Month: March 2022
A Post Officer And A Gentleman
Very much a case of déjà vu, a recent set of six British postage stamps harks back to six of its classic stamps from a generation ago. It is the first time the Royal Mail has dedicated an entire issue to a designer of its commemorative stamps.
For over 50 years, Keith Gentleman has produced some of the Post Office’s most iconic designs. The now commonplace practice of using a small cameo of the queen’s head in one corner of the stamp was one of his most enduring contributions. However, he has had the privilege of seeing over one hundred of his designs turned into stamps. Some of them, such as the designs of Concorde or the series dedicated to British social reformers are instantly recognisable. The latter, along with the ones he created to commemorate the Battle of Hastings, are among his personal favourites.
DIY War Crimes Tribunal
Another fascinating find by Michael Burroughs this week. Hidden away in an old shoe box for seventy years was this macabre piece of propaganda allowing you to ‘hang’ prominent Nazis on a piece of string. Originally made in the US in 1942, at some point they were brought to England and have barely seen the light of day since.
There are four uniformed figures easily identified as Hitler, a corpulent Herman Goring (with military baton), Joachim von Ribbentrop and Josef Goebbels. In the end all but one of them escaped the rope. Hitler and Goebbels committed suicide before they were captured. At the Nuremberg trials after the war, Goring and von Ribbentrop were sentenced to death but Goring took a potassium cyanide capsule just hours before his execution.
On a lighter note, we were delighted to be able to send a donation of £700 to the British Red Cross who are doing such sterling work with their Humanitarian Appeal for the war in Ukraine.
Slava Ukraini!
Like the rest of the civilised world, we have watched recent events unfolding in Eastern Europe with horror. The scenes of death and destruction caused by the Russian government’s invasion of Ukraine are an unwelcome reminder that rampant nationalism is as big a threat to peace as it was a century ago.
We will be donating all the takings from this week’s market in aid of the British Red Cross Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.
No Debate About This Uncommon Market…
Simply put, we’re the UK’s only weekly market for specialist collectors. Stamps, coins, banknotes, militaria, ephemera, African ethnography, antiques…Charing Cross Collectors Market has it all. We couldn’t be more centrally located just next to the Embankment Tube station. Look out for the entrance just next to Costa Coffee.
Whether you’re a seasoned collector, just starting out or just curious about what’s on offer, you can be sure of a warm welcome from Jim, Bridget, Dougal the Market dog and all our experienced dealers. We never even know ourselves just what rare and amazing finds will be on show but it’s well worth arriving early for the best bargains. See you there!