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Collecting Discworld stamps

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Category: Cinderella Stamps
Forum Name: Cinderella Stamps
Forum Description: Discuss your stamps and collections here, latest acquisitions, wish lists and favourites...
URL: https://www.cinderellastampsforum.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1446
Printed Date: 28 March 2024 at 05:45
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Topic: Collecting Discworld stamps
Posted By: Colin
Subject: Collecting Discworld stamps
Date Posted: 02 April 2020 at 06:30
As ever, coinciding ruthlessly with the (previously assured) regularity of pay-day itself, something NEW from the Discworld Emporium, the only place on this Earth with the marketing rights to sell Discworld stamps...




A simple little stamp for these complicated times!  

The 30B stamp and minisheet from Uberwald features amusingly bearded Queen Blodwen and is now available to click and collect, along with a new Little Brown Envelope, from the usual sources.


https://www.discworldemporium.com/little-brown-envelopes/643-the-glod-save-the-queen-lbe?fbclid=IwAR2W8SV9e2OKb688Q6rcf3xODbnlvPhiKVT4ciU4w5cuKfbq9H9vxRqAYGA" rel="nofollow - - - www.discworldemporium.com/ - - little-brown-envelopes/ - - 643-the-glod-save-the-queen - https://www.discworldemporium.com/little-brown-envelopes/643-the-glod-save-the-queen-lbe?fbclid=IwAR2W8SV9e2OKb688Q6rcf3xODbnlvPhiKVT4ciU4w5cuKfbq9H9vxRqAYGA" rel="nofollow - -lb e https://www.discworldemporium.com/little-brown-envelopes/643-the-glod-save-the-queen-lbe?fbclid=IwAR2W8SV9e2OKb688Q6rcf3xODbnlvPhiKVT4ciU4w5cuKfbq9H9vxRqAYGA" rel="nofollow -


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My Etsy shop - FarFetchedPhilately - new 'stuff' coming soon...




https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/FarFetchedPhilately

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Replies:
Posted By: guyana1230
Date Posted: 06 April 2020 at 04:56
Mine arrived today:-
https://seemystamps.com/image/dFgrv" rel="nofollow">
https://seemystamps.com/image/dF1EU" rel="nofollow">
https://seemystamps.com/image/dFFbS" rel="nofollow">


Posted By: Colin
Date Posted: 22 April 2020 at 23:03
Those are BIG scans!  Big smile

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My Etsy shop - FarFetchedPhilately - new 'stuff' coming soon...




https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/FarFetchedPhilately

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Posted By: Colin
Date Posted: 22 April 2020 at 23:08
With the new pay-day comes the new Discworld stamps issue...

Fauna and flora.



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My Etsy shop - FarFetchedPhilately - new 'stuff' coming soon...




https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/FarFetchedPhilately

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Posted By: huffee
Date Posted: 23 April 2020 at 02:25
It is ages since I bought any of these new but I thought something was odd when I first looked at these Discworld stamps 

No Vetinari. Surely the Patrcian would have wanted his head to appear on every stamp made by the AnkhMorpork post office service?  But is this now the 'done thing'?  Have all te recent stamps not got his head on? 

I suppose it could have changed since I last collected them but it loks odd to me. Also not keen on AM insyead of Ankh Morpork in full but I suppose that is understandable on a small stamps


Posted By: guyana1230
Date Posted: 23 April 2020 at 07:39
Hoping these packets are still available when I get paid at the end of the month, although as I can't do any extra work at the moment money is getting a bit tight.


Posted By: elmstead
Date Posted: 23 April 2020 at 09:00
Not sure what "rules" the Discworld stamps follow (if any?)

Someone here is sure to know...

The "definitives" are more likely to have the Patricians head on them but I don't think the 2pAnkh or 5p and 10p Morporkia ever have ??

