 ?

Browsers
roger

you can stop popups with the google toolbar

it is free - get it on the google site

October 11, 2003 Roger H e a t h

Browsers
I've read on Ebay Chat Boards that pop-ups are becoming a complete nuisance and even directing buyers to "other items of interest". This is infuriating to many sellers to have pop-ups direct people away from their auctions.
I have never seen a pop-up on Ebay. Is there anyone knowledgeable who can tell me exactly which versions of browsers are required to view pop-ups? Also, what is it in sellers auctions that stop Netscape 4.8 from viewing the descriptions? I have only one regular seller where I will open Netscape 7.0 to see his item when the title "makes" me look. All the other auctions I just keep moving and click out, because, and it's a big because, more and more those auction pages are freezing my computer, and I can say for a certainty that never happened before IBM came into the background. On these occasions I must force quit all applications which were open, push the power button on my computer, because it won't shut down normally, then restart. Then I must use normal shut-down procedures and restart. This never happened to me prior to my vacation that started June, so something's up!!
Roger

October 11, 2003 ?

What the ?
dave - nope, that's a different ?

i do not do attack posts or links to lots on any auction sites

that will never be me

October 11, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark <jlwstark@icestationzebra.com (just kidding)>

Roger Heeath,
seems I have same problem with "what the.......?"'s post.
Why do people need to assume anonymity?
If you won't admit to your identity, don't post.
If you attempt to assume someone else's identity you are beyond redemption.

October 11, 2003 15:34 Dave F. (moderator)

Roger H: (I'm going with "H." to be on the safe side...) The link works for me. Perhaps you need to pull up one of the alternative versions of Netscape that you have as backup.

what the ?: Please email me. Are you the same as "?", or at least related? Your posting this way when others do not is really disrespectful to everyone else here who does post normally.

October 11, 2003 Roger H

I may stop using my last name when posting on this Board. I'd hate to be criticized for not spelling my name correctly. );>)

October 11, 2003 what the....?

Here is your chance to own the inverted jenny

October 11, 2003 Roger Heeath

Modern Cancels
After seeing the disaster, I thought I'd show a selection of clean cancels I've received recently.
Top: Australia - spray jet just touched one stamp, others = skips
next: GB £1 + .05 underinked machine cancel
next: a cutout from a large envelope nice cancels posted on my birthday!
next to bottom: Swiss cover, clear single cancel on top right corner of stamp
bottom: Norway, clear legible cancels across top of cover.

I haven't counted the number of covers I've received from overseas since buying on Ebay, but I really appreciate contemorary stamps as opposed to "discount postage" used by so many American sellers. Torn blocks of low denomination stamps with roller cancels are not collectable and doesn't help the hobby.

Roger

 

October 11, 2003 Duncan Doenitz

Nick / Lotus

I see no point in debating issues with Lotus, he has been and will continue to be a deceptive seller no matter whether we address him or ignore him.

Thank you though Roger for speaking up on my behalf. Ignoring Lotus certainly does not translate into approval of his actions. And his claims of interference with his auctions are of course ludicrous since he has moved them to private transactions.

Personally while I find his postings here ridiculous, I'd urge patience and consider him a temporary nuisance. There is reason to believe he has attracted attention that will result in a negative impact on his little racket and occasionally his posts bolster a case against not just him but far more importantly against all the schemers who are bringing disrepute to the eBay Stamps category.

Duncan Doenitz

October 11, 2003 David Benson

Back again, now for about 2 weeks to catch up on all the emails and letters.

I totally agree, enough with Lotus, it is only the foolish buyers who buy handstamped overprints to use a sspace fillers that are being deceived.

I noticed that Nick made a comment that the words forged or forgery are not allowed on Ebay.UK so he has changed his wording to bogus. I wonder if that was made in consulation with Ebay.US.

I will ask Ebay.UK (when I have time) if using words that mean forgery are also banned. This has nothing to do with Nicks offerings but may be of use in the future when another enterprising seller decides to make and sell similar material.

