Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
I am definitely collecting Great Britain, although I may put in some limits to getting every watermark variation in the panoply of Monarch Definitives. Maybe one nice copy of each denomination on a concise Steiner Page, to save myself countless hours of eye-strain and sniffing lighter fluid.
This weekend I emptied out a bunch of envelopes and now have a pile of "many (MANY) hundreds" of Machins - mint, used, low and high denominations. As I started to sort through, I began finding variations in colors and font sizes for the same values. I went to the library to check out the catalog listings, and took a peek at some SoR discussions. Good grief! It's like the U.S. Washington-Franklin series - it's enough to drive you batty, or to create an addiction seemingly more powerful than crystal meth, or BOTH!!! I am not sure I want to go down that rabbit hole, so I thought I'd ask...
Does anyone have a decent heuristic to focus attention on finding a few of the variations that would yield some desirable (not necessarily rare) Machins? Maybe just some better-than-minimum CV ones, or reasonable cost, but hard-to-find versions?
For example, in searching through my equally massive pile of QEII "Wildings" I set aside all the 3p copies, check the back for a graphite line, shine my black-light on them (for phosphorescent) and then - only then - consider a watermark check. Saves lots of time for the relatively small yield of stamps with a CV of 45c-65c compared to the multiple dozens of minimum CV versions.
Many thanks, Dave.
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Robin Harris' Machin reference site is very useful in helping to sort out the varieties of Machins.
Here is the URL: http://www.adminware.ca/machin.htm
A perf guide and a good magnifying glass to distinguish between (a) photo and litho printings and (b) type variations especially on the regional issues are essential tools to sorting the common from the not-so-common issues.
JTH
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...and while you are there print the free basic Machins album, it includes about 492 different stamps, just about all you need unless you are very picky and want to have it all.
Tony
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Thanks James for the link and Tony for the tip. I've bookmarked it and will dig in this weekend.
Dave.
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06:39:20am
As mentioned Robin Harris "Adminware - Machins" is very helpful.
But you may also find the Machin Forum Index even more informative about the ever more detailed aspects of Machineering.
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I find the biggest problem in sorting Machins is sensory overload coupled with diminishing concentration levels.
If you try to spend a long period of time at one stretch you end up looking at a lot and seeing nothing !
I have several Machin lots at different stages of sorting. I try not to spend not more than an hour ( preferably half ) on one process and then move on to something else -either something else Macin related or something else completely - sorting worldwide, a bit of mounting or even reading a book or watching TV.
For example at the moment I have a) 1p being sorted for sheet, booklet and coils b) 2 1/2p pink being sorted for value tablet size c) 5p claret seperating litho and photo d) 26p brown sorted from standard head and EME head plus several others at intermediate stages.
Machin collecting is not for the impatient or those with a short attention span, but you do have to control the pace of work.
Malcolm
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best to sort under LW uv lamp ...
https://www.ebay.ca/sch/Light-Bulbs/20706/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=uv%20lamp%20bulbs&_dcat=20706&Type=Blacklight&rt=nc&_trksid=p2045573.m1684
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After my long summer hiatus the boxes of stamps are out again (albeit temporarily with the cleaning lady here Wednesday) and I am getting organized (seriously this time, unlike the past 18 months of fitful starts and stops).
I am definitely collecting Great Britain, although I may put in some limits to getting every watermark variation in the panoply of Monarch Definitives. Maybe one nice copy of each denomination on a concise Steiner Page, to save myself countless hours of eye-strain and sniffing lighter fluid.
This weekend I emptied out a bunch of envelopes and now have a pile of "many (MANY) hundreds" of Machins - mint, used, low and high denominations. As I started to sort through, I began finding variations in colors and font sizes for the same values. I went to the library to check out the catalog listings, and took a peek at some SoR discussions. Good grief! It's like the U.S. Washington-Franklin series - it's enough to drive you batty, or to create an addiction seemingly more powerful than crystal meth, or BOTH!!! I am not sure I want to go down that rabbit hole, so I thought I'd ask...
Does anyone have a decent heuristic to focus attention on finding a few of the variations that would yield some desirable (not necessarily rare) Machins? Maybe just some better-than-minimum CV ones, or reasonable cost, but hard-to-find versions?
For example, in searching through my equally massive pile of QEII "Wildings" I set aside all the 3p copies, check the back for a graphite line, shine my black-light on them (for phosphorescent) and then - only then - consider a watermark check. Saves lots of time for the relatively small yield of stamps with a CV of 45c-65c compared to the multiple dozens of minimum CV versions.
Many thanks, Dave.
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like this post.
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re: Machins, Bloody Machins! How to narrow the search for the holy grail(s) ?
Robin Harris' Machin reference site is very useful in helping to sort out the varieties of Machins.
Here is the URL: http://www.adminware.ca/machin.htm
A perf guide and a good magnifying glass to distinguish between (a) photo and litho printings and (b) type variations especially on the regional issues are essential tools to sorting the common from the not-so-common issues.
JTH
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re: Machins, Bloody Machins! How to narrow the search for the holy grail(s) ?
...and while you are there print the free basic Machins album, it includes about 492 different stamps, just about all you need unless you are very picky and want to have it all.
Tony
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re: Machins, Bloody Machins! How to narrow the search for the holy grail(s) ?
Thanks James for the link and Tony for the tip. I've bookmarked it and will dig in this weekend.
Dave.
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
08 Oct 2017
06:39:20am
re: Machins, Bloody Machins! How to narrow the search for the holy grail(s) ?
As mentioned Robin Harris "Adminware - Machins" is very helpful.
But you may also find the Machin Forum Index even more informative about the ever more detailed aspects of Machineering.
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06:16:08am
re: Machins, Bloody Machins! How to narrow the search for the holy grail(s) ?
I find the biggest problem in sorting Machins is sensory overload coupled with diminishing concentration levels.
If you try to spend a long period of time at one stretch you end up looking at a lot and seeing nothing !
I have several Machin lots at different stages of sorting. I try not to spend not more than an hour ( preferably half ) on one process and then move on to something else -either something else Macin related or something else completely - sorting worldwide, a bit of mounting or even reading a book or watching TV.
For example at the moment I have a) 1p being sorted for sheet, booklet and coils b) 2 1/2p pink being sorted for value tablet size c) 5p claret seperating litho and photo d) 26p brown sorted from standard head and EME head plus several others at intermediate stages.
Machin collecting is not for the impatient or those with a short attention span, but you do have to control the pace of work.
Malcolm
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re: Machins, Bloody Machins! How to narrow the search for the holy grail(s) ?
best to sort under LW uv lamp ...
https://www.ebay.ca/sch/Light-Bulbs/20706/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=uv%20lamp%20bulbs&_dcat=20706&Type=Blacklight&rt=nc&_trksid=p2045573.m1684
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