A Chat with Samuel West -  

Excellent video! I truly appreciate the way you asked him questions and then just let him answer fully..... terrific!! many many thanks!

After seeing your videos I am proud to be an philatelist.....

The story behind the stamps and their owners, what beautiful moments shared for us. A big thank you for this wonderful interview!

What a wonderfully interesting discussion. My favorite episode of the new season by far. Thank you!

🤩🤩🤩 philatelists are the coolest people! Lol I gotta find that Austria balloon stamp.

What an interesting thought he brings up about the "number" of stamps in a collection. I've been asked a few times about how many stamps I have in my collection and I'm always at a loss at how many I actually have - because it's really not about quantity, though I add to my collection every chance I get. I must say it's always refreshing to hear another collector express their passion and love of the hobby and fascinating to know what aspects and details appeal to them.

It is always great to hear the perspective and stamp stories of fellow philatelists.

Great interview. Post crossing - what a great thing. I used to have penpals all over the world so post crossing is a great alternative for this generation.

What an awesome chat, I could listen to Samuel West all-day thank you for doing this look forward to more chats along the way.

Great interview, Graham. And I hope you're happy; I just ordered a two bob blue for myself. LOL

Really terrific interview!...........I love Samuel's enthusiasm for the hobby!

Great episode , Graham. I didn't know Samuel West was a collector, so it was fun to see how he responded to your questions with such enthusiasm and in-depth knowledge. Glad you let him lead the discussion into different topics like Postcrossing. Thanks for an entertaining 40 minutes of great philatelic conversation.

Great interview, loved it, thank you for posting and to Sam. We're fortunate in Australia, most states have reopened for stamp shows, auctions etc since August . Don't specialise in one stamp but if I did, it would have to be the Croatian 10 kuna war victims charity stamp from 1944, incredibly evocative , well designed stamp, never tire of looking at it even if it is so sad. Best wishes, happy collecting.

What a splendid episode with such an interesting guest.

Enjoyable episode

This was a wonderful interview and I would say you are a wonderful interviewer - you allowed him so much space to talk that his enthusiasm absolutely shone through. Its fired me up!

I'll tell you one thing Graham: I am waiting for your next episodes. There are unfortunately "so many stupid things on internet". Your channel is not only enjoyable but on top of that, one can learn things about philately. And I have been collecting way before I had internet (1972: age 8) but your channel is great. Thanks for your shows. They are great.

I stumbled upon this program searching for Samuel West on RU-vid. What a fascinating and informative program. Thank you!

AWESOME! "A collection is defined by what is left out" I love that quote! so powerful and it brings a lot of clarity to my personal view of philately and I am sure the views of many others.

Thank you Graham for another awesome episode. With every video I learn and explore so many new things and I get excited about my own stamp collection. Greetings from Austria :)

Great vid guys... I could spend a week chatting with him..

So interesting and inspiring! Thank you both very much!!!

An excellent episode, as always. What I love about the #philately episodes are the links you include for further study. I am apt to spend hours traveling marvelously entertaining rabbit holes. Thank you so much for the work you do in providing these opportunities.

What an intriguing conversation with wonderful anecdotes. I learned so much. And I'm so excited to have just created a postcrossing account! I live next to the San Juan Islands, so, I may write my first cards on the ferry over to one of the Island towns' post offices and postmark them from there to make them extra special. Thank you both for sharing.

Fantastic video!! Very enjoyable. Someone else that loves Machins as much as me 😄

Brilliant conversation, Graham. I don't really watch much TV at all, so I wasn't familiar with Mr. West, but he is clearly a fascinating and interesting person. I'll definitely watch this one again.

Absolutely fantastic, what a great interview. Inspiring. Stamps bring stories.

Absolutely fascinating very enjoyable and informative. So many different ways to look at the hobby. Realized many years ago that I was an accumulator. I do have many many favorite and when I peruse my books savor the beauty of my stamps. Thanks again for a wonderful sharing! Wayne Augustine Chicago Illinois USA

Great interview👌😃. Hope more such interviews.

A very eye-opening interview. Thanks for the recommendation, Graham.

That story of the Speratti forgeries is absolutely fascinating!

One of the most enjoyable aspects of philately you bring us is access to so many wonderful rabbit holes to explore. After this brilliant interview I immediately looked up Jean de Sperati, the 'forger" Samuel mentions, and am now looking forward to discovering more about his amazing life as an extremely specialized artist.