I noticed Addie has reoffered his business but upped the ante to $69,900 and has changed the wording which definitely admits that he has been forging stamps and has all the equipement to prove it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=696&item=2956392943


Description

Successful business specializing in worldwide reproductions of authentic classic stamps. Established for over five (5) years with over 6000 regular customers plus mail orders. Business includes vast inventory of over 20,000 sheets (all different) reproductions with a solid amount on retail value; thousands of blocks and singles; hand stamps by hundreds (worldwide),hand stamps cancellations of the german colonies and offices overseas,complete;french colonies,offices and expeditionary forces hand stamps cancellations complete, also overprints and surcharges worldwide,such an historical treasure to be on a museum ;perforation equipment and tools,and the most valuable, 85 CD's with data of proofs and documents. Information that is used for preparation of plates (paper or metal) for printing. Web-site included with domain. Three months training with full knowledge of advanced technology upon completetion of sale. This will put the buyer in full charge of a gold mine with great potential. There is no competition in this business because this company is the leader in worldwide reproductions of classic stamps. Will supply additional information and pictures only to serious prospects, the technology and secrets of the trade will be given only in training. The description doesn't begin to describe the full potential of the business. Owner is selling due to health problems.


David Benson

 

October 11, 2003 Dave P

UK Postmarks
David F Consider yourself lucky, mine often arrive with the dreaded biro cancel, or completely uncancelled. I really do not understand why, in general, UK cancellations are so much worse than most continental ones. Most mail I receive from, for example, Germany, Netherands, Switzerland, has neat legible cancels, whether machine or hand-stamps.

October 11, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

David F.
ROTFLMAO
Unfortunately that is about par for UK post offices.

October 11, 2003 Colin Judd

Coin

October 11, 2003 12:41 Dave F. (moderator)

Colin: Your letter arrived today. Many thanks!

others: Colin very nicely requested a light cancel. That must have been like waving a red flag!

October 11, 2003 Chris

Sardinian Stamps Page
Paolo A beautiful and informative website!
I have bookmarked it so that I can peruse it at my leisure.
Very well done!

Chris - Some day I will do a similar site about the 4 cent US commems
 

October 11, 2003 10:42 Dave F. (moderator)

still tidying up ...

Colin: Congratulations on the nuptials in your family! I am hoping to take a look at the Japanese catalogs this weekend, if this board does not end up taking all of my unaccounted for time this weekend. Cheers!

October 11, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

To reiterate Dave F's point and to perhaps make it slightly clearer for others.
Posters to this board have one thing in common, they collect or deal in stamps.

I have personally met a number of posters to the board and yes we do communicate via email, but usually it is about our personal philatelic interests.
I was going to list all I have met but it would be of little interest.
Needless to say, I have been impressed by the abilities of all and hope to think I have made many new friends.
There are others I have never met - the west Coast and mid-west collectors in the US and others I may never meet - those in Australia.
Perhaps in Washington 2006?

October 11, 2003 10:28 Dave F. (moderator)

Roger: I agree with you. In fact, I had forgotten about that point. That re-emphasizes my point that the board is not an appropriate entity with whom to attempt to negotiate. This board is not an organization, with a charter, constitution, ability to call for a quorum, or anything else.

Bill D: Point well taken.

October 11, 2003 Roger Heath

Petered Out
David -
I think Ann, David Benson, and Duncan would object strenuously, if they discovered that due to their absence their votes had been cast in support of Nick.

"I have to take it that the regular posters (ie, Mr Benson, Anne, Dunc and the others, who were
noticeable by their absence) agree with my methods,"

We don't need this "crack house" mentality into our neighborhood, and I think it should disappear. I don't mind if you delete every post referring to Nick. Stricken from the record, so to speak.

Roger

October 11, 2003 Bill Dempwolf

Bill

October 11, 2003 10:16 Dave F. (moderator)

still catching up (sorry for the all the little posts):

Paolo: Thanks also to you for your thoughts on this subject. And even though I don't collect Sardinia, that is a pretty impressive sight. It would be great to have a network of similarly thorough sites organized. I had fleetingly hoped that the links page here could do that, but building a good set of links is a more time-consuming job than I can handle right now.

Speaking of which, does anybody know what happened with Joseph Luft's site? I see that he has not added any new links since the first of the year. (I had at one time submitted this site there.)

October 11, 2003 10:08 Dave F. (moderator)

Nick: I hate to specifically engage you on this, but, again, I remind you, this board has no coordinated effort to "get you". You again make the assumption that the board is in a position to negotiate with you. It isn't, I can safely assure you. It is not an organized entity.

October 11, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

My apologies to Bill Claghorn for misspelling name.

As a testimony to the power of the internet I just did a quick survey with no statistical significance of three sites.

