Olympic Gold Postbox tour of Oxford Postman..

 

110 postboxes were painted gold in 2012 to celebrate the achievements of Olympians and Paralympians

Hi !

I am sharing here a news about an Oxford Postman’s tour of golden post boxes published by BBC . The tour by this Postman is for a noble cause…. I am also sharing here a discussion on stamp errors published in Sandafyre. 

A postman from Oxford is visiting all of the gold postboxes on the UK mainland that celebrate Britain's Olympic and Paralympic champions. Gary White, 29, began his 3,200-mile tour of 104 boxes at Kirkby-in-Ashfield in Nottinghamshire.

He aims to complete his journey on 25 July at the Olympic Park, east London. At each location, the nomadic postman said he would photograph the postbox and send a postcard to himself to document his journey.

Andy Murray

He plans to use the corresponding commemorative Olympic stamps produced by Royal Mail during the 2012 Games. At Dunblane, the stamp will feature Andy Murray, recognised for his gold in the men's singles tennis.

Postman's holiday: Gary White hopes to complete his tour on 25 July

The postman's tour is raising money for the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association in memory of his stamp-collecting aunt, Christine Goodall, who lived in the US.

Mr White said: "I have chosen the MND Association as my charity because my aunt sadly died last year, after battling with this disease for five years - she was only 56 years old.

"I had bought all of the special gold medal stamps with the intention of using them to send her a postcard... sadly, time passed too quickly for me to do this.

"I thought that this event would be a good way to raise money and awareness for this disease, to continue the helpful, happy and charitable mood that was present during London 2012, and to use up some of those stamps for a good cause."

He believes he is the first postman to undertake such a tour.

Courtesy : BBC News

Discussion

Why do Stamp collectors like errors ?

Sometimes discovering philatelic errors is easy, particularly when examples have been identified and are accurately described. This is not always the case and many hours can be spent searching philatelic material to find that illusive mistake. Such items are keenly sought by collectors who need to satisfy a unique personal desire.

why do we find printers mistakes so alluring? It was around the turn of the last Century that the so-called “French Method” of collecting became fashionable, no longer did the best collections simply aspire to total completion but the proofs, drawings, subtle colour changes, plate alterations & damage, and all the other fascinating stuff that makes our hobby so interesting became de rigueur in the highest collecting circles, but errors were already popular long before then...

THE RAREST ERROR is widely considered to be the world second most valuable stamp. The Swedish 1855 3 skilling-banco printed in yellow instead of the correct green colour. It was discovered in 1885 by a Stockholm stamp dealer who bought the stamp from an unsuspecting schoolboy. The stamp has been shrouded in controversy but it has been a famous error for over 100 years and it is generally accepted that a single 3sk cliché had found its way into a printing of the 8sk orange- yellow. Back in those early days of stamp production anything was possible!

DIFFERENT TYPES OF ERRORS exist, mistakes made by the printer are the most dramatic, perhaps the most well- known of these is the American so-called “INVERTED JENNY” stamp. The United States issued a set of Air Post stamps in 1918, the top value was a splendid 24c depicting a Curtiss Jenny biplane in blue within a red frame. The day after issue a stamp collector, Mr William T. Robey visited his local post office to purchase a sheet each of these first airmail stamps. He didn’t like the centering of the sheets available so at the suggestion of the clerk he returned later that day and was amazed to find a complete sheet of 100 24c values with the plane upside- down!

This discovery, perhaps more than any other in philately convinced collectors to carefully check newly issued stamps for printing errors! A block of four from this sheet is currently the most valuable philatelic item.

DESIGN ERRORS CAN BE FUN (AND DANGEROUS) as they are often mass- produced the mistake can be available to thousands of collectors, a typical example would be the Monaco 1947 Air Post stamps depicting President Roosevelt inspecting his stamp collection – look closely and you will see he has been given SIX fingers by the engraver! Sometimes design errors can be a lot more serious, for example the Peoples Republic of China issued, during the height of the Cultural Revolution an 8f stamp known as “the Whole Country is Red” depicting workers with a map of China coloured red – however Taiwan was left in white, a terrible mistake (albeit accurate as the Communists never controlled the island). The stamp was withdrawn after 2 days and is a renowned rarity. There is no record of what befell the hapless designer...

During the 1960s many other countries saw exciting (and less dangerous!) new concepts in stamp production with modern multi coloured artistic designs. Printing errors occurred and many collectors specialise in locating examples from this period including missing colours & and incorrect values (to name just a couple). The choice is virtually endless. Perhaps one of the most infamous errors from that period would be the Falkland Island 1964 6d stamp depicting HMS “Glasgow” instead of HMS “Kent”. Examples of the error are extremely rare with only seventeen known to exist. The committed collector will still seek to find number eighteen!

Collectors follow their desires. Psychologists have identified a need in many of us to acquire and collect. Philatelic errors probably fulfill those who may possess that particular gene! This could be just one of the many reasons why stamp collectors like errors but there must be many other reasons. Compulsive collectors cannot bear distractions, just as my friend focused on the details of the Australian discovery, they are immersed in their subject and driven by the need to accumulate and acquire. Philatelic errors offer just such an opportunity. Human nature relishes and thrives on the search, the hunt, the hope of finding something unique, the use of the “sharp eye” and discovering the unexpected. This alone makes the subject more exciting, dramatic and also challenges the dull image that is often associated with stamp collecting !

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