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China: Shanghai Airport Post Office (2010)

Shanghai Airport Post Office and close-up of the Expo stamp books. (The stamp books cost A$40 to over A$2000!) Philatelic Database would like to thank David Mallen for this photograph taken on his recent trip to China. He has sent us numerous photographs of Chinese post offices for us to publish in due course. David Mallen is co-author of the Australian Stamp Variations catalogue. He may be contacted on david@asv.net.au or at his website www.asv.net.au Read the full article

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Why not collect Tajikistan?

It is doubtful if the stamps of the Central Asian state of Tajikistan have attracted the attention of world­ wide collectors to any greater degree. It is an ancient country located just north of Afghanistan. The Tajik currency unit is the somoni which derives its name from Ismail Somoni (849-907) who is considered to be the founding father of the Tajik nation. From a linguistic point of view, the Tajik language is very similar to Persian. Historically the cities of Bukhara and Samarkand have been the main centres of Tajik cultural and spiritual life. Today these cities are located in the neighbouring republic of Uzbekistan. There are quite a few Tajik stamp issues featuring personalities from the country's glorious past. Fig 1 shows Ali Hamadani (1314-1385), a famous poet and Muslim theologian who is buried at Khatlan in Tajikistan. Figure 1 Tajikistan is very much a mountainous country with the highest peak reaching 7.495 metres. The climate is distinctly continental with very hot  summers and cold winters. Typical mountain scenery is depicted on Fig 2. Figure 2 When the Soviet Union began taking an interest in the Central Asian region the Tajiks rejected the Russian advances. It was only in 1929 that the Tajik Soviet Republic was created. The area had previously been included in Uzbekistan. It was Soviet leader Stalin who decided to let parts of the Tajik territories remain in Uzbekistan as some sort of punishment. Russians and Uzbeks were encouraged to settle in Tajikistan. Today the country has a population of some 8.7 million people with the majority being Tajiks but there is also a 25 percent minority of Uzbeks. From a religious point of view Islam is the dominat­ing religion in the country. Fig 3 shows the impres­sive Sheikh Muslihiddin Mosque in Chudzjand, the country's second largest city. Figure 3 Many of the old ethnic and political conflicts resurfaced when Tajikistan became an independent republic in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The following year a civil war broke out. It lasted until 1997 and claimed an estimated 50,000 lives. During the Soviet era Tajikistan was the republic with the lowest standard of living in the entire union. The long civil war in the 1990s certainly didn't help to improve the situation. Agriculture remains the main economic activity and the industrial sector is still poorly developed. Tajikistan has a very large foreign debt which of course hinders  economic develop­ment. Fig 4 shows the Tajik national flag superim­posed on a map of the country. A traditional Tajik art pattern is depicted on Fig 5. Figure 4 Figure 5 Tajikistan is the preferred country of transit for the huge quantities of drugs which are smuggled from Afghanistan to the Russian Federation. Presumably the extensive corruption helps facilitate this illegal trade. Transparency International lists Tajikistan as number 151 in its listing of perceived corruptive practices in the countries of the world. At number 175, the bottom position, we find Somalia. The Nordic nations occupy the top positions in this ranking which tells a lot about civil rights, religious freedom and other rights that the vast majority of the readers of this magazine take for granted and which to a large degree are not available for the people of Tajikistan. Sadly corruption on all levels is present in most of the former Central Asian Soviet republics. It was in 1991 that Tajikistan joined the ranks of stamp-issuing nations after having previously used Russian or Soviet postage stamps. In the early years of postal independence a number of Soviet definitive stamps were overprinted and surcharged with new values to be used as Tajik postage stamps. One example is shown in Fig 6. Figure 6 The capital city of Tajikistan is Dushanbe where there is a philatelic bureau operated by the Tajik Postal Service. Since the country achieved inde­pendence in 1991 it has released more than 1.200 stamps and 40 souvenir sheets which 1suppose is quite reasonable for a period of more than a quarter century. Leafing through my catalogue I notice many issues featuring the country, its history, its cultural heritage, its famous sons and daughters and the usual output of popular thematic stamps. Shown in Fig 7 is a  snow leopard. Fortunately most issues are inexpen­sive but I imagine it can be difficult to locate them. Figure 7 Sadly Tajikistan has also been the target for those people who produce illegal stamps, i.e. stamps which look like real Tajik issues but which have not been released by the country's postal service. These illegal stamps are generally printed in small sheet format (frequently 4, 6 or nine stamps in each sheet) featuring the most popular stamp topics of the day. Read the full article

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Europe Map (1871-1914)

Europe Map 1871-1914   Other Europe Maps   Europe Map 1939-1945   Europe Map After 1945 Read the full article

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Airposts and their Stamps (1921)

This article is probably one of the first airmail articles, certainly of any length, to be published in a philatelic journal. It was first published in Stamp Collectors' Fortnightly (January, 1921) from a paper read by Major RS Archer, MC, as his Presidential Address before the Liverpool Junior Philatelic Society, October 11th, 1920.

