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Welcome to Matchbox Illustrations!
Welcome to a quiet corner for matchbox illustration collectors. Share how you sort themes, compare print runs, or scan and store labels, and ask questions where your own notes fall short. Reading along is fine too; post when you have something to compare.
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Look at the wonderful condition of this stamp, classified as "brilliant mint".
High denomination stamps are often scarce, and this was the most valuable face-value on the first set of Hong Kong stamps ever issued.
We can date this example to post 1863 because of its watermark. De La Rue's London print workers carved the blocks to produce Chinese characters recording the value and the city's name - it translates as something like Fragrant Harbour.
Beating the Stanley Gibbons catalogue value of £1,600, you will pay only £1,500 for this exceptional stamp.
Isn't this an extraordinary sight? Now, picture this set in your own collection. What a highlight.
It's 1903 and Victoria's son Edward VII sits on the throne back in London, his face the guarantee that these 15 stamps will provide the service they promise.
Well integrated into a world-wide administrative system, Hong Kong stands in contrast to mainland China, where foreign powers still dictate their own terms to a weak Qing monarchy.
The condition is key to the value of this set. They are "brilliant" and though they have been mounted it has had little impact.
A set that must be on the wish-list for any Hong Kong collector.
Hong Kong 1948 Royal Silver Wedding $10 carmine, upper marginal, SG172.
There's no doubting the pristine condition of this beautiful stamp.
Many Britons will immediately recognise Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, in this fine portrait to celebrate the 25th anniversary of her wedding to George VI.
This stamp is basically untouched, with its gum all in place.
Certainly any Hong Konger wanting to celebrate the territory's associations with the UK will find this stamp interesting.
We match the Stanley Gibbons catalogue value of £275. And delivery is always free.
1863, when the oldest of these stamps was issued was just 3 years after the 2nd Opium War, one of the defining events of China's so-called Century of Humiliation.
In 1935, when our third stamp is issued, Mao's Red Army completes its Long March into safety in the mountains of Shaanxi province.
By 1948, as the British royals tell Hong Kong of a silver wedding, the Chinese Civil War that would end in victory for the People's Liberation Army and the foundation of the People's Republic of China is grinding to its end.
Emergency plans were made to evacuate Hong Kong, but the communist troops stopped at the border.
Geopolitics might be a long way upstream of stamp collecting, but the ripples of these events always spread into the hobby.
Among the effects of China's recent meteoric economic growth has been an influx of money into collecting.
Imperial powers looted China. Now, Chinese people have the means to buy back the national treasures that were lost.
That's put money into all China-linked markets. Including stamps.
And, as we've seen, Hong Kong's - sometimes troubled - return to the Chinese state has put a nostalgic glow on the Union Flag for some.
I think that makes these items potentially strong investment buys.
We want you to enjoy your stamps with the minimum of stress.
That's why secure delivery worldwide is free.
That's why you get a 28-day, no-questions-asked return guarantee.
And that's why there's a personal lifetime guarantee of authenticity - or your money back - from company founder Paul Fraser.
So there's nothing to worry about. Apart from getting to these rare stamps first.
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