Category: History

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Tuesday/ added a page 📄

German stamp album publisher Leuchtturm generally did a great job with their preprinted stamp album for South Africa.
They followed a minimalist, clean layout without the year of issue only, and no descriptions for what the stamps commemorate.

On some pages like the first two below, for example, several versions of the same stamp exist, but there is place for only one. (The stamps were issued on on different types of paper, or with different watermarks, for example.) 

So I added a page into my album with the sets that had stamps with multiple versions. 

P.S. That monument on the green 4c stamp is in my hometown of Vereeniging. Its inscription says ‘Wounded but invincible’. Sculptor Coert Steynberg is shown working on it (it was unveiled in 1961). 

The monument commemorates the Treaty of Vereeniging, a peace treaty, signed on 31 May 1902, that ended the Second Boer War between the South African Republic and the Orange Free State on the one side, and the United Kingdom on the other. 

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If one looks closely at the stamps with the mail coach, or the transmission tower, or the green ones with the monument, one can see that the colors are different. That is because the stamps were printed on different types of paper.
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Tuesday/ National Flag Day 🇲🇽

It just happened to be Día de la Bandera— National Flag Day— today here in Mexico.

While catching the sunset at the Olas Altas beach by Centro de Mazatlán, we spotted the giant Mexican flag on the flagpole way down along the promenade (the far left in the second picture)—a rare treat since it’s only up a few days each year.

We reached it in the nick of time, just as the flag was being lowered and taken away.

P.S. Built in the early 1920s (often cited as 1919–1920) by Californian Louis Bradbury, Hotel Belmar is Mazatlán’s original oceanfront hotel, representing the city’s golden age. Located on the Olas Altas boardwalk, it was a 1940s/50s hot spot for Hollywood stars like John Wayne and Lucille Ball, known for its elegant, historic, and slightly bohemian atmosphere.

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Friday/ the Trump tariffs are unconstitutional 🤑

Happy Friday.

Breaking News: The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled today in a 6-3 decision that Trump’s sweeping tariffs on imports from nearly every U.S. trading partner are unconstitutional.

Last April, in 2025, Trump had claimed that a 1970s emergency statute* (which does not mention the word “tariffs”) allowed him to unilaterally impose the duties without congressional approval.

*The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977.
It authorizes the President to regulate international commerce, including limiting or taxing imports, upon declaring a national emergency in response to an “unusual and extraordinary threat” from abroad.

The SCOTUS justices for the majority noted that no other US president had invoked the statute to impose any tariffs — let alone tariffs of this magnitude and scope. Tariffs are a tax and the President of the United States must identify clear congressional authorization to exercise it.

The U.S. Treasury has collected about $240 billion in tariff revenue since April 2, 2025. Consumers paid about 90% of that.

Trump is, um— shall we just say, mightily upset—  over this ruling, and immediately ordered a new 10 percent tax on all imports to the USA.
For justification, he is using the 1974 Trade Act and a provision called Section 122.
(No president before him had invoked that provision, either.)
Section 122 was designed to address short-term emergencies, not long-term trade policies. 
It can only be put in place for 150 days.

In 2025, Trade Deficit in Goods Reached Record High
Data released Thursday by the Census Bureau showed the overall US trade deficit with the world narrowed, the result of an expanding trade surplus in services. The trade deficit in goods was the highest on record.

Ben Casselman and Ana Swanson write for the NY Times:
The total trade deficit, including trade in both goods and services, shrank slightly last year, as growth in exports narrowly outpaced growth in imports. But that was entirely the result of an expanding trade surplus in services. The trade deficit in physical goods, which has been Mr. Trump’s focus as he has sought to use tariffs to restore the U.S. manufacturing sector, actually grew in 2025.
The trade deficit grew sharply at the end of the year, rising 32.6 percent in December as imports rose and exports fell.
[Graphic by Keith Collins]

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Tuesday/ Lunar New Year 🐎

Happy Lunar New Year— the Year of the Horse.
I bought this coin recently while I was in Singapore from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), as a souvenir.
It is not silver, but a nickel-plated proof-like zinc coin.

Majulah Singapura (on the back of the coin) is a Malay phrase meaning ‘Onward Singapore’ or ‘Forward Singapore’.

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Monday/ Presidents’ Day 🪙

Happy Presidents’ Day.