The Wabash Railway Company in U.S.A. has recently taken off its fast mail train between Toledo and St. Louis, because it could not compete with its rival in the air. To one who has closely followed the rapid development of the aerial mail, this announcement causes little surprise. The increase in speed of the aeroplane over the train would in itself not affect the rail services, but this, added to the fact that the air line in question has maintained an efficiency of 92 percent for more than twelve months, has demonstrated the reliability of the aeroplane service. All the experiments prove that the universal use of the aeroplane for mail-carrying purposes is coming, and almost daily the papers chronicle the institution of new air lines. The collection of aerial post stamps thus becomes imperative to the up-to-date philatelist. One prophesies the not-far-distant date when the majority of the new stamps, certainly European, occupying the pages of our albums, till be those used in connection with the post conveyed by petrol-driven Mercuries. Tonight, time will only permit a short flight through the intensely fascinating history of the air mail, whilst I pilot you amongst the forty odd stamps which the past three and a half years have brought forth in this connection. The experience gained in the past War has, of course, been an invaluable help in the development of air services, and, curiously enough it was in wartime that the first airpost was instituted. It was necessary, during the Siege of Paris in 1870, to find a means of communication with the outer world, and, for this purpose, a balloon post was brought into being. The first ascent was made on 23rd September, 1870, and the services continued in almost daily use for four months, during which period 68 balloons were despatched, 60 landing on French or neutral territory, five being captured by the Germans, and three being lost at sea. Envelopes despatched in this manner give no indication of their mode of conveyance. However, it may be taken that any envelope or card bearing a postmark dated between 23rd September, 1870, and 28th January, 1871, was forwarded from Paris by balloon post - the first authoritative air mail. A connecting link between balloon and aeroplane posts took place in 1896, when a Mr. Fricker inaugurated a pigeon service between Great Barrier Island and Auckland N.Z., 66 miles apart, a post which continued for several years. Special triangular stamps were used for this service, depicting a pigeon in full flight, the denomination being 6d. (blue) and 1s. (red). The first aeroplane post in the world, however, took place on 18th February, 1911, at Allahabad, India, organised by Captain Windham. The letters were carried by aeroplane from the United Provinces Exhibition to a Post Office receiving-station in Allahabad, from which place they were despatched to any part of the world to which they were addressed. Over 6,000 letters and cards, thus posted, were franked by the Exhibition P.O. with a die, specially cut in the postal workshops at Aligarh, incorporating a design of an aeroplane, encircled by the inscription "Aerial Post, Allahabad Exhibition," together with the date of despatch. A nominal additional fee of six annas per letter or card was charged, which amount was handed, without deduction, as a donation to the new buildings of the Oxford and Cambridge Hostel at Allahabad. In honour of King George's Coronation this same Captain Windham was also the organiser of the first air post in the United Kingdom, which was flown between Hendon and Windsor on 9th September, 1911, and for a few following days. No special stamps were issued, but envelopes and postcards bearing a design of an aeroplane flying over Windsor Castle, with the winding Thames and St. Paul's Cathedral in the distance, were sold at 1s. and 6d. respectively. The postmark was worded "First United Kingdom Aerial Post," and the date; about 100,000 pieces of mail being carried by this service. U.S.A. was busy just about the same time, in 1911, experimenting with air mails, and this, coupled with the knowledge gained in the War, resulted in the establishment early in 1918, of an air line between New York and Washington, 218 miles apart. After the Armistice, lack of trains and engines led to an extension of this service to Cleveland and Chicago. This line now continues right on to San Francisco, by way of Omaha, Nebraska, Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Salt Lake City, Utah. The trip takes three days and is 2,651 miles in length, but results in letters reaching their destination 42 hours before the mail-train is due. Another air line runs between St. Louis, Chicago, and St. Paul, whilst numerous other towns are in process of being linked up by air. In the past twelve months over half a million pounds weight of mail matter has been airborne, and about £50,000 has been actually saved, as compared with the cost of transit by rail. On the 2nd of June, 1912, the Japanese postal authorities experimented with an air mail between Yokohama and Tokyo. A few letters are known to exist, whose envelopes bear the ordinary stamp and obliteration, with a special postmark, inscribed "Japanese Aerial Mail" and the Japanese equivalent for the date, but the attempt, being only experimental, was discontinued after the first day. From 1912 till 1917, aerial mails did not make much progress, but the reason which caused the inception of the air post, namely, war, was responsible for the re-opening of this means of communication. It happened that there was very serious congestion on the Italian railways in 1917, to relieve which an air mail was organised, on the 22nd May, between Rome and Turin. These cities are about 350 miles apart, the air space between them being bridged within four hours. In this connection. Italy achieved fame by being the first country to issue a stamp for use of its air mail, which took the form of an overprint on the 1903 "Inland Express Letter" stamp, 25c. rose, as follows :- ESPERIMENTO POSTA AEREA MAGGIO 1917 TORINO-ROMA - ROMA-TORINO

A month later, on 28th June, owing to the interference of Austrian submarines with Naples and Palermo, Sicily, mail steamers, a special seaplane service was inaugurated between these two places, which are 170 miles apart. The stamp used in this connection was the then unissued 40c. violet "Express Delivery" stamp, overprinted with the words IDROVOLANTE NAPOLl PALERMO NAPOLI 25 CENT 25

Another wartime air mail was brought into being on 30th March, 1918, by Austria, her planes carrying letters from Vienna to Kieff , with calls at Cracow and Lemberg. Three of the 1916 "Arms" type stamps were used, all being overprinted in block capitals with the formidable word "FLUGPOST", meaning "flying post."

"1.50 K 1.50'' was surcharged on the 2kr. (lilac) and "2.50 K 2.50" on the 3kr. (bistre), whilst the 4kr. (grey) was used without any surcharge. To the U.S.A. falls the honour of issuing the first distinctive air post stamp, which made its appearance on the 15th May, 1918, on the inauguration of the New York-Washington service. This stamp, which was recess-plate printed in carmine and blue, without watermark, at the Washington Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and is perforated 11, depicts a mail-carrying plane in flight. Over two million of these stamps were printed, out of which one lucky purchaser secured, over the P.O. counter, a sheet of 100 with the aeroplane inverted , the only sheet known to be printed in error. A Colonel Green eventually bought up the whole sheet, selling half of it, and retaining the remaining 50 in his own collection. These he had with him on hoard his steam yacht when it foundered in 1919, 43 of these stamps being so damaged as to be useless, which makes the error a very rare stamp. The air-mail fee was reduced on 15th July to 16 cents, and again in December, 1918 to 6 cents, for which stamps of these values were issued, yellow-green in the first instance, orange in the latter, the original design being retained. Since then the extra air-post fee has been abolished, and the ordinary mail fee of 2 cents, or 1d., an ounce is charged. It is not contemplated to issue a separate aerial mail stamp. On 4th July, 1918, the Hungarians experimented with an air mail, having Budapest as its starting point, and with various internal towns as destinations; but owing to the weather conditions and accidents to aviators, it was only in existence 20 days. Two of the 1916-17 stamps were surcharged as follows :- "1 K 50f. " on 75 filler (blue). "2 K 50f." on 2 krona (brown). the words "REPÜLÖ POSTA" being overprinted above the value, in red and blue respectively. This overprinting was carried out at the State Printing Works at Budapest, and is not remarkable for its good workmanship. This will be especially noticeable in the copy I show of the lower value, in which several letters are broken, whilst the "P" of "POSTA" has no top at all. It rather looks as if this stamp had taken part in one of the accidents which occurred. In October, 1920, an aerial mail was established, linking Hungary with other European countries, and the 1916-17 10kr. stamp was overprinted with the words "LEGI POSTA" and the new value, 3, 8, or 12 korona.

