John Apfelbaum

When speaking about errors, collectors must keep in mind the difference between errors of execution, which are rare, and errors of design, which are not. Sometimes a designer improperly researches his subject and a person is shown in a setting that is historically incorrect. Such historical anacronisms abound on stamps, as do wrong names for […]

Errors are made by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing every year. The most common of these are perforation errors, either adding an extra row of perfs where they shouldn’t be (not an important error), or omitting a row where there should be one (an important error). Coil stamps, that is, stamps issued in rolls,

The 1918 Airmail invert was not the first inverted-center stamp that the government ever unintentionally produced. Three values of the 1869 issue and three values of the 1901 Pan American Exposition issue are known inverted, and most of the previous inverts are scarcer, in some cases far scarcer, than the 1918 Airmail invert. But there

Rarities attract the most attention in the stamp world. They are really no more interesting than common stamps, but they receive more press. Dollar values are something that everyone can understand. Philatelic speakers who go before nonphilatelic groups to talk about philately and stamp investing usually find themselves ignored until dollar amounts are put on

The year 1908 was the 300th anniversary of the founding of Quebec, the first permanent settlement in Canada. The post office issued a set of eight stamps called by collectors the Quebec Tercentenary. The set is beautifully engraved and has long been a favorite with collectors.   After 1908, the stamps of Canada are quite

Queen Victoria died on January 29, 1901. When its next stamp was issued in 1903, Canada replaced Victoria’s picture with King Edward VII’s. The design characteristics of the Edward stamps are similar to the earlier Victoria ones, except that the maple leaves in the top corners have been replaced by Tudor crowns. The maple leaves

In 1899, a group of three-cent stamps were surcharged “Two cents” when the first-class postage rates changed a penny downwards at the end of 1898. These overprinted stamps are not scarce. In 1898, the set was modified slightly, and numerals, indicating the value of the stamp, were placed in the bottom corners so as to

The 1897 issue of Canada is called the Maple Leaf issue. Victoria was on this stamp again, as she was to be alive for four more years. She reigned all told for sixty-four years, and had the distinction of having been on more postage stamps from more countries than anyone at that time. In recent

In 1951, nearly thirty years after Burrus had attempted to claim the stamp for $30,000, the famous collector publicly made a charge that the British Guiana One Cent Magenta was in reality a fake, made up of a four-cent magent which had had the “FOUR” and the “S” at the end of “CENTS” chemically removed