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2026 Eastern Ontario Spri...
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Happy New Lunar Year the ...
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Gifts available for the F...
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Tuberculosis Awareness
Forum: Worldwide -- anything else that doesn't fit
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An Airmail Packet from Lo...
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Scott 3 Nova Scotia
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17-02-2026, 07:17 AM
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Scott 279A on cover
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Tariffs are gone
Forum: KSC Lounge
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An Invitation! Join the C...
Forum: Participate & Claim a Gift!
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17-02-2026, 01:18 AM
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Philate-buddy
Forum: KSC Lounge
Last Post: Carmen
15-02-2026, 07:24 AM
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So I go to our meeting yesterday with Good Intentions, and yet when I get home...
Sigh... so as seen in the pic:
- an American Philatelist and an interesting piece of postal history, to wit a letter marked Manual Sort Mail by Canada Post (thanks Richard!)
- some Titanic Stamps (thanks Mark!)
- a lovely Brittannia 10-pound high value stamp and some Canadian stamps (thanks John!)
STOP IT, PEOPLE! I'm trying to cull my collection LOL!
THEN I find out that Leon (who lives about 6-8 houses from me on the same street) is ALSO selling Stuff I Don't Need, so you KNOW I'm going to have to wander over there to have a look, RIGHT?
One of the questions people often ask is, I signed on to the forum, now what? What should I post about?
Great question. There are a lot of forums out there (not just this one) and the vast majority of people register, sign on once or twice and never return.
Surveys suggest the one of most common reasons for this is that they don't know what to say.
Here are a few suggestions:
1) Think of the forum as a place for show-and-tell ... something that is often hard to do at a club meeting. So, start off by showing us something from your collection. Anything will do. No deep analysis is required. It doesn't have to be a perfect example. If you want, no pressure, you can add a line or two about why you like it ... the design? It's a new acquisition, it's something I've had for a long time, It evokes a memory. Anything at all. If you feel so inclined, tell a story. But that's up to you. Start out simple. Show us somethig you like.
2) Play a game or start a theme .. show us a stamp with, for example, a train and invite others to join in.
3) Post a cover or stamp that has a postmark from today's date.
4) Start a thread called, for example, Korean Stamps ... and then post a stamp from your collection every day.
Have fun. Jump in. Just pretend we're all your houses guests and you're showing us your collection. We're all happy to pull up a chair.
And, if you see something others have posted, feel free to comment on it. Do you like it? Do you have something similar? Did it make you think of something? Do you have a question? This is a friendly and supportive space to let your inner stamp collector out to play.
Cheers, Hugh
My first stamp order from tusass, Greenland’s post office, has arrived. It included this mini sheet with a semi-postal from 1995 celebrating the 10th anniversary of the flag of Greenland. It is said to be the only country or territory flag in Scandinavia that doesn’t have the Nordic cross. I have to do some research to find out what cause the funds raised supported.
When you order from the post office in Greenland, your order is fulfilled in Denmark, I suspect by Nordfrim, and then mailed through the German post office. Like Nordfrim, tusass includes a small package of cancelled Greenland stamps to make up for the cold mechanical postage label - which is a collectible, if you like stark postal markings with no soul.
Their website includes downloadable copies of the Greenland equivalent of Canada Post’s “Details” magazine.
Definitely worth checking out at https://www.stamps.gl/en/greenland-collector .
Some watermarks are notoriously hard to find ... and photograph.
Others can be seen in normal light. A light table can really make them pop (and easier to photograph)
Here are a couple of examples using souvenir sheets from Danzig. Helping out is Meg.
Here's what they look like off the light table.
Loarn C French U.S. plate varieties Hard cover and autographed by writer. email me for price.
Just tuning in to CBC Gem to see the opening ceremonies of the Olympics and cannot stop thinking of Canada’s Olympic semi-postal stamps and the well intentioned politicos who went on the record to say they would pay for the Olympics. First issue 1974, 8 cent stamp, over 62 million printed. Second issue 1975, 8 cent stamp, 25 million printed. Third issue 1976, 8 cent stamp, 16 million printed.
I wasn’t collecting stamps in those days, but if I had been, I don’t think I would have been an enthusiastic buyer. They were ugly!
Another fifty-cent postal card ... It was posted in France and has a single ring CDS that reads CRÉCY EN PONTHIEU / SOMME inside the ring and 8. -8 in the centre. Contextual evidence suggests the year was 1915.
As near as I can make out, this one is addressed as follows ...