The air fairly hummed in 1919 with air post developments, and in all parts of the world aerial mails were instituted or carried out with this object in view. Early in the year an aeroplane post was started between Bombay and Karachi to expedite delivery of mail brought by steamers to Bombay. Public apathy and lack of support, however, caused the speedy discontinuance of this air line. Alexandria, Cairo, and Ismailia were linked together by air mail of 17th March, by "R.A.F." planes, which carried only official correspondence during the native disturbances, no special stamps or postmark being used. The envelopes, however, were marked with rubber stamp, "Aerial Post, E.E.F.", meaning "Egyptian Expeditionary Force". This service was discontinued as soon as conditions were normal. Switzerland was next in the field, or air, I should say, by the opening of a summer aerial post between Zurich and Lausanne, with calls at Berne and Neuchâtel, which took place on 28th April, 1919. The ordinary postage was charged, plus an air fee of 50c. For this latter purpose the current 50c. "Helvetia " type stamp was overprinted at the Federal Mint, Berne, with a design in red, showing the Swiss Military Air Force badge. Postmarks bearing the words "Schweiger Flugpost" were used, in addition to the ordinary express letter postmark. On the 5th May, 100,000 copies of the 35c. stamp of the 1906 issue of Tunis were ready for sale in connection with the air service which connected Gabés, Djerba, Zarzis, and Ben Gardane, as from that date. These stamps had been overprinted at the French Government Printing Works in Paris, and, in addition to the central overprint of the French aviator's badge, the air fee denomination of "30" centimes appeared on the stamp with the words "POSTE AÉRIENNE", the old value being obliterated by three bars. The stamp depicts the ruins of Hadrian's Aqueduct and, with its overprint, shows a true blending of the ancient with the modern. I wonder what Hadrian would say if he knew? This stamp has recently been replaced by a 30c. stamp of similar design, in blue and grey-green. We now come to the gallant, but unsuccessful attempt of Messrs. Hawker and Grieve to fly the Atlantic from Newfoundland to the United Kingdom. This took place on the 18th May, 1919, on a Sopwith machine, and resulted in the aeroplane falling into the sea, the two aviators with their mail being fortunately salved by a passing steamer. The mail reached the P.O. intact with the help of the British Fleet. The contents were undamaged, though in some cases wet, but none was in such condition as to prevent ultimate delivery. For the purposes of this mail 200 of the 3c. "Caribou" issue were overprinted at the Royal Gazette Office, St. John's (where all the other air-stamp overprints have been carried out), with the words "FIRST TRANSATLANTIC AIRPOST, April, 1919." - for the flight was expected to take place in April, though weather conditions were unfavourable until the following month. Of the 200 stamps, 18 were damaged and destroyed in the presence of the Auditor-General, 11 were used as presentation copies (one of which was sent to H.M. the King), and 95 were used and cancelled in the mail itself, leaving 76 still to be accounted for. These were sold at $25 each on behalf of the Marine Disaster Fund. and as only 182 of these stamps are known to exist, they are of great rarity. The first Trans-Atlantic Air Stamp was presented by the aviators, to be auctioned for the benefit of the Marine Disaster Fund. Lieut.-Col. E. S. Halford. of the Air Ministry, eventually bought the stamp for £210. Later in the month of May the air mail, ready for despatch by the Raynham-Martinsyde Atlantic flight, bore stamps of the 1c., 2c., 3c., and 24c. current "Caribou" series. These were overprinted as follows :-"1st Atlantic Airpost, Martinsyde-Raynham, Morgan". The cheers of the send-off had hardly died away before the plane crashed to earth to become a useless wreck, and the mail had to be despatched through the usual channels. The 15c. stamp of the 1897 (Jubilee) series, surcharged "Trans-Atlantic AIR POST, 1919. ONE DOLLAR" was now issued to prepay postage on letters sent by the Alcock-Whitten Brown flight to U.K. This non-stop flight commenced on 14th June, 1919, in a Vickers-Vimy machine, and by this means mail posted in Newfoundland on the early morning of 14th June was delivered in London on the night of the 17th-three days after leaving Newfoundland. The stamps were sold at $1 each, but the limited edition, was speedily bought up. 10,000 were surcharged in sheets of 25, making 400 sheets in all. In the overprinting errors hme crept in. Each sheet, therefore, contained 16 stamps normally overprinted; seven stamps with no comma after "POST"; one with an imperfect comma; and one without the full stop after "1919" and no comma after "POST". Thus it will be seen that of the 10,000 stamps issued, 6,400 were normally overprinted, 2,800 had no comma, 400 had an imperfect comma, and 400 had no stop or comma. It will be noticed that the block of four stamps, which I show, contains all four varieties - a rare combination. To celebrate an experimental air post between Puerto, Port Colombia, and Barranquila, 200 of the 1917 2c. Colombian stamps were overprinted locally with the inscription "1 en SERVICIO POSTAL AEREO 6-18-19" in five lines in black. Only one flight was made and the stamps were not accepted by the P.O. and were never cancelled by them. In October, 1920, an attempt was made to institute an air service between Cartagena and Barranquila, but owing to serious fatal accidents, this air mail has been indefinitely suspended. The contract for this service was given by the P.O. to a local firm, and letters carried through the air travelled at ordinary postage, plus 10c. per 15 grammes. Two thousand copies of a 10c oblong stamp were printed, depicting a vessel on the sea, with aeroplane above, and setting sun on the horizon. This was superseded by a set of seven values, issued privately by the air contractors, the design showing a map of the Colombian coast, with aeroplane in flight. To signalise the first air mail over the Rocky Mountains the envelopes of letters thus conveyed were franked with a special postmark bearing the words "1st B.C. Alberta Aerial Post." The mail in question was carried by plane, on August 5th, 1919, from Vancouver to Calgary, via Vernon and over the Great Divide to Lethbridge. On the return journey the pilot was forced to descend at Golden, and the letters were sent on by rail. Japan had made no serious attempt since its 1912 experiment to commence an air post, but with the intention of instituting regular flights between Tokyo and Osaka nearly 300 miles, stamps were issued for use on letters to be conveyed by the first air mail on October 3rd, 1919. These stamps were the current 1½ sen (blue) and the 3 sen (carmine), overprinted with the design of an aeroplane in red and black respectively. These two air stamps were on sale only at Head Post Offices on October 3rd, and in spite of elaborate precautions to prevent one person buying more than two stamps of each value, the entire issue of 40,000 overprinted stamps was sold out in a very short time. The weather played an important part in connection with this mail, and behaved so badly for day after day from October 4th, that the flight was abandoned for a further attempt (to the delight of the more superstitious Japanese and the letters sent by the usual method. The "King Albert Aerial Mail Service" was commenced early in January), 1920, in Belgian Congo. This service, which is carried out by seaplanes, embraces the whole of the Upper Congo River, and is flown in conjunction with the arrival of the Belgian mail steamers. In August last, four finely-drawn stamps, depicting scenes in the Congo with a seaplane above, made their appearance for use in this connection. The perforation is 12 and the values are :- 50c. orange and black. 