Spain - Bud's Big Blue

1851-1861 Spain in Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Observations

From Jim: Bud is well, but has a lot of non philatelic obligations and responsibilities at the moment. With his permission, I will upload  country pages in his complete '69 Big Blue that so far has not been shown. He might add his observations later. Enjoy!)

Jim's Observations

Spain, on the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe, emerged already in the 15th century as a unified country. And, through its global colonial empire, the culture and Castilian language of Spain spread and encompasses some 500 million world citizens today.

Bypassing much history in order to be closer to the philatelic era....

Ferdinand VII (1814-1833) was restored as absolute monarch in 1823 with the help of the French. He returned conservative policies, restored the Jesuits, and reinstated the Spanish Inquisition. As he had only a female heir presumptive, and not wanting to have his reactionary brother Infante Carlos of Spain  succeed him, he declared the "Pragmatic Sanction" in 1830, enabling his infant daughter Isabella to become Queen.

With Ferdinand's death in 1833 at age 49, three year old Isabella became "Queen", although her mother Maria Christina was named regent for her daughter. Carlos, however, declared himself the rightful heir, and hence there was some 50 years of unrest and (Carlist) civil war. 

Isabella II assumed majority rule in 1843 when she was only thirteen years old.

She held the title Her Majesty Queen Isabella II, The Queen of Spain until 1870.

Spain was not very effectual as a nation during Isabella's reign, and blaming in part the Queen, in 1868 the army defected to the revolutionary generals (Glorious Revolution era, Provisional Government 1868-71). The Queen was forced into exile, retired from Spanish politics, and lived in Paris until her death in 1904.

But she is remembered fondly by philatelists and postal historians, because her visage is on the very first postage stamp of Spain of 1850. And she is literally the "face" of Spanish stamps until 1868, with 22 stamp visage and/or  frame different designs.

Recounting the entire turbulent history of Spain during the philatelic era would require an encyclopedic review. I will only give a very brief synopsis here.

In short: The monarchy continued in variable health until 1931, when Spain became a republic. The ultranationalist totalitarian regime of General Francisco Franco was established after the 1936-39 Civil War.

The 2014 Scott Classic Specialized 1840-1940 catalogue has, for Spain 1850-1940 ( a few issues go to 1947) - 1171 major stamp descriptions. Of those 1,057 are the "usual" categories. Then, there are 114 stamps for 1873-75 Carlist stamps and 1936-37 Revolutionary overprints.

For the 1171 major stamp descriptions, 569 are CV <$1-$1+, or 48%. There are many Spanish stamps during the classical era that are inexpensive for the WW collector. Naturally, earlier issues are more expensive.

Spain's stamps also reflect the reality that there have been changes in government.

Kingdom 1850-1869
Provisional Government 1868-1869
Duke de la Torre Regency 1870
Kingdom 1872-1873
First Republic 1873-1874
Kingdom 1875-1930
Revolutionary Issues 1931
Republic 1931-1938
Spanish State 1936-1947
Also...
Carlist stamps 1873-1875
Revolutionary Overprints 1936-1937

Big Blue "69, on 23 pages, has 567 spaces for the stamps of Spain. BB's coverage is 48%. Categories include regular, semi-postal, air post, semi-postal air post, air post special delivery, official, official air post, special delivery, semi-postal special delivery, postal tax, and delivery tax. Categories not included in BB are war tax, franchise, carlist stamps, and revolutionary overprints. Of interest, Spain never issued postage due stamps.

The BB 1940s editions appear to be identical, except for some minor rearrangement, and the "69 edition has spaces for Special Delivery E4 & E5.

For interest, here is the stamp space count in BB for the top countries.

762 Germany
755 Austria
752 France
644* United States
620 Hungary
617 Italy
582 Salvador
569 Nicaragua
567 Spain

Spain has the ninth slot for stamp space count in BB.
*Note: The U.S. has more than 644 spaces, but I didn't include cut squares.

