Spanish Philately Discussion Forum

Welcome Spanish philatelists! Please feel free to post your questions, opinions, discoveries, favorite stamps or covers, or anything else related to Spanish philately or postal history. This board is for everyone that enjoys discussing stamps and related topics, so feel free to invite others. The more the merrier!

This Spanish philately discussion forum is now being sponsored by the Spanish Philatelic Society (SPS)

SPS News and Events

SPS Auction #39 Closing Date March 18, 2010

Mar 07, 2010
Hal Shelton <h.shelton@verizon.net

A reminder that SPS Auction #39 closes for bid on March 18th. You can obtain the auction catalogue and bid sheet by clicking on the tabs at the top of this page. I accept bids by mail or email. Thanks, Hal

Mar 02, 2010
Brian Knight

Hal, Scott does not list a large number of war tax stamps that exist. As far as I know, many of these are also missing from Edifil. However, they are listed in Galvez (1960 edition) on p.270. The 1p blue is #55. They may be in the large Barata catalogue, but I did not take a look.

I cannot comment on the ER3 look-alike. Didn't more than one locality use 'republica' printed on a diagonal? Check vol. 4 of the Edifil specialized.

Mar 01, 2010
hal shelton <h.shelton@verizon.net

I have been given some material for a future auction for which I would appreciate some help in identifying the catalogue reference.

First is a War Tax Stamp that looks like Scott MR 23-26 and Edifil 236-239; however, it is dark blue rather than black and the value is 1p shown as UNA. Where do I find the Edifil and Scott catalogue numbers?

Second is a Delivery Tax Stamp Scott ER3. It looks like Edifil 592, but has "republica" overprinted in red on a diagonal. Where do I find the Edifil catalogue number.

Feb 23, 2010
Gus Asensio <shaurat@persona.ca

I'm in contact with Francesc Graus, and he's been a big help. From a scan he quickly identified that I had a fake 1936 Granada local. Did not have to ship it to him. Jaume Balsells also helped me out. Francesc also informed me that if I want to get something certified, that it will take a year, wow! The man is busy.

Has anyone been to a Martinez Agreda Auction in Zaragoza, or bid on-line? He has a really good website, lots of attractive lots.

I have seen various guides for classic stamps, including one from Graus which is partly online for helping weed out forgeries, but what is available for stamps from the 1920-50s? Is there anything available?

Feb 20, 2010
Jerry Wells <jb.wells@verizon.net

Gusasensio: I would recommend Graus (Francesc Graus - graus@graus.com httP://www.graus.com - well known and respected Spanish expert. As to being careful when purchasing - always with Spanish stamps as the older ones (classics) were forged prolifically and even those in the nineteen forties. You do also have to be careful when purchasing covers - since I obtained a few where the cancel was prior to the issuance of the stamp - lesson learned. All in all, I do buy from ebay and have not had a problem in several years.

Feb 17, 2010
gusasensio <shaurat@persona.ca

Please disregard my second to last posting. I was having some negative feelings about the hobby at the time. In no way did I want to give the impression that Anthony's stamps had taken advantage. I would still very much appreciate people's recommentations as to who they use when they want to cert. their stamps. regards, Gus

Feb 17, 2010
Denny Florence <dennis.florence@comcast.net

Miscellaneos comments: I loved Peter litzinger's article in the latest issue of Arana, The amount and detail of research is outstanding. Since I go back a long way in Civil War material I have seem some earlier work on this Nationalist model stamp, however to see what you've done along with the specimens in color is truly MAGNIFICENT. Peter, you mentioned that you bought the orignal Nationalist section of the F. Denters collection. I believe Denters was one of the original founding members of thge Civil War Study Group that became the Spanish Philatelic Society under Shelley. For some reason Denters ajnd Shelley became enemies and for a while there was a war of angry words between them. I never found out exactly why? Denters finally dropped out of the group. You also mentioned you wrote a book on this model stamp. How do I buy a copy?

Regarding a recent post about the authenticity of stamps from Spanish auction houses. There is no doubt that very choice material becomes available this way. I have spent much money on these items in the pasr both American, English and Spanish. At least with respect to Civil War covers, while the descriptions are mostly quite accurate, sometime its what is not said that can cause a problem. For example proper Submarine stamps on cover but with phony cancels; Local Patriotics on cover where the words private issue or created by forgers such as Dreyfus is omitted from the description. By the way I have had Civil War covers expertized by the Philatelic Foundation in New York.

