Quote:
Originally Posted by gonefishin
When I look at stamps in binders, going all the way back to the 1800s, I am amazed at how much work, research, and man hours go into putting something like that together. Most was accomplished prior to the internet, when research was done manually from reference books. Today finding information, etc. is at our fingertips. I couldn't imagine doing that before the internet! Hell, let's say in 1966, how would a regular person find a China Stamp from 1899, properly identify it, and then safeguard it for all these years. Mind blowing. Sports card collecting pales in comparison to stamps when it comes to research.
It's too bad card collectors didn't learn more from stamp collectors in the 1930s!
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By the early 1900s there were catalogs that identified and priced most stamps. (I forget when the earliest one was, but it was well before 1900. )
Many of them were literal mail order catalogs. And the companies that made them are still around, Scott in the US, along with Harris. Stanley Gibbons in the UK. Most have separated the publishing company from the stamp dealing company.
A guy named Luff wrote a huge book about the stamps of the US around 1902. He worked from documents held by the post office department, but did make some mistakes. And didn't really get into plate varieties.
In the 1930's was when some of the incredibly detailed study was done. Plating of many of the 1850's issues was attempted. Picture the work Pat has done on T206 with the plate scratches, only there were documents telling how big the sheets were and how many different plates there were.
And in the 30's, those stamps were relatively common and inexpensive.
Stuff is still being discovered about those stamps 170+ years after they were issued.
The 1873 officials I collect still haven't been fully plated, and most only have one 100 subject plate. The tiny differences are there, but for some there just are so few pairs to know what goes next to what.