This ensemble of US presidents on postage stamps issued by the U.S. Postal Service is from my modest collection of US stamps.

President George Washington appeared on one of the very first U.S. postage stamps issued in 1847 (a 10-cent stamp). He subsequently appeared on over 300 different U.S. postage stamps— more than any other individual in U.S. postal history, and more often than all other U.S. presidents combined.

U.S. presidents on stamps.
(The U.S. Postal Service has not issued a stamp yet of President Obama— nor of Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden. A key USPS policy rule is that a person must be deceased before their likeness can appear on a stamp, similar to the rule that is in place for coins and banknotes at the US Mint.)
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Friday/ stamps, mailed from India 🇮🇳

Happy Friday The Thirteenth.
The postage stamps I had bought from an Ebay seller in Mumbai, India, made it into the mailbox on my porch this morning.

Here are some of my favorite ones.

Sixth series of South African Railway parcel stamps
Issued 1929 | Perf. 14 | Size 18×22½ mm | Afrikaans or English inscriptions | Background 14 vertically aligned rows of text | No watermark
PS 6.2 | 2d Pale mauve | Afrikaans text
Overprinted PMB (code for Pietermaritzburg, Natal railway station)
Postmarked Sept. 6, 1932
[Source: Railway Stamps of South Africa, 1985, by H.S. Hagen and S.P.Naylor]
German inflation stamps from circa 1923, primarily from the Weimar Republic era.
These represent a period of hyperinflation where postage costs skyrocketed from 20 marks to 50 billion marks in less than a year.
(Confession: I don’t have a collection of stamps from Germany, but I love the elaborate numeral designs on these, and added them into my purchase).

Brittania, QE II
Issued by Royal Mail, Great Britain, Mar. 2, 1993 | Perf. 14 | Design B. Craddock | Lithography | Printer: House of Questa | Silver die-stamped w. Braille symbol for “10” embossed | Paper contains fluorescent colored fibers which, together with the ink on the shield, react under ultraviolet light
1658 1088| £10 Greenish grey, rosine, yellow, new blue, reddish violet, vermilion, violet, bright green and silver
[Source: Stanley Gibbons stamp catalogue Part 1, British Commonwealth 1997, Vol.1]

Britannia is the ancient Roman name for Great Britain and the national personification of the United Kingdom, often depicted as a helmeted woman with a trident and shield. Originating from the 1st century BC, it became a enduring symbol of British strength, power, and identity. It frequently appears on coins, on stamps and on artwork.
– Google AI

Royal Mail Postage Labels, issued 1984-85
These imperforate labels, printed in red on phosphorized paper with grey-green background design, were first issued on 1 May 1984 as an experiment by the Post Office. Special microprocessor controlled machines were installed at post offices in Cambridge, London, Shirley, (Southampton) and Windsor to provide an after-hours sales service to the public.
The machines printed and dispensed the labels according to the coins inserted and the buttons operated by the customer.
Values were initially available in ½p steps to 16p.
In addition, the labels were sold at philatelic counters in two packs containing either 3 values (3½, 12½ or 16р) or 32 values (½p to 16p).
From 28 Aug. 1984 the machines were adjusted to provide values up to 17p.
After 31 Dec. 1984 labels ending in ½p values were withdrawn.
On 30 Apr. 1985, the machines were withdrawn from service.
P.S. I asked Google AI why these stamp labels were discontinued. The answer: Automated stamp label machines generally failed to achieve widespread success due to high operational costs, inconsistent print quality, and frequent technical failures.
[Source: Stanley Gibbons stamp catalogue Part 1, British Commonwealth 1997, Vol.1]

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Saturday/ stamps for the Olympics 🎿

It is a time-honored tradition for countries and postal agencies over the world to issue postage stamps to commemorate the Olympic Games.

The Unites States Postal Service has not issued stamps for the 2026 Games, though.
Here is host country Italy’s stamps.
Very abstract— compared to say, the issue from Japan for the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo.

From olympics.com:
Sapporo 1972 was significant for both Japanese and Asian winter sport.
As the first Winter Games held in Asia, they inspired people across the continent to watch, and take up, snow and ice disciplines.
The success of the Japanese ski jumpers– known as the Hinomaru Squadron– created national heroes and showed that Asian winter sports athletes could compete with the best from Europe and North America.