Other Ankh Morpork stamps are less likely to have the Patrician Head. 
eg Sometimes the Unseen University stamps do (in 2015),  but mostly they don't (all the other years)
Unless its Hogswatch (2011) when they do. 
Similarly with the guilds the stamps of the Assassins' guild don't have the patricians head in 2004 but do in 2008, don't in 2010 or 2014 but do in 2016 and then not in 2019
Hogswatch stamps always have the Patricians Head (until 2017 and 2018 when they didn't and 2019 when 1 in 3 of the stamps does.)

The Penny Patrician has had A M in the corners since 2005 . 
The 2pAnkh has often had Ankh Morpork written in full but sometimes it doesn't even have A M (2009, 2010, 2011)

But aren't these idiosyncrasies part of what makes the stamps so interesting ?


Posted By: Steve
Date Posted: 23 April 2020 at 09:37
Times change. Royal Mail stamps no longer say Postage and Revenue

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https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Discworld-Stamp-Collector/809424215750892" rel="nofollow - The Discworld Stamp Collector on FaceBook Have a look!


Posted By: Colin
Date Posted: 24 April 2020 at 00:32
When I designed the original Wahoonie stamps the description in the corner said 'Fauna' not 'Flora' ...  Ooops.




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My Etsy shop - FarFetchedPhilately - new 'stuff' coming soon...




https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/FarFetchedPhilately

.


Posted By: Steve
Date Posted: 27 April 2020 at 01:09
The Wahoonie is described said to be a fruit but I cannot find and exact reference to it in the Discworld books. It is also said to be the DW equivalent of the durian. But is it a fruit? The original Wahoonie stamp shows it without any vegetation.



This artwork has been essentially copied for the new stamp.
However to me it invokes images of the Cambrian era fossils found in the Burgess Shales of Canada. Some of these were of familiar types but others were truly bizarre, and led to the creation of totally new animal phyla.





Though it has to be said that the Wahoonie is a whole lot bigger than these marine creatures

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https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Discworld-Stamp-Collector/809424215750892" rel="nofollow - The Discworld Stamp Collector on FaceBook Have a look!


Posted By: phalarope
Date Posted: 01 May 2020 at 05:20
It reminds me of a giant okra pod, with 'appendages'.

Wikipedia says "Okra is an https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allopolyploid" rel="nofollow - allopolyploid of uncertain parentage (proposed parents include https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abelmoschus_ficulneus" rel="nofollow - Abelmoschus ficulneus , https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Abelmoschus_tuberculatus&action=edit&redlink=1" rel="nofollow - A. tuberculatus and a reported "diploid" form of okra). Truly wild (as opposed to naturalised) populations are not known with certainty and the species may be a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultigen" rel="nofollow - cultigen . The geographical origin of okra is disputed, with supporters of South Asian, Ethiopian and West African origin"

So perhaps the wahoonie is one of the "uncertain" parents of the domesticated okra plant.WinkWink


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Cheers -

phalarope



'The world is full of signals that we don't perceive.'

-- Stephen Jay Gould, (1941-2002) paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, science historian

Oysters have 4 lips.


Posted By: Colin
Date Posted: 25 May 2020 at 23:46
It must be pay-day again...


NEW from the Discworld Emporium... celebrating the 25th May 




Featuring Sir Sam Vimes, cigar, regalia and all!


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My Etsy shop - FarFetchedPhilately - new 'stuff' coming soon...




https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/FarFetchedPhilately

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Posted By: Colin
Date Posted: 29 June 2020 at 02:42
It must be that time of the month again already...







This Gulld of Artificer's stamps available now... featuring another of Ankh-Morpork's finest, George Pony.

You know... George Pony.



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My Etsy shop - FarFetchedPhilately - new 'stuff' coming soon...




https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/FarFetchedPhilately

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Posted By: NCPhilip
Date Posted: 02 July 2020 at 06:48
I have the annual LBE subscription as it saves me quite a bit in postage over the course of the year and I’ve finally been tempted to have the first few from this year delivered. I wasn’t thrilled with the earliest offerings this year and then COVID hit, so I haven’t been in much of a rush, but I’m now feeling enthused enough about the Wahoonie, Sam Vimes, and Guild of Artificers stamps to be itchy to put them into my DW stamp book! Thanks for sharing the scans.

