E. P. Athensbury

Jack-of-all-trades: artist, craftsman, amateur-astronomer, philatelist, and writer; an Andromedan.

[E. P. Athensbury @EPAthensbury]

@antonioguterres Guterres, you are hysterical. Whatever happens, was quite simply destined to be. You can't change history, nor what is to become history.

[E. P. Athensbury @EPAthensbury]

@shivaye01 @AMAZlNGNATURE Actually, that's the raw power of the Sun in action; the tides caused by same.

[E. P. Athensbury @EPAthensbury]

@larryjones I mean, I'm browsing, and she blurts that out.

[E. P. Athensbury @EPAthensbury]

@larryjones I'm sitting here with my 86 year-old mother, who has mild-to-moderate dementia, and she said upon seeing the image, "I don't know who that ugly woman is."

[E. P. Athensbury @EPAthensbury]

The last time when it was truly safe to attend an outdoor event in the United States...

United States, 1964, 5¢ in blue-green...

[E. P. Athensbury @EPAthensbury]

@libsoftiktok New York City is relatively ancient. There are many ghosts who haunt it, but never to see nor hear them due to the neverending din and the brightest of lights. Currently, the city is as a baby bottle, and for the rocket scientists.

[E. P. Athensbury @EPAthensbury]

@tagula_blue 1880 1d in Venetian red of Great Britain; I got this one for the letters "G" and "A". Indeed, folks back then enjoyed sorting through piles of these for their favourite combinations, as an evening's entertainment. I have the entire set to which this belongs, per Scott...

[E. P. Athensbury @EPAthensbury]

The yellowish green was released on January 1, 1891; that is, if this one is authentic. I can only assume that the grey-green was released later in the year, summer, fall or winter...

[E. P. Athensbury @EPAthensbury]

This arrived today...

British Hong Kong, 1891, 30c in yellowish green, seemingly authentic, and postmarked in Hong Kong on October 19, 1899...

[E. P. Athensbury @EPAthensbury]

Both do have rather late postmarks, but, lest we forget, within the reign of the monarch depicted nonetheless. Both are postmarked at about ten years or so after their release, as well.

[E. P. Athensbury @EPAthensbury]

I finally got one. This arrived from the UK the other day. I couldn't find one locally. It's a difficult issue.

Natal, 1880, ½d in blue-green, and postmarked in April of 1889...

[E. P. Athensbury @EPAthensbury]

I had a devil of a time discerning the watermark. It is indeed a "Crown & CC" watermark. A second ½d in blue-green was printed in 1884, but with a "Crown & CA" watermark. The 1880 is valuated higher than the 1884, used, but the opposite is true in mint condition...

[E. P. Athensbury @EPAthensbury]

I got to thinking, knowing how difficult it truly is to find an authentic yellowish green specimen, so I've taken the chance in purchasing it. It will be forthcoming from the UK, so stay tuned. I get a nice something or other from there on occasion, like this one...

[E. P. Athensbury @EPAthensbury]

British Hong Kong, 1891, 30c in grey-green; as far as I know, this one, SG #39a, and its sibling in yellowish green, SG#39, were the only Victorian Hong Kong issues to be printed with fugitive ink, which dissolves in water.

[E. P. Athensbury @EPAthensbury]

I found this image online, and of what appears to be an authentic yellowish green example, but I've been reluctant to purchase it, for it may not look like this upon its arrival...

[E. P. Athensbury @EPAthensbury]

The yellowish green valuates at about a third more over the grey-green, and its ink too can run, according to Scott, however once a yellowish green has been washed out, it has lost its identity, and is worthless, just like the washed-out grey-green examples.

[E. P. Athensbury @EPAthensbury]

My example has most of its grey-green ink intact. Just imagine the difficulties in distinguishing between washed-out grey-green imposters and the authentic yellowish green icons, and among collectors and dealers.

[E. P. Athensbury @EPAthensbury]

It is only in this area where water contacted the ink, and where it ran even, at right. Here I had found a most educational example, for the cheaper grey-green can be transformed into a simulated yellowish green specimen simply by running water over the entire stamp...

[E. P. Athensbury @EPAthensbury]

It won second place at a local modelling show. I took it to a modelling shop to sell it, and it did, to someone affiliated with an exhibition being shown in town at that time.

[E. P. Athensbury @EPAthensbury]

I got $200 for this after I finished it, many years ago. I made it from scratch. It is a lady's dressing table, and reminiscent of those aboard the R.M.S. Titanic in first-class, and in 1/12th scale. The mirror is of glass, and the bench's upholstery I painted by hand...

[E. P. Athensbury @EPAthensbury]

I built and enhanced this just before I began my first work in wood. It's a flash image with a paper-camera, unclear, and the only one I have of the 1/350th-scale model. I drilled out every last porthole of the hull and lined each with gold paint, and that's just one feature...