I am still worried about the Spanish stamp market in Spain for less than premium items. Let me quote a paragraph worrying the Financial community caused by the current economic doldrums and exacerbated by the Greece crisis. "Spain poses the biggest risk. Its housing market has cratered, unemploymentis near 20%, consumer debt is high, and bad loans threaten banks. The Government is in no position to offer a bailout, and its anything but certain that the euro zone leaders or the International Monetary Fund would or could offer a life preserver, A default by Spain, which accounts for 11.5% of the euro zone GDP would be far worse than one by Greece which has a 2.5% share. One thing is clear: IMF help for Spain would require U.S. involvement". This is from the latest Kiplinger Letter. Since stamps are a luxury rather than a necessity, this cannot be good news for stamp sellers. While price lists have not gone down, there is no question that the amount of seldom seen material now being made available, has gone up. At least it seems that way to me. Denny

Feb 17, 2010
Gus Asensio <Shaurat@persona.ca

I have a few high-end Spain stamps that I would like to get certified, have any of the members used APPEX out of the US? Does everyone only us Spanish authenticators to certify your Spanish stamps or can you use the US ones as well? If I send my stamps to Spain to get certified what are the costs and who do people recommend?

Feb 17, 2010
GusAsensio <Shaurat@persona.ca

I'd like to share a recent experience about shopping on E-bay, and why many people are reluctant to buy online or even get into the hobby in the first place. Anthony's stamps has 69000+ positive ratings, he's been in the business for 40+ years, he's got an excellent return policy, so it stands to reason that most people should feel confident in bying from this major US dealer. The only problem that arrises is that these dealers employ other people to identify and grade their stamps, and that they leave it up to the collector to identify any fakes. So over the last few months I had bought over 27 seperate lots ranging from Russian revolution, German Reich, and US all classic stamps. Where I got curious was one particularly expensive US grant stamp that was obviously regumed. I took my recent purchases to a local dealer who agreed that this stamp had been regumed. So I took my wifes geological 16X lense(she's a geologist) and I started to notice some signs that other stamps might also be regumed, though less obvious. So then I used her digital low power microscope and low and behold I found four more stamps that I'm pretty certain had been regumed. It's funny that these are all the expensive stamps. My whole point to this story is that most collectors must choose to remain ignorant, because from my experience I'm finding unless an expensive stamp has a certificate attached, please everyone assume it's been tampered with.

I'll probably continue to shop from this dealer as long as he's happy to keep accepting my returns. Carles was talking about how people in Spain feel better about bying at an auction. I personally don't see the difference. The collector should strive to gain as much knowledge as possible about identifying forgeries and regumed stamps, and don't just assume that because you bought something at a reputable auction or dealer that you don't have to do your own investigating.

In conclusion if it was not for the fact that stamp collecting is an extremely dangerous hobby for the ignorant to get into, then there would definitely be more people willing to do it. All it takes is for someone to have an experience like mine and it would crush their trust in people. For my part I view it as part of the game, sometimes I win and sometimes I loose. Buyer beware.

Feb 16, 2010
Carles Prats <carles@augustacb.com
http://www.filopost.net
SPS site www.spanishphilatelicsociety.com is updated with the #39 auction and the new Araña issue information.

Feb 16, 2010
Hal Shelton <h.shelton@verizon.net

Arana arrived today--DC area has been challenged to make anything work in the past 10 days with all the snow. Some will say nothing works in this town, ever. Well Arana is great. Thanks to Alan and all the article authors! I am already receiving bids in the auction.

Feb 16, 2010
Jean-Marc Bonnard (JMB) <jbonnard@laposte.net

ARANA is coming. Thanks a lot.

Feb 10, 2010
Jerry Wells <jb.wells@verizon.net

Jean-Marc: Email to you at your address below bounced back. However, you are fully paid through 2010. Should have many more paying their 2010 dues after receiving the ARANA and auction.

Feb 10, 2010
Alan Leveritt <alan@arktimes.com

ARANA was mailed yesterday along with auction 39 (thanks Hal). Hope you enjoy.

