Scott 2004 Classic Specialized Catalogue: Stamps and Covers of the World Including U.S. 1840-1940, (British Commonwealth to 1952) (2003, Hardcover)

Scott’s New Color Catalogue

Stamp collectors have a new and valuable resource at their fingertips. Scott Publishing Company starting this year is issuing their catalogues totally in color. One might say that the information contained in and the format of the catalogues is the same, thus there is no improvement. But the mere fact that there is now a color image allows for even faster identification. Many times in the past, I might know the year, the denomination, and the subject matter of a stamp issue and still be looking at an opened catalogue unable to find a stamp. Now with a full color image, identification comes faster.

In the last two years, Scott has upgraded their two specialty catalogues – the Classic World Catalogue first as of two years ago and then the US Specialized last year. I obtained both of those catalogues at that time and have found them exceedingly useful in my philatelic work both as a dealer and a collector. It has not been easy for Scott to publish all these color books what with the need to scan all stamps to replace their old black and white images and the complex task of publishing any book in color. They still need to obtain 2000 more stamps out of the about 100,000 illustrations.

There are a few points that one can make about the images and the improvements that are truly necessary for a better set. Some of the images do not have quite the shade that the actual stamps have. I have at times placed actual stamps near their counterpart illustrations and seen a noticeable difference. But their company’s printing methods and color printing in general will improve to the point that higher fidelity can be reached at a still reasonable price. What really needs to be the number one improvement for these catalogues is embedding more information about postal history and more specifics about each stamp. Specifically this means making the Classic into a two volume work that has a great deal of prose style information about the postal development of each country and what the serious postal historian might need to watch for. Are there postmark types or locations that are more valuable, are there destinations that are considered exotic, or are there interesting stories behind stamps from a given era? Each and every stamp should have its full issue date exactly listed. Lastly, there should be at least a two-page introduction to that country or colony’s postal history from the point of view of both collector and dealer. The Classic Catalogue should start to become more like the US Specialized in terms of information.

Scott Publishing has brought to the philatelic community a valuable resource in color starting two years ago and developing it to this day. The eight-tome set is still resourceful and now beautiful. When I obtained the elegant Classic Catalogue I thumbed through it about an hour each day for two weeks in a row. Even though the price is higher it is worth the money. Hopefully, the company will continue their wonderful work.