letters

• Carlos Herrero looking for mint
  I am interested in exchanging mint stamps from your country in exchange of stamps, postmarks, etc. of Spain or other European countries. Write in English, French or Spanish. Thank you very much.
  Carlos Herrero
  Apartado de Correos 487
  08400 Granollers
  Barcelona
  SPAIN

   

• Old friends - Nancy (Young) Smith
  I enjoyed looking at your website.  My grandfather, Robert R.Young, (Trooper 5112)  and your great grandfather may have served together during the Boer War.  My grandfather was also in Brabant's Horse and the Boer War medal of his that I have has bars for Wepener, Wittebergen, Belfast and Cape Colony.  My grandfather was a Scot who immigrated to the USA and I believe enlisted from New Orleans, Louisiana in the U.S.  I have precious little information since he died in 1925 when my father was 3 years old.

   I live in California - where this grandfather eventually ended up living.  Thanks for your interesting website.  

  It's a very small world - Thank you - Ed

   

• Looking for Stamp Magic  - CYBERSTAMP CLUB
  We are appealing to readers who may have "magic",  the art of conjuring, depicted on postage stamps. Please be so kind as to contact me at cybrstmp@corpdial.co.za with the view to supplying good quality images of any such material. I have a few stamp tricks up my sleeve but require material in order to stage an entertaining show on this site. Life is magic and magic is FUN. Can you help?
  

• National Wild Life stamp enquiry - Tiffany 
  I have found an old album of stamps it says that is the National Wildife
  album.  I have all the stamps from 1938-1942  There are 6 booklets and on the
  cover of each album is huge stamp some of them are signed and some are not. 
  Some stamps are even on the back of the book. All of the slots are filled in. 
  It is in a leather case that says national wildlife album. I found it in a zip
  lock bag & know it's old, but it's in extremely good shape.  I was wondering
  what it is worth and if you knew anybody who would want it.
  
  Please reply to Tiffany if you can assist with her enquiry: YESTERDAYY@aol.com
  

• Prophecy - "Madame Edna"  - HOW TO UNIVERSE
  
  Your (stamped) e-mail looks great! I predict this is going to be very popular.
  
  Ed replies:  We hope to see everyone "stamping" their e-mail in the future! Follow this link for easy instructions.

•     Tail-wag-mail - JACK HESKETH, Aberdeen, Scotland 
  
  Dear Bruce and Fellow Members,
  Firstly I would like to thank Bruce for the GREAT News and to all fellow
  members in making our site Number 1 on the Web give yourself a pat on the
  back...
  
  Ed replies:  Thank you Jack and ALL our other well-wishers. We are virtually overwhelmed.

•     GOLDEN  WEB  AWARD (International Association of Web Masters and Designers.)
  
  "Congratulations! On having your site selected to receive the "2001 - 2002 Golden Web Award". CyberStamp Club - Home of virtual philately has been reviewed and chosen to bear the 2001 - 2002 Golden Web Award. … As a recipient of the prestigious Golden Web Award we invite you to join fellow webmasters and designers in over 130 countries worldwide, by becoming a respected Professional Member of the International Association of Web Masters and Designers."
  
  Open Letter to Members:
  I want to personally thank YOU for helping to make this possible. You see, each and every one of you, who signed up to join CyberStamp Club, reinforced our resolve to produce a great website, which would provide a useful and entertaining service to on-line philatelists. We realized that we were often chartering unknown waters in cyberspace. The task was sometimes difficult, requiring many a crash course in developing technologies. But your support encouraged us and has now made the effort worthwhile. We intend to continue our resolve with your ongoing support and encouragement.
  Ed.

   

•     Bridges needed - DONALD BLAIS, USA
  
  Your stamp site is great.  Couldn't tell though if there was anything on "Bridges on Stamps".  Is there a list somewhere on your site?  
  
  Ed replies:  We managed to dig up a few bridges for you. Your letter prompted us to add the new "SEARCH" facility to our site and we will attempt to get it working as efficiently as possible from now on. Can anyone else help Donald out with images of bridges on stamps?

   

•     Help offered - JACK HESKETH of SCOTSTAMP, Scotland  .........
  
  Please find attached a JPEG image of my Country of Origin (Scotland).
  
  Ed replies:  Thanks for the Scottish Lion stamp. Love the vivid colours. Its these virtual surprises that make cyber philately so rewarding. Your offer of help on Great Britain issues is appreciated and I'm sue you won't mind if, on occasion, fellow members avail themselves of it. Regarding an on-line data base, the only restriction we have at the moment is the time it will take to manage. This site currently has about 400 megabytes spare capacity. But another thought springs to mind. I recently put up a free 50meg site at Tripod. If several members did the same - as an extension to their CyberStamp Club activities - we could ultimately be responsible for the web's biggest visual stamp data base - indexed right here at CyberStamp Club with direct links! Just a few fundamental rules for standardized sizing and basic stamp info, plus a bit of lobbying should do the trick. We could systematically back up in case something ever "happened" to the contributors' sites in future. Something to think about!
  