Big Blue has forty spaces that require a stamp with a CV $10+: seven of which are in the "most expensive" category ($35+).  For specifics, see the "comments" section below the checklist. The most costly is the 1938 Scott 613 5p dark brown "Bomb Throwing"($200)!!!, from an issue honoring the militia, and only available from the Philatelic Agency.

Be aware that the "Barcelona Exposition Issue" ....

Postal Tax

1929-31

“RA1”,”RA2”,”RA3”,”RA4”,”RA5”,”RA6”,

“RA7”,”RA8”,”RA9”,”RA10”,”RA11”,”RA12”,

....are dropped (not active) Scott numbers, as this issue is no longer in the catalogue.

Also, there are color descriptive changes for some spaces between today's Scott catalogue and Big Blue. I didn't comment (except for one space), as it should cause no particular confusion.

For more on the stamps themselves with an emphasis on the earlier issues, as well as the extensive checklist, click on the link below.

Spain Blog Post & BB Checklist

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South West Africa - Bud's Big Blue

1923-26 South West Africa in Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Observations

(From Jim: Bud is well, but has a lot of non philatelic obligations and responsibilities at the moment. With his permission, I will upload  country pages in his complete '69 Big Blue that so far has not been shown. He might add his observations later. Enjoy!)

Jim's Observations

South West Africa, located between Angola and the Union (later Republic) of South Africa, was occupied in 1915, then administered by the Union of South Africa under a 1922 mandate of the League of Nations.

German South-West Africa had been a colony of the German Empire since 1884. It was invaded and occupied by South African troops on behalf of the British Crown and government in 1915 at the onset of WW I. (Of interest, there was sympathy for the German cause among the Boer population of South Africa, and a Boer Revolt (Maritz Rebellion) had to be put down.)

There is still much German legacy in South West Africa (now Namibia 1990), with 30,000 German descendants, German geographic names, buildings, businesses, a newspaper, and a radio station.

After WW I, as mentioned, South West Africa was administered by the Union of South Africa as a League of Nations Mandate territory under the Treaty of Versailles.

South African stamps were used from 1914 to 1923.

"South West Africa" stamps were introduced in 1923, using the stamps of South Africa, which were alternately overprinted in English or Afrikaans throughout the sheets.

he 2014 Scott Classic 1940-1940 catalogue has, for South West Africa 1923-1952, 217 major number descriptions.  This, of course, grossly underestimates the number of stamps to be collected, as almost all of the numbers have an English script stamp and an Afrikaans script stamp, collected either as separate singles or as a pair. Some are actually collected as a strip of three. A quick accounting would suggest there are ~ 405 stamps to be collected during this era.

Of the 405 stamps total, 273 are CV <$1-$1+, counting as singles, or 67%. (Many would be much more expensive if collected as intact pairs.)

Big Blue '69, on four pages, has 103 spaces for the 1923-1939 stamps of South West Africa. As many stamps are actually a double (English and Afrikaans stamp), the major descriptive numbers in BB are 55.

There are 171 major descriptive numbers for 1923-1939 in the Scott catalogue, and therefore coverage in BB is 32%.

There are ~ 311 individual stamps to collect for the 1923-1939 era. Coverage- using this criteria- in BB is 33%.

Expensive stamps in BB: There would be more, but I am only pricing out singles, not intact pairs.

With that, there is only one stamp (1931 Scott J90 6p gray & black) with CV $10+.

BB gives no spaces to Officials.

For more on the stamps themselves, click on the link below.

South West Africa Blog Post & BB Checklist

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South Russia - Bud's Big Blue

1919 South Russia in Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Observations

(From Jim: Bud is well, but has a lot of non philatelic obligations and responsibilities at the moment. With his permission, I will upload  country pages in his complete '69 Big Blue that so far has not been shown. He might add his observations later. Enjoy!)

Jim's Observations

"South Russia", in southern Russia next to the Caspian and the Black Seas, was an area where the White forces under General Denikin set up a provisional government in opposition to the Bolsheviks and the Red Army during the Russian Civil War of 1918-20.