Feb 10, 2010
Brian Knight

I did not mean to concern anyone, I was just putting out a reminder for those who had not paid. Brian

Feb 09, 2010
Richard Ascaso <rascaso@comcast.net

I think I paid my dues, can't remember...Let me know if I am delinquent.

Feb 09, 2010
Jean-Marc Bonnard (JMB) <jbonnard@laposte.net

Brian - paiement sent in December to Jerry (paypal #35F48862L00928303). Am I OK ?

Feb 08, 2010
Brian Knight

Just a quick reminder to everyone to pay your SPS dues! $25 USA / $35 International. Thank you!

Feb 07, 2010
Alan D Leveritt <alan@arktimes.com

Michael--Those are listed as forgeries in the Republican Political Labels catalog by Gomez-Guillamon. I see them on ebay quite often. I think I paid about $5 for my sheets.They also exist in breen and black. There is a brown, perfed variety that is considered genuine and is listed as Rare in the catalog. Hope this helps. Sorry the news is not better.

Feb 07, 2010
Michael Shekhter

Hello all! I hope you can help me out. I have an old collection of Russia/USSR and came across a sheet of labels of worker-peasant sculpture "Homenatge a la URSS 1937". I have red. It's a whole sheet, imperforated. Looking through the net I understand there exist also brown and green. Well, I know it's obviously Civil War and what looks like a label for that 1937 Barcelona conference. I am in no way a Spain specialist and don't have access to specialized catalogs. Is it something that could be listed in a specialized catalog? If so, could you please let me know. Another collector is interested in a sale or exchange, but I have no idea of the value, hence my trouble :) Any help would be appreciated. I know, I am asking for your time. In adition to great big thank you in return, I can only advise you on any russian or soviet stamps that you might have. Michael mshekhter @ gmail. com

Feb 03, 2010
Denny Florence <dennis.florence@comcast.net

Richard: I have sent very many wire transfers over the years to Europe in many currencies. I use J P Morgan Chase as my bank. International wires are currently about $40. per transaction. Early on, my biggest problem was correctly getting all the receivers account information including bank address including province and country, bank name, account holder name, account number and the bank routing number.(MY bank and the European banks have different names for this number.) Because of the cost, I have limited my use to very high value transactions (000's) of $. About 80% of my transactions have made it through successfully on the first try. I only had one transactionj with Barclay's bank in the UK that I never could successfully resolve. Denny

Feb 01, 2010
Richard Ascaso <rascaso@comcast.net

I was wondering if the SPS ever has any book offers. It would be nice if SPS could do a bulk purchases from EDIFIL, Afinet, and other sources and then offer the volumes to the membership. SPS could do this and sell at a price that would generate some additionl money for the Society. Just a thought from a newer member. I can't thank the members enough for all your answers to my beginer questions. I am slowly adding to my collection and reference library and enjoying it tremendously.

Feb 01, 2010
jaume

Richard, I have the fortune of working with a credit union for my banking and they have no problem sending wire transfers to Europe. It is, however, an expensive service. I believe the minimum charge was in the order of $30 per transfer. My experience with European sellers is that they'll work with you to accept other payment methods for foreign customers. Just try talking to them before the auction ends. Best, Jaume

Jan 31, 2010
Richard Ascaso <rascaso@comcast.net

Thanks Brian for your information.

Jan 31, 2010
Brian Knight

Richard, a few thoughts from my experiences: A couple of years ago, I looked into trying bank transfers to Spain from my bank here. My bank (Wachovia) did not allow it directly, or offer accounts denominated in Euros, but I could purchase money orders denominated in Euros, for something like $30 or $35 each, plus the added cost of having to wait several days for the money order to arrive after ordering it. I inquired and found that CitiBank had pretty much the same offerings as Wachovia.

Everbank.com is a well-respected financial institution which offers foreign currency accounts, but when I last checked, one cannot do bank-to-bank wire transfers like they do in Europe. That was a couple of years ago, so you might want to check them out and see if that changed.

Jan 30, 2010
Richard Ascso <rascaso@comcast.net

Does anyone have experience using bank to bank money transfers to Spain. I keep running into sellers that accept only bank transfers. This is mostly ocurring on Ebay Spain and also from direct Stamp and Catalog dealers. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks Richard

Jan 26, 2010
Richard Ascaso <rascaso@comcast.net

Received my auction items and would like to thank Hal for all his work on the SPS Auction. Looking forward to the next Arana as always!

