Tonights meeting was a members night where members competed for the Rosebowl in the One-sheet competition. This year's winner was Francis Podger with his entry of 'Singapore Free Post 1945'.

There were five entrants in the single sheet competition:

Charles Lloyd displayed 'Waterlow (Publicity) Specimens of Southern Rhodesia'

Harry Jackson displayed 'Defacing Hitler'

David Easson displayed 'A Special Postcard – From a Mother to Her Daughter'

Peter Dix displayed 'Welwitchia'

Francis Podger displayed 'Singapore Free Post 1945'

All entries had been well researched and were neatly mounted with suitable explanations. As can be seen from the titles, there was a great variety of subjects which were extremely interesting. Judging the winner was difficult! The winner was Francis Podger. The Vice-President presented Francis with the competition rose bowl.

Six members displayed their Recent Acquisitions:

David Easson: Showed Uganda Christmas issues. Initially, these were influenced by European art but towards the end of their annual production (in 2000) the influence became indigenous.

Peter Dix: Peter had extended his nautical interests with issues and covers connected with the Mayflower and Pilgrim Fathers. He showed newly acquired postcards of Union Castle liners from the interwar period (Arundel & Grantully Castles) and a letter sent to a passenger that was returned to sender because she had missed the boat. Another interest is birds on stamps and he brought some that were grotesque (in his opinion).

Colin Campbell: Colin showed recent issues from Hong Kong. He questions the development of HK philatelic policy because although the stamps can be attractive there are an increasing number of booklets being released. Finally, he showed an imperforate miniature sheet issued by Gibraltar for the Duke & Duchess of Sussex wedding (complete with a PO authentication certificate) Again, he questioned this practice.

Harry Jackson: Stamps issued by the DDR in 1955. There were a significant number on which socialist topics (eg workers) were seen, crowned by an issue commemorating Friedrich Engels.

Francis Podger: Incoming mail to Singapore. Francis explained that in addition to investigating the philatelic aspects of his covers (postal rates etc) he is now researching the carriage of these letters. Complete records of shipping available on the internet enable him to identify the vessel and hence the routing with a great degree of certainty.

Charles Lloyd: Charles had become interested in postmarks of post offices at Southern Rhodesian mines. These had the word “mine” in the postmark and enjoyed fascinating names (eg Peggy Mine, Lonely Mine). He had also taken the plunge and bought higher values of the “double head” (After 60 years of collecting it was now or never!)

Our visitors tonight were three members of the Scottish Philatelic Society, John Law, Ian Anderson and Richard Cuthbertson (see photo on the left).
Ian Anderson started off by providing a display of the German Colony of Togo. During the war the occupying forces sent mail using German stamps overprinted in English, French and Franglais. All stocks were used up by 1915 so the British brought in stationery and stamps from the Gold Coast. The French brought in their own stamps. At the end of the war part of the colony was given to the Gold Coast and the bulk was given to the French. Ian's display consisted of stamps and covers during the occupation.

John Law then provided members with a display of charity stamps. John explained that there were three types of charity stamp, overprints on existing stamps, a single or small set for a specific cause with 2 values, a single postal value used on a long series of stamps. On display was what is found to be the earliest known charity stamp from Jamaica, Danish, Austrian and Swiss stamps.

Richard Cuthbertson then followed on with stamps and covers from the Portuguese Colony of Timor. Included in this display was the last stamp issued by Timor as well as charity stamps of Timor and war tax and other types of tax stamps.

The final display of the night was presented by Ian Anderson on behalf of Eric Mason who was unable to attend the evening. This was a display of stamps and postcards all of which had some relevance to the tea industry.

Unfortunately due to illness members of Dunfermline Philatelic Society were unable to attend the meeting. Secretary Charles Lloyd at the last minute organised eight of the local members to bring along some of their own material and at least 250 sheets of stamps were put on display.

Charles Lloyd displayed stamps and covers from Nyasaland 1934 up to Independence.

Ron Goodfellow displayed a series of postcards with scottish postmarks from Aberdeen to Torphins and all places inbetween.

Robert Duguid displayed some of his Madeira collection

David Easson displayed some of his Uganda 2010 to 2014 stamps and miniature sheets

Colin Campbell displayed Hong Kong stamps and miniature sheets up to 1970.

