Friday, February 26, 2021

The Battleship Desk Reference 2

Readers that know this website well know the tendencies of my 1898 collecting interests.  Those interests have not, so far, included proprietary handstamp cancels.  The proprietary printed cancels are another matter, and there are many examples of those on this site, and in the future, likely to be many more.  

Bob Mustacich's Battleship Revenue Stamps site

After being away from the hobby and the site for several years it is exciting to see some of the new work that is going on in the 1898 world, particularly regarding the handstamped proprietaries.  Bob Mustacich's Battleship Desk Reference (BDR) has been a go to guide for identifying cancels on the proprietary stamps over the years.  But a new project called BDR2 is now underway, led by Bob and a host of contributors including Malcolm Goldstein, Timothy Kohler, Paul Reese, Frank Sente, and Duane Skeen.  The new BDR, currently under development and available online, includes images and historical information, providing for a richer experience when viewing and using the database.  The historical emphasis of the 1898 Revenues blog, and the work of Malcolm Goldstein that started online here, can now be found in a more rigorous database.  Thanks to all of you working on this.


Navigation to the site is not immediately evident for now when going to Bob's site.  The best way to find it is to click on the U.S. Revenue Stamps tab at the top of the page.  You will get a drop down that includes the above directory if you click on Proprietary, then Battleships, then BDR2.  A shortcut is here.

A synopsis of the project is available and a link to the database called "Directory".  Once you click on Directory you can find material like that below.


I'm just getting familiar with this new site and project.  More later as I begin to link it to some of the work I expect to do here at 1898 Revenues.




Monday, February 22, 2021

New York Stock Brokers: Day & Heaton

 


DAY & HEATON
MAY 9 1891
N. Y.

David Thompson scan



David Thompson adds another firm to the New York Stock brokers list.  Originally sent in 2012, I'm not quite sure why I didn't post the firm then.  Any guess as to what firm was sold for $115/share?

If you haven't checked out the list of all the brokers published on this website, you can do so conveniently by clicking on the "stock brokers" summary tab at the top of the web page.  


Friday, February 19, 2021

R173 with Margin Inscription

 


R173r

David Thompson scan

A most reliable contributor, even after many years, David Thompson, sent in this scan of an R173 with a special margin inscription that includes a denomination notation (with $ sign!) and what are likely to be siderographer's initials.  

Cancel notes:  The year date is obviously wrong and should be 1899.  And we could be looking at a Northwestern Mutual Life cancel, though the N is oddly shaped.  I've been away from these cancels too long.  Any other possibilities/certainties?  Could it be HMLI?

Thursday, February 4, 2021

1898 Revenues: The 2021 Edition

Greetings all.  This author is back in the US after 12 years abroad.  I've begun collecting my philatelic material in one place after so many years (I have my collection scattered across 3 states and the District of Columbia), and I'm beginning to think about the best way to reactivate this website.  

I'm looking forward to reconnecting with loyal readers and contributors.