Wl^liii Number 4 December 1966 Volume 5 THE CASES OF THE "DIRTY DOZEN" - Harold Wasserman - Case 5: The Case of the "Star-Cross'd Lovers" For Case 5 we are taking a few poetic liberties with our title. If you recall your high school Shakespeare, perhaps you will recall the Prologue to "Romeo and Juliet", in which Shakespeare refers to "A pair of star-cross'd lovers" and ends it with "The which if you with patient ears attend, What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend". Case 5 will not bring up the mysteries of love potions; however, it most definitely will bring up a few mysteries surrounding a pair of stars and crosses on a famous set of sport stamps. I would imagine that almost all collectors of sports stamps are acquainted with the two sets of stamps which Uruguay issued in 1924 and 1928 to celebrate the soccer victories in the Olympic Games of those years. I wonder how many know that the second set (1928) was also issued for official use. Unfortunately, "Scott" has only this note at the end of Its listing of Uruguay officials: "Since 1928, instead of official stamps, Uruguay has used envelopes with "S.O." printed on them and stamps of many issued which are punched with various designs such as star or crescent". It is also unfortunate that many collectors probably do not possess a "Landmans" which il­ lustrates these punches. The first type is a five-pointed star. The second is commonly referred to as a Maltese cross, although technically it probably resembles a pattee cross more than a Maltese cross. "Landmans" Indicates that Type II (the Maltese cross) is slightly more valuable than CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS Robert M. Bruce, 1457 Cleveland Road, Wooster, Ohio 44691: Wanted—a home for 1965 and/or 1966 "Scott" catalogues (both volumes for each year) where they will do a stamp collector some real good. Offers requested. Antonino Zappala, Via Colle del Pino, 1 Catania, Italy: Olympic Games, sports, all world, 1896-1964; have covers, seals, proofs, vignettes, and cancellations in best condi­ tion. Dr. Dewey F. Langston, 1500 W. 17th Lane, Portales, N. M. 88130: Wanted—Volume 2, Numbers 2 and 10 (September, 1963, and June, 1964) of "Journal of Sports Philately"; also mint Burma 122, 068, Czechoslovakia 351-54 (both left and right tabs), Denmark 248 (pane of four and tete-beche pair), Hungary 884 (star watermark), Liechtenstein 90, Liberia C90 (Imperforate sheet), and Portugal 252 and 253. (The classified advertising rate is 2# per word for a single insertion; names and ad­ dresses are free. Send copy and remittance to Robert M. Bruce, 1457 Cleveland Road, Woo­ ster, Ohio 44691.) Copyright, Sports Philatelists International, 1966 2 THE CASES OP THE "DIRTY DOZEN" (Cont'd) Type I (the star). Of Type II, the two centavo and the eight centavo are the scarcer val­ ues; of Type I, the five centavo Is the scarcest of the three. Since these stamps were for official use, any unused copies are of the "back door" variety. Multiples exist, as do copies with double punches. The mysteries I would like cleared up are these: 1. Why were both the star and the cross used on the same set? Who had charge or con­ trol of the punching and is there any particular significance to the star or the cross? As a guess I would assume that the punches were applied at various times, depending on the supply available. 2. Can anyone supply an estimate of the quantities punched? These stamps are not easy to locate and are usually found at the end of a dealer's stock book or counter book of Uruguayan stamps. It is quite difficult to put together a complete set of both the star and the cross piercings. The centering on this soccer set is notoriously bad anyway; if you manage to locate copies with the punches, take them. Don't worry about the center­ ing. There is no floating supply of these. 3. When were these stamps first put into use and when was their use discontinued? The only legible dates on my copies are 1930 (June and October). Undoubtedly they had a much longer life span than that. 4. Where and how were these stamps used? Again, the only legible copies I have show Montevideo as the place. Across the top of each cancellation reads "Oflcial Y Prensa". I have not seen entire covers, although they must exist. I am sure that some of our SPI members, especially those in South America, can help solve the mystery of the "star-cross'd" lovers. And to paraphrase Shakespeare, "What here I did miss, your toil shall strive to mend". MODERN OLYMPIC MEDALISTS ON STAMPS - Jim Hughes - Supplement One—Part Two Boldt, Harry Germany 1964 Equestrian—Grand Prix de Dressage (silver