Still Under Construction!

First, let me introduce myself. My name is Jim and I live in Southwest Florida on the Gulf Coast. I retired to Florida from Denver in 1991 after 40 years fighting the Cold War in the Aerospace industry. We won and I am now at liberty! I live with my dear wife and two delightful cats -- Bubba and Belle. I have been using eBay since November, 1996. and find both eBay and the people here quite interesting. I used to do

in the eBay Cafe in the early morning but I ran out of steam. As you may have guessed, I enjoy history. I am hanging out around the eBay Stamps board now.

For the terminally curious, here is a picture of me taken in the Bahamas.

I have been a stamp collector since the 1930s when my dear aunt gave me an album for Christmas. Collecting has gone from active to inactive at various times as other priorities held sway. I collect United States, U.S. 1861-67 series, United Nations (a tad dormant at the moment), Jamaica, Northeastern Colorado postal history, Columbian stamped envelopes, tiny covers (less than 10 square inches), and a few other items. I am also interested in cameras -- principally Minolta -- and books -- generally history -- particularly Colorado -- and John D. MacDonald books.

I also grow orchids on my lanai (it's easy here in Florida). Here's one of my beauties:

If you have a reasonably modern spreadsheet program, you should be able to make use of this Franklin-Washington Identifier. It is somewhat self-explanatory. It is based on the principle that the external characteristics which can be determined by careful observation (design, denomination, color, perforations, printing method -- engraved or offset) determine the classification of the majority of the stamps. The only remaining items are the watermark and type. This chart tells you when to quit looking for more or which features have to be evaluated. Surprisingly, the catalogue number for most stamps are determined without having to resort to watermarking and there are only a few instances where the stamp is only different by no watermark, a double line USPS or a single line USPS. There is also a draft set of instructions to go with the Franklin-Washington Identifier on my web site.
Note: If you have trouble downloading the spreadsheet, just try popping the url http://www.stampwhiz.com/frwash2.xls into the location box on your browser or send me an e-mail using the link below.

Some time ago I requested help in identifying the 'card' proof below which appeared to be a Premiere Gravures card proof of the 51861 stamp of the United States. A certificate has now been issued for the proof as an essay 67-E9d. The detail and history may be found at I Have a Quandary.

There is a group of links on my web site which is useful for stamp collectors. It is accessible from this box:

Here are some links to philatelic resources on the web: Francis Chan's Philatelic Resources page and Joe Luft's Philatelic Resources on the Web have lots of links organized to help the stamp collector. Hint: Links to Luft's subdivisions are in the header of the page. You can find most anything philatelic from the links at these useful sites.

Organizations:
This is the home page of the American Philatelic Society. APS is the largest general society of philatelists in the U.S. Membership is recommended for every stamp collector. I should tell you I am an APS Life Member #7318. You also might be interested in looking into its list of affiliates. Here are the APS links to lists of stamp shows.

And this is the home page for the American Topical Association (ATA) which is the source for information about topical or thematic collecting. They supply wonderful booklets and check lists on topical subjects.

On the Just for Kids page of the APS there are several very good beginners pamphlets for stamp collectors. You'll need Adobe Acrobat! to read them. APS will send them to you free if you request them.

If you need to do some research of a philatelic nature, American Philatelic Research Library has searchable databases for both their library catalog and a listing of articles. It is an essential stop if you want to find out something unique about stamps. Their material is available through the interlibrary loan service or directly. They will also copy material for you.

Subway Stamp Shop has an extensive guide to philatelic literature available for sale. The list may be found at: Subway's Stamp & Coin Collecting Accessories and Catalog. Often it can be accessed to check the value of literature being sold.

Another link to try is DejaNews. That is the source for easy access to the stamp collecting newsgroups: rec.collecting.stamps.discuss; rec.collecting.stamps.marketplace; and alt.collecting.stamps.

Still another interesting link lists Philatelic Museums and Libraries.

For those of you with scanners, JPEG Wizard by Pegasus is an amazing compression program for reducing the size and loading time of stamp images.

The eBay Stamp Guide has finally been updated.

I have posted a companion piece on Distinguishing Characteristics of Postage Stamps. It should give you some ideas about what to look for when stamps are catalogued.

Those who wish may visit my web site at Jim's Page. and look around. It is getting very, very, very, very, very cobwebby from disuse but you might find something interesting there including a paeon of praise to eBay in its infancy. There is also a check list of John D. MacDonald's books.

If you wish, I'd appreciate your comments: jimbo e-mail.

Updated April 10, 2006.

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