Audubon Birds Issue
In 1975 the original 15 stamp Audubon Birds Issue was released which has been labeled as an illegal or unauthorized issue. In the next several years another 60 stamps were issued (also illegal) making a total of 75 stamps. Does anyone know which stamps were issued when after the initial issue and/or where I can find more information on the stamps? Thanks
Comments
The first printing of 15 stamps was released January 28th 1975 and subsequently 4 other printings of 15 stamps each where released at various dates, if not all at the same time. Personnally I think that due to Stolow's gread and eagernes to collect profits that the 4 series of 15 stamps each where probably released as a lot of 60 at one time.
Having huge quantities of sheets of the Audubon birds, one of the marketing ploys to dispose of these was used by a business called Calhoun's Collectors Society. They sold padded green vinyl albums, size 244 mm high by 253 mm wide and with a spine 43 mm wide. Inside are clear vinyl pocket pages: the first page having a "Certificate of Authenticity" signed by one Ronald P. Gerwin, (or Yerwin?) stating that the album I have is "number 13851 of the limited edition." (They imply the "limited edition" comprises 20,000, but that hardly qualifies as limited, in my opinion!)
A scan of this certificate is attached. We can breath easy: with such an impressive and carefully-worded certificate, the issue must be genuine!
Then follow 15 pages, each page having a full sheet of one of the Haiti Audubon birds stamps, backed with a green card which has printed details about the bird shown on the preceding page, and about Audubon and his hunting and study of the birds. Each page has in tiny print at the foot:
© 1979 CCS, Inc.
so we have the "alleged" year of production shown, four years after the alleged "issue date".
Perstamp 87's comment above mentions "series of 15 stamps", so perhaps this album represents one of Stolow's several "editions of 15", where they concluded a happy deal to offload 20,000 sheets of each of these stamps. They also imply that the "20,000 sheets" thus used in these albums is the entire print run for these stamps. Which may or may not be true (and probably is NOT true, in view of some of the other questionable statements surrounding these stamps.)
I have just checked the 15 sheets, and compared them with the numerous Audubon stamps in my collection, and with the list I published in HP 152. They are all included in that list.
Since publishing that article and list in HP 152, I have located ONE further stamp, which brings the total to 81 different stamps.
The new addition: a humble 5 centimes.
5c Mourning Dove, AIR. Similar to number V2, but with AVION at top.
This total of 81 is not divisible by 15 (standard number in a set) nor by 23 (the "complete set" offered by Stolow at time of issue), so it seems there may be more values yet to turn up.
Please check yours against the list in HP 152.