This comprehensive Stanley Gibbons Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps 2023 Catalogue covers Great Britain, Commonwealth and Empire countries from 1840 to 1970. The listings include variations in watermark, perforation, paper and printing methods, major shades, important plate flaws, errors, government telegraph stamps and booklets (all listed and priced). Guidance is given throughout the catalogue on subjects such as unusual usages, overprint settings, forgeries and much, much more. More such notes have been added to the latest edition.

KEY SELLING FEATURES:

• The authoritative reference source for GB and Commonwealth information – all stamps from 1840-1970 listed and priced.
• To help readers avoid buying forgeries or fakes, or stamps with forged postmarks, there is helpful information on their identification.
• Strengthened, case bound binding for extra durability.
• Unique listing by SG number.
• Full colour illustrations.
• Invaluable six-page article on stamp condition.
• Helpful guide to valuing stamps on commercial cover up to 1945.
• Prices have once again been revised from cover to cover. The market for fine Commonwealth stamps remains strong, with increases in most sections, some of them quite substantial. Areas of particular strength are to be found in Great Britain used abroad, India and states, Malaya and South Africa, while in New Zealand there are significant increases, right through from the Chalon Heads to the Second Pictorials.
• Whether you are an active buyer of Commonwealth stamps or a dealer, it is vital to be right up to date with this very active market – and there is no more up-to-date reference than the 2023 ‘Part 1’.

Important Additions To The 2023 Edition:

• Revisions to the Great Britain used abroad listings with a number of new additions.
• The early issues of Ceylon reviewed following the publication of Ceylon, The Pence Issues by the Royal Philatelic Society London.
• The ‘Wider and more open S’ variety in the early official stamps of India now illustrated with a fully priced listing.
• New notes on counter coil pairs in New Zealand
• New listing of India and Pakistan stamps used in Dubai.
• Illustrated notes on line and comb perforators added to the Introduction
• New varieties have been added to a number of countries, including Australia, Fiji and South Africa, while previously listed varieties are now illustrated under British East Africa, New South Wales, the Indian States and elsewhere.
• Helpful new notes added throughout, including Burma, New Guinea and Cook Islands.

ABOUT THE EDITOR:

Hugh Jefferies has been a stamp collector for over 60 years, concentrating on the stamps of Great Britain and the Commonwealth. He was the editor of Gibbons Stamp Monthly for over 25 years and has been Stanley Gibbons catalogue editor since 2003.

REVIEWS/ENDORSEMENTS:

…a ‘must buy’
Quite simply an ESSENTIAL volume to sit on the desk of every collector , every auction, and every dealer who ever handles British Commonwealth stamps.
…trust me , you’ll do well to invest in one.
Glen Stephens, Stamp News Australasia

…a joy for the collector whose speciality is vintage stamps.
Seasoned collctors consider the annual publication a key resource in pursuing Commonwealth and British Empire items.
Michael Nowlan, Canadian Stamp News

About Stanley Gibbons Catalogues

Stanley Gibbons is the world’s longest established rare stamp merchant. The world-famous Gibbons Catalogue was first published by Edward Stanley Gibbons in 1865 and sold for 2d., post free. The main catalogue now comprises several parts and is intended for the more advanced collector. Commonwealth and British Empire Stamps 1840–1952 includes all stamps of this area from the earliest issues up to the end of George VI’s reign and additionally lists and illustrates many of the better varieties popular with collectors. A series of single country or limited area catalogues covers Commonwealth countries from their first issues to date. Of the remaining parts, ten are devoted to European countries and eleven to ‘overseas’ countries. Thematic Catalogues are also published covering stamps featuring Aircraft; Birds; Butterflies and Insects; Chess; Fish; Fungi; Mammals; Motor Vehicles; Railways; Shells and Ships. Commonwealth and British Empire Stamps 1840–1952 and Stamps of the World are published, fully updated, each year, new editions of the others are published as required.

About Stamp Catalogs

The stamp catalogue, basically a dealer’s price-list, is a most essential work of reference for the stamp collector. It provides complete, detailed lists of all the postage stamps issued by every country in the world from the earliest days, with information about dates of issue, commemorative events, face values, colours and designs, and – if it is a fairly new catalogue – the current prices of the stamps, unused and postally used. For the beginner and general collector the most useful catalogue is the Stanley Gibbons Simplified Catalogue of Stamps of the World published in five volumes. This catalogue contains all the details – except perforations, watermarks, designers, printers and varieties – the average collector needs for every country.