medal) Panama SG1011 Harry Boldt, riding "Remus", finished only one point (with 1503 points) behind gold medalist Henri Chammartin of Switzerland. With Reiner Klimke and Josef Neckermann, he was also a member of the German team In this event. Bonagura, Romano Italy 1964 Bobsledding—2-man (4:22.02) (sliver medal Panama SG1003 Romano was the brakeman and Sergio Zardinl the driver of the Italian Number Two sled, finishing second to Great Britain's Number One sled by exactly twelve hundredths of a second. Boyarskikh. Claudia Russia 1964 Nordic skiing—women's 5,000-meter cross mrmmimm country (17:50.5) Nordic skiing—women's 10,000-meter cross country (40:24.3) lw 1964 Russia 2867 HHCEPIK nnHTa Twenty-four-year old Claudia was also a member of Russia's win CCCP ning 3 x 5.000-meter cross country relay team, thus winning three gold medals at Innsbruck. MODERN OLYMPIC MEDALISTS ON STAMPS (Cont'd) Brandtzaeg, Torgeir No rway 1964 Nordic skiing—90-meter special jump (bronze medal) Nordic skiing—70-meter special Jump (bronze medal) Panama SG998 Torgeir Brandtzaeg gained 227.20 points on the "big" jump at Berglsel and 222.90 points on the "small" Jump at Seefeld for his two bronze medals. Buker. Heinz Germany 1964 Canoeing—kayak pairs (bronze medal) Panama SG1012 Heinz Buker and Holger Zander had the third best time (3:40.7) over the course on calm, beautiful Lake Sagami, some forty-five miles from Tokyo. Burka. Petra Canada 1964 Figure-skating—women's singles (bronze medal) Panama SG996 Seventeen-year-old Petra Burka (with 1940.0 points) looked heiress-apparent to this title In 1968, won here by Sjoukje Dljk- stra of the Netherlands with 2018.5 points. Calmat. Alain Prance 1964 Figure skat4-'g—men's singles (sliver (See Allen for medal. illustration) Panama SG1002 Alain Calmat scored 1876.5 points in his second-place finish at Innsbruck PHILATELIC MARKET REPORT - Pred Parr - This month's column continues the comparison between retail prices in the United States and those prices prevailing In England and Prance. The fact that retail prices of sports stamps in the United States are considerably below prices prevailing elsewhere in the world Is a clear indication that American dealers have the world's only large stocks of sports stamps. Once those stocks are dispersed, however, American prices will have to climb sharply to equal prices charged elsewhere In the world. Already many American deal­ ers are buying up sports stamps and sending them to Europe, where they bring several times the price paid by American collectors. The handwriting is on the wall for all who wish to read! Tip of the month—Hungary 1160-67. Here Is a set with everything the sports phila­ telist could want: handsome large-sized pictorials, attractive colors, each stamp depicts athletes, one stamp depicts soccer (world's most Important sport), and it's an Olympiana set, issued to honor the 16th Olympiad, held in Melbourne In 1956. Tipped in this column In March, 1964, this set retails at 60£, which is also the price charged by American wholesalers. In London, however, the retail price is $2.80 and Parisian dealers charge $2.70. When a set sells In Europe for more than four times its American price, isn't it time that this item was in your collection? Certainly it will never be cheaper than Its current American retail price. Souvenir sheets of Dominican Republic. Although many collectors are enchanted with souvenir sheets, we must remember that they really fulfill no postal requirements, even though they are usually available on covers and first-day covers for those who want them in that condition. However, the astute philatelist will soon find out that there is a tremendous disparity in the prices charged for souvenir sheets here as compared with the prices charged elsewhere in the world. The souvenir sheets of the Dominican Republic are 4 PHILATELIC MARKET REPORT (Cont'd) perfect examples of this and we must remember that they will be listed In next year's "Stanley Gibbons" catalogue, thereby increasing collector demand. Souvenir sheets of Dominican Republic 474-78 and 097-9. Issued in 1957 to honor winners of the Olympic Games gold medal, there were 25,000 sheets issued, both perforate and imperforate. American retailers charge $7*00 for the two sheets, but London dealers ask $24.50 and Parisian dealers get #29.00. I will not quote American wholesale prices for these (and other) Dominican Republic sheets because I am not sure that the wholesalers can actually supply them. Souvenir sheets of Dominican Republic 479-83 and C100-02. These sheets honored the non-Communist winners of gold medals at the 16th Olympiad, held at Melbourne.