The 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games XXV, Milano Cortina, Italy
Issued by Poste Italiane, Jan. 21, 2026
Miniature sheet of 2 stamps | Perf. 11 Die Cut | Engraving by I.P.Z.S. S.p.A. – Roma | Self-adhesive | No watermark
4877 FLV | €3.35 Multi-colored shades of green, yellow-green | Milano Cortina 2026 “Futura” emblem
4878 FLW | €3.35 Multi-colored shades of dark blue, purple, violet | Milano Cortina 2026 “Futura” emblem
[Sources: stampworld.com, Google AI Overview]
The 1972 Winter Olympic Games XI, Sapporo, Japan
Issued by Japan Post, Feb. 3, 1972
Miniature sheet of 3 stamps | Perf. 13¼ | Photolithography | No watermark
1103 A730 | 20 yen Ultramarine & multi-colored |Downhill Skiing
1104 A730 | 20 yen Ultramarine & multi-colored |Bobsledding
1105 A730 | 50 yen Ultramarine & multi-colored |Figure skating, pairs and Makomanai Indoor Skating Rink (now known as the Makomanai Sekisui Heim Ice Arena)
[Sources: 2021 Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue Vol. 4A, stampworld.com]

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Monday/ all that we have lost

“There is such a sadness for all we have lost, the rage and disgust that propels us forward, unimaginable before, held together by our trust in our democracy, now shattered by video proof, we do live in a police state. Maybe not in your neighborhood, yet, but history teaches that they will arrive.

It was the cameras in Viet Nam that relentlessly showed Americans what was being perpetrated in their name, that turned sentiment against the war. It was the videos in the murder of George Floyd that amassed protest against racism. And it is the videos of Gestapo tactics, used indiscriminately against all of us, exposing villainous lies, that will be that pivot point to what we knew was coming.

We the people do not consent.”

– NY Times reader DL, commenting on a report called ‘Watching America Unravel in Minneapolis’ by Charles Homans.
Homans is from Minnesota, and a political correspondent for The Times. He spent 10 days in and around Minneapolis observing clashes between federal agents and city residents and interviewing immigrants, activists and the mayor.

Charles Homens starts with this summary in his report for the New York Times:
‘Donald Trump’s most profound break with American democracy, evident in his words and actions alike, is his view that the state’s relationship with its citizens is defined not by ideals or rules but rather by expressions of power, at the personal direction of the president. That has been clear enough for years, but I had not truly seen what it looked like in person until I arrived in Minneapolis, my hometown, to witness what Trump’s Department of Homeland Security called Operation Metro Surge.’
[Photo by Philip Montgomery for NYT]
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Saturday/ Ho Chi Minh City 🇻🇳

The Diamond Princess arrived at the deep-water port of Phú Mỹ at 8 am on Saturday morning.

It’s almost a 2-hour drive from Phú Mỹ to the sprawling city of Ho Chi Minh.  Our tour bus ran alongside and across the rivers of the Mekong Delta*, and the route included a segment of National Route 1 with toll plazas. It is the beginning of the rice planting season. Rice is a staple food in Viet Nam.

*Home to the endangered Mekong giant catfish (Pangasianodon gigas), known for reaching nearly 10 feet and over 600 pounds.

As we approached the city, we saw tall apartment buildings (what we would call condominiums in the States). These go for a fortune in Vietnamese Dong— 5 billion, about US$200,000— and are strictly for rich people. The supertall skyscraper in the pictures is that of the 81-story Landmark 81 tower (completed 2018).

Our first stop in Saigon* was at an art studio and gallery with Vietnamese lacquer art, or Sơn Mài.  *The central part of Ho Chi Minh City still goes by the name of Saigon.

The next stop was at Ho Chi Minh City History Museum with its lovely water lily pond and displays of the forces that occupied the territory of what is known as Viet Nam today.

I asked Google AI Overview for a summary:
Vietnam’s history is marked by occupation and resistance, starting with over a millennium of Chinese rule (c. 111 BCE–938 CE), followed by internal dynasties and expansion south. French colonization from the 1880s led to French Indochina, briefly interrupted by Japanese occupation during WWII, sparking the Viet Minh independence movement. After WWII, France tried to reclaim control, leading to the First Indochina War (1946-1954), ending with French defeat and Vietnam’s division, ultimately leading to the Vietnam War (US involvement) and communist unification in 1975.