As an aside, have you tried removing cancelled stamps from the Emporium covers? The glue separates nicely but the cancels run somewhat when I try soaking. Any suggestions? I’ve considered fixing the cancels in place with methyl cellulose but that seems a bit extreme...

All the best,
Philip


Posted By: Ralph94
Date Posted: 25 May 2021 at 00:18
Hi there,
I have an account on the Discworld forum , but since it was advised I now have an account on here as well. Still figuring out how  this forum works, and where to look for Discworld stamp related topics, but for now just wanted to check in and say Hi to everyone

kind regards,
Ralph


Posted By: Hiromi
Date Posted: 25 May 2021 at 22:43
Welcome to the Forum Ralph. The easiest way to find anything on here is to type it into the Search box at the top of the page and see what it turns up.

Just typing in 'Discworld'' brought up 10 pages of threads so that should keep you busy!!!

Set the search for all years, do not let it default to a single weeek, month or year.

Good luck Hug


Posted By: Colin
Date Posted: 01 June 2021 at 01:59
He's much too modest to want to promote his own websites here but Steve Tandy ('Steve' here; 'Muba' everywhere else) has some incredibly well-researched resources online that make great reading for established collectors and beginners alike.

Go to:

http://www.muba.eclipse.co.uk/The%20Discworld%20Stamp%20Collector/index.html" rel="nofollow - http://www.muba.eclipse.co.uk/The%20Discworld%20Stamp%20Collector/index.html

http://www.muba.eclipse.co.uk/Discworld%20Books%20and%20Stamps/index.html" rel="nofollow - http://www.muba.eclipse.co.uk/Discworld%20Books%20and%20Stamps/index.html

http://www.facebook.com/DiscworldStampCollector/" rel="nofollow - https://www.facebook.com/DiscworldStampCollector/

Don't be daunted, there is a LOT of material there but it makes great reading and contains facts not found elsewhere, brought together from various well-informed sources over many years, and thoroughly illustrated by examples from his own collection.  Steve's websites make for rewarding reading whether it is a single stamp you are interested in or, for example, where these stamps were mentioned in any of Terry's books.

Steve writes regularly for the Cinderella Stamp Club magazine, covering all aspects of cinderella stamps collecting but focusing on modern fantasy stamps - including Discworld stamps - and we are very lucky to have him here.  

If anyone has any queries about Discword stamps in general, or has questions prompted by his above resources PLEASE do post them here and I am sure Steve will find time (somehow Steve famously bends time to accommodate all of his many hobbies) to respond to them.  



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My Etsy shop - FarFetchedPhilately - new 'stuff' coming soon...




https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/FarFetchedPhilately

.


Posted By: Hiromi
Date Posted: 01 June 2021 at 04:53
Steve Muba has probably single-hands contributed more to the profits of the Discworld Emporium than any other collectors. 

His websites and Facebook page bring these stamps to life and the insider stories he must have been privy to when visiting the Emporium adds the spices.

I don't think he produced anything new on those website pages so I thought perhaps he was concentrating on Facebook and I copied everything (for only my own archive use). 

Is it worth joining this Cinderella Club for Steves Discworld stories their or are they based on the information he has already on those websites?

Thank you Steve


Posted By: Steve
Date Posted: 01 June 2021 at 08:31
Thank you both for the above comments.

I have to say I have been guilty of not having added to either of those two web sites for a while for various reasons.
While the Emporium has continued to issue new stamps, the absence of new books means that the only updates to Discworld Stamps and Books is further stamps images. But that would just swamp out the text. You know that you only have to try and read an article on the web only to have the thread disrupted by images and adverts. Irritating to say the least.
The Discworld Stamp Collector web site was intended to both show that DW stamps could be considered philatelic items or be part of thematic collections. As far as philatelic interest is concerned most of that comes from the 'early years', and to a lesser extent the 'middle period'. Basically quality control of the output of the latter days means that there is little to look for. I spent many happy hours studying issues like the original 1$ Tower of Art green trying to identify different print runs, and print runs within print runs. Alas now every issue is vanilla flavoured. When I have more to offer I will update those pages.
Also I have to say that since Covid my activity on social media has slumped dramatically. Too much rubbish published that I don't want to see. In fact my posts have been all about my other passion - photographing wild orchids. Even here illogical Covid restrictions resulted in a downturn in posts. It was illegal for me to take off to a disued quarry where I might see two other people 100 metres away, getting my daily exercise in my local park along with some 10,000 others living within walking distance. Check out
http://www.muba.eclipse.co.uk/Steves%20Orchids/index.html" rel="nofollow - my wild orchids website to how obsessed I can be about things other than stamps!