1fr. violet and black. 2f blue and black. 5fr. green and black. By some unfortunate mistake, one which has caused the Belgian Government much annoyance, the word printed at the foot of each stamp, "Postluchtdienst," should have appeared as "Luchtpostdienst." As it stands the translation reads: "Service of the Postal Air," instead of "Postal Service of the Air." Of course, the printer may have been a man of imagination, and this was his way of prophesying that the air was soon to be so impregnated with correspondence as almost to describe the term "postal air." The air post instituted between Reval and Helsingfors in Estonia. was the direct outcome of the icebound nature of that country's coastline in the Gulf of Finland, which, at the time, permitted only a few Ships to arrive at Reval. Thus it happened that, on 7th February, 1920, three British-piloted planes left Reval with mail and reached Helsingfors in less than an hour later. Weather conditions prevented the return journey being made for over a week. The service, however, was continued until two months later, when, owing to a shortage of aeroplanes, only a very small proportion of the mail could be carried. Preference was given to diplomatic and Registered letters, ordinary being taken if there was room. The breaking up of the ice early in May permitted the re-opening of sea communication, and the air mail was discontinued. In March a five mark imperforate triangular stamp was issued for use on this mail, printed in yellow, blue and black, and showing an aeroplane in flight. The ordinary postage was charged in addition to the air fee. A Tientsin-Pekin aerial mail was inaugurated as a regular service on 7th May, 1920, with Handley-Page machines. Letters posted at 5 p.m. in Tientsin can now be delivered in Pekin three hours later. No special stamp has so far been issued, but the postmark reads: - "Chinese Post Office - despatched by aeroplane - Tientsin-Pekin." The Chinese Cabinet has now sanctioned the opening of an air service between Pekin and Shanghai, with three intermediate stations, and 80 landing grounds. Siam, a country whose airmen are so intrepid and so seemingly without nerves, has commenced in September an aerial post between Bangkok and Chantzboon, roughly 300 miles. The current 5 satangs stamps has been overprinted by hand-machine, with the Siamese emblematic bird, the garuda, under which appear four lines of native wording. When the London-Paris Airpost was opened to the general public on 10th November, 1919, the charge was excessive, viz, 2s. 6d. per ounce. The total number of letters sent on the first day after this charge was made totalled 315, whilst the aeroplanes ready for use had a capacity of 76,000 letters. Since then, however, steps have been taken to popularise the aerial mail, the chief of which has been the reduction of the air fee to 2d. per ounce, plus ordinary postage, whilst the express fee is 6d. an ounce. A blue label, inscribed "BY AIR MAIL," which can be obtained free from the Post Office, is the only outward and visible token on the left-hand corner of the envelope that it has travelled from England by aerial mail. The absence of this label, so long as the envelope is clearly marked as to its means of conveyance, will not debar the letter from being forwarded by air and delivered. In France, a label is attached to the envelope, depicting as its central design, the great French aviator, Guynemer. Besides the twice daily service to Paris and back, carried out by the Aircraft Transport and Travel Co., Ltd., recent air lines have linked together six countries, namely, England, Holland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. This service was inaugurated on 15th September, when a Danish-piloted de. Haviland plane left Copenhagen with the London mail and, travelling via Hamburg, reached Amsterdam, where the letters were transferred to the Handley-Page and Airco joint air service, and so to London. On the return journey, Queen Alexandra sent a basket of fruit to the Empress Dowager of Russia. The fruit left London a 3p.m. and was conveved to Her Majesty, outside Copenhagen, by 5 p.m. the following day. Last week a mail plane flew from Cricklewood, London, made a stop at Amsterdam, and arrived at Copenhagen in 5 hours 40 minutes, the distance being 520 miles. The London-Amsterdam service, instituted on 5th July, 1920, is carried out by the Handley-Page Transport Co., and the journey of 265 miles has been flown in 1 hour 50 minutes, or an average of 150 miles per hour. For use in connection with this inking up of countries, Sweden, at the end of September, issued three overprinted stamps, viz. :- 3 öre brown, Official, surcharged "LUFTPOST 10" 2 öre orange, Official, surcharged "LUFTPOST 20" 4 öre lilac, Official, surcharged "LUFTPOST 50" Envelopes bear a blue label, similar to that of Great Britain, but the word "LUFTPOST" is printed in red thereon. A provisional overprinting of the 1, 5, 10, 25, and 50c. current Spanish stamps with the words "CORREO AEREO," marked the opening of an aerial post between Seville and Larache, in Morocco; between Barcelona and Palma, Morocco; and between Malaga and Melilla, on April 4th. Only 20,000 sets were issued and these provisionals are to be superseded at an early date, by a distinctive series of air stamps, portraying the progress of aerial navigation. One of the latest countries to send mail through the air is the go-ahead State of Czecho-Slovakia. Three of the Hradschin series of stamps have been surcharged with new values, whilst a design of an aeroplane now forms the centre of the stamp. The 200 heller value is surcharged "14 KRONES," which is the ordinary postage plus air fee between Prague and Warsaw. The 500 heller bears a new value of 24 krones, for use between Prague and Paris, a 5½ hours' journey, carried out thrice weekly, travelling via Strashourg. The planes are sufficiently roomy to allow the carrying of passengers and goods. The 1,000 heller now takes the value of 28 krones, for use between Prague and London. On October 16th Danzig advertised its air mail by the issue of three provisionals. These stamps were the 40pf. Germans, already overprinted "DANZIG"; and further overprinted with new denominations, 40 and 60pf. and 1 mark, together with the design of an aeroplane on the two lower values and a winged posthorn on the 1 mark. From this brief survey, of the development of the aerial mail, it will be admitted, I think, that the prophecy contained in my opening remarks as to the coming of universal air posts, is well-founded - or well-aired, whichever is the correct term. Only a week or two ago the newspapers reported a combination of seven air transport firms, British, Danish, Dutch, Swedish, French, Roumanian, and German, with a view to completing a network of air lines that will shortly spread over the whole of North-West Europe. A new world to conquer has sprung up before the philatelist, one in which his imagination, initiative and foresight can play an important part, and I trust that my remarks this evening may prove of use to those whose flight of fancy take them into the ethereal realms of aerial philately. Read the full article

