Welcome to the first post . . .
The classic era in Swedish philately is regarded to be between the years 1855 and 1936. That period is full of interesting stamps with many varities. Some are of course very valuable, many of them can be quite costly and some cost less. They are all interesting to study. Many philatelist have during decades researched and published a lot about these stamps and there are still a lot to explore.
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| Read more about 20 öre Posthorn from 1965 - here |
Why are Swedish stamps issued after the classic era interesting? Well, they are since in general stamps are a mirror of the time when they were issued. It is interesting to follow how series are issued and for long they were used. There are not as many special varities since the printing quality is much better, but there are some varieties tough. I think an interesting thing is to identify the policy used for the motifs of the stamps. The policies changed radically between the 30s and the 60s. The motifs become over time more artistic and the engravers are more skilled than before which turned many of the stamps into artistic masterpieces and they are still very beautiful. Also I'm interested in why they were issued, quantities and dates. Coils, booklets or sheets. I'm also puzzled about how colours are changed for the same denomination in the same series as well as why the same colour was used for different denominations.
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| Read more about this pair from the slot machine booklet the iron Age - here |
Finally I think Swedish stamps issued after 1936 is a little bit neglected - it is time to bring some light on them as well as honor the skilled engravers of the time such as Sven Evert, Heinz Gutschmidt, Arne Wallhorn, Mayvor Franzén and the master engraver of them all Czesław Slania. This blog covers definitive stamps issued between 1937 - 1973. One good reason for that is that the Swedish Post put a lot of effort in the motifs and the printing quality during this time period, as many other postal administrations did at the time. The results are still worth admiration.
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| Read more about the Gustaf V, right profile type II - here |
I like definitive stamps series more than commemorative stamps. There are more stamps in a definitive series and it is interesting to study when they are issued and how the denomination change over time due to changed postal rates.