Great interview, very interesting. I collect Ireland stamps and postal history from 1840 to 2000. The penny black and 2 penny blue were issued at the same time in Ireland as in Great Britain and these stamps are referred to as GB used in Ireland. My example of the 2/- blue is not one of the rarer shades but it is a lovely stamp with a fine CDS ( circular date stamp ) cancellation of FEB. 19th 1872 in Tralee ( Country Kerry ). Stamps with a high face value are far rarer from small towns or villages. The other, far rarer stamp mentioned is the 2/- Brown and according to my information there is no known example used in Ireland but there are reputedly 2 Jean de Sperati forgeries with Irish cancellations. I bought one of these 9 months ago with the numeral cancellation 353 of Newcastle West, Co. Limerick. I think this proves Sam West’s theory that Spelati had found a way of chemically removing the image on a lower value stamp and then printing the, in this case, forgery of the 2/- Brown on the stamp. The cancellation was normally genuine and was unaffected as it was in indelible ink. This is also described in the catalogue of a sale of Sperati forgeries by Robson Lowe in Basel on 16th March 1972. He is described as “ probably the most dangerous forger of stamps this century.”

I have a stamp from Africa all over the world

This was in my "watch later" for a couple of weeks, since I have only followed your channel for some months and want to slowly catch up. This was such a joy to watch. From this stories, his joy and knowledge, and your sensitve way of giving him the possibitilites to just recount and turn to side topics and so on. Very enjoyable video. Thank you very muhc.

Wonderful conversation, thanks for the interview.👍🙏

Thanks Graham, what a thoroughly enjoyable interview. It is so fascinating to learn about people, like Sam, who are famous and not only take the time to collect stamps but also dig into the history about them. Sam also said something very interesting about you and Exploring Stamps which centered around the "brilliance" of going on location to tell your philatelic story; I hope that you will occasionally consider your philatelic journey down this path. Again, I absolutely loved this interview and I also love your new direction. Just don't forget your roots.

What an amazing interview! I hope you keep these coming.

I think what Sam doing is great. I go after national parks impedes Of 1935.also in C4,5. Keep up the good work. ENJOY THE HOBBY 🐿🐿😊😊

Thank you for this video! I love hearing how other people got into collecting stamps.

Real treat to have another video with Samuel West. Wonderful actor and narrator (BTW the Ken Follet 'Eye of the Needle' audio book is superb!)

I watched this when it first aired and absolutely loved it, Sam is such a great interview. At that time, I only collected US stamps. Since then I've also started collecting GB and in re-watching it, got a greater appreciation for some of Sam's comments, especially his passion for the two bob blue. This was my favorite episode when I watched it and still is today. I think the only way you can top this is to have Sam back again and have him show some of his collection. Hint, hint.

Great video! I love Sam’s performance in “All Creatures Great and Small.”

What I find interesting with US Stamps from the 1980's to present is the change in printing process from engraved and, in the 80s, early dot matrix priting to microprint, lithograph, photogravure with intaglio only being applied on parts of the stamp not an entirely engraved stamps (last one I think was the early 2000's in the US). I wonder if in the UK they have what they have here in the US (but has been cut in numbers) Philately centers? Maybe you could do one for the US and how to find one. Possibly with permission with the US Post Office a visit to one.

certainly the best episode on your channel I watched and lot what Sam had to say on stamps with life is relatable. I like the way he has introduced his daughters to postcrossing. Hopefully, I would bump into them there, and you as well.

Inspiring? Incredibly so! Great interview!

Really enjoyed the interview 👍🏽 Love all your videos! Best of luck with Stampex! My husband, Eddy, and I look forward to attending and visiting your booth ☺️

Very good - more like this please

Very good interview and episode! I fully enjoyed the conversation as it was so genuine and natural. Samuel seems such interesting, deep and humble person and both of you are such inspirations for philately. I really like the idea of making the collection more unique for yourself, if so by collecting only one or a few stamps.....but then again, so many of them are so damn intersting....

This interview is pure gold! Just wonderful.

