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Catalogo de los Sellos Postales de la Republica del Paraguay y sus Derivados

By Victor Kneitschel. In Spanish, 188 pages, small hard cover. Published by Victor Kneitschel, 1947. First edition. Available second-hand only or as a free digital download at pdfslide.net.

Reviewer: Nick Salter

[email protected]

APRL Locator: [G5380 .A1 K68c 1947]

The last specialized catalog of Paraguay to be produced was printed over seventy years ago… but it is a very good one. It was published by Victor Kneitschel, who is better known for his Argentinean catalogs, but produced what I believe to be the only edition of this catalog in 1947. It was published in a limited edition of 1,000 copies. As expected from Kneitschel it is very strong on varieties with certain issues picked out for special treatment on plate flaws. The Habilitado overprints of 1908 get a particularly detailed look and there is a useful proofs and essays section at the back of the book. Although it can be a challenge to find an original copy, a free digital download is currently available at the website above. General Information about Latin America catalogs: Most of the twenty Latin American republics have produced specialized stamp catalogs at some stage. For the Central and South America collector that has relied on simplified listings, the specialized catalogs offer up a huge range of new possibilities, with a significant numbers of varieties to collect that have never made it into the mainstream publications. Before we look at each country individually, it is worth noting that both Scott and Stanley Gibbons have published “semi specialized” listings that cover all Latin American countries and go into a greater level of depth than is found in their simplified catalogs. Scott’s listings are incorporated into their Classic Specialized whereas Gibbons has separate volumes for both Central and South America. These were last published in 2007 and 2008 respectively, with no prospect of an update on the horizon. SG has sold through their existing stock so your only option is the second-hand market, unless the publisher decides to add them to their growing digital collection. Michel has a single volume dedicated to Central America (Mittelamerika 2019 is the latest edition) and a two volume catalog (Sudamerika 2020/2021) covering South America. One of the biggest benefits of a specialized catalog is that they usually contain information on print volumes per issue, an excellent indicator of comparative rarity (and thus price or value). A quick tip: the older Michel catalogs used to include print volumes in their listings and can be picked up second-hand for very little. My copy from 1988 contains print quantities although I’m not sure in which year they were dropped from the catalog. Finally, Yvert has two volumes dedicated to Central America (latest edition 2016/17) and a single volume dedicated to South America (published 2019). However, for the truly specialized listings, we need to look at the individual countries themselves. Availability Unlike the larger publishers that tend to have more frequent publication schedules, Latin American specialized catalogs are usually published very intermittently, often with long gaps between revisions or new editions coming to market. As such, many of these catalogs can no longer be purchased “off the shelf” and you will need to scour online marketplaces, auctions and specialist philatelic book dealers to secure a copy. Where a catalog is only available second hand, I have indicated the latest edition I am aware of, although earlier editions should certainly not be discounted as they will often contain most of the useful information you are after. Catalog values are usually in the local currency. Time and currency exchange rates will have played havoc with these numbers but, alongside print volumes, they still play an important part in helping you to understand which varieties have the higher levels of scarcity and to establish your own feeling for what a fair market value may be.

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