My contributions to The Cinderella Philatelist have been a series of article on Modern Fanatasy Cinderellas, a sub-genre I am trying to promote. To qualify the Cinderella issues need to come from a fantasy 'land' AND have a story behind them. No throwing a dart at a map of Scottish Islands and producing set after set of irrellevant issues. A modern fantasy entertains the collector; it has a background and a setting. Currently the articles are covering Gerald King's Alternative Lundy. The first article was in April 2015, volume 55, issue 2, and have been coming out quarterly since. Back copies of the magazine can be purchased individually from the Cinderella Stamp Club's website, and if anybody is interested I can provide a list of articles published. I am running short of subjects now, and will not compromise on which issues should be featured.

I have also been busy with follow-ups to Man of Mythtory, my biography of failed Welsh author Huw Puw Caru, who is a spin-off from my own Welsh Postal oddities series of stamps. I have first anthology of his short stories nearly ready to be published, and am working on a follow up explaining the secrets behind his disappearance in 1967 - The Murder of Huw Puw Caru. No spoilers but there is only one person qualified to investigate, apprehend, prosecute, judge, and sentence the assailant(s). Just say that the future of Wales is in the balance!

Nuff sed

P.S. there is one more web site that may interest collectors
http://www.muba.eclipse.co.uk/Laernu_and_More/" rel="nofollow - Laernu and More
which is an introduction to the stamps that Colin, with and without the assistence of Alan Batley, has treated us to over the years. It covers many of the different issues and outlines what can be found if you look hard enough at your collections.

Okay, the forum does not seem to like links to websites with an inverted comma in the website name so if anybody is interested in my orchid website just Google Steve's Orchids and it should be the top entry.

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https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Discworld-Stamp-Collector/809424215750892" rel="nofollow - The Discworld Stamp Collector on FaceBook Have a look!


Posted By: roastchicken
Date Posted: 10 June 2021 at 00:34
Hi everyone, I am a total newbie. To the forum here and to the Discworld stamps. A quick query for the Discworld stamps experts here.

I am new to collecting these stamps but I am only collecting the first five years and I have been told that the expers for the first stamps are on this forum and not the Discworld shop one. 

I have poured through the 'Catalogue' and have numerous questions. I am told that the Catalogue is not 100% reliable and relies a lot on feedback and hearsay and that the shop owners are happy to allow mistakes to appear there until they are corrected by the collectors!Personally I find this unacceptable. It can mean the difference between a collector buying or selling a stamp that might later prove to be rare and valuable.  In my opinion the shop should support the catalogue or produce a definitive version of their own.

In the interests of transparency I should point out that I have inherited a complete collection of the stamps sold after 2008 and I am trying to fill out the missing years. 

So please forgive my ignorance here, I am trying to get my bearings.

My first question is regrading the Koom Valley stamps, the 10p value showing the trolls and dwarves battling. What is the difference between sheet number SHE0033a and sheet SHE0034a? Am I missing something?I have tried copying the scans and overlaying them in a photo software but cannot see any difference.  Aren't tey the same? I though perhaps one was all trolls, the other dwarfs but I can't see that.

ALso, the Merchants One Dollar $5. There is an entry to a tall hat version of this stamp but it is listed as variation, imperforate and taken from a proof but nothing about it being released as an actual perforated stamp.Nothing about issue numbers or whether it came with the handbooks. Can you see why I am confused!!!

Any help appreciated , but there is no urgency I intend to take my time to fnish off the collection .