This was a very nice interview. OK, I have learnt I´m an accumulator. But there are so many wonderful stamps out there that this will be my destiny. Regarding the 2 Shillings blue: UK is one of my weaker countries and of course I looked for a 2 Shilling stamp. But no, so a new challenge for the future. But I got curious about the brown one, looked in the catalogue and - holy shit - this stamp is really rare and expensive. I wasn´t aware that it exists, so I have learned something new. Thank you. I doubt that I will have one in my collection ... äh accumulation in the future. But there is a good chance for a blue one. The classic stamps from UK are overall really pretty nice.

Totally awesome interview. I purchased an estate lot from a person in Mississippi. There were stock books full of machins and wildings with tabs for each stamp or stamps showing varieties,colors, booklets, blocks of 4 and wtrmrks. looking at all the work that the person put into doing this made me stop and say a prayer for a fellow philatelist and thank them for the work to pass along our beautiful hobby. hope to do the same.

i found it very interesting conversation , was fun to watch!

A wonderful video! excellent interviewing style and thoughtful, articulate answers. "Everything is interesting if you just look closely enough" - words to live by!

I just found out that he played Dr. Frankenstein in Van Helsing & he's a topic collector, amazing!

Absolutely amazing watching him his Afghanistan point I completely agree as I myself also collect and specialize in Afghanistan 😊 Thank u so much enjoyed watching the vlog 😊👍

1. It's exciting to see the kind of stamps different collectors develop a fascination with, and why -- especially when what appeals to them is something I'd never really give much consideration to. Hearing Samuel West describe the features of the two shilling blue that he appreciates, in particular the specific shade of color used, was an eye-opening lesson in how diverse personal tastes can be. 2. West's #Postcrossing story about his daughter was thoroughly heartwarming. 3. How West got into stamp collecting in the first place confirms the centrality of traditional mail to philately's sustainability. Online greeting card sites were popular for a while, but annoying ads and other factors have phased them out of usage. A lot of places are selling greeting cards and postcards, but not nearly as many people are sending them as in the past. For stamp collecting to flourish again, more adolescents need to have that experience of receiving mail that West and his generation had. Which is why: 4. The idea of a partnership between Postcrossing and schools is brilliant. Get kids familiar with, and involved in, the postal system from a young age, encourage them to write physical letters and save the ones they received in reply, and stamp collecting will flow naturally from there -- not to mention the myriad other benefits of communicating globally. 5. The kind of host-guest chemistry in the video made it feel not like an interview but like a naturally flowing coffee-shop conversation about a new movie or a family event. Forty minutes passed by like ten. 6. The graphics are outstanding in their elegance -- the split screen format with occasional shifts to single-screen, the surrounding frame, the color scheme, and the thumbnail graphic.

What a great interview! I loved it... Philatelists are the coolest people.

Amazing interview! More episodes hahaha.

I enjoy all ur videos but this was pure brilliance! Thank u to u both! I now have a new favorite actor!

Great interview & video, thoroughly enjoyed it! I'm near 60 now & only had 2 long term jobs in my life & in those 2 places of work I was/am the only one collecting stamps & coins! Thanks for sharing!

This was such a wonderful conversation to watch! I love how stamps are not just pieces of history on paper but also pieces of art. I think it’s fascinating how a forgery can be so special and hold so much value and be so sought after. This video has got me even more excited about post crossing, and what a brilliant idea to start it for his young daughters as a way to learn about so many things and connect with people around the world! Loved this episode so so much, thank you again for making it!!

Your channel continues to deliver great content for the philatelic community. I hope that you schedule more interviews with famous philatelist. I can only imagine what having noted individuals talk about their stamps will do for promoting the hobby. Keep up the great work.📫🚙💯

Brilliant! I really enjoyed this.

This was wonderful !

This was one of your best shows! Sam is such a fascinating guy, I feel like I know him! And I’ve got to go back and watch that episode of “The Crown” again!

Inspirational interview. Renews my commitment to a childhood hobby. Thank you both!

I can relate with Mr West 90% of the time. I’m happy I was not alone.

Really intresting interview! I really like this serie!

Great video, it's so lovely to hear about other peoples collections (I'm so tempted to start a post crossing account)

First comment! Following your videos...

Thanks I really enjoyed that interview, very entertaining. I wished he could have shown some more of his collection though.

I don't know the first thing about stamps but this guy is making me consider a new hobby :). He's infectious as someone else said. I'm already on Postcrossing so I've got that going for me.