Jan 25, 2010
Alan D Leveritt <alan@arktimes.com

I sent the final corrections for the next issue of ARANA to Erica today. She will finish the cover and table of contents and it will go to the printer on Monday. Look for your copy at the end of next week. Hal, I will get with you next week and we can adjust the end date for the auction. Thanks to everyone for your submissions. I was able to use all of them. Brian, we have the list of articles that have appeared in ARANA already pasted up for the next issue. This issue will be a big 32 pager. Again, thanks to everyone who helped.

Jan 14, 2010
Denny Florence <dennis.florence@comcast.net

Jaume and Carles: Thanks for your thoughts. Your comments are encouraging. Whenever I get around to putting my Civil War locals collection with an auction house, I'll let you know how I make out. Denny

Jan 14, 2010
jaume <mad_chemist_70@yahoo.com

Alan, For some reason my @afinet.org email account is not letting me send any messages. I just wanted to say thank you for your email and, if you have suggestions for future articles, let me know. Best, Jaume

Jan 14, 2010
Carles Prats <carles@augustacb.com
http://www.filopost.com
Denny, I completely agree Jaume. The Spanish collector is very reluctant to buy via Internet, as everybody fears about forgeries, delays in delivery or even never received items. The auction houses give to the Spanish collector the confidence he needs, despite the buyer's premium. Most of the quality stamps & covers offered on Ebay, unsold and relisted for another 30 days, would sell with no second chance in any auction house. Referring to our hobbie's health in Spain, it is very strong. New generations of collectors are coming up. To see it you only need to go to any of the Sunday outdoor collector's markets you can find in almost every Spanish town with more than 50,000 inhabitants.

Jan 13, 2010
Brian Knight

Richard, I think that the stamps in that lot are real. To me, it just looks like a bad scan with a lot of glare. Regarding forgeries, I have seen a few issues that are forged, but, in total, I believe that they are quite rare. Of course, there are also a number of fantasy issues, some of which are quite common.

Jan 13, 2010
Richard Ascaso <rascaso@comcast.net

I see a seller from Mexico has quite a few auction on Ebay with SCW stamps, here is an item number: 120516896203 Do these look like the real deal? I haven't read much at all on SCW forgeries other than on overprints is that correct? Thanks for any comments and looking forward to the next ARANA like another Christmas Eve!!! Thanks Richard

Jan 13, 2010
Jaume

Denny, Are you drawing conclusons from following ebay alone? To US based collectors, ebay may be a legitimate trading place for high end material at market prices but, to Spanish collectors, ebay is just bargain hunting territory. As you said, if you are not willing to give it away, very few people will buy it. Over the past year, I have been bidding for mid-level items (mostly classical covers) in several Spanish auction houses and I have constantly been outbid. The market over there for these items continues to be strong.

Jan 12, 2010
Denny Florence <dennis.florence@comcast.net

I would like to hear from anyone who collects and sells Spanish stamps of any kind as to how they see the status of the Spanish stamp market. From everything I read Spain's economy is even worse off than that in the States, if that is possible. Unemployment is very high there. I cannot comment on the very highest level (most expensive) of Spanish stamps and covers, but I would imagine there are still enough "deep pockets" buyers to make a good market in these items, although I am not sure. Stepping down a notch to the "best of the rest" philatelic items, from my vantage point, the market is completely dead unless you want to give the item away. Now I am not a dealer, but I have been following this market and participating in it from time to time, but I cannot remember a time this bad and I include the 1979 era and the year the Scott editors pulled the rug out from under the catalog prices. Beside Spain I follow the market for worldwide collections. The sellers of this material seem to be really struggling. Exellent single country lots are being unsold at what appears to me to be reasonable prices and then being relisted for another 30 days. Am I just imagining this? Since I am getting up in age now perhaps my memory is playing tricks on me. For myself I have decided to take the best of the Spanish Civil War covers that I have not been able to sell and insert them into my Civil War local stamp collection rather than selling them at what I consider a poor price. One of these years I will sell my Civil War locals/labels collections when I have completed the remounting of these. Until then, except for when the spirit moves me, I will stay on the sidelines. I would like to hear other people's opinions of the stamp market. Are you seeing a slowing of the market? If yes, is it just due to the poor economies of the US and Spain, or is it something bigger like the start of the "death knell" of our beloved philatelic hobby because us old collectors are dying off at a much faster rate than they are being replaced due to other interests of the younger folks. I feel very fortunate to have sold over $250K worth of stamps and covers between 2007 and 2009. That was not skill, but just the luck of coming to market at the right time. Finally, if you believe the hobby is alive and just in the doldrums for now, I cannot think of a better time than in many many years to buy choice items for your collection. DEnny

Jan 05, 2010
Hal Shelton <h.shelton@verizon.net

Happy New Year to all and to those in many countries happy Three Kings Day tomorrow.