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Picture Perfect: New Zealand 1898-1908

The first pictorial definitive series from a major British colony, issued by New Zealand in 1898, had two different printers, three different platemakers and four different papers, not to mention famous errors and perforation varieties. Was this the ultimate turn-of-the-century collectable? In New Zealand, as elsewhere in the British Empire in the 19th century, the monarch's head was the basis of most stamp designs. So the first pictorial definitive series from one of the major colonies, issued in 1898, was always sure to grab the public's attention. But there were additional reasons for the immense contemporary and subsequent interest in this issue. It stemmed partly from the public design competition launched in 1895, offering cash prizes, which was intrinsically linked to the government policy of encouraging new settlers and promoting tourism. It was augmented by the decision to switch production of the stamps from London to Wellington, where local efforts to print and perforate these designs satisfactorily introduced considerable complexity to the series. And finally, of course, the stamps' superb engraved views of New Zealand's flora, fauna and scenery not only captured the Victorian imagination but remain popular with thematic collectors today. Above: The first printing of New Zealand's 1898 pictorial definitive series, by Waterlow in London, included stamps in no fewer than five different formats. Illustrated here (in correct proportion to show the differences) are the ½d purple-brown, 5d sepia, 6d green, 2s grey-green and 5s vermilion. Setting the scene Issued on April 5, 1898, the series initially comprised 13 values from ½d to 5s, with 13 designs by different artists in a variety of formats. Mountains and water were the most popular subjects among the competition winners, with the ½d purple-brown and the 5s vermilion depicting contrasting views of Mount Cook, the 1d blue and yellow-brown showing Lake Taupo and Mount Ruapehu, the 2d lake illustrating Pembroke Peak and Milford Sound, the 2½d blue showing Lake Wakatipu and Mount Earnslaw, the 5d sepia displaying Otira Gorge and (in an unusual inset) Mount Ruapehu, and the 2s grey-green offering another view of Milford Sound. Above: The stamps were the result of a public design competition launched in 1895, and hundreds of unadopted essays have come onto the collectors' market in recent years. The 4d bright rose and 9d purple illustrated the white terrace and the pink terrace respectively on the shores of Lake Rotomahana, tourist attractions which had been buried by a volcanic eruption in 1886. Indigenous birds decorated three stamps, in the shape of the huia on the 3d yellow-brown, the kiwi on the 6d green, and the kea and kaka on the 1s vermilion. And the oddity of the series was the 8d indigo, which featured a Maori war canoe and an imperial crown within the loops of a figure of eight. It is difficult to see how all these values correlated with the postage rates of the day, which suggests that she scale and quality of the issue owed as much to political pressure as it did to postal necessity. But it would remain current for a decade, undergoing four distinct phases of production. London printing The first phase is known as the London printing, because both the plates and the stamps made from them were produced in the United Kingdom by Waterlow & Sons before being shipped to New Zealand. These are widely agreed to be among the finest recess printings made in this period. The engravers made a superb job of the dies, which were then transferred to the plate by a transfer roller, and the paper used, which had no specific name and no watermark, was ideally suited for the reproduction of detailed engravings. Above: Advertising cover of October 1898 using two of the 2d pictorials along with existing 'Second Sideface' definitives. The new stamps were so popular thatthe postal authorities restricted supplies and urged postmasters to use up stocks of the preceding issue. Above: Registered cover posted to Venezuela on August 5, 1903, bearing three different pictorials for a total of 1s 3½d in postage (four times 2½d, plus 3d for registration and 2½d for the advice of receipt service), with an AR rectangular handstamp in green. On the other hand, there were several curious features of the London printing, which fuelled the colony's determination to produce subsequent printings locally. One was the strange variety of stamp formats. There were at least five distinctly different shapes (in marked contrast to the standard size and double size specifications laid down for the design competition), which inevitably created watermark and perforating challenges. Another unnecessary difficulty was added by the surprising decision to make one value, the 1d, a two-colour design. One of the stamps which would be required in the largest numbers thus required two plates, and two runs through the printing press with careful registration. Finally, there was a spelling error, with the name Wakatipu  in two interesting paper varieties. Above: The spelling error on the 2½d value, where 'Wakatipu' was mistakenly engraved as 'Wakitipu', was quickly corrected. In July 1902, the 6d was printed on a distinctive paper known as Lisbon Superfine, after the words which appear once on each sheet as a watermark; as most stamps in each sheet have no watermark, they are easily confused with stamps on unwatermarked Pirie paper, particularly as both are perforated 11. In December 1902, the 2s appeared on laid paper, with its distinctive vertical ribbing. Unique error The rarest and most famous stamp in the pictorial series also came from the second local printing. An entire sheet of the 4d blue and brown, perf 14, is thought to have been printed with its central vignette inverted in 1903, but only a single example has ever been found, clearly postmarked in Picton. Above: A marginal block of the four of the 2d purple from the second local printing, showing an example of New Zealand's very idiosyncratic and scarce 'mixed perfs'. A machine with perforation gauging 11 was used to correct a misaligned horizontal perforation of 14. Above: The only known example of mixed perfs on cover, affecting a pair of the ½d green. Certified by the Royal Philatelic Society London in 1931, after which it was sold at auction for £61 it was bought for approximately £50,00 by the New Zealand Post Office in 1998 and now resides in the National Museum in Wellington. Mixed-perf rarities An unusual story concerns the emergence of the so-called 'mixed perfs' by early 1907. Even today these cause considerable-confusion, partly because the term 'mixed' is unhelpful: these are not irregular but corrections applied to badly misaligned perfs. Previously, poorly aligned strikes of the perf-11 machine had been corrected by further strikes of the same machine. These double perfs are regularly found from the first local printing, and less frequently from the second local printing. But in this case, misaligned strikes of the perf-14 machine were corrected with a realigned strike of the perf-11 equipment. Thus, a single side of the stamp will show perforations of both 14 and 11, approximately parallel to each other. Mixed-perf stamps (needed as a pair or a bigger block for certain identification) are as scarce as compound perforations in mint condition, and rarer used. Only one example is known on cover. Why bother correcting a damaged sheet, especially as it often involved gumming selvedge 'patches' on the back, over the misaligned perfs, to prevent the stamps separating in the wrong place? A likely explanation is that supplies of correctly watermarked paper were limited, and accounted for sheet-by-sheet. Third local printing The fourth and final phase of production of this series started in March 1907, when the government ordered new plates for four values from Perkins Bacon in the UK. In the case of the ½d this was a simple replacement, for a plate which was showing wear, but in the case of the 3d, 6d and 1s the new plates were a different size. They were now identical in size to the ½d, so that the intended introduction of comb-perforating machines would be suitable for all the most commonly used values, with 240 impressions per sheet. As it happened, the bi-coloured 4d was suitable for comb-perforating in sheets of 80 without a change to its format, as shown by the printing of February 1908, although this stamp is truly difficult to find. Of the eight smaller-format stamps in the series, only the 8d remained at its original size throughout its lifespan. Overprints Some stamps in this series were overprinted for use in Pacific Islands that came under New Zealand administration Aitutaki, Niue and Penrhyn from as early as 1901, and briefly Samoa during World War I. Above: The 3d value overprinted for use on the Pacific island of Aitutaki, also showing double perfs at the foot. Above: A block of the ½d from the second local printing of 1902-07, overprinted 'Official' with two styles of plate number, a hand-scratched '2' and a set of small strikes to the right of it. Above: Distinct shade differences exist in all the stamps, as in these examples of the 1s. Some have acquired high catalogue values, even though the printers never aimed for great consistency Examples used on commercial mail are very desirable, as are perforation varieties and manuscript (hand-scratched) plate numbers. Starting only in 1907, some stamps were also overprinted 'Official' for use on government department mail. Values other than the ½d and 2d are rare on official covers, but the stamps themselves are not scarce as they were put on sale from main post offices. Waterlow's samples Even though it quickly lost the contract to print the issue, Waterlow & Sons liked to use the New Zealand pictorial designs for promoting its capabilities. So-called 'sample stamps' were printed for the benefit of potential customers in South America and elsewhere, probably in 1898-99, with the original designs but in colours quite different from the issued stamps. Above: Waterlow & Sons miniature sheet of the nine 'sample' stamps produced in 1910. Waterlow also displayed miniature sheets of nine, overprinted with the name of the firm and with holes punched through them to prevent fraudulent postal use, at the 1910 Brussels Exhibition. It is not known whether the New Zealand government approved this promotional use of its stamp designs. Join the club The New Zealand Society of Great Britain, which will shortly celebrate its 60th anniversary, has around 300 members. It holds regular meetings in London, the midlands, the northwest and Scotland, as well as a bi-annual residential weekend. Other benefits of membership include the society's bimonthly journal The Kiwi, access to its extensive library, an annual auction and circulating packet. To find out more, contact the Honorary Secretary. Tel: 020 8657 4566. Or visit www.nzstamps.org.uk/nzsgb Published by kind permission of the author, Derek Diamond and Stamp Magazine. Read the full article