Knud-Erik's site has been monitored fo 659 days, has witnessed 13,001 unique visitors and (excluding unknown, US commercial, and .net sites) the most visitors have been from Germany and US Educational.
Bill Claghorn's site has been monitored for 603 days, has witnessed 13,964 unique visitors and (same exclusions) most have been from Canada and Australia.
My own site monitored for 699 days has 11,617 unique visitors and US Educational and UK are most frequent.

October 11, 2003 10:05 Dave F. (moderator)

catching up on other stuff:

Mel B: Thanks for letting us know. Have a good trip, then come back and join us again!

Philip Q: Thanks for your suggestion. Although I knew about both of those programs, and had used one of them before, it occurred to me that perhaps I was smug in thinking that Norton Firewall was taking care of everything, so I downloaded and ran the newest release of Spybot, and it still found a few things. Am about to run AdAware, to see if it detects anything else. This is probably a part of good computer "hygiene" that we all should be doing. Thanks for the reminder!

October 11, 2003 18:02 Nick I (lotus194) <nicholas.izzard@ntlworld.com>

Tip for Bill
Bill D--Nobody is getting more bored with this "thread" as you call it more than me, so tell your friends to leave me alone and I will go away.

However Bill, since when do YOU decide what SHOULD or SHOULD NOT be discussed on this board. Some advice, either:

a.Use your mouse and scroll up or down.
b.Use the page up or down key.
c.SIMPLY DO NOT READ THEM IF THEY DO NOT HAVE ANY INTEREST TO YOU.

Nick

October 11, 2003 9:56 Dave F. (moderator)

I should also have added that it is also possible, with some restraint on our part, that the thread could peter out on its own, without resorting to threats of deletion (which will no doubt create a whole new thread of protests, comments, etc.).

October 11, 2003 Dave P

As the one who unwittingly started the whole blasted topic I totally agree with the moratorium idea. Nick who?

October 11, 2003 9:52 Dave F. (moderator)

Bill D: Your suggestion of a moratorium, considering the thread "closed", has crossed my mind as well. I'd like to hear some other thoughts about this.

Georges: Please email me, en anglais, s'il vous plaît. Merci.

October 11, 2003 09.14 Knud-Erik Andersen

October 11, 2003 David Moser <stamphick@dospalos.org>

David

October 11, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

Additionally, the ability to recognize forgeries, both old as illustrated on Bill Cleghorn's site and new as illustrated by comparing eBay auctions, is resulting in a more educated generation of collectors.
 

October 11, 2003 Bill Dempwolf

Bill

October 11, 2003 Jim Whitford-Stark

To return to question of collections and experts.
Perhaps today it would be universal to recognize D.G.A. Myall as "the expert" on the machin issues of GB.
However, if you read through his Deegam Report, you will find constant reference to discoveries passed on to him by other collectors.
He published his email address in the Report and I'm sure is widely used by other collectors.
Were Myall to have attempted such an endeavour in pre-internet days, I am sure it would have been no where near as comprehensive as it is today.
The ability to transmit the discovery of previously unrecognized varieties rapidly, is unprecedented in the evolution of philately.
Likewise the ability to compare ones own collection with that of a recognized "authority" with a web site is priceless.

October 11, 2003 Dave P

More kudos!
Paolo I agree, what a great site! The depth of background information is wonderful, thank you for posting the link.

October 11, 2003 Guillaume van Turnhout

Paolo: That site you linked to is absolutely fantastic. Putting the stamps in context is one of my favorite pastimes. Congratulations to you and the creators!!

October 11, 2003 07:53 Jim Watson

Gulf of Mexico Environmental Problems
The Naples Daily News is in the 14th day of publishing a fabulous series on the environmental problems of the Gulf of Mexico. Fish are dying. The coast is shrinking. Pollution is rising. And the people keep coming. It is well worth reading for anyone.

Sorry for the off topic post however . . .

October 11, 2003 07:09 Mel Bohannon

Links
Dave F:

I deleted the toolbar and redid all my bookmarks. I then went back in and tried the links on the chat board. Deleting the toolbar seemed to work. I had no problems getting the correct picture. However, I still have a problem using my favorites file. When I hit one of my ebay favorites I sometime get the home page, but if I hit it again the correct page appears.

Philip Quirk: Thanks for the info. As you can see from above note to Dave, most of the problems has been fixed, but will try your advise to try and get a total clean system. Again, thanks.

Will be away from the chat for a week while I take my annual trip to Vegas to see my mother and loose some of my hard earned money. Will catch up when I return. Mel

 

October 11, 2003 07:09 Jim Watson

Paolo's Site
Paolo,
That's a wonderful site! I note that you had a hand in creating it. The creator and his contributors should be proud of it.