Reminder that SPS Auction #38 closes for bid on January 14th. You can see the auction catalogue and bid sheet by clicking on the links at the top of this page. I accept bids by email, please send to my email address noted in header of this message.

Jan 05, 2010
Alan Leveritt <alan@arktimes.com

Hello Peter! Hal just sent me your article. I am out the door to sales appointments but will read the piece late this afternoon or in the morning. Many thanks!

Jan 05, 2010
Peter Litzinger <hp.litzinger@t-online.de

Alan, sorry, I have sent them out on 21.12. to "kaytee.wright@gmail.com",as you have told me. I can't understand, why this was also not going - I got no error-message. Hal, I try to send you the article - this time in 3 parts of a word document. Peter

Jan 04, 2010
Jaume <mad_chemist_70@yahoo.com

Alan, I also sent you a couple of short articles over the Christmas break. Please let me know if you have received them. Thanks and Happy New Year to all, Jaume

Jan 04, 2010
Hal Shelton <h.shelton@verizon.net

Peter, I will be traveling most of tomorrow (Tuesday) so I will look at the end of the day to see if your email has arrived.

Jan 04, 2010
Alan Leveritt <alan@arktimes.com

Peter--no, I never received it. This is just crazy. I sent an email to you and asked you to attach the article to my email and hit return, assuming any spam blockers would allow in my own email. Did you receive that? Lets try this. Send your article to Hal (h.shelton@verizon.net) and ask him to forward it to me.

Jan 01, 2010
Jean-Marc Bonnard (JMB) <jbonnard@laposte.net

Happy new year, dear friends

Dec 28, 2009
Peter Litzinger <hp.litzinger@t-online.de

Hi Alan Did you get my small article for Arana?

Dec 22, 2009
Joaquin Amado <amado.bookshelf@telefonica.net

This is an answer to the query posted by Alan Leveritt (Dec. 16). The catalogue published by the Spanish Post was entitled "Catalogo de los sellos locales emitidos durante la guerra civil española. 1936-1939" (368 pages + addenda), which in fact was produced in 1995 in conjuction with the Spanish Federation of Philatelic Societes. Another interesting reference source is the commercial catalogue of 64 pages entitled "Guerra Civil. España especializada 1931-1945", produced by Estudio Filatélico (Sevilla, ca.1990), which displays several hundreds lots and many pics. of civil war material. Xmas. greetings, Joaquín Amado (Madrid)

Dec 22, 2009
Carles Prats <carles@augustacb.com
http://www.filopost.net
Gustavo: I have the Gomez-Guillamon catalogue "The Republican Local War Tax Stamps" for sale. I can offer these copies to the SPS members at the cost of 49.95 USD, postage paid. If anyone is interested, you can contact me by email.

Dec 22, 2009
Gustavo Asensio <Shaurat@persona.ca

Denny and Allan,thank you for the information. Denny I've been pretty busy at work so I have not had the chance to send you the pics, I'll send them over Christmas. I have already ordered the Edifil catalogues 1,2 & 4. If I can find the other ones I'll order them in Jan. or Feb. If you can find me Pablo Labarga's contact info I'd love to get the GG volumes. Regards, and Merry Christmas to everyone. Gustavo

Dec 21, 2009
Alan Leveritt <alan@arktimes.com

As best I can tell, the auction link is fixed.

Dec 21, 2009
Denny Florence <dennis.florence@comcast.net

All: I would like to wish you and your family a very merry Christmas and a healthy, happy new year. Denny Florence

Dec 20, 2009
Hal Shelton <h.shelton@verizon.net

Alan and Carles, Many thanks for placing the SPS auction #38 catalogue on both sites--will get good coverage. Please relook at the source material as what is posted is just the first 5 pages, up to Lot 154. There are 201 Lots in total and two pages of pictures which bidders find usefull for the higher end material.

Dec 20, 2009
Alan D Leveritt <alan@arktimes.com

Peter--try kaytee.wright@gmail.com

Dec 20, 2009
Peter Litzinger <hp.litzinger@t-online.de

Hi Alan,sorry but it doesn't work , neither with attachement nor without , the mails went back. May be, your firewall is too high for my old netscape?? Peter

Dec 19, 2009
Alan D Leveritt <alan@arktimes.com

Check out the new auction by clicking on Auction 38 above. We'll be pulling down auction 37 later today.

Dec 19, 2009
Alan D Leveritt <alan@arktimes.com

Jaume--your piece was great! I already have it laid out with the art. It will be in the next issue. Please send your Philatelic Favorites. Erica, our art director is completely covered up and has told me she won't be able to finish the mag until after the first of Jan. so expect the issue around mid to late January. CARLES--thanks for the second piece on the Vinebre issues. The art is fantastic and Erica has it ready to layout when she gets her head above water.PETER--please try again. I have sent you an alternative address if that is necessary.

Dec 18, 2009
Jaume

Alan, Remember the article I sent you a few months ago? If you want to publish it and need anything else from me (images, corrections, etc.), please let me know. I have a couple of Philatelic favorites that I can submit. I'll start working on it. Best wishes for the Holidays for all the SPS members and readers of this board. Jaume

Dec 17, 2009
Peter Litzinger <hp.litzinger@t-online.de

Hi Alan I've tried to send you a message with a pdf-attachment (article for Arana) but it went back to me - "failed permanently" Peter

Dec 16, 2009
Alan D Leveritt <alan@arktimes.com

About ARANA: I am working on the winter issue of ARANA and could very much use a Philatelic Favorites submission from the people contributing to this forum. I'm looking for a favorite item from your collection--an interesting cover, a great stamp,postcard, whatever-- along with a short write-up from you and why it is a favorite in your collection. For those of you who do not write a lot, this is an important contribution you can make that will make ARANA much more interesting. I really, really need your contribution. Just send me an email and tell me what you are thinking about. Thanks!

Dec 16, 2009
Denny Florence <dennis.florence@comcast.net

Gustavo: That catalogthat Alan couldn't remember the name is "Catalogo de Sellos Beneficos Y Locales" commonly referred to as Sofima oe Fesofi. I would be happy to help with your souvenir sheets. I have owned most of them in my 40+ year collecting career and have likely seen most of the available reference material. Send me an Email with the pictures and I will respond to you.

All: After correcting a computer crash which destroyed some of my information, I';m back and would like to expound my views on the economy as it affects the Spanish stamp market. As always the opinions are my own and I am not being a shill for any dealer. Barring a double dip recession, I believe the U.S. economy has seen its low. The big banks are again sound with sizable reserves. With the huige budget deficits, future inflation and the value of the $ are large concerns. I don't know where the new jobs are going to come from to replace all that have been lost in Manufacturing. These good paying, exellent benefit jobs for people with a high school education, will never be seen again. Therefore, I think our recovery will be slow. The Government can only "prime the pump so far so fast. Infrastructure, highways, bridges etc, do not lead to permanent employment. "Green" jobs (solar, windmills etc) only get you there if they are cost effective, and the old technologist in me does not believe that wil happen in the immediate future. Government regulation (water pollution, smokestack emissions, carbon taxes)are job killers. Same with Nationalized health care for small business and the taxpayer. How far this goes, depends on the Congressional election results next November. From what I read, Spain, will be one ofthe latter European contries to pull out of the recession. They are facing many of the same problems we have in the States. Except for the most choice items ($1,000.+) I believe the Spanish stamp market is currently "dead". Unless you list a scarce to rare item on EBAY with a very low starting price, it will not sell. These will draw many bids, but the winning bid may be anywhere. I would only advise this if you are willing to take a gamble. The bidders are just not there in quantity as they were a couple years ago. However, what's bad for the seller is great for the buyer. Items that haven't been seen inalong while are now available, albeit at commensurate prices. Take a look at the Spanish website "Todo collec..........".com and you'll see waht I mean. Most of these very good items are available only at a fixed price, but bargains do occur many times if you are patient.