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Nicaragua: the First Airmail Stamps

Apart from the early overprints in 1929, the first airmail stamp design for Nicaragua was the well known ‘aeroplanes flying over the volcano of Momotombo’. Now the American Navy was in Nicaragua at the time for reasons to prop up the regime and they had one aeroplane a DH-4s. The radio call sign – the QSL – for the naval station was NN 1NIC and showed 2 DH-4s’s flying over the volcano as now seen in the stamp design. The picture had been created by a Lt. Boyden from a photo of the single plane and subsequently the call sign design was accepted unchanged for the airmail stamps without of course the call sign itself. The stamps were first issued in December 1929 in 3 values and the stamp underwent numerous changes in colour and overprints throughout the next 12 or so years. Remarkably no design errors have ever been described which is remarkable for Nicaraguan philately. In 1931 Will Rogers the American comedian visited Nicaragua and a set of 5 stamps commemorated the visit. The 4 cent value of the set shows a group of American Marines welcoming Will Rogers at the airport and LT. Boyden is in the group as the man on the far left of the group as they are standing. Read the full article

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National Circular Delivery Company (1867)

The National Circular Delivery Company was a local post established by Robert Brydone about the middle of 1867 to provide a service for the bulk delivery of circulars between London and other cities or towns served by Brydone’s circular delivery companies.

Undoubtedly it was this obvious infringement over the Postmaster General’s monopoly over mail carrying that led to Brydone’s downfall. Stamps were issued in a design showing Britain’s arms on a shield with the lion and unicorn supporters

The inscriptions NATIONAL CIRCULAR DELIVERY CO. below and the value at the foot.

National Circular Delivery Company (1867) was originally published on Philatelic Database

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Stamps of Belgium: Birds of Antwerp Zoo (1962)

This was an issue to aid Philanthropic Funds.

It showed Birds of the Antwerp Zoo:

40c +10c. Cock of the Rock

1f. +50c. Red Lory

2f. +50. Senegalese Touraco

2f.50 + 1f. Short-beaked Toucan

3f. + 1f. Great Bird of Paradise

6f. + 2f.Congolese Peacock

Designed by J. Van Noten after photos by M. Six.

Engraved by Janssens, (Recess and Photo)

Released June 23, 1962

Stamps of Belgium: Birds of Antwerp Zoo (1962) was originally published on Philatelic Database

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Africa and Cape Colony Map (Gall and Inglis 1871)

Africa and Cape Colony Map (Gall and Inglis 1871) was originally published on Philatelic Database

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Nordic Error Stamps

For more than 15 years I have written a very long series of articles aimed at beginners for the Swedish Philatelic Magazine. It has never been difficult to find suitable topics to write about as we have such a rich and varied hobby.

Recently I worked on an article devoted to different kinds of error stamps which I believe might be of interest to STAMP NEWS readers as well.

Quite a number of mistakes might occur during the production of postage stamps. In the following I just want to discuss errors which are easily spotted even by the ordinary letter writer without any special interest in stamps or stamp collecting.

Errors usually have to do with two-colour printing, overprinting and the perforation process. Watermark errors are. quite common but as they are difficult to see I leave them out for the time being.

In the Nordic area error stamps are far from common. Quality standards at the printing works seem to guarantee that the vast majority of all stamps printed are free from any problems. However, to err is human and mistakes do occur.

In this article I intend to spotlight a number of interesting stamp errors using stamps of Sweden and North Ingermanland as illustrations.

Most readers are probably familiar with Sweden but what on earth is North Ingermanland?

