Designed to pass the time when you are supposed to be working, or mowing the lawn, or doing something actually useful! Feel free to start your own new similar nonsense threads. "The Food Association Thread" and "Counting down from 300 Thread" and other similar intellectual classics.
Here's an idea for a philatelic game that anyone may participate in. Someone posts scans of random stamps -- any country, any period -- let's limit ourselves with mint postage stamps at the moment, not revenues, cinderellas, etc. The game is to recognize the stamp on the scan and name it (country, year, catalogue number). The catch? Only a very limited portion of the stamp image is visible!
Some stamps may be easier to identify given only a portion of the image, others less so. I'll start.
Here are 7 fragments of 7 different postage stamps. If you correctly recognize 1, you get 1 point. When all are identified, somebody else may post his fragments for others to puzzle themselves with. Have fun!
Collecting stamps is the beginning of philately. Knowing about them is what really matters. Major R. N. Spafford
The only one that stood out for me was the one iomoon answered. Just wondering if it's a bit slow to get answers flowing in then perhaps you might need to make the scan show a little bit more of the stamp than their currently is.
Tony "A cancelled stamp tells part of the story, a cover tells it all"
Maybe remove the one that was quessed and the member who quessed it gets to add his own
I AM ALWAYS IN THE MIDDLE SouthSydneyRabbitohsNRLPremiers1908,1909,1914,1918,1925,1926,1927,1928,1929,1931,1932,1950,1951,1953,1954,1955,1967,1968,1970,1971, 2014
good idea, but besides the cutout of the Victorialand issue I can't find out where the others are from.
Maybe other stampboarders know more.
I'd like to suggest, that you remove cutouts that remain longer than 30 days unidentified.
Now let's have some of the stamps identified Don't hesitate to post your guesses, even if incorrect. Let's try this: if a week passes and a stamp remains hidded its point cost increases by 1 point (provided this thread gets enough exposure of course). So when finally someone identifies it, he gets several points instead of just one. When we have many people with points, then the competition will really get rolling. Some prizes could be established for first or maybe even three top results.
Meanwhile, a hint: all of the stamps in this 1st round are from the British Empire. Some are really very obvious
Collecting stamps is the beginning of philately. Knowing about them is what really matters. Major R. N. Spafford
Well, since this is our first round let's be generous and count that one as a full point. In the future however please post at least country name, year, and a cat. number (any world catalogue will do). Plus any additional details (optional).
Cyprus 1928 £1 SG 132 it is:
The mesh patterns on this stamp are unique to it, and it is easily recognizable thus.
crazygerman wrote:If you know it, it is always easy to recognize ...
There's one more rule to this game: a fragment must be uniquely identifiable, at least in theory. In other words, someone who has a 100% photographic memory and has seen all stamps in existance must be able to immediately recognize it. If a fragment pictures a design part common to many stamps (a QEII oval portrait, for example) that would not be possible.
Most of us hovewer do not possess these qualities and that makes the game interesting
Collecting stamps is the beginning of philately. Knowing about them is what really matters. Major R. N. Spafford
While I find the idea of your game rather attractive, I am just wondering for whom you intended it? As Brummie said, we can always watch and learn. No doubt about that. But who is meant to play the game?
If you collect a country you will probably have a good idea for identification. For example, anyone who collects the country of the stamp a portion of which is shown below will not take more than 2 seconds to identify it.
But if you don't collect that country, I guess you will never find the answer.
I will follow this thread with interest because you can always learn, but I don't reckon I will be proposing answers very often.
Alastair, the fragments I posted already cover several different countries between them, although all are from the British area. I intend to broaden the horizons further and use stamps from many more countries, Europe certainly included. So I'm sure you'll find something from your area of interest as well.
Collecting stamps is the beginning of philately. Knowing about them is what really matters. Major R. N. Spafford
Glen, "Ceres the Sower" is mixing two different series. The portion I showed is uniquely identifiable to a single SG/Y&T/Maury number and year.
Thanks for showing the Sacré Coeur.
DCP23, I was not in any way trying to suggest the partial scans would be "partisan" to any particular countries or eras. I was just wondering if you expect people to know the stamps from every country? Surely most people specialise in some sector which they may well be able to identify but are far less knowledgeable about the other 90% of the world. Or am I the only ignoramous?
Alastair wrote:DCP23, I was not in any way trying to suggest the partial scans would be "partisan" to any particular countries or eras. I was just wondering if you expect people to know the stamps from every country? Surely most people specialise in some sector which they may well be able to identify but are far less knowledgeable about the other 90% of the world. Or am I the only ignoramous?
You know, there is a humorous saying in one of the Transcaucasian republics bordering on Russia: "It is impossible to make love to all the women in the world, but any real man must give his best in an attempt to do so!". So it is with stamps for any real philatelist, I believe Most of us give up trying to collect 'whole world' early in our philatelic careers but to give up trying to know about all stamps? Never!!! 8)
Collecting stamps is the beginning of philately. Knowing about them is what really matters. Major R. N. Spafford
Well said, and, as I mentioned in my first post, that is why I will follow this thread with interest. But that doesn't answer my question as to who is the intended audience for answers. There are certainly many people on this board who have a very wide knowledge of world stamps.
Is the intention to stick with "well known" stamps (whatever that may mean)? I'm sure I could but up some scans that no one would ever find. OK, I exagerate.
I'm just trying to understand the intent here. Apart from having fun and teaching people like myself who have little experience. Presumably the answers are to be "findable"?
Alastair wrote:I'm just trying to understand the intent here. Apart from having fun and teaching people like myself who have little experience. Presumably the answers are to be "findable"?
Yes, definitely the answers are to be 'findable'. And as you can see, they are! Most are already found. I think we may introduce a scale, with more points being awarded for 'tough' stamps and less for 'easy' stamps. It's only subjective of course. We'll see how it works out.
Collecting stamps is the beginning of philately. Knowing about them is what really matters. Major R. N. Spafford
For example, anyone who collects the country of the stamp a portion of which is shown below will not take more than 2 seconds to identify it.
Yup, easy one for me as I had a nice France collection at one time. Alastair's offering is France Scott #155 issued in 1906 10c red Sower with ground under feet of figure. All other issues of this type were without the ground under feet.
beamersrq wrote:Yup, easy one for me as I had a nice France collection at one time. Alastair's offering is France Scott #155 issued in 1906 10c red Sower with ground under feet of figure. All other issues of this type were without the ground under feet.
Darn, now I remember reading about it somewhere. Let's wait for Alastair to confirm and the point is yours.
Collecting stamps is the beginning of philately. Knowing about them is what really matters. Major R. N. Spafford
Beamsersrq is absoluely right! The only Sower with ground. Just before the 10c and 35c with "thin values". It is also the first "Cameo Sower" i.e. with a full background. The previous ones had a lined background with horizon and rising sun.
Alastair wrote:
DCP23, I was not in any way trying to suggest the partial scans would be "partisan" to any particular countries or eras. I was just wondering if you expect people to know the stamps from every country? Surely most people specialise in some sector which they may well be able to identify but are far less knowledgeable about the other 90% of the world. Or am I the only ignoramous?
I would tend to disagree that one needs to have specialized knowledge about "the other 90% of the world" as long as the stamps are identifiable. One can employ knowledge of culture to identify the country of origin in some cases.
Plus one can employ some psychiatry - DCP23 told us they were going to be Empire stamps, but it would have been highly likely from his collecting interests. Moreover, most are high value stamps. If I were to put up some images, it would be highly likely that they would be volcano stamps.
