Wonderful channel, John! I’ve learned so much from your videos. I love the way you organize your stock books! You have inspired me to reorganize my Great Britain stock book.
Thanks Doug, I first organised my Machins using the method I do, as it was difficult to keep track of what I had. It just seemed to make sense to me. I've adopted the same approach to my other collections and am slowly updating them, and sorting like this with catalogue numbers helps me identify any missing stamps.
Queen Elizabeth is my favorite queen (I'm in the US) -- and has been since seeing her on 1950's and early 1960's stamps. John is doing a wonderful explanation of these definitives. It would be a treasure to have complete sets of at least the Queen Elizabeth definitives. All of the stamps of her era -- that would take many years to compile.
I just started collecting Great Britain stamps , so your channel is very informative also it shows me how to group my stamps in various categories Thank you 🙏 so much June smith.
That's a happy coincidence that you spoke about these wilding QEII stamps John, I've been thinking I'd like to go all in collecting this group, including the castles. Looking forward to you covering the castles too👍
Thank you John...great job. Been collecting GB stamp all my life and I keep learning things from your videos I either had issues with, did not know or did not understand. Keep up the great work!
Hi John, another great and informative video. There is a brand of watermark detector called Clarity .it’s from the USA and was developed in conjunction with the American Philatelic Society and is perfectly safe. The downside is it costs £16 and you can add another £16 for postage.
Hi John, interesting video. I use lighter fluid and while it does stink I don't use it over long periods of time. It is cheaper and easier for me to access than dedicated watermark fluid. I was told that lighter fluid leaves a residue on stamps, but I have not noticed; they also don't seem to smell afterwards. I also recall reading on forums that dedicated watermark fluid does not always work. Well neither does lighter fluid. I often have difficulties identifying watermarks. I did notice that Prinz fluid is available online.
When I looked for the Prinz fluid, everywhere showed out of stock. I used to get it on Amazon, but they don't list it any more. I'll have another scout around, thanks.
Lighter fluid works well on all gb stamps I’ve used it on qv in particular, no smell, no residue, but use in well ventilated spaces, the stamps dry quickly too.
I’m just getting into the hobby and haven’t used any watermark fluid yet, but I’ve had relative success with shining a light from underneath the stamp to see the watermark.
This video was just covering the basic simplified issues, not taking account of the various Watermark orientations (inverted, sideways,etc), but thanks for pointing out.
Interesting video on watermarks John. I specialise in G.B. and all my Queen Elizabeth are u/mint, or mint never hinged as they call it now. The problem i have is detecting the watermarks. I dont want to use fluid for obvious reasons so i invested in a Stanley Gibbons electronic detector and i am struggling to see any discernable marks at all!
I never had any issues with Watermark Fluid, but just can't find it stocked in the UK any more. I've heard both good and bad about the electronic detector, some swear by it, others having the same issue you are.