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:-)


Posted By: elmstead
Date Posted: 10 June 2021 at 04:28
I'm not an expert  (I've only been collecting for 2 years) but this is my understanding of the Koom Valley issue

there is a long answer (If your are asking how the numbering system of the catalogue is structured) the catalogue number for a stamp always begins SHS and a sheet of stamps begins SHE
then there some letters to show which part of Discworld printed the stamp (eg AM for Ankh-Morpork) 
next, a number which increases as each new stamp its published 
the Stamps catalogue number is
followed by a letter which shows whether it is  the Common stamp (a) or a sport/variant (b, c, d etc)
and lastly a letter show the perforation (eg w is Wincanton)
However, the Sport/Variant/Common stamps are usually all printed on the same sheet and so the catalogue number for a sheet will always end with an A

and a slightly shorter answer (if you are asking why there isn't a sheet 33B) 
A sheet could contain only Common stamps
or it could contain lots of Common stamps and one Sport
sometimes (rarely) it may have lots of common stamps and two different sports

So, there is one sheet from 2005 (SHE-0033A) which contains both the Koom Valley 10p Trolls attack and Koom Valley 10p Dwarves attack stamps. 
These are two different (common) stamps and so they are catalogued as SHS-AM0033-Aw and SHS-AM0034-Aw. (if one was a sport (33b) and the other the common (33a) there would be loads of 33a and only one33b on the sheet)






Posted By: Steve
Date Posted: 10 June 2021 at 04:44
Hi Roast and welcome.

You are correct, the experts are here

The problem with the Emporium being involved with the cataloging is that insufficient proper records were kept in the old days. If they got involved we would be at the mercy of them making things up to fit!!
Somehow it's best if the collectors take the reins on this and make discoveries in doing so,

I am not a fan of the numbering system so any inconsistencies there are irrelevant to me

I cannot detect any difference in the the two Koom Valley sheets. Hence it may be an error caused by the two stamps being listed, each being given a sheet by mistake.
You can find shade varieties of these stamps, but those do not get catalogue status for some reason

As for the tall hat $5, that artwork was only used on a proof sheet, and never as an individual stamp. To call it imperforate gives the wrong message

You may find my http://www.muba.eclipse.co.uk/The%20Discworld%20Stamp%20Collector/" rel="nofollow - Discworld Stamps web pages useful as much there covers the early years


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https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Discworld-Stamp-Collector/809424215750892" rel="nofollow - The Discworld Stamp Collector on FaceBook Have a look!


Posted By: elmstead
Date Posted: 10 June 2021 at 04:44
As for the Merchants Guild $5 Special ..
The sheet SHE-0024-A contains only one type of stamp SHS-AM0024-Aw

If you look in the Proof Sheet listings for 2005 you will find the Merchants Guild $5 Proof Sheet (SHP-0003-A) which was on sale from the Emporium for £6 in a limited issue of 250/500 (?) Confusingly it shows the image of three stamps but on closer veiwing they are all the same stamp.

You will also find in 2005 the Merchants’ Guild Proof of Artwork (SHP-0004-A) which was only available as a Stanley Howler Journal prize. This depicts one Merchants Guild $5 stamp but it is not the same image as the stamp that was issued. (The driver has a Top hat). 

So this is an image of a "Sport" which was never issued as a perforated stamp.


Posted By: elmstead
Date Posted: 10 June 2021 at 04:49
The problem with the numbering system is that the Koom Valley Sheet contains two different Common Stamps. instead of labelling the image as  as SHE033A and SHE034A (which gives the impression that each stamp has its own sheet) it could have been numbered SHE033&34A


Posted By: roastchicken
Date Posted: 10 June 2021 at 05:36
Thank you Steve and Elmstead, that helps solve my queries a lot.

I will get into the habit of jotting down queries as I go through the Catalogue and then adding them on to the thread here. 

And I will definitely look at your Facbook pages Steve. I am not a member at Facebook but this looks like a very good excuse to join!


