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Over the last 20 years, Scott's catalogs have depicted only one stamp out of
a set, making it difficult for the average collector to locate a proper catalog
number. Even those of us who use a catalog regularly have trouble. They used to
show them all, but now there are just too many stamps issued for every country.
I'll tell you some of the things I do to make it a little easier.
If you have a used stamp, sometimes you can find a date in the cancellation that
will give you the year the stamp was used. If you were lucky to find this, just
look at stamps issued that year and of course read the information that
describes the stamps in sets issued that year. Also be aware that some country's
stamps have the year printed on them near the bottom of the design. This really
makes it easy!
Another thing I do is check the stamp's denomination. For example, if you have
one showing 50 pfennigs, start looking for sets of stamps that have a 50
pfennigs stamp in them, then try to find a match. You'll also notice that every
so often postage rates change. Check catalog pages that have similar values
within sets. That's easier than looking at all the pictures trying to find your
stamp.
I find it useful at times to check the currency. There are occasions when money
changes. As an example, some countries that used pence and pounds switched to
cents and dollars in 1969. Start checking the catalog where such changes took
place. This can save a lot of time.
Check the stamp carefully. In many cases stamps within a set depict the same
subject or topic. If the unidentified stamp shows fish, look for catalog
pictures of fish. If the stamp shows the leader of a country, again look for a
stamp with that same theme. Sometimes the borders of sets will look the same,
too.
Even with all of these suggestions, you'll still have some stumpers. There's no
way of getting around it. You have to do a lot of research. Most difficult are
non-Scott listed issues, viewed as non-postal releases by the editors. Foreign
catalogs are the only solution here.
I even went as far as buying foreign language dictionaries that convert to
English. I have French, German and Spanish dictionaries that I refer to quite
frequently. Understanding the words on a stamp could help identify it.
If you still have trouble after trying all the above, my only suggestion would
be to close your books and try again another time. Often years may pass before
you or your friends finally figure it out!
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