Next was the Saigon Central Post Office with a portrait of Ho Chi Minh inside. (Ho Chi Minh was the man that led a long and ultimately successful campaign to make Vietnam independent. He was president of North Vietnam from 1945 to 1969.)

Look for my picture of the Pittman Apartments building from which people were airlifted from during the Fall of Saigon in April 1975 (famously captured in Hubert van Es’s iconic photo). It’s painted yellow and light brown and has several antennas attached to it.

We made a quick stop at a Buddhist Temple, and then went to the swank Windsor Plaza Hotel for lunch. I loved the dragon on my little can of Bia Saigon Special beer.

The next stop was at the Independence Palace (also called Reunification Palace) , a building that played a central role in the Viet Nam war. It was designed by architect Ngô Viết Thụ. Construction started in 1962 and it was completed by 1966.  It was the home and workplace of the president of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam).

The final stop for the day was at Ben Thanh market.
It has some 1,500 booths inside and it was crowded, so I went outside and took a few pictures instead.

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Friday/ Nha Trang, Viet Nam 🇻🇳

The Diamond Princess arrived at the pier in Cam Ranh at 7 am this morning.

My coach bus excursion to Nha Trang was a whirlwind tour consisting of a visit to Po Nagar Temple, a short cruise on Cai River, and visits to an ancient house built from ebony wood, a mat weaving shop and an arts & crafts market.

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Tuesday/ happy birthday, Jane Austen 💐

It was 250 years ago when English writer Jane Austen was born— on 16 Dec. 1775 in the village of Steventon, north Hampshire, England.

From Wikipedia:
Austen’s plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage for the pursuit of favorable social standing and economic security.
Her works are implicit critiques of the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism.
Her use of social commentary, realism, wit, and irony have earned her acclaim amongst critics and scholars.

In 2017, Jane Austen’s image was added to the Bank of England’s £10 note.
The note carries the quotation, “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!”, said by Caroline Bingley in ‘Pride and Prejudice’ (1813).

P.S. As far back as 2015, then-Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced that there were plans afoot to ‘feature the likeness of a woman who has played a major role in American history and has been a champion for democracy’ (no specific name was mentioned then). As of now, the U.S. is actively working to feature women on its banknotes, with plans to put abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill, replacing Andrew Jackson, with a target release around 2030, coinciding with security updates for other denominations, though the process has faced delays— delays of a logistical and political kind.

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Tuesday/ The Twelve Days of Christmas 🎅

Two of the stamps on one of the outside envelopes for an Ebay purchase from England feature The Twelve Days of Christmas (song).

Great Britain/ Queen Elizabeth II— Christmas Stamps, 1977
Issued Nov. 23, 1977
Perf. 15×14 | One center phosphor band (7p.) | Design D. Gentleman
1046 525 7p. Slate, grey, bright yellow-green, new blue, rose-red and gold | “Eight Maids-a-milking, Seven Swans-a-swimming”
1047 526 7p. Slate, grey, bright yellow-green, new blue, rose-red and gold| “Ten pipers piping, Nine Drummers drumming”
[Source: 1997 Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue, Part 1 British Commonwealth, Vol. 1]
From Wikipedia:
The lyrics given here are from Frederic Austin’s 1909 publication that established the current form of the carol.
The first three verses run, in full, as follows:
On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me
A partridge in a pear tree

On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

Subsequent verses follow the same pattern.
Each verse deals with the next day of Christmastide, adding one new gift and then repeating all the earlier gifts, so that each verse is one line longer than its predecessor:

— four calling birds
— five gold rings
— six geese a-laying
— seven swans a-swimming
— eight maids a-milking
— nine ladies dancing
— ten lords a-leaping
— eleven pipers piping
— twelve drummers drumming

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Wednesday/ postcard from Cape Town ✒️

Here’s another postcard that the hopeless romantic (me) had bought on Ebay for a few dollars, and that landed in my mailbox. 
(The seller is actually from Vancouver, Washington State).