Correspondance des prisonniers de Guerre [Correspondence for Prisonniers of War]
au Soldat de Neuil Henri [To Solider Henri de Neuil]
sapeur du 3ème Génie, Cie 4/4 [Sapper, 3rd Engainer Corps, Company 4/4]
Interné au Camp de [Interned at the Camp at]
Friedrichsfeld, Baraque 5 [Friedrichsfeld, Barrack 5]
Wesel, N° 2208 [Wesel, No. 2208]
(Prusse Rhénane) via Pontarlier [Rhenish Prussie, via Pontarlier]
There is a lot to unpack here. A woman named Catherine is writing to Henri, her younger brother, a French soldier who is interned at Friedrichsfeld POW camp in Germany during World War I. She writes,
Mareesquelt, le 8 août 1915
Cher petit frère,
Sommes heureux d’avoir reçu ta carte de bonne santé.
C’est nous souhaitons qu’elle te trouve de même.
Je t'envoie un mandat ce Mardi.
Notre frère Charles et
notre Grand père, grand’mère, tantes, les cousins ainsi
que ta sœur Marcelle t’embrassent.
Je termine en t’embrassant bien fort.
Ta sœur qui pense à toi,
Catherine
[Maresquel, August 8, 1915
Dear little brother,
We were happy to receive your card letting us know you're in good health.
We hope this one finds you in the same condition.
I’m sending you a money order this Tuesday.
Our brother Charles, our grandfather, grandmother, aunts, cousins, and your sister Marcelle all send their love.
I’ll close now, embracing you warmly.
Your sister who is always thinking of you,
Catherine]
Maresquel was about 25 kilometers from where the card was postmarked.
The letter is being sent to the German POW camp via Switerzland. As can be seen, it is being routed to the French town of Pontarlier. From there, it will be moved accross to the border to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Switzerland (ICRC) who as a neutral party will facilitate the POW mail exchange between France and Germany. In August 1914, the ICRC established l'Agence Internationale des Prisonniers de Guerre [International Agency for Prisoners of War] in Geneva. Each side maintained the right to inspect and censor mail.
On the cover, we can see on the lower right a blue hand-stamp. This is a censor mark from the authorities at the Friedrichsfeld Camp. I can make out part of the printed text (Friedrichsfeld) confirming it was applied to the card at the camp.
Kriegsgefangenenlager Friedrichsfeld was a significant German POW camp during WW1. It was one of the larger camps and was located near the town of Wesel, in the Rhineland region (then known as Prussian Rhineland or "Prusse Rhénane"), close to the Rhine River. This area is in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
The picture side of the card shows a photo titled: MARCHEVILLE (Somme). — Entrée de Marcheville sur Danvast.
The Publisher appears to be Lèon Cueillez of Marcheville.
That was a lot of fun for fifty cents.
I wrote in the January newsletter about my first stamp album, which was part of a collectors set I was given in 1967. I am fond of any box of supplies that is intended to introduce someone to a new pastime, so I was absolutely thrilled to find this Canada Post Stamp Travellers Club box at the KSC auction last week:
It was less than $10 - ridiculously inexpensive, compared to listings on eBay, which want almost $40 just to ship the binder! I didn’t look in the box before bidding, beyond seeing the binder. I just opened it today, and found so much more:
The binder, a package of precision ruled “make them yourself” pages and country name labels, an unopened package of hinges, and a stock book with the Stamp Travellers Club logo.
The stock book was full of Machins - an iconic stamp I cannot get enough of. And the bottom of the box contained a selection of kiloware:
I am so glad I was there to get this fabulous item! We are very fortunate to have a club with such frequent auctions, and members with such wonderful stuff to sell.
See the thread at the top of this Forum for what's going on!
These are the participation gifts available leading up to the meeting for February 12.
Make your post, reply or comment in the proper forum and then come here and "Reply" to this post, say where you posted and claim one of the following gifts for delivery at the club on February 12, 2026. Webmaster (Roy) will put it aside with your name on it. Pick it up at the club. If you miss the meeting, so sorry, gift goes back into the pool. (We want you at the meetings too!)
More than one of each of these is available, but supplies of each are limited. Webmaster may not get to posting "This Gift is gone" in time, so it is possible you may be asked to pick an alternate.
#1
US $3.20 Space Shuttle used
#2
Bermuda Map Maximum Card
#3
Iceland FDC Maximum Card: ancient books
#4
GB Isle of Jethou FDC
#5
GB Lundy Island FDC
#6
Canada Trains FDC
25-01-2026, 08:03 PM
Forum: Announcements from Club Executive / Webmaster for everyone
- No Replies
We’d like to encourage more members to take part in our discussion board.
Launching "Participate and Pick up a Gift" !
Here’s how it works:
• Make any post on the discussion board (a new article, doesn't matter how long, a question, a comment, or a reply)
• Visit the “Gift Selection” post and choose one available item
• Pick up your gift at the next club meeting
Gifts are donated by the webmaster and will vary from meeting to meeting (covers, stamp packets, individual stamps or sets).
One gift per member, per meeting.
Please note: Gifts are picked up in person at the meeting -- if you miss the meeting, the gift goes back into the pool for next time. (We want you at the meetings too!)
Hope you like the gifts! Claim a new one every meeting. Just participate!
Roy