Stamp Shops in London (Stanley Gibbons and The Stamp Centre)

While walking around London, I happened to find two shops - Stanley Gibbons and The Stamp Centre. 

Stanley Gibbons is a very well-established set up. Their stamp catalogs serve as a good indicator or benchmark of the current stamp prices. The store is neat and the stamps are properly wrapped and kept. You can also find various stamp catalogs and books there. Their salespeople were well-dressed. Overall the impression is that they are professional and it seemed to be a suitable place to find some high-quality stamps in good conditions.

Recommended for serious or professional collectors!

You can find Stanley Gibbons @ 399 Strand, London WC2R 0LX, United Kingdom and their website here.

There was another shop across the road - The Stamp Centre. I spoke with the shopkeeper and he seemed to be a really friendly person. The stamps seemed to be well kept and nicely packaged. The shop does feel less sales-orientated as compared to Stanley Gibbons.

Recommended for day-to-day collectors!
You can find The Stamp Centre @ 79 The Strand London WC2R 0DE and their website here.

Charing Cross Collectors Market

Charing Cross Collectors Market, London, UK
Every Saturday
8am - 4pm

I came across the Charing Cross Collectors Market while planning for my holiday in London. The market opens on every Saturdays and sells stamps, coins, banknotes and postcards. Strangely, this market could not be located on google map. It does not have an address either (or maybe cause I could not find it)! 

Well, it seemed natural to assume that the Charing Cross Collectors Market is near to the Charing Cross Underground (London Metro or Subway). But it is not! So where is it? 

I somehow managed to trace its existence after connecting several dots through a series of internet searches. The location is marked on the map above.

And finally, after some walking and searching, here it is!

The market is located at a tight corner and is easy to miss if you are not actively looking out for it. 

and as we enter the gates...

Wow, a market in an underground carpark! The whole place is bustling with excited collectors and sellers. Most of them are aged folks who seemed to have a wealth of knowledge on stamp history and value.. 

Got some stamp loot at good prices too. Will write a commentary on them at a later date. 

Spent more than an hour scouring through this underground market. I found that most of the stamps sold are well-kept and good quality. 

Highly Recommended to visit! 

The Bahamas - Commonwealth Nation

Over the past few years, I managed to piece together a near complete collection of Bahamas stamps - Queen Elizabeth II. The cost of each used stamp varies between £0.08 to £0.60 (0.11€ to 0.82€), depending on its supply and demand. This set of stamps was issued in 1954.

Each stamp has their own unique design and markings:

• 1d stamp: Modern Agriculture
• 2d stamp: Native Straw Work
• 3d stamp: Fishing Fleet
• 4d stamp: Water Sports - Skiing
• 6d stamp: Modern Transportation
• 8d stamp: Paradise Beach
• 10d stamp: Modern Hotels
• 1 stamp: Yacht racing
• 2 stamp: Native Product - Sisal
• 5 stamp: Tuna Fishing

For the benefit of those who are still wondering where The Bahamas is, let me take you through a geography and history class.

The Bahamas is an island country of the Lucayan Archipelago which consist of more than 700 islands, cays and islets in the Atlantic Ocean. The country became an independent Commonwealth realm in 1973, retaining Elizabeth II as her monarch. According to the US CIA website, The Bahamas is one of the wealthiest Caribbean countries with an economy heavily dependent on tourism and offshore banking. Her commodity exports include crawfish, aragonite (carbonate mineral), crude salt and polystyrene product.

Great Britain - 2005 The Castles Definitive

The Castles Definitives was issued on 22 Mar 2005. The stamps featured Queen Elizabeth II next to her castles at Caernarfon in Wales, Carrickfergus in Northern Ireland, Edinburgh in Scotland and Windsor in England. 

Some technical explanations here: A stamp in its original state of gum is called a mint stamp. A stamp which has not been used is an unmounted stamp.

For an unmounted mint stamp, the Castles Definitives set shown below will typically cost around £4 (~5.50€) to-date. 

This was my first Commonwealth set and I was attracted to the fine design and prints of the castles. This used set was bought in Singapore several years ago at a much lower price. 

Some Historic Meanings

Queen Elizabeth II became the Head of the Commonwealth on 6 Feb 1952. The Commonwealth countries include United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon (Now Sri Lanka). She took over the throne from her father, King George VI. 

Caernarfon has a rich history starting from the early Roman and British settlements. The Caernarfon Castle was built by Edward I, King of England. The place is now a major tourist centre.

Carrickfergus Castle was built in 1177 and was once under English control. It is one of the best preserved medieval structures in Northern Ireland.

The site of the Edinburgh Castle was occupied since the late Bronze Age. It is one of the most prominent castles in Great Britain and there were many historical conflicts from the Wars of Scottish Independence (War between Scotland and England) to the Jacobite Rising (Wars to return James VII of Scotland and II of England). 

>> This castle is really gorgeous and I truly recommend a visit there. It is one of the castle which I will look forward to visiting again!

Windsor Castle was originally built in the 11th century by William the Conqueror and is the longest-occupied palace in Europe. 

First Post

When I was very young, my dad shared with me his stamp album that he owned since young. During his youthful days, people were less well-off and stamp collection was a free source of enjoyment. It was his hobby. Now, the passion has been passed on to me.

Times have indeed changed. In our world today, most people prefer to indulge in their handphone or computers for digital media enjoyment. So why stamp collection?

The thing that truly captivates me is the artwork on each and every stamp. My collection began with Asia, before moving on to British Commonwealth and recently to Europe. The more stamps I collect, the more interesting discoveries I made. Each artwork brings along their own historic and cultural meanings. This is how I found myself spending much time reading up countries, cities and cultures which I have never heard of before.

I hope that through this blog, I can share these experiences with everyone out there. 

Thanks for visiting and hope that you will enjoy my posts in the near future!