The postcard features Victoria Road and the mountain range called The Twelve Apostles from outside Cape Town, South Africa, from the late 1920s. At the time, the typical method for printing colored postcards was lithography, specifically the photo-lithography process. This involved creating multiple printing plates, with one plate for each color, and running the paper through the press multiple times to build up the final image.
Victoria Road was first constructed in the late 1800s by Thomas Bain. The original purpose was to connect the city of Cape Town to the growing suburb of Camps Bay, following the coastline. Later, the road was extended to Hout Bay. -Google AI Overview.
The Twelve Apostles are part of the Table Mountain complex overlooking Camps Bay in Cape Town, South Africa. The mountain range stretches 6 km almost to Hout Bay. They actually consist of eighteen peaks. From north to south they are named Kloof, Fountain, Porcupine, Jubilee, Barrier, Valken, Kasteel, Postern, Wood, Spring, Slangolie, Corridor, Separation, Victoria, Grove, Llandudno Peak, Llandudno Corridor, and Hout Bay Corner. The average height above sea level is 2,460 ft (750 m), compared to 3,478 ft (1,060 m) for Table Mountain. – Wikipedia
The postcard was written on 28 Nov. 1929 and has a Cape Town postmark of 29 Nov. 1929. A penny and a half took it all the way to Oberburg near Bern, Switzerland. This would be by ship. Airmail was available but was almost ten times more expensive.
The stamps are from South Africa’s Second Definitive Series that were issued in 1926.
The sender’s address is from the suburb of Tamboerskloof on the slopes of Table Mountain in the city (Cape Town).

Here is a translation of the German:
Cape Town
November 28, 1929
Dear Family!
Very soon it will be the end of the year again.
Contrary to what you might think, I do not only ever remember you at this time of year. Very often, I find myself talking about you here in a faraway country, especially when we talk about our old school days.
Furthermore, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year with only the best of health.
Your ever-grateful former student,
John Blaser.

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Friday/ stock transfer tax stamps 💸

Happy Black Friday.
The stock markets in the USA were open for a short session today.

The mailman delivered a large set of stock transfer tax stamps that I had bought from a seller in Luxembourg.
I stumbled upon the stamps on Ebay and could not resist.
Below is a sample. I will post more of them when I have sorted and arranged them on pages.

Here’s what I have found out so far:
Tobey & Kirk was a prominent stockbroker firm located at 52 Wall Street, in New York’s financial district.
Pantepec Oil Company was an oil company founded by William F. Buckley Sr. in 1913, with operations primarily in Mexico and Venezuela.
This transaction show the sale of 200 Pantepec Oil shares for $8.125  for a total amount of $1,625.
The stock transfer tax stamps on the paper slip were first issued in 1936.
If I read the perfin (pin hole) cancellation on the stamps correctly, they indicate a transaction date of 1.13.37 (Jan. 13, 1937).
In 1937, the United States had a federal stock transfer tax in effect, which had been significantly increased in 1932 as part of the government’s response to the Great Depression.
The red stamps (2x 4c) are for federal stock transfer taxes. I suspect there were more federal stock transfer tax stamps on the slip that are now missing. (The federal transfer tax was typically roughly equal to the New York State transfer tax at the time. )
The green stamps (2 x $3.00) are the NY State stock transfer tax stamps.
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Monday/ Cambodia 🇰🇭

Well he was Thailand based
She was an Air Force wife
He used to fly weekends
It was the easy life
But then it turned around
And he began to change
She didn’t wonder then
She didn’t think it strange
But then he got a call
He had to leave that night
He couldn’t say too much
But it would be alright
He didn’t need to pack
They’d meet the next night
He had a job to do
Flying to Cambodia
– Lyrics from the single ‘Cambodia’ by British singer Kim Wilde, released Nov. 2, 1981

The song “Cambodia” by Kim Wilde is about a woman whose pilot husband is sent on a mission to Cambodia and never returns, leaving her in a state of longing and unanswered questions. Written by her father, Marty Wilde, and her brother, Ricky Wilde, the song is a tragic love story about loss, separation, and the enduring pain of waiting for someone who is gone. The lyrics depict the woman’s emotional journey from hope to the realization that her partner is never coming back. [Google AI Overview]

Cambodia is on the itinerary for my upcoming Princess cruise out of Singapore.

We will stop at the port by the city of Sihanoukville for only one night and one day, though.
I signed up for the excursion to Ream National Park with its mangrove forests, wildlife and pure stretches of white beach.