October 11, 2003 06:58 Jim Watson

Today in Postal History
Good Morning, Everyone!
Today's dated postal history item is a reply postl card sent from Labuan to Ceylon in 1899. Learn something about tea.

October 11, 2003 Paolo B.

Good day all.
Dave F. Thanks for your interesting insight on the topic of philatelic literature. No need to reply to my last e-mail.

There has also to be kept in mind that, those "classic authors" I mentioned and you referred to regarding your field of interest, had potentially much more reference material available, also due to its lower cost. Large genuine reference collections were created, like for example the one of the Diena's, which could be passed through along the heritage axis for generations or be kept in museums.
Progress or philatelic intellectual evolution may only stop, or decrease celerity, when collectors lose their original passion and come to appreciate a collectible solely for its monetary value.
For example, progress in preservation also means abandoning old collecting traditions such as hinging the stamps. Other examples in the progress are the diffusion of ideas and genuine reference material facilitated by the internet, the computer aided philately, the usage of advanced scientific techniques applied to philately, etc.
That said about stamps or history of the stamps. I did not refer to postal history, where the necessary auxiliary sciences can be more (e.g. including history itself and paleography). I had a discussion on this topic with a pre-philately enthusiastic collector who introduced me to his Italy XIV and XV century letters collection. I was specifically researching evidence of the "Gorgia" Tuscan dialectal inflection in ancient texts written in vulgar, but without success in that case.

Dave P. I'm glad it was of some help.
Regarding that topic, more information can be found in this web-site (at the purpose, I'd suggest "1st ISSUE" > Introduction).

All the best, Paolo
Paolo

 

October 11, 2003 Victor Horadam <horadam1@airmail.net>

All, from overcast Dallas.

October 11, 2003 14:21 Nick I (lotus194) <nicholas.izzard@ntlworld.com>

WEEKLY REMINDER
Dear All--I am possibly going to post this message to you on a weekly basis, save me repeating myself over and over.

YOU invaded my life uninvited, not the other way around.

YOU used THIS board as a tool to attempt to close me down and point out to my bidders my nefarious ways.

After YOU reported me to ebay, GSM, APS and just about anyone else you could think of YOU then interfered with my auctions, once again using THIS board as cover.

YOU are still interfering with my sales (even today) and using THIS BOARD as mentioned above.

YOU used THIS BOARD to encourage other members to report my listings to ebay, encourage the only customer I ever lost because of your actions to post NEGATIVE FEEDBACK on me.

YOU, through THIS BOARD made a suggestion that members should buy some of my items under other names, just so YOU would get the opportunity to post NEGATIVE FEEDBACK on me. At least this offer was not taken up.

YOU have never, not even once offered me a compromise where we can all get along in reasonable harmony, I HAVE.

I HAVE re-wrote my listings several times in order to accommodate your recommendations.

I HAVE refrained from insults to other members of the board at Daves request (and quite rightfully so), unlike our new friend Georgie.

I HAVE registered with this board and supplied my details as requested.

I HAVE not reported you for publishing my personal details on THIS BOARD and using THIS BOARD to encourage persons unknown to visit me. (thank you again Dave for deleting the details).

I HAVE, almost on a weekly basis, asked you to leave me alone and not interfere with my sales (I would not expect that request to be honoured if I began breaking new rules, or selling other questionable items-like overprinting USA stamps etc) and in return would willingly go the whole ten yards and backstamp my stamps.

I ONLY post on THIS BOARD when ONE OR THREE of you start playing your silly games, otherwise you do not hear from me (I just lurk).

I apologise to Dave and anyone else who have played no part in these underhanded actions but appear to be getting tarred with the same brush, but as long as they use THIS BOARD as a tool in their activities and for their anominity, then I am forced to blame THIS BOARD collectively.

For those people (and I know who most of them are as does ebay) if you want me to go away and crawl back under the stone from whence I first appeared its simple, KEEP YOUR NOSES OUT OF MY BUSINESS AND STOP INTERFERING WITH MY AUCTIONS. The HATE EMAILS can stay, I quite enjoy reading them!

So the next time Knud-Erik asks me why I do not backstamp my items, or Roger gets exasperated that I am still on the scene or anyone else for that matter, I will either refer them to this post or repost it over again.

Nick

October 11, 2003 Georges

Lotus194
Crétin.