  

•     Help needed - TODD DUREN at  fireflydesign@hotmail.com .........
  
  I'm looking for New Guinea stamp images from the 1930s for possible use on the cover of a book to be published by the University Press of Pittsburgh. The book is on anthropology, but includes
  excerpts from letters. Contributing collectors will be credited on the back cover if their scans are used. I need 300 DPI resolution at 200 or 300%.
  Please send as JPG and I'll convert to TIFF.
  
  Ed replies:  Anybody out there have available scans of New Guinea?
  
  

•     Treasure Hunt - JASON E at "The Virtual Stamp Club" on Delphi.com..........
  
  The idea of searching the internet and looking for stamp images is very neat. Whoever thought of it had a good idea. You could really come up with some "fantasy collections" with material you would probably never find or afford in real life.
  I think it is a lot neater to do it as a kind of treasure hunt. I would never, in a million years, pay someone even a penny for a digitzed stamp image.
  
  Ed replies:  Yes, collecting cyberstamps, or "rolling your own" is essentially a fun and free thing to do. However some people do not have the time, equipment or skill to participate and so the option of "purchasing" is also made available. Also, the vast stock of original material at our disposal is awesome to say the least. Images downloaded off most stamp sites are not specifically produced for quality full screen enlargements - but could be fun to collect anyhow. Our virtual stamps are designed for optimal viewing and acceptable file size for electronic collecting purposes.
  
  

•     Into the future of philately - Felipe Abreu, Brasil ...........
  
  I like images very much.
  This is a real revolutionary idea!!! This is the future!!
  I collect images of cars, animals and other stuff. I have more than 700
  MB of images in my PC and counting..
  
  Look forward to seeing your name on our fast-expanding Pioneer Status Member List - Ed.
  
  

•     "Virtual Balloons" - Bob Recks (San Diego, CA) ..........
  
  I find the possibilities of your site fascinating.
  I sold my entire Airship collection some years
  ago, but still have the Worlds greatest Balloon
  stamp collection.  Am considering its sale also.
  
  Ed replies: Why not let us promote your Balloon collection for you on our site?
  
  

•     Bob MarouskyPresident, Gulf Coast Stamp Club
      Biloxi Mississippi ...........
  
  This is interesting. At our September Stamp Show, I had two one frame
  exhibits. One was how to do virtual collecting and the other was a virtual
  collection. The judges wanted to give me a local gold medal for the exhibit but
  I told them it was for display only.
  
  Ed replies: Perhaps they should award a virtual gold medal instead.
  
  

•     Michael Simons ...........
  
  Thank you but no thank you, this is the same as virtual sex it is no
  substitute for the real thing !
  
  Ed replies: We, as fellow philatelists, agree with your sentiments. 
  However we maintain that virtual philately is the most fun you can have with your computer on.
  
  

•     Prashant Pandya............
      (Vice President, Baroda  Philatelic Society) ............
  
  Thanks for your email and information about the site. I have visited the
  site and really it is a good site. Congratulations.
  
  Ed replies: Thank you kindly
  
  

•     (1) Tony Torres
      Director of the Fakes and Forgeries Study Group.............
  
  I am an avid collector of Germany WW II era, especially covers and there is a lot of "spurious" material there also.
  My major problem with it is as the resolution of images improves and photo
  editing becomes relatively easy, it will be far easier to fabricate a cover,
  plate variety, unusual usage, etc. Essentially, today we have the resolution
  and image editing capabilities. What is lacking is the printing technology
  to convert a faked image to a faked "item". That is where the current fakes
  that are computer generated fall down. They can not readily reproduce the paper and inks that were used on the originals. If this improves, I think "classic philately" as we know will be pursued by only a few dedicated individuals, with the finances to "verify" they have a genuine item.
  Keep the image resolution to below 150dpi or use some kind of encrypted
  watermark that editing will show up.
  
  Ed replies: It is not inconceivable that a well-researched, written up virtual stamp collection could command a monetary value, over and above the "stamps ", as intellectual property such as a thesis or other documented works.
  Nevertheless, spotting "forged" virtual stamps can become an interesting
  pastime ... another branch of virtual philately. It sharpens the wits of the serious collector and provides a challenge akin to completing a cryptic crossword puzzle for the sake of sheer personal satisfaction.
  
  

•     (2) Tony Torres
      Director of the Fakes and Forgeries Study Group.............
  
  I regularly bid on eBay for items that interest me. If I bid on an item that I do not win, I save a copy of the image for reference. For 20 years or more now, I have been cutting out images from auction catalogs, mail sales, etc. of items I don't have for reference. It helps if you have a fair idea of what an item is supposed to look like.
  Unfortunately these are generally not high enough resolution or good enough photo copies or printing to be of use in deciding if an item is genuine or not. For my area of interest, "anything worth more than a dollar three eighty has been faked.
  
  

•     Wayne Miller of Yahoo's "Collecting Stamps" ...........
  
  It looks like you are organizing something worth most people's while.
  
  Right!