More on the press sheet

In today's Linns stamp news, there was an add by Marlen Stamps offering the entire uncut press sheet for the Children's Games issue for $159. So, if you missed out on the offer to get it from the Philatelic Service (although, I am not sure if it is sold out or not, so you might have a chance to still get it from them), and don't want to chance an e-bay auction (where the lowest start price I have seen is $150), you can get it for just about double the new issue price from Marlen.

And the market comes crashing down

Last year, when Israel released the first uncut press sheet, lots of dealers on E-bay were asking for ridiculous prices for imperf singles, tabs, plate blocks, and sheets. With the release of the second sheet, the same thing was seen for the first few weeks. Now, I am seeing the complete press sheet listed for a buy it now price of $200, and auctions with a starting price as low as $150. While this is still more than 2x the issue price, it is a far cry from the 20x price on the first sheet. When the speculators find that the crazy prices aren't going to materialize, I expect that we will see next years sheet fail to sell out.

Year of Chemistry stamp plate variety

It was brought to my attention today that the 6.10 NIS Chemistry stamp from January 2011 has a plate variety. It is in the tab and not the stamp itself. If you look at the blue block with the C in it, you can see that the year 2011 is printed there. On some of the stamps, the top part of the blue wasn't printed completely, so the year is missing. This is a constant plate variety, and I am not sure how many of the tabs have it, but it is at least 1 on every sheet. Take a look at your stamps and see which variety you have.

While we are talking about plate varieties, the 5.90 NIS New Years stamp also has one. On the bottom row of stamps, the Arabic is different than it is on the other rows of stamps. It appears to be partially cut. All of the tab stamps have the incorrect Arabic, while all the other stamps have it correct. Luckily, I collect both tabs and plate blocks, so I have both varieties covered.

Coming in 2012

I just received my final order of 2011 from the philatelic service. I was surprised to see the inclusion of a sheet with the 2012 stamp program included. I don't recall seeing this in prior years. There are 5 scheduled releases of stamps in 2012:

February:

1. Pioneering Israeli Women
2. Technion - Cornerstone Centennial
3. In Memory - definitive
4. Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi
5. Justice in Jerusalem, 1961
6. High Priest Breastplate

April:

1. Memorial Day
2. Joint Issue Israel-China
3. The Generations Center, the Western Wall, Jerusalem
4. The Renaissance of Hebrew Seamanship
5. High Priest Breastplate (2)
6. Children's Books

June:

1. Joint Issue Israel-Nepal
2. Teddy Kollek, Mayor of Jerusalem
3. Olympic Games, London 2012
4. High Priest Breastplate (3)

September:

1. Festivals 2012
2. International Police Association
3. Contribution of Veteran Citizens to Israel
4. 100-Hadassah, THe Women's Zionist Organization in America
5. High Priest Breastplate Souvenir Sheet
6. Tourism - Visit Israel 2012

December:

1. Joint Issue with India
2. Philately Day
3. Electric Car in Israel
4. Saving Wild Animals
5. Koren Bible Jerusalem - 50 Years

In addition, there will be a thematic series of postage labels (I assume they are talking about SIMA stamps) featuring endangered sea creatures. I assume this will be similar to the issue of birds in 2010 and deer in 2011,w here they will have a different label at each machine, and they will be issued throughout the year.

The High Priest Breastplate stamps are called out as a unique multi-part special issue, issued in 3 parts and culminating with a souvenir sheet.

The memorial stamp will be issued as a "My Own Stamp" sheet. This is what I call generic sheets. The flyer calls it an opportunity to memorialize a photo of a loved one alongside an appropriately themed State of Israel stamp.

New uncut press sheet coming

I have heard from several sources that there will be a new uncut press sheet released this year from the philatelic service. I have had it confirmed from the philatelic service that it will be for the Children's Games mini sheets, and details will be released "very soon". As soon as I hear more, I will let you know. The first sheet sold out quickly, and people were selling pieces of the sheet on E-bay for astronomical prices. I don't think many of these sold, and my offer to trade my full sheet for a set of 7-9 with tabs has had no takers (but, is still open if anyone should want to trade). It will be interesting to see what happens with this sheet.

Scott catalog anomolies

In today's Linn's the Scott catalog numbers for some Israel stamps were finally updated. The last time catalog numbers were updated for Israel was in March, so there have been lots of new stamps issued, but the new update only covers stamps issued through February.

The first entry has been given Scott number 1472a. The description is Hakhel Le Yisrael type of 2002 and shows an issue date of 11/21/10. I had no idea what this stamp was referring to. I looked at Scott 1472 to try and figure out what this was referring to. 1472 is pictured here on the left. Was there a reprint in 2010 I missed? Nope. Looking through my FDC's, I found what this entry is referring to. It is from the Jerusalem prestige booklet. There are 11 different stamps in the booklet, and they are now listed in Scott as separate stamps. 4 of them have minor numbers (1472a, 1610a, 1827a, and 1830a) and 7 are given major numbers (1861-7). Why the difference? According to the new issues editor at the Scott catalog, the ones given new major numbers are different in size from the originals, while the ones with minor numbers just have perf differences. In checking the prior prestige booklets, I found this is the only one listed in Scott at all. The reason? Previous booklets sold for more than 50% above face value, while this one carried only a 35% premium, so it merits inclusion. How is it listed in my database? As Prestige Booklet #8.

In another head-scratcher, the animation sheet is listed as 1845, with the individual stamps each getting a letter (a-o), So, you would assume the animation booklet would be treated the same, right? Apparently not. The booklet panes are each given their own number, from 1846-1860. Why? I think the booklet should be counted as a whole, so it is Prestige Booklet #7 for me. Why a prestige booklet and not a normal booklet? It was sold at a premium over face, and while valid for postage, was not really intended to be used.

E-bay success

Well, all of my E-bay lots from last week sold. I was pleasantly surprised. The Mejujaim lots went for a lot more than I had hoped for. As a result of my initial success, I posted another 23 lots. Included in this batch are a bunch of souvenir leafs, as well as a few of the special souvenir sheets Israel has issued in the past few years. I had managed to acquire duplicates of both the Israel 98 imperf sheets (mint and FDC) as well as the Parting of the Red Sea issue form this past year (again, Mint and FDC). Hopefully, my success continues.