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:-)


Posted By: doormatt
Date Posted: 10 June 2021 at 05:48
Originally posted by roastchicken roastchicken wrote:


I am new to collecting these stamps but I am only collecting the first five years and I have been told that the expers for the first stamps are on this forum and not the Discworld shop one. 

In the interests of transparency I should point out that I have inherited a complete collection of the stamps sold after 2008 and I am trying to fill out the missing years. 

Any help appreciated , but there is no urgency I intend to take my time to fnish off the collection .


I too prefer to collect the first years of the stamps, the ones that Terry would have been personally involved with.  Back then ethey were called 'artefacts' but now I see the shop calls their stamps 'merchandise'.  ;-)

You may think that because they are older they will be more difficult to find but I have not found this to be the case. I think perhaps collectors hang on to them longer than the new ones but they are still to be found on ebay and such auction sites as well as here occasionally. I know some collectors who are still waiting to go through unopened LBEs from 2004/5 so who really knows what is out there.

One thing I would definitely encourage you to do is buy the whole sheets. This might seem more expensive at first but you get a much better impression of how the stamps look when there are a lot on a big sheet. The modern minisheets were introduced to try to make the sheets more pocket money friendly but they just do not look as good when displayed. Spotting the sports on a big sheet makes you realise why Terry wanted sports in the first place, something to torture the avid collector! On the little sheets the sports jump out and there is little fun in just mentally ticking it off before you have even got a magnifying glass out!

It is always good to find that there are new collectors out there and you are clearly hooked now, so comiserations, but good luck with the collection and you know where to come if you have any more queries.

Welcome to the forum, interesting username btw


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New to cinderellas, but learning fast!


Posted By: Murgatroyd
Date Posted: 10 June 2021 at 08:58
Hello roastchicken, I'll have to leave the thorny question of any differences between shs0033 and shs0034 to someone else to answer, as I'm not convinced there's any difference either. 
However the issue of the Tall hat / Top hat variant of the £5 Merchant is easily resolved. This variant only ever appeared on the cardstock $5 Merchant proof sheet, never as a perforated stamp. 
I hope that helps.
:)


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"I've got twenty minutes to save the world and I've got a Post Office, and it's shut." The Raggedy Doctor.


Posted By: roastchicken
Date Posted: 10 June 2021 at 23:23
Thank you again everyone. 

One more small query. 

In the early years of the stamps when new issues bridged across the years it seems that the sheets were renamed according to the year they were printed yet in later years this does not happen. So for the Assassins sheets there are versions with the Year of the Prawn and also for Year of the Signifying Frog. Yet after that it seems the sheets following only show the original year they were issued. Is that correct? Are there other examples of this? And was it deliberate or an error that this has happened?

Thanks again.


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:-)


Posted By: elmstead
Date Posted: 11 June 2021 at 00:30
Some of the Merchants guild stamps (penny farthing, three pence and fifty pence) from 2005 also have issues for the Year of the Prawn and the Year of the signifying frog.




Posted By: elmstead
Date Posted: 11 June 2021 at 00:38
The later stamps have the year they were originally printed on the sheet (regardless of whether the stamp was only printed in that year or whether there were reprints in subsequent years)
.
but some of the later stamps have the "wrong" year printed on the sheet.
eg the Hogswatch delivery 1p 2016 has the Year of the Spinning Mouse printed on the sheet (2015) but wasn't issued until Jan 2016 (the Year of the Sneezing Panda)


Posted By: roastchicken
Date Posted: 11 June 2021 at 01:40
Thanks again Elmstead, I can see I have a LOT to learn.

But that is what makes it interesting!


I suppose at some stage, Terry had to decide which protocol to follow. Had he chosen the version which recorded each new year name we completists would all have felt obliged to buy new sheets every time it changed. Perhaps that helped shape his decsion making. 

Thanks also to those who have sent me private messages with their comments, particularly the one about some Merchants sheets having extra perforation guide marks. There is so much to learn  :-)




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:-)


Posted By: Joolz
Date Posted: 11 June 2021 at 02:30
Great answer, elmstead. But there is one wrinkle to be aware of, which is that the policy for the common stamp being the 'A' stamp and the sports or other variants/errors being the 'B', 'C', 'D', etc stamps has varied over the years.

