June 1979 - International Philippine Philatelic Society

..numbers. Yet subsequent issues at the Bureau ofEngraving_and Printing also are found on cover andbear imprint plate numbers, but remain unlistedand u npriced in those categories, in Scott or anyother catalog. As far as I know, no study of thoselater plate ·numbers has yet been published. andmost examples can be purchased at little or no premium.But someone eventually will publish such astudy. and many of the plate blocks will thenquickly become priced at considerable more thanthe traditional six or seven times the price of asingle. Presently. no one knows the relative scarcityof the various plate blocks of that period; over thelonger run, I think they offer good investmentpotential.In the same period. commercial covers bearingexamples of the 1914-23 Perf. 10 Regular Issues(excepting the 2c, 4c, and 20c values) are surprisinglyscarce, and when fou nd, bring ever-increasingprices. It is difficult to be too specific, becausepostmarks, registry, paquebot and other postalmarkings affect the value of a cover to thespecialist collector. Most of the 2c values of theperiod are very commonly found on cover, andscarcely deserve a second look. But not so with No.326, the 2c coil stamp of 1928. Soon after release,it became evident that coil stamps simply are notcompatible with the tropical climate of the Phil­"ippines. I have never seen nor heard of No. 326on cover, yet it stands to reason that such mustexist. If you have one, I know where you canget considerably more than the undoubted twobitsyou paid for it.JAPANESE OCCUPATION. This is my area ofparticular interest, and it abounds in scarce andrare covers with good investment potential. Stern-Iy limiting myself to the discussion of but oneexample, Scott prices FOCs of N29-31 and N29a­31a at $1.25, which I think is reasonable and proper~ for FOCs postmarked at Manila, and onlyat Manila. In fact, FOCs of October 14, 1943,were processed in 47 different provincial citiesand town in the Occupied Philippines, and manyare very scarce indeed. I have been searching formany years and still lack one town; I still hope tofind it for 50d or so in a dealer's "bargain box,"but probably will have to pay the $50.00 or so itis truly worth.POSTAL STATIONERY. Scott lists only the majornumbers, and recently has increased prices substantially,almost across the board. But the specialistcollector goes beyond the general listing to thespecialiZed listings in the Philippines Section ofthe UPSS catalog, The Postal Stationery of thePossessions and Administrative Areas of TheUnited States. Unfortunately, the prices appearingin that 1972 publication are more sadly out ofdate, but that defect inhibits the dedicated collectorsnot at all. With monotonous regularity, examplesof Philippine postal stationery exchange handsin auction and private treaty sales at prices inexcess of those listed in either catalog. Many collectorscannot, and most dealers will not take thetime and trouble properly to identify postalstationery by size, knife, watermark, etc. . as aconsequence of which examples will change handsmany times at modest prices - until a specialistcollector gets his hands on it, identifies it correctly,and suddenly, the price advances in satisfying multipliers.I guess that could be called "investing,"of sorts; whatever it is, its great fun.,The WAMARVA Philippine Study Group announcesthat it will host a get-together for Philippinephilatelic societies at BALPEX in HuntValley, Maryland The get-together will includea special guest lecturer and is scheduled for 2 pm,Saturday, September 1 at the Hunt VaHey Inn.Over the past several years, enthusiastic collectorsin the Washington-Maryland-Virginia area haveregularly been meeting to discuss their commoninterest-Philippine Philately. As a result of thesemeetings, the WAMARVA Philippine Study Groupwas formed. To the casual observer, these collectorsappear somewhat peculiar due to their unusuallanguage which includes words like papelessellaclos, Aquinaldo. Iloilo and Zamboanga. How-ever, it is their interest in this peculiar languagewhich binds them together.It is hoped that collectors from each of the Philippmesocieties will be present at the September 1meeting at BALPEX. The major societies are theUnited States Possessions Philatelic Society, Phi!­ippine Philatelic Society, International PhilippinePhilatelic Society, and the Philippine PhilatelicSociety of Australia.If you are interested in attending the BALPEXmeeting or attending the monthly meetings of theWAMARVA Philippine Study Group, contact DonPeterson, 320 N.Columbus, Alexandria, Virginia223141703-548-20961.