Australia - No, Not the Stamps of Austrailia

Australia, no, not the stamps of Australia which provide a fascinating story, but the movie Australia directed by Baz Luhrmann. Close to three hours long, it stars the beautiful Nicole Kidman and People's Sexiest Man Alive choice Hugh Jackman. To add to this great movie we have a newcomer, Brandon Walters, who plays the part of an Aboriginal lad Nullah. Hope we see more of Brandon. Wonderful cattle driving scenes in a spectacular country, the start of World War II in the Pacific, romance and social commentary all combine to make this picture not to be missed.



Oh yes, we may be able to help you with your Australian stamps want list as well.


Happy New Year!


John Talman
http://www.talmanstamps.com/

2006 Canadian Forces Snowbirds Stamps

We deal mostly in older issues and the recent issues usually reach us with large amounts of face value. Recently I purchased some of these 51c stamps and noted two upper right imprint blocks. One with white margin cut off at right (to show just the blue part) and one with white portion of margin attached, per the scan above. We would be interested in learning how this happened and if the larger imprint block is scarce.

John Talman
John H. Talman Ltd.
http://www.talmanstamps.com/

John Talman Will Make an Appearance on Irish TV!

Today our neighbour from The Claddagh House came by our store and asked if I would pose as a customer for a spot that they were doing for the Irish television channel RTE . Always a supporter of the Irish community (and married to an Irish woman named Jean) I agreed. Apparently this spot will air online on December 22!

For collectors of Irish stamps, we have a good stock of Ireland here at our store at 211 Yonge Street, suite 200 in downtown Toronto.

John Talman
www.talmanstamps.com

John Talman Featured in the Toronto Star

I'm not sure how long this link will last, but this Sunday we were featured in an article in the Toronto Star: http://www.thestar.com/article/519942

We will try to post a permanent link to this shortly.

John Talman
John H. Talman Ltd.
www.talmanstamps.com

Admiral Mystery!

CANADA
Scott #131 mint
One cent green Admiral coil pair with starter margin - unusual "U7" on top piece gum side. Fresh and fine, never hinged.

INFO SOUGHT! A parital "U7" appears on the back of tab at top of coil pair. Has anyone seen this before or offer an explanation?

John Talman - jtalman@interlog.com

http://www.talmanstamps.com/

New Canada - Unlisted Variety on Complete Booklet #BK80a

New Unlisted Booklet Variety - Our retail $7.50 + shipping and tax

Unitrade #BK80a mint
Unlisted variety on BK80a - flag on left 5c stamp almost missing. VF-NH.

jtalman@interlog.com

Eagles' Club - Certificate of Appreciation

I was recently honoured for my contribution to the Eagles' Club where I hold my auctions:

400th Anniversary of Founding of Quebec as Seen by Paris Match

The National Post of Saturday June 28, 2008 points out that a leading French magazine's special edition on Quebec's 400th Anniversary confused the founding of the city (Quebec) with that of the province (Quebec). Apparently there is not a line in the 30 page special about Quebec City. Instead, they concentrate on Montreal, the rival of Quebec City.

Obviously no stamp collectors were involved or they would remember Canada #96-103 and the May 16, 2008 stamp for the founding of Quebec City.

Extremely Rare British Commonwealth Cover for Sale

(click on image to see larger view)

Only 24 of this stamp were issued - the figures are found in Stanley Gibbons' catalogue and elsewhere. Thus this is one of the rarest covers in British Commonwealth collecting. The item will be sold in H.R. Harmer Inc. sale of June 6, 2008 - www.hrharmer.com

Canada's Mountie Stamp of 1935

The Unitrade Specialized Catalogue of Canadian Stamps is a wonderful reference book, but it can't list all the knowlege gathered by philatelists over the years. I was lucky enough to find an article by Ronald Tuckwell called "Fortunate Flaws" and published in "The Canadian Magazine" in August 1938. I think you will enjoy his write up on Unitrade #223, the Mountie stamp of 1935. The article was issued just prior to the release of a new set of pictorials in 1938. One comment I can't help repeating regards #223ii, the broken leg variety. This currently lists VF mint at $2200 plus 50% for never hinged. In 1938 the author states "already more than one single copy of it has sold for as high as five dollars!" The low price was 10c from the post office. Click on the article to see a larger version.

Canada's New Braille Stamp

The April 25th Toronto Sun (page 26 - click on the article above for a larger version) shows an enlargement of Canada's first braille stamp. The stamp shows a lady from the waist down, holding a handle on a guide dog's harness. Though the dog is now famous, the article tells us that the dog never passed the rigorous training to be a guide dog. So, we now have a guide dog stamp showing a non-guide dog!! I think the dog should get a second chance to pass the tests!

2006 Canada Post Snowbirds Souvenir Sheet

In 2006 Canada Post issued a pair of stamps plus a souvenir sheet for Canadian Forces Snowbirds (See Unitrade #2159b and #2158-59) If you check the thematic collections list on page 517 of the current Unitrade, they list no. 147 as Snowbirds Stamp and Coin Set - listed at $120.00. The souvenir sheet has a special overprint "Flown by the Snowbirds on 2006-03-27" Only about 25,555 were flown and overprinted like this. One will be sold in our April 2008 sale.

David Wilson Reading at the Brazen Head Pub

Last night Jean and I attended a reading of David Wilson at the Brazen Head Pub in downtown Toronto. David was reading from his new book Thomas D'Arcy McGee. Below is a picture of Jean and I with David Wilson, Professor Mairin Nic Dhiarmada, and a University of Toronto student.

80c Peary Caribou Stamp - Scarce Perf.

Unitrade #1180c - 80c Peary Caribou - the sheet stamp comes in two different perfs. The scarcer perf. is 14.4 X 13.8 and if you have one of the 1991 Jan/June stamp packs from Canada Post, you should find an example in the pack.

John Talman
jtalman@interlog.com

www.talmanstamps.com

Unitrade #BK88b - New Variety?

The 1985 34c Parliament Buildings 50c Booklet has shown up with what I think is a new variety. These booklets normally have 37 vertical perfs. and are usually 69 ½ cm high. A number exist 72 cm long and while they still have 37 vertical perfs, there is room for at least one more perf. at the bottom on the larger panes. Without the perf. the pane looks partially imperf. at bottom. Differences in pane sizes are noted on Unitrade #BK78a and 78b and 80f but not noted on #BK88b. We are selling these for $15.00 per booklet, plus shipping and taxes (for buyers in Canada)

Foreign Stamps Wanted!

We have many buyers worldwide looking for foreign stamps. Our regular buyers at this time are especially looking for German collections and better items. During the past two years we have sold a major holding of Thailand and Spanish stamps which was very successful for all involved. Let us know what you have and we will be pleased to advise you on its sale. jtalman@interlog.com