So, taking the Koom Valley (1 October 2015) issue, the two stamps issued within the set were given different SHS stamp numbers, 33 and 34 (and so full catalogue references SHS-AM0033-Aw and SHS-AM0034-Aw), both with the 'A' designation as commons (and there were no sports for this issue).

But both stamps appeared on the same sheet, and it was felt that, to keep the SHS stamp number element of the system complete and without gaps, the same sheet would be given two numbers related to the numbers of the two individual stamps (so SHE-0033-A and SHE-0034-A are indeed the same sheet).

However, there have been more examples in recent years of sheets with multiple commons on them, particularly at Hogswatch, but also others. These have usually been listed with the same SHS stamp number, with the common stamps being the 'A', 'B', etc stamps up to however many commons are in the issue, and the sports being continued on from the end of the sequence of commons (for example: Hogswatch 2017, the farthing commons are 'A' to 'D', sports are 'E' and 'F'; Hogswatch 2018, the 2p/5p/2p commons are 'A' to 'C', sports are 'D' to 'F'; Hogswatch 2019, the 5p commons are 'A' to 'C', sports are 'D' to 'F'; the Great Taste of Ankh-Morpork 2021, the 6p commons are 'A' to 'D', sports are 'E' to 'H').

Note that the Hogswatch 2017 is particularly complicated because the Hogswatch penny stamp is given a separate SHS stamp number (437) from the four Hogswatch farthing stamps (436) but all five stamps appear on the same sheet, and, like the Koom Valley issue above, the same sheet is given two numbers (SHE-0436-A and SHE-0437-A are the same sheet; and SHE-0436-B and SHE-0437-B are the same unperforated proof sheet awarded as a prize).

However, again, there are exceptions to the new rule. For example, the three 3p stamps in the Hogswatch 2020 set are on the same sheet, but are listed separately with different SHS stamp numbers (504, 505 and 506) as individual stamps. But the only sheet number is 504; sheets 505 and 506 do not exist in the catalogue. This may just be an oversight and sheet numbers 505 and 506 should have been put in the catalogue as copies of sheet number 504. Why Hogswatch 2020 is treated differently to 2017, 2018 and 2019, in terms of not giving the individual stamps just one SHS stamp number, and labelling the commons 'A' to 'C', and the sports 'D' to 'F', is unclear. But this may again just be an oversight.
Originally posted by elmstead elmstead wrote:

I'm not an expert  (I've only been collecting for 2 years) but this is my understanding of the Koom Valley issue

there is a long answer (If your are asking how the numbering system of the catalogue is structured) the catalogue number for a stamp always begins SHS and a sheet of stamps begins SHE
then there some letters to show which part of Discworld printed the stamp (eg AM for Ankh-Morpork) 
next, a number which increases as each new stamp its published 
the Stamps catalogue number is
followed by a letter which shows whether it is  the Common stamp (a) or a sport/variant (b, c, d etc)
and lastly a letter show the perforation (eg w is Wincanton)
However, the Sport/Variant/Common stamps are usually all printed on the same sheet and so the catalogue number for a sheet will always end with an A

and a slightly shorter answer (if you are asking why there isn't a sheet 33B) 
A sheet could contain only Common stamps
or it could contain lots of Common stamps and one Sport
sometimes (rarely) it may have lots of common stamps and two different sports

So, there is one sheet from 2005 (SHE-0033A) which contains both the Koom Valley 10p Trolls attack and Koom Valley 10p Dwarves attack stamps. 
These are two different (common) stamps and so they are catalogued as SHS-AM0033-Aw and SHS-AM0034-Aw. (if one was a sport (33b) and the other the common (33a) there would be loads of 33a and only one33b on the sheet)


Posted By: roastchicken
Date Posted: 11 June 2021 at 04:38
So the Catalogue is flawed, and has been inconsistent over the years. I could understand this in the early years when everyone was pretty much making it up as they went along, but in recent years I woul have thought it better to stick to an established pattern rather than vary the classification. Is this what happens with Stanley Gibbons numbers, they just amend or invent as they go? I doubt it it. It makes it very complicated for us newbies to really have confidence in what we are buying. 