In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution the mainly Finnish-speaking population of Ingermanland on the Isthmus of Karelia opted for independence. The plans had to be abandoned when the area was occupied by Russian forces in late 1917. Finland received a lot of refugees from Ingermanland and many of these refugees wanted to liberate their homeland. In late 1919, a small area surrounding the town of Kirjasalo was occupied by a Corps of Volunteers and a provisional government was established. It is mainly know for having issued two sets of stamps in 1920. The independent state of North Ingermanland (Pohjois Inkeri in Finnish) only lasted for a few months.

The only post office in North Ingermanland was located in Kirjasalo but the mails were mostly handled at Rautu on the Finnish side of the border.

The stamps were printed by the Viborgs Bok – och Stentryckeri AB. Controls at this concern appear to have been rather lax to say the least as numerous (but interesting!) errors have reached the philatelic marketplace.

Probably the most exciting errors occur when stamps are printed in two colours. In the past the sheets needed to go through the press twice to get the two colours printed. Occasionally a sheet was fed into the press upside down for the second printing. What we get is an inverted centre!

This is what happened with the 10-mark denomination of the 1920 North Ingermanland pictorials. The two musicians playing the Kantele are upside down! Only 100 stamps were printed in this way making it North Ingermanland’s most expensive stamp (currently valued at some AU$1 ,500).

There are very few inverted centre stamps in the Nordic area. I can only think of a Danish local post stamp and a number of Swedish proofs.

On June 18-19, 2009 a huge collection of inverted centres was sold at the Spink Shreves Galleries in New York. The collection was the life-long passion of Robert H. Cunliffe and the beautifully produced set of two hardbound catalogues is a must for any serious collector of inverted centres.

Most inverted centre stamps are rare and thus command very high prices. However, as always there are exceptions for collectors of more moderate means. An inverted centre adds a lot of pizzazz to any collection.

Stamps are frequently overprinted for a variety of reasons. In 1889, the Swedish post office decided to surcharge the 12- and 24-öre service stamps with the new denomination of 10 öre following a rate change. There are several interesting overprint varieties including the one illustrated here. The stamp below shows the denomination as 10 ÖKE! It is an interesting variety which at least doubles the value of the stamp. I obtained the two stamps at a local stamp club auction. As the stamps had been hinged interest was not very strong and I don’t believe anyone actually spotted the error.

When North Ingermanland ceased to exist as an independent state some of the remainders of the pictorial set were overprinted Inkerin Hyvaksi which can be translated as For the prosperity of Ingermanland in English. The postage stamps were thus turned into charity labels. Shown nearby is a stamp with the overprint upside down.

Finally we turn to problems involving the perforation of stamps and once again I have selected a stamp from North Ingermanland to illustrate my point.

Swedish and many other collectors consider stamps of identical design and colour but with a different perforation gauge to be a separate stamp issue. The Swedish 19th century ring type stamps exist perforated 14 or 13 and are considered to be two separate issues by Facit and other catalogues. However, the difference in perforation is not obvious to the average person so let’s look at a more striking variety.

Illustrated here is a pair of North Ingermanland pictorial stamps where an entire row of perforations is missing! This certainly is a variety which can be appreciated by the untrained eye. I have several examples of strange or missing perforations on North Ingermanland stamps.

By their very nature error stamps are a lot scarcer than the normal variety. As far as most other consumer products are concerned we look for flawless items. Not so in stamp collecting where an error stamp makes your album page so much more interesting.

The Nordic area has got its share of error stamps with the most famous one being the 1855 Three Skilling Banco Yellow of Sweden. It is currently the most valuable single stamp on pl~net earth and it has been the subject of numerous books and countless articles in the philatelic press.

[Published by kind permission of the Editor of Stamp News Australasia.]

Nordic Error Stamps was originally published on Philatelic Database

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Stamps of Syria: Alexandretta (1938)

The Sandjak (district) of Alexandretta, formerly part of Syria, was detached in April 1938 and administered by the French, pending a decision on its future.

Syrian stamps were overprinted ‘Sandjak d’Alexandrette’ and issued between April and December 1938.

Following a decision of the League of Nations, Alexandrette was ceded to Turkey.

Stamps of Syria: Alexandretta (1938) was originally published on Philatelic Database

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Stamps of Egypt: Railway Congress (1933)

British engineers who built the world’s first railways in their own country also introduced them to others.One of these was Egypt, whose first railway was engineered by Robert Stephenson.

But the first Egyptian line was unlike the others. It was built not so much for the benefit of the local population as for the hardy travellers and empire builders of the mid-19th century who had to endure the discomforts of the ‘overland route’ across Egypt on their way to India and the Far East.

Moreover it had two distinct “lives”, the first of which was surprisingly short.

On the other side of Egypt, from Europe to Alexandria and from Suez eastwards, the famous P & O Line pioneered the steamship services with great success. However, they found they were being blamed for the shortcomings of the overland route, over which they had little control.

So the shipppinng company was more than pleased, when in 2850 the Egyptian Government inited Stephenson to survry a route for a railway. Work began in the following year, and in 1852 the first locomotive, built by Stephenson, started running experimentally.

But the all-important route across the desert from Cairo to Suez was not completed until 1858. And only eleven years later the Suez Canal was opened. As the steamers started to run direct from Europe to India through the canal, the railway passengers disappeared.

In those days few people travelled purely for pleasure; but by the 1930s the tourist trade meant big business, and Egypt was keen to receive her share. In 1936 the line reopened, so that visitors could see the desert from the comfort of a modern train.

The story of Egypt’s first railway is recalled by the illustration above.

It was issued for the International Railway Congress held in Cairo in 1933.

Stamps of Egypt: Railway Congress (1933) was originally published on Philatelic Database

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Map of Persia and Afghanistan (Gall and Inglis 1871)

Map of Persia and Afghanistan (Gall and Inglis 1871) was originally published on Philatelic Database

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Temple of Heaven: the Stamps of China

Some twenty years ago there was still a fairly large number of stamp shops in Stockholm, the Swedish capital. In one of the shops I discovered a set of three Chinese stamps (Scott # 131-3) which I found most attractive. They were issued in 1909 to mark the first year of the reign of Emperor Hsuan Tung. He later became president and emperor of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo, a most interesting story which has been made into a successful movie called The Last Emperor.

The stamps were in pristine unmounted mint condition and they were priced at less than 50 cents a set. The dealer had some 15 sets which he was happy to sell to me. This turned out to be one of my best stamp investments ever; now two decades later leading dealers charge more than $15 for such a set.

