MY POLICIES Scott Catalogue Because I live in Canada, the catalogue I am most familiar with is Scott’s. Accordingly I have used Scott to help me decide whether a stamp is shown on my site or not. If it is listed in Scott, then I will list it. Similarly if it is a variation on a stamp listed in Scott, I will list it. However, I am not listing stamps that Scott does not list. Other, European catalogues, such as Michel and Yvert, do list some stamps that Scott does not. In particular, they list more recent stamps from some African countries. I have chosen to wait and see if Scott lists a stamp before listing it in the case of these countries. Cinderellas and Frauds Since the year 2000 there has developed an industry of producing stamps that pretend to be from a legitimate country but in fact have not been authorized by the postal authorities of that country. This mostly has affected some African countries and countries of the former USSR. This phenomenon seems to be accelerating. Many of these fake stamps are easily identifiable by the
washed-out colours that they use or by being labelled Tortues, Tartarugas, Reptiles
and so on. My policy is to not encourage the fraudsters by listing their efforts on my website. There are more than enough other places on the web to see these stamps if you are interested in doing so. Wallpaper Another recent development is the outsourcing of stamp production to companies specializing in this. Small countries such as Solomon Islands, Sao Tome and Principe, Mozambique and Samoa have done just this. These companies often go on to produce hundreds of new issues each year, most of which have nothing to do with the particular country - trains, movie stars, Elvis, nude paintings, etc. These stamps are referred to as Wallpaper. If Scott lists these stamps, I will reluctantly list them too. For those who collect these stamps, I have placed a selection of them on a page called Wallpaper. Locals, Breakaways Stamps that are issued by, or purport to be issued by, local authorities, cities, regions and so on, are not shown on this site. I do show stamps from breakaway regions that have achieved some degree of legitimacy, such as Turkish Cyprus or Transdniestrian Moldovan republic. Personalized and Privatized Stamps There is nothing illegal or fraudulent about personalized or privatized stamps. They are interesting new developments. I have chosen to exclude them unless they are listed by Scott. Acknowledgements This website was created in 2012 by Joe Leven. There are some individuals who have helped me a lot in
setting up and maintaining this site and I would like to acknowledge them by
name. They are Wendell McLaughlin, Judy Hornaday, Nancy Linsley, James Rea and Ruy Milla. I urge you to not buy from seller saraphil on the Delcampe website. This seller takes people's money and does not send them their stamps. Links Here are some useful links for the collector of turtle and tortoise stamps: SeaTurtle Postage Stamps of the World Post Offices with Turtle in their Name
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If you know of any turtle stamps that are not on this site, PLEASE CONTACT ME SO THAT I MAY ADD THEM!!!