For philatelists, the "Fog of War" left tangible pieces of evidence: Stamps issued by the White forces, and used for field postal operations.

The 2014 Scott Classic 1840-1940 catalogue has, for South Russia 1918-20, 55 major descriptive numbers. Of those, 23 are CV <$1-$1+, or 42%. A representative collection should be no problem to accumulate for the WW classical collector.

The most difficult thing for the collector may be just recognizing the stamps, as they give little clue, save for the Denikin issue, of their origin. That is because they mostly consist of surcharges on 1909-17 Russian stamps. !

Even if many of the stamps do not have much catalogue value, most (all?) have been overprint forged. So Caveat Emptor- do not pay much for these stamps, unless one is dealing with a reputable source.

Big Blue '69, on two lines of one page (shared with Western Ukraine), has 10 spaces for the stamps of South Russia, all for the 1919 Denikin issue.  Coverage is 18%. The coverage is all or nothing: The entire Denikin issue, save for the 7r denomination, is given a space, but none of the surcharged issues are given any room. A pity, because these surcharged stamps are often left as unrecognized orphans in BB feeder albums.

There are no expensive ($10+) stamps required.

The other question one might ask is, why is "South Russia" stuck in the '69 Big Blue between a couple of "W" countries, Western Ukraine and Wurttemberg?

The '69 edition editors decommissioned "White Russia"- as their stamps no longer appeared in the Scott catalogue. Hence, "South Russia" was moved from between Saxony and Senegal in the 1940s editions to reside where "White Russia" had been located.  

For more on the stamps themselves, click on the link below.

South Russia Blog Post & BB Checklist

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Southern Rhodesia - Bud's Big Blue

1924-34 Southern Rhodesia in Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Observations

(From Jim: Bud is well, but has a lot of non philatelic obligations and responsibilities at the moment. With his permission, I will upload  country pages in his complete '69 Big Blue that so far has not been shown. He might add his observations later. Enjoy!)

Jim's Observations

Before 1923, the territory was administered by the British South Africa Company. By way of history, BSAC, which governed and administered the lands by Royal Charter from 1889-1923, named the territory north of the Zambezi  "Northern Rhodesia", and the lands south of the Zambezi "Southern Rhodesia". Both territories were called by the white settlers, "Rhodesia", after Cecil Rhodes, the founder of BSAC.

In 1923, the BSAC no longer administered the territories, and Southern Rhodesia (1924-1964), at the request of the inhabitants,  became a self governing crown colony. (To confuse things, it was known as "Rhodesia", -although not recognized as such internationally- from 1965-1979.)  With independence in 1980, it became Zimbabwe

More precisely, a 1922 referendum showed 59% of voters favoring "responsible government" rather than joining the Union of South Africa.

The capital was Salisbury (name changed to Harare after independence), and the population was 38,000 whites (4%) and 922,000 blacks (96%) in 1927.

Stamps were issued under "Southern Rhodesia" between 1924-1953. (One definitive set was issued in 1964 also.)

The 2014 Scott Classic Specialized 1840-1940 catalogue has, for Southern Rhodesia 1924-1951, 78 major descriptive numbers. Of those, 40 are CV <$1-$1+, or 52%.

Big Blue '69, on 1 2/3 page, has 51 spaces for 1924-1940 Southern Rhodesia. The pages are located between Somali Coast and South Africa, with Southern Nigeria sharing 1/3 page.

Subtracting the post 1940 issues in the 1840-1940 catalogue (17 stamps), the coverage in Big Blue is 84%- very good.

Five stamps are CV $10+-$20+

For more on the politics and the stamps themselves, click on the link below.

Southern Rhodesia Blog Post & BB Checklist

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Southern Nigeria - Bud's Big Blue

1901-13 Southern Nigeria in Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Observations

(From Jim: Bud is well, but has a lot of non philatelic obligations and responsibilities at the moment. With his permission, I will upload  country pages in his complete '69 Big Blue that so far has not been shown. He might add his observations later. Enjoy!)