C A M B O D I A
Capital: Phnom Penh
Currency: Cambodian riel
Official language: Khmer
Population: 17.6 million
Government: Unitary state, Parliamentary system, Constitutional monarchy, One-party state, Elective monarchy
King: Norodom Sihamoni

Cambodia—officially the Kingdom of Cambodia— is somewhat larger than the U.S. state of Missouri. It is bordered to the west and northwest by Thailand, to the northeast by Laos, to the east and southeast by Vietnam, and to the southwest by the Gulf of Thailand. The Khmer language is one of the major tongues of the Mon-Khmer subfamily of the Austroasiatic language family and is spoken by nearly all people in Cambodia, including the Cham-Malay.

The people of Cambodia suffered under the Khmer Rouge, the radical communist movement that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 after winning power through a guerrilla war. The Khmer Rouge government under Pol Pot was responsible for the Cambodian genocide (1976-78), during which up to three million people were murdered.

Tourist-wise (‘Quick Facts’ from Google Maps):
Cambodia has a landscape that spans low-lying plains, the Mekong Delta, mountains and Gulf of Thailand coastline. Phnom Penh, its capital, is home to the art deco Central Market, glittering Royal Palace and the National Museum’s historical and archaeological exhibits. In the country’s northwest are the ruins of Angkor Wat, a massive stone temple complex built during the Khmer Empire.

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Wednesday/ the last penny minted 🪙

The American penny died on Wednesday in Philadelphia. It was 232.
The cause was irrelevance and expensiveness, the Treasury Department said.

Nothing could be bought any more with a penny, not even penny candy. Moreover, the cost to mint the penny had risen to more than 3 cents, a financial absurdity that doomed the coin.

The final pennies were minted on Wednesday afternoon in Philadelphia. Top Treasury officials were on hand for its final journey. No last words were recorded.

– Victor Mather writing for the New York Times

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Tuesday/ Veterans Day 🇺🇸

Happy Veterans Day to all veterans of the United States Armed Forces.

Sunset tonight (now at 4.37 pm), from my vantage point on the Melrose Avenue overlook near Interstate 5. The Stars and Stripes (the American flag) flies from the Space Needles’s flagpole.
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Sunday/ Gracie Mansion beckons 🏡

Reporter Eliza Shapiro writes for the New York Times:
Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York City, recently spent a weekday morning blanketing the floor of his $2,300-a-month apartment with towels. The sink was leaking, and the super had been summoned.

That wasn’t the only frustration.

“My wife and I have just talked about the fact that a one-bedroom is a little too small for us now,” he said recently on “The New Yorker Radio Hour,” after detailing the plumbing troubles.

Assuming Mr. Mamdani decides to move into Gracie Mansion, New York City’s official mayoral residence, he is unlikely to be dealing personally with such workaday problems much longer. Nor will his new digs feel quite so snug.

It is hard to overstate the difference between Mr. Mamdani’s current home, a modest rent-stabilized apartment in Astoria, Queens, and Gracie Mansion, a 226-year-old, 11,000-square-foot home on the Upper East Side, with gleaming mirrors reflecting the light of chandeliers, faux mahogany doors, a vast lawn with apple and fig trees and a vegetable garden occasionally plagued by rabbits.

‘Gracie Mansion, on the other hand, was once described by a New York Times reporter as a “pale lemon cake of a house.” It sits at the top of Carl Schurz Park, abutting the F.D.R. Drive, and offers sweeping views of the East River from its summertime veranda.’ – from Eliza Shapiro’s report for the NYT
_________________________________________________________________________
The federal-style mansion was built in 1799 and consists of the original two-story house and an annex built in 1966.
The original house is a New York City designated landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Monday/ shades of King George V 👑

I have long been unhappy with my pre-printed Leuchtturm stamp album pages for the first definitive issue of stamps for the Union of South Africa*.

The old pages are in bad shape, with bare-bones headers, and my South African Color Catalogue lists several more shades of the King George V issues, as well as a few with inverted watermarks.

The new page that I created is a difficult assembly and not yet complete, though. The black-and-white images are placeholders.
Will I ever get my grubby hands on one each of the two £1 stamps at the very high end of the set?
I doubt it. The catalog values for perfect specimens of these are US$800 and US$ 1,000 respectively.

*The Union of South Africa was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on May 31,  1910 with the unification of the Cape Colony, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange River Colony.