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What can Be Done: Switzerland is one of the most specialized countries to collect. As part of the Central Europe German speaking band of Switzerland, Germany, and Austria, Switzerland is highly specialized in all of its phases. Before issuing stamps as a country, Switzerland issued stamps by various Swiss states (called Cantons). These Cantonal issues […]

What Can Be Done: Saxony is one of the four or five major German States and one of the most collected. There are many varieties of stamps. The first stamp, referred to usually quite simply as Saxony # 1 is a rarity and catalogs over $5000. There are many forgeries of this stamp, and even

What Can Be Done: Prussia was the main component state of the German federation that united in 1871. It was Prussian pressure on the rest of the German states that caused Germany to become one country. The reason for Germany uniting was to have the geopolitical heft to compete with the rest of Europe. But

What Can Be Done: Peru is one of the most interesting countries to collect. The stamps listed by Scott as the first issues were actually produced by the American Steam Ship Company and were only for use on mail leaving the country (Technically, as restricted issues, they shouldn’t be listed as #1-2, but Scott is

What Can Be Done: From a philatelic standpoint, Paraguay is as little regarded as it is as a nation. Landlocked, poor, and with a small population, Paraguay flies under the radar. When was the last time you saw a news story on the country? Until twenty years ago, Paraguay was really two countries—a wealthy, largely

What can Be Done: Suppose you really really want a country to cede or sell you a strip of land so you can build a canal. And suppose that country doesn’t want to do that. What do you do? Well, if you were the US in the early nineteenth century and the area was Central

What Can Be Done:  The history of the Indian sub-continent over the last 1200 years has been the geographic battle between peoples of the Hindu and Muslim faith. The Mughal Empire controlled most of India before ceding control to the British, and the simmering enmity between the Hindus and Moslems that British rule papered over

What Can Be Done: Philatelic interest is often inversely proportional to political and economic development. The reason is that poorer countries often cut corners in stamp production, reusing older issues by overprinting them. And it means that few native collectors put away any stocks of better stamps. There are few countries that have had worse

What Can Be Done: The six Australian States present stamp collectors with an entirely separate philatelic world in its own right. There is no British area in the hobby that is as specialized. Many collectors find New South Wales daunting and frankly, of all the Australian States, New South Wales presents the most challenges, many