Jim's Observations

The British protectorate of Southern Nigeria was formed on January 1, 1900 along coastal Nigeria and the Niger River by combining the Niger Coast Protectorate with territories held below Lokaja on the Niger River by the Royal Niger Company.

"Southern Nigeria" stamps depicting Queen Victoria were issued in 1901.

The British chartered Royal Niger Company had held the lands along the lower Niger beginning in 1879. This prevented the Germans under Bismarck from entering and controlling the lower Niger in the 1890s.

In 1906, Lagos colony was added, and the status was upgraded to Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria.

The capital was then Lagos, and the population was 7,800,000 in 1911.

In 1914, Southern Nigeria and the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria were combined to form the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria.

So ended the stamp issues of Southern Nigeria.

The 2014 Scott Classic Specialized 1840-1940 catalogue has, for Southern Nigeria 1901-1912, 56 major descriptive numbers. Of those, 25 are CV <$1-$1+, or 45%. The higher denomination stamps are expensive, but the lower denominations have a reasonable CV for the WW classical collector.

Big Blue '69, on two lines of one page, has 14 spaces for the stamps of Southern Nigeria. Coverage is 25%.

The country coverage is located between Somali Coast and on the same page as Southern Rhodesia.

There are no required stamps crossing the CV $10 level.

Coverage could have been a little more generous, as I count eight stamps @ CV <$1-$1+ that could have been added- and, that does not include the stamps where only one stamp among several inexpensive (different watermarked) choices can be put into a space.

The "1902-07" spaces can take either wmk 2 or wmk 3 "Edward VII" stamps.

For more on the stamps themselves, click on the link below.

Southern Nigeria Blog Post & BB Checklist

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South Australia - Bud's Big Blue

1855-72 South Australia in Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Big Blue

Bud's Observations

(From Jim: Bud is well, but has a lot of non philatelic obligations and responsibilities at the moment. With his permission, I will upload  country pages in his complete '69 Big Blue that so far has not been shown. He might add his observations later. Enjoy!)

Jim's Observations

The colony was proclaimed on December 28, 1836, intended for free immigrants, rather than a convict settlement. Much of the colony was arid or semi-arid, and the capital, (Port) Adelaide, was where most people settled, and to a lesser extent, along the south-eastern coast and the Murray River..

Stamps were printed in 1855 by London's Perkins Bacon, and, from the same plates in 1856, locally, by Printer of Stamps, Adelaide.

Responsible Government was initiated in 1857.

South Australia, along with six other British colonies, united in 1901 to form the Commonwealth of Australia.

Stamps for South Australia continued to be used and produced until 1912, as a common stamp for the new Commonwealth of Australia (The "Roo") was not issued until 1913. In fact, the "colony" stamps of Australia were valid on postage until 1966!

The 2014 Scott Classic Specialized 1840-1940 catalogue has, for South Australia 1855-1912, 243 major number descriptions. Of those, 20 or 8% are CV <$1-$1+. Raising the bar to CV $10 yields 86 total. or 35%. Clearly, South Australia stamps are on the expensive side. 

In addition, many of the catalogue issues are determined by various perforations/rouletting or watermarks- so careful attention to those details are required.

Big Blue '69, on one page, has 32 spaces for the 1855-1912 stamps of South Australia. No official stamps are included.

Coverage is 13%. The coverage rate is low in BB, but, admittedly, Big Blue '69, on one page, has 32 spaces for the 1855-1912 stamps of South Australia. No official stamps are included.

Coverage is a low 13%. Admittedly, the CV prices for South Australia is high.

The '69 edition BB page is located between Somalia (Italian Somaliland) and Somali Coast (Djibouti).

Several spaces can be filled by seven choices and nine choices!

There are five spaces with CV $10+ required: one of them is CV $45- the 1870 Scott 29 1p grayish green. 

For more on the stamps themselves, as well as the checklist, click on the link below.

South Australia Blog Post & BB Checklist

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