The three bi-coloured stamps all depict the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, the Chinese capital.

When going through my programme for a visit to China in the spring of 2006 I recalled my purchase in Stockholm. The Temple of Heaven was one of the famous sights in Beijing that was included in the packed schedule. I really looked forward to having a look at the temple which had aroused my curiosity all those years ago.

The Temple of Heaven as depicted on the stamps of China

Along with my Chinese guide Miss Li Jing I spent several hours at the Temple of Heaven. As it turned out this was far from sufficient to have a look at everything. The Temple of Heaven is a huge park with a number of important temples and other buildings which were used by the Chinese emperors in a number of religious ceremonies.

The Temple has a very long history going back to 1420. It was originally built by Emperor Yongle and then used by all subsequent Ming and Qing emperors to pray for good harvests. During the centuries the temple complex was continually reconstructed and enlarged.

The Temple of Heaven is the largest sacrificial architectural group in the world. It is also the best preserved.

The temple complex has numerous important buildings including the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests which is the building shown on the stamps. It is a round building with magnificent interior decorations in orange, red, yellow, green and other colours.

This is where the Qing dynasty emperors held a ceremony each year praying for good harvests on the 10th day of the first lunar month. All the other buildings served special purposes in connection with these annual ceremonies. I was lucky to have an excellent guide to tell me many of the interesting facts.

The Imperial Vault of Heaven is also known as the Echo Wall. Jing ran to the other side of the building and then pronounced my name at normal voice level. I heard my name clearly thanks to the acoustical qualities of the semicircular wall.

The Divine Music Administration was another highlight of the visit. This is where students learnt to play a variety of instruments in connection with the ceremonies. Today it is a museum devoted to the history of Chinese music. At times concerts are also given here. All in all there are more than 600 architectural constructions in the park which is also famous for its many old cypresses.

In 1918, the Temple of Heaven was opened to the public as a park. Then in 1998 it was listed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO. Today the Temple is a must on the itineraries of all visitors to the Chinese capital.

Even after China had become a republic in 1912, the Temple of Heaven remained a powerful symbol for the Chinese people. It has been depicted frequently on Chinese stamps. In 1913 China released a new set of definitives with the denominations from 15 to 50 cents depicting a man reaping rice. If you look carefully at the design you will also see the Temple of Heaven in the background which is most appropriate as the emperors used to ask the gods for good harvests at the temple.

In 1923, China adopted a new constitution and this important event was commemorated by four elegant stamps (Scott # 270-3). Once again the stamps show the Temple of Heaven.

When the People’s Republic of China issued its first airmail stamps (Scott # Cl-5) in 195 1 the design depicts a mail plane over the Temple of Heaven. Obviously the temple has become a national icon very much like the Great Wall of China.

In subsequent years there have been many other issues which incorporate the Temple of Heaven in one way or the other.

Having found the Temple of Heaven one of the absolute highlights of my visit to China I am considering assembling a small exhibit of the stamps that have been issued to commemorate this important historical treasure in the Chinese capital.

Writing this story and looking at the stamps made me relive that pleasurable spring morning in Beijing when I and Jing explored the many temples and other buildings making up the Temple of Heaven. We even listened to some Peking opera and had a look at an exhibition of paintings by art students from Xian.

Temple of Heaven: the Stamps of China was originally published on Philatelic Database

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Stamps of Denmark: Sailing Ships (2015)

Over the years, Denmark has been depicted as a sea-faring nation on many postage stamps. This time, we are turning our attention to the Danish training ships, which play an important role for young people wanting a maritime education or a thorough introduction to life at sea.

The four stamps depict the training ship KØBENHAVN, which disappeared in 1928, the two current training ships DANMARK and GEORG STAGE, while the last stamp depicts FULTON, which is primarily used for school trips for primary and lower secondary school pupils, continuation school etc.

KØBENHAVN

The five-masted bark KØBENHAVN was built for the East Asiatic Company. When launched in 1921, the ship was one of the largest sailing vessels in the world. In De- cember 1928, she left Buenos Aires bound for Adelaide, where she was expected about two months later. However, the ship disappeared without trace on the voyage. Despite an extensive search, no drowned sailors or wreckage were ever found, nor has it ever been established what caused the ship to go down.

DANMARK

After the loss of KØBENHAVN, the training ship DANMARK was built. The new ship was finished in 1932, having been built for the sole purpose of training sailors for the merchant navy.

The state-owned ship takes 80 trainees. It is managed by the maritime and polytechnic

training centre MARTEC in Frederikshavn in northern Jutland. Since 2010, the language of instruction on board the ship has been English. This strengthens the linguistic skills of the future seamen, while also making it possible for trainees from other countries to do a basic training course on board DANMARK.

GEORG STAGE

The three-masted full-rigged ship GEORG STAGE was built in 1934 to replace an older ship of the same name. The full-rigger belongs to the foundation Stiftelsen Georg Stages Minde, which was set up in 1882 by the shipowner Frederik Stage in memory of his son Georg, who died at an early age.

GEORG STAGE houses one of Denmark’s four nautical training colleges and is also the oldest civilian nautical training college in the world. The three-masted full-rigged ship takes 63 trainees. It embarks on a cruise every year in the summer months.

FULTON

The three-masted schooner FULTON was built in 1915 and entered service in the North Atlantic, for example sailing dried cod from Newfoundland to Spain. Since 1970, when the National Museum of Denmark took over the schooner and refurbished

it, FULTON has been based in Marstal on the island of Ærø where she was originally built. In the 1970s and 1980s, FULTON was captained for many years by Mogens Frohn, who devoted much of his life to a project aimed at giving disadvantaged youth

the opportunity to have a fresh start in life. Today, the Fulton Foundation runs the schooner, which is primarily used for school trips for primary and lower secondary school pupils, continuation school students etc.

TRAINING SHIPS – A POPULAR STAMP IMAGE It is not the first time that Post Danmark is issuing postage stamps featuring images of the Danish training ships. Back in 1993, four stamps were issued with images of training ships drawn by Bo Bonfils and engraved by Arne Kühlmann. Both GEORG STAGE and DANMARK were included in the series. Even further back, in 1976, Post Danmark issued a charity stamp to mark the bicentenary of the United States Declaration of Independence.

Technical Details

Issue Date: 13.06.2015 Designer: Post Danmark Stamps/Per Ingemann Illustrator: Kobenhavn/Danish Maritime Museum, Danmark/Morten Beck Risom, