PHILATELY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2895, 8 September 1909, Page 64

PHILATELY.

Br Peltos.

I The February number of the Timbre Poste, the new French monthly, contains a i list, drawn up by M. Victor Flandrin, a J well-known writer on philately^ of the hun- ! dred rarest stamps of the world. Similar lists have been drawn up before, but no- ; thing of the .kind has been . attempted of . late years. It will be seen that the same ' stamp is treated as two, according as to j whether it is used or unused. The list 1 starts, of course, with the lo 1856 British' <}uiane, of which only one copy is known; this is followed by the 2c Hawaii, first issue, of which no more than ten sere Tcnown. Then come the two Mauritius Office," which are represented by 2* specimens known, «nd four or *ye whose existence -•«, suspected. I "1. British Guiana* 1866, lc black on red, used. 2. Hawaii, 1851, 2c blue, used. 3. Mauritius, 1847, 2d biue, unused or used. 4 Mauritius, 1847, Id red, unused or used. 5. British Guj»n», 1850, *c black on rose, unused. 6 Tuscany, 186!), 3 lire, yellow, unused. 7. Moldavia, 1858, 81 paras, black on -bJue : unused. 8. Ceylon, 1867, 4d rose, unused. y. Moldavia-, 1658, 81 paras, black on blue, I unused. 10 Ceylon, 1857, 8d brown, unused. , 11. Hawaii, 1851, So blue, used. 12. Newfoundland, 1857, Is orange, used. 13. Tuscany, 1860, 3 lire, yellow, used. I 14. Hawaii, 1851, 13c blue, used. 15. Austria, 1851, Mercury, red," used. 16. Canada," 1851, 12d black, unused. Yt. Spain, 1854, 1 re*l, blue, unused. 18. britisn Guiana, 1856, 4c black on blue, used. 19. Hawaii, 1852, 13c blue, used. 20.— Canada, 1851, 12d bl«ck~ used. 21. Reunion, 1862, 16c black on azure, unused. 22. Vaud, 1849, 4c black and red, unused. 23. Cape of Good" Hope, 1.861, Id biue, error, I used. 24. Reunion, 1852, 30c black on azure, unused. 25. Cape of GxOd Hope, 1861, 4d red, error, used. 26. British Guiana, 1850, 4c black on yellow, used. 27. Newfoundland, 1860, Is vermilion, unus-ed. , 26. Reunion 1852, 30c black . on azui« v used. 29. .British Guiana, 1850, 8c black on azure,' used. 30. Reunion, 1852, 30c black on azure, used. 31. Portugal, 1853, 100 reis, lilac, unused. 32. Geneva, 1843, 5 plus 5c black on green, unused. 33. Newfoundland, 1867, Is orange, used. 34. Switzerland, 1850, 2£ rappen, black and red, unused. 35. N-ew Brunswick, 1851, Is violet, unused. | 36. Spain, 1851, 2 reales,. red, unused. . 87. Austria, 1851, Mercury, red, unused. i 88. Brunswick, 1852, 1 sbgr., unused. ! 39. Queensland, 1860, 3d blue, unused, j4O Ceylon, 1857, 9d brown-lilac, unused. 41. United States, 1873, sdol green and black, I unused. 42. Cape of Good Hope, 1861, Id blue, wood- ) block, unused. 43. Ceylon, 1857, 2s blue, unused. 44. Great Britain, 1878, £1 violet, unused. • 45. Mauritius, 1859, 2d blue unused ' 46. Natal, 1857, 9d blue, used. ' 47. Nova Scotia, 1851, Is violet, unused. 48. Moldavia, 1858, 27 paras, black on rose, unused. 49. Zurich, 1843, 4 rappen, black, vertical lines, unused. 50. Newfoundland, 1850, Is vermilion, used. The peculiar, almost unique, shape of the earliest issues of Cape Colony has always marked them out as objects for the phila- : telist'e ambition, and the old collections I which are submitted to us generally contain epecimens of the 4d of 1855-1858. Unfortunately, they have nearly always been subjected to rough handling, and ac often as not have been firmly stuck down to the pages of the album with gum. In 1890 one could get a used example of the 4-d for 6d ' and one of the Id for 2s. To-day they are respectively catalogued at 2s 6d and 7e bd. I Tjhe other two values of this set, the od | lilao and Is green, are hardly ever seen, and as for the other triangular series, the value of the commonest variety is something like £3 The annual general meeting of Stanley Gibbons, Ltd., was held at 391 Strand, W.C., on Friday, May 28 last. The acj counts for 1908 were presented and passed, I and the usual final dividend for the year was declared. Attention was drawn to the fact that during the past 12 months the accounts owing by the company had been reduced by no less than £13,600, iv.here.as the accounts owing to the company were only about £2600 lese. The business done during the year was re-ported to have been the largest and most profitable for some years past. The resignation of Mr W. P. Barnsdall as a director wa6 accepted, Mr I Frank JPhillips was elected a director of thecompany I A stamp dealer' 6 life is not a happy one ! At least, that of his clerk who has to elucidate the meaning of some of the foreign letters is not. As an example, I reproduce the following model of conciseness which was received the other morning by Stanley Gibbons, Ltd. : — Constantinos J Constantinides MarsUhepthin Liruassol Chypre My dear friend May 1309 S. tanley gilbons j 391 stand Lordon England Your pray very like my return the your bites and of your gatalongs and your shall of your kind. I have and houses where thy spend largo quahtity of your kinds. Ask and z he your deputation and my write and of limit where you work and the Honoar every thing. ' CONSTANTIJTOS J CoNSTANTINIDES Marathepthin Of course, the abme order was dewpatchsd without any hesitation'!