As I have said before, if you believe our hobby will be aroundfor another generation, its a great time to buy Spanish stamps if you stick to pre 1950 material. As most of you know, there is no current price catalog for Spanish Civil War material. I advise taking your current catalogs (Galvez, Sofima, Gomez-Guillamon) and marking selling prices, starting bids etc next to the listing. You might be surprised what you see. As Alan just mentioned in his blog, Edifil is owned by the stamp dealer body. They currently only list the Spanish Civil War local patriotics and Huerfanos issues. Some year, the current volume IV of the catalog will include all the Civil War listings in my opinion. It just makes business sense. With the current market way down and the current prices relatively high,listing Civil War materialin Edifil will become a "goldmine" for the dealer body. Note that the current Volume IV introduced the general Civil War topics in the latest edition for the first time. So if you are a younger collector/investor, become smart on the current market prices and buy the best scarce/rare Civil War material you can afford over the next few years. I predict you will do well. I was very fortunate when I auctioned my Spain proper collection in 2007. I think I hit the peak of the market. I hope I live long enough to do the same with my Civil War stamps. I continue to selectively buy to fill the holes in my Town locals and political labels of the War. Once again these are the thoughts of this old warhouse. You do what is best for you. Denny

Dec 16, 2009
Alan Leveritt <alan@arktimes.com

Look for your Spanish Philatelic Society Auction arriving in your mail box during the next few days. Hal has done a great job in pulling together some really interesting material. The auction went into the mail this morning. GUSTAVO, welcome to the SPS website. We hope you will join our organization. There are many people here who are more expert than I but I would start with an Edifil specialized catalog for regular issues and then the two Gomez-Guillamon volumes for Republican locals and political labels from the Spanish Civil War. Pablo Labarga, who post here occasionally from Seville has reprinted both those volumes and they are very handsome. Does someone have Pablo's email or mailing address for Gustavo? Also the Spanish Postal Service published a volume some years ago that is pretty comprehensive for both Republican and Nationalist locals, the name of which escapes me at the moment due to an excess of age and wine over the years. Someone help me here. Neither Edifil or the Spanish Postal Service catalog of locals is reliable for real valuation in my opinion. The Edifil catalogs are owned by Spanish stamp dealers and have inflated values while the Locals catalog is unrealistically low in its values. Subway often has some of these books for sale but Pablo is your best bet for the GG volumes. Also the late Ronald Shelley, who was the force behind the civil war portion of Spanish philately, has written extensively in old newsletters from the Spanish Civil War Roundtable in Britan. They are hard to find but are around. Also, Jerry Wells, one of our members, has written an excellent tome about mail from the Non-intervention fleets, mostly American, that patrolled the waters of Spain during the war. And finally, I have published a stamp album based on the Gomez-Guillamon numbering and historical notes for Republican political labels issued by the various unions and militias. If you join SPS, we also have back issues of ARANA available for $6 each. Hope this helps

New Spanish Civil war stamp collector. Recently kindled an interest to explore the past of my country through stamps, and a bit of reading as well. I've lived in Canada for the past 30 years, I go back home every 2 to 3 years. I am going back to Madrid next summer and I was wondering, what literature would some of you recommend on Spanish Civil war stamps. Are there books specializing on Spanish fakes? What are the best catalogues to buy?

I recently purchased a group of about 63 S/S from the Civil War era. The Scott catalogue barely shows any, is there a catalogue that lists souvenir sheets? What can any of you tell me about the souvenir sheets? I have Jpegs available if anyone is interested in helping me.

I also have an unlisted war tax stamp of 30 cent. value. It has 1898-99 inscribed which would put it in the MR19 to MR22 series. The stamp looks authentic. Was there a 30 cent. stamp???

Dec 07, 2009
Brian Knight

This week, the auction which accompanies the winter edition of Arana will be sent out separately from the magazine. I would like to thank Hal for all of his hard work on the auction.

I think that this will be a wonderful auction because the SPS was the recent beneficiary of a generous donation of early Spanish stamps, and a number of these will be in the auction. The remainder will be in the next couple of auctions. I would like to thank our generous benefactor, but I will refrain from naming him here and let you read about him in the upcoming issue of Arana. We are very grateful for the gift.

I hope that each member will take a good look and pick up something for your collection.