Harry Jackson displayed stamps from 2 Indian states, Bhundi, and Charkhari

Peter Dix displayed a collection of animal stamps from various countries

Norman Kelso displayed stamps from the Gold Coast and Ghana from KGV up to 1966

Due to unforeseen circumstances the speaker for the evening was unable to attend so our secretary Charles Lloyd stepped into the breach to provide members with an absolutely fascinating display of UDI Rhodesia and Zimbabwe.
Charles provided members with a comprehensive overview of the transition period in the 1960's when there was a push for more equality, eventually leading to UDI being declared in 1965 and eventually to Zimbabwe in 1970. Charles also explained how the mail during the UDI period was subject to sanctions. Great Britain did not acknowledge the declaration therefore every letter sent to the UK was deemed invalid and incurred postage due. On display were a few covers which confirmed this fact.
More covers were shown with propaganda stickers and others which were sent OHMS but were still subject to taxation. Quite a number of sets of stamps were on display including some stamps with dual currency following the change to decimalisation. Charles also displayed a cover which had a postage due of 7/-, as would be expected this was refused by the recipient. This was followed by the last cover of Rhodesia following the change of government in 1970 when it became Rhodesia-Zimbabwe.
In the second part of his display Charles showed a number of sets of stamps from the newly named republic of Zimbabwe which included commemoratives and definitives with neutral subject matter such as rural life, railways, bees, fish and the air force.
At this point Charles provided an overview of the effect inflation had and how that led to hyperinflation and the significant increases in stamp prices. This eventually led to the abandonment of using Zimbabwe Dollars in favour of US Dollars. Charles finished off his display with an unusual first day cover issued in 2018 which had no stamps on it.

This evening members welcomed as a guest speaker Richard Cuthbertson from the Scottish Philatelic Society, who would present a display from the Portuguese colony of Macau, which is situated at the bottom of China facing the China Sea. Richard explained that he previously lived in Hong Kong for a number of years and collected Hong Kong before giving this up to collect Macau. He has now accumulated practically all of Macau leaving very little for him to now collect.

The display covered the period from 1910 right through to the 1950's and consisted of a variety of stamp sets, sheets and some covers. Some of the overprints were carried out in Lisbon and others were done locally in Macau. The overprints were usually done whenever there was a requirement for extra stamps as supplies were running low and replacements could not be received in sufficient time. Included in the display were a number of bisects, used when insufficient stamps of the value required were available and higher values used and cut in half.

Major issues of stamps such as the Empire issue, Padroes issues and Ceres issues were on show as well as two Prisoner of War covers. Richard informed us that Macau was a neutral country during the war.
Following the war the colonies were given more autonomy about what types of stamp they produced and this gave rise to topics such as cultural themes, omnibus issues (with the other colonies), views issues, some of which were surcharged and were overprinted.

As is customary the President began the new session with a display, and this year President David Millar displayed a series of covers and letters from Victorian Times. David explained that he spent a lot of time carrying out research on the internet on the letters on display, tracing genealogy and postmarks. Deciphering the handwriting provided quite a challenge and he sought help in achieving this task. The bulk of the covers were penny reds, but David did show a penny black cover as well. One cover on display had the writing crossed over which David explained was done to save on weght which kept the postage charges down. With such a number of covers on display it was also possible to see how the cancellations developed over years.

My name is Martha Smart and I am the deputy manager for Oxfam Books and Music on Reform Street Dundee. As I am sure you are aware our shop relies entirely on donations, some of which happen to be stamps. Currently however, all of our donated stamps (bar the ones that are relatively easy to find and price) are being sent to other Oxfam shops who are lucky to have a volunteer who has a good knowledge of stamps and their value. This is why I thought I would get in touch, just in case you have any members who might be interested in giving up a couple of hours in the week to help us value our stamp donations and get more of our donated stamps on sale. We have a great team of volunteers and there is always plenty of tea and biscuits, it's also great opportunity to meet new people whilst enjoying a hobby, not to mention all the money raised will be going towards very good causes. If you have anyone who might be interested then they can pick up an application from our shop or fill one out online (https://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/local-shops/oxfam-shop-dundee). Alternatively, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch. It would be great to hear from any of your members.
Martha's contact details are: Tel: 013822296891 e-mail: marthasmartica@hotmail.com