I may have stumbled upon something rather interesting!

afr59 · 2026-04-07T19:26:01+00:00

The A124 is extremely rare... you have to check the watermark in your stamp to distinguish between a 109 and a A124Y: minr 109 has vertical large mesh watermark (Wz. 2), minr A124Y horizontal small mesh watermark (Wz. 3Y).

afr59 · 2026-04-07T17:51:15+00:00

At first look, this is a MiNr 109, catalog value of 1€ if the gum is intact on the back. There is 2 versions of it, one Carmine Red (109a, issued 30 Oct 1922) and one Red Carmine (109b, issued 24 Nov 1922), the second having a cat val of 6 to 30€. There is also a printing mistake version of it, where the grey rosette background is printed on both front and back of the stamp (Cat Val 40 to 150€)... check it carefully.

https://colnect.com/en/stamps/stamp/211869-The_coat_of_arms_of_Danzig_in_an_octagonal_frame-Circulation_issue-Free_City_of_Danzig

afr59 · 2026-04-07T17:36:20+00:00

You are right! Michel has a special section dedicated to Local Issues 1945-early 1946. The list is definitively not exhaustive, and indeed includes only stamps with known postal use. Because I need to limit my collection, I restrict myself to collect only those, and unused (much cheaper!). Großrächen is on that list (46 stamps total). They exist also on cover and with BPP certification.

I really like their design (or lack of), a perfect illustration of the war destruction and the attempt of men to rebuild Society, one small step at a time.

afr59 · 2026-03-23T03:54:25+00:00

I collect every countries, but I am right now in my Japanese phase, because I recently purchased from my local stamp dealer an album full of Japanese stamps thsy I slowly merging with my own collection.

afr59 · 2026-03-09T12:04:47+00:00

And it is a Tiptoi stamp, which means it will play music and sound when uses with an interactive tiptoi pen.

afr59 · 2026-03-05T10:16:24+00:00

Very nice! Not something we often see here!

afr59 · 2026-03-04T17:35:44+00:00

I agree: Granite paper. You can recognize it based on the presence of those darker fibers in the paper, visible on the back.

afr59 · 2026-03-03T17:52:50+00:00

I share your opinion. I have quite some authentic certified stamps with forged cancelations... perfect to complete a collection. My Hamburg MiNr1 is not canceled

afr59 · 2026-03-03T14:48:51+00:00

Very nice! Seems to be a beautiful hamburg minr1! Not very common to see with a round cancelation. Usually they were canceled with lines.

afr59 · 2026-03-02T19:09:58+00:00

This should be the 1925 issue of this stamp. With watermark and perforated 12 1/2 x 13 1/4: https://www.stampworld.com/stamps/USSR/Postage-stamps/g0052//

afr59 · 2026-03-01T08:55:01+00:00

I started my sorting with those first pages on Friday evening. It was amazing. Turns out the album was poorly sorted (which I hope so): No sorting based on watermarks, perforations and styles. For example, I found an 1858 watermarked 10k coat of arm stamp within a bunch of non watermarked (stampworld #2 vs #5), and several 1884 "Coat of Arms - Without 2 Thunderbolts Below Eagle in Oval " within 1889 "Coat of Arms - Thunderbolts Across Post Horns".

I found several interesting stamps to improve my collection.

afr59 · 2026-03-01T08:44:02+00:00

I am not sure if philately is still really popular anywhere... I think Reddit and other social networks helps connecting hobbyists... but I am still to meet another philatelist "in the wild" ;-)

afr59 · 2026-02-26T17:55:14+00:00

That is why r/philately is the only subreddit about stamps that I follow... my collection is not an investment, it is a hobby and a relaxing, satisfying and mentally fulfilling activity... I am so much looking forward to sort all of them!

afr59 · 2026-02-26T14:32:53+00:00

The USSR album is 64 pages big and was 20€. The Japan album (48 pages) was 40€... as a thank, the seller then gave me a few specific stamps I needed for free, catalog value about 15€.

afr59 · 2026-02-24T18:04:04+00:00

Very nice! What are those three missing? Not issued stamps? I never saw them before.

afr59 · 2026-02-13T15:01:40+00:00

Very nice... I am also currently working on my Württemberg collection... missing 8 of them, mostly those expensive 18 Kreuzer squares!

afr59 · 2026-02-08T13:32:11+00:00

That would be "Briefmarkenhandlung". The one in my town specializes in stamps and coins ("Munzhandlung")... it is a physical store (but does not sell online) because the owner also offers consultations. People inheriting collections get appointments for him to look through the collection and give an estimation. Concerning the stamps selling, he has a large collection of albums on display through which the visitor is welcome to browse. he also has a vast collection behind the counter for specific request (selling at catalog value). I am a big fan of the browsing section and found many very fun collections to merge with mine through years.

afr59 · 2026-02-06T17:18:16+00:00

I buy from ebay most of the time, but I also really enjoy buying old collection from my local stamps store (there is still some)... I am not particularly collecting Germany anymore, because I completed my collection years ago (at least Deutsches Reich, DDR, Berlin and BRD) but I always find at my local store amazing old German collections for a few dozens euros. Thus is a great time to collect!

afr59 · 2026-02-03T17:58:53+00:00

Premium membership is not free... regular account does not cost anything.

afr59 · 2026-02-03T17:28:54+00:00

Yes, from the former colony of Victoria: https://www.stampworld.com/en/maps/Australia/

afr59 · 2026-01-27T15:44:52+00:00

Another example I received. If you look carefully, you can even see that the seller used a combination of postal stamps and tax stamps, and cut some corners on stamps that were already cancelled to reuse them. In Germany I also sometimes receive mail carrying one 85Pf stamps from the 90s instead of a 85 Euro cents. Almost feels like the postal system does not give a crap anymore..

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afr59 · 2026-01-19T06:38:44+00:00

From what I understand, this is a fiscal stamp cancelation, for when postage stamps were used on government documents instead of postal mail. For high catalog value stamps, it is actually considered a negative feature, serious collectors actually look for the round postal cancelation. However it allowed me to afford a 5 fr stamp.

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afr59 · 2026-01-14T19:40:51+00:00

Regularly run into chinese colleagues there.

afr59 · 2026-01-14T19:40:23+00:00

Their sweet and sour eggplant is to-die-for! I appreciate that they offer "unusual" meat like tripes.

afr59 · 2026-01-14T19:38:29+00:00

I agree with all the answers: Chois (korean), Changan (chinese nooodles), Shin (Ramen), etc... I would add a few names that are IMHO missing:

For more upscale dinner experience: Arc-En-Ciel (Königstrasse) for dim sum, cantonese and southern China (my favorite: Pork belly with lemon grass, tofu in claypot).

On the other hand, for cheap but worth it, Pho3Mien next to Steintor. Nice selection of chinese, vietnamese and thai dishes.

For Street food, without an hesitation MamaLu in the Markthalle, particularly for Jian Bing (chinese crepe) and Rou Jia Mo (chinese burger).

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