This was an epic interveiw!!! Congrats for this great interview and Samuel is a really cool and funny guy so he had to be a stamp collector and of course a postcrosser. I'm also a postcrosser and you should start postcrossing soon as possible ;) And by the way, could you make a video about japanese stamps because I love collect them specially the anime and manga theme. Keep the good work!!!

more of this please! join postcrossing - its superb!

He is also a board game geek! I like that guy! Cheers from Argentina

Love it, great people you both

Awesome :) hope to see you all soon.

I really enjoyed that interview, I'm a fan of the West family in general. I'm currently enjoying his portrayal of Siegfried on the new version of All Creatures Great and Small on PBS, his parents, as he points out are actors of many decades, his mother is Prunella Scales, who is best known as Sybil, the wife of Basil Fawltey on the iconic British comedy series, Fawltey Towers, and his father is Timothy West. Together a few years ago they did a terrific series of travel shows in which they go all over the British Isles in canal. I learned a lot from this, particularly about the two shilling stamps. Great episode, and I hope I can get to a Stampex exhibition one day, also would like to look into Postcrossing. I've heard of it before and it sounds intriguing.

I learned a lot again, that there is only one two shilling stamp design, that there is am actor around with the name Samual West, and I enjoyed the cool stories. Sounds fun to send random people a postcard, cool idea. I enjoyed this ☝️. Erik

Really interesting video, loved it.

What an inspirational conversation. This is my favorite video of yours yet. I collect Queen Victoria stamps and postal history of Newcastle-on-Tyne (545) postmarks. Attending Stampex2020 right now. "Stampex2020".

This is what I like about Graham he is never disappointing superb excellent brilliant Your Excellency Graham with smile all ways clear Cheer for me clearly the best chanel

What Fun!! I just had to take my coffee and lunch break together in order to enjoy your vlog. Is it weird that when you (or in this case Mr. West) talk about a specific stamp, I run through my collection to see what I have? Sadly I only have a 1 Shilling, :) Need to binge the Crown in order to catch up to that episode. Hopefully, some of those scene props landed at his home. Keep up the awesome work!!

You shold make this kind of thing available as a podcast

I LOVE Sam!! I didn't know that he is a philatelist.

I find specialization interesting, I'm envious of this amount of focus and discipline. I have preferred stamps, regions and topics. Possibly focusing on match and medicine proprietaries would be a nice point to land on. Honestly though, along with my five feet of shelving devoted to stamps albums and stock books, I have additional shelves with binders full of postcards, photography, food labels, bottle caps, cigarette cards etc... not to mention everything not stored or displayed that way.... and the storage unit.. like I said, I respect the discipline.

This was a very good video with Samuel. I am sorry Graham, but I don't watch much T.V. and I don't have "netflix"...although I could have it, but I'll live without it. Thanks for the video. David

Excellent episode! Thank you. Could you please do an episode on collecting all-world?

There are people in the states who DO collect shades. The Bowie Maryland club used to have an expert who specialized in shades. He had an excellent reference collection that greatly helped members identify those rare colors. Otherwise, we have a devil of a time identifying shades. We don't have a decent color guide. That makes collecting shades a problem.

This is a great video 👍

Hello Graham. Another great video. Could you do a episode just focusing on machins?

Very interesting! Thanks... 😀

Great interview. Its interesting to know how a collecter started collecting & learnt many things. The question all ask "how much stamps do you have ?" , yeh, its an odd question. I counted my collection in many times when i was a child. But i dont have an idea to count it again.

Very good job! What about a video with movie and series scenes?

Congratulations 🎉🎉🎉 Very Good Impermanence Thanks For All Of You

Thanks for this. I collect British, people find that strange as I am Australian, and watching this I realise I am not usual. That is, I have specialised too, for me in the George V “seahorse” issue of 1913-1934, but I also collect GB up to 2012. What I love is all the design and detail that can be crammed onto a small piece of paper. Have you done a show about post crossing?

Wonderful!

I do accumulate stamps and I don't know why. I am just fascinated by collecting and preserving as many stamps as I can. I also love learning about other countries. Through stamps we learn about fauna and flora, history, important persons, music, railways, flight, occupations and just a about anything one cares to mention. Incidentally - I absolutely hate self-adhesive stamps.

What an amazingly well spoken chap. Barely a hum or an umm.