Thank goodness my collecting interests only run to 2009.

Thank you Joolz for your detailed observations!  I am a little more informed than wehn I started  :-)


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:-)


Posted By: elmstead
Date Posted: 11 June 2021 at 05:07
I'm sure there are many people better qualified to explain how the Discworld catalogue has evolved over the years. Some points to consider are that the people who created it were/are not employed by the Emporium but give up their own time (and presumably money to host the website) and ,although there are inconsistencies, it is still an invaluable resource for "newcomers". 


 


Posted By: roastchicken
Date Posted: 11 June 2021 at 05:21
Yes, forgive me, I had not intended to turn this into a complaint about the catalogue, my initial disappointment got the better of me. 

I completely understand what it must be like to have such an emotional and financial investment to update and curate without the help of the stampmakers themselves.  It must be a thankless task.

 It is a great first point off contact but as I have discovered here, nothing beats personally sourced information and the expertise of established collectors, particularly those who understand the evolving numbering system.

Thanks again for all your help, I must be more careful what I post in future.


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:-)


Posted By: Steve
Date Posted: 11 June 2021 at 06:29
The Discworld Catalogue is a labour of love for Steve James. He inheritted the catalogue numbers from an earlier listing available as an excel download, whih was updated wuarterly. He has expanded it immensely, with some very good facilities, such as displaying all the Penny Patricians for example.
He has done this single-handedly, and it is inevitable some errors will creep in. I am sure that the SG listings also have errors or ommisions, and that would be double checked and proof read.
Steve is reliant to some extent on collectors informing him of possible new entries and of errors. However if one of us found a previously undiscovered sport it is quite possible to keep silent about it in the hope of finding more before the cat is out of the bag. And do not forget that many just cannot be bothered to contact him.

Treat the Catalogue as a starting point, but make your own decisions as to what should be there or what you want to put into your collection. You don't have to rigidly follow the Catalogue. Do it your own way.

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https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Discworld-Stamp-Collector/809424215750892" rel="nofollow - The Discworld Stamp Collector on FaceBook Have a look!


Posted By: Ralph94
Date Posted: 06 February 2022 at 13:36
Hi there,

I am not sure if this is the right topic to place this.
anyhow, i am looking for buying a $5 New Ankh Station Patrician sport.

If you have this one stamp for sale, or know someone who does let me know.
I am serious about the stamp and am willing to pay what it is worth.
if this does not got your attention I can name the price , just send me a message!
really hunting for this. Besides this I am scouting the opera house open door one 2.

besides this one, I am om the lookout for every odd/strange other Discworld stamp item which is off market or highly collectable, if you want to give it a new owner, let me know :)

When I Finish inventorying the collection I will let you know what I am missing, it will be things like the zombie white-back stamp rare, or the triptych middle part sport of the boar dinner scene ;)!!.

best regards,

Ralph
The Netherlands


Posted By: Murgatroyd
Date Posted: 07 February 2022 at 02:18
Best of luck with your collection Ralph. It sounds as though you have recently acquired it. I must confess that I haven't seen a triangle sport for sale on the open market for some time. :)



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"I've got twenty minutes to save the world and I've got a Post Office, and it's shut." The Raggedy Doctor.


Posted By: Ralph94
Date Posted: 07 February 2022 at 02:42
Thanks, I did not recently aquired it, but I continued the hobby after my dad.

The pieces from the early years that are missing are probably really hard to find nowadays.

Thanks for the reaction anyhow!


Posted By: Steve
Date Posted: 07 February 2022 at 11:38
Hi Ralph

You do realise that the sports of $5 triangles only number 10 of each, and as such very rarely come up for sale, and are likely to demand rather high prices?

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https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Discworld-Stamp-Collector/809424215750892" rel="nofollow - The Discworld Stamp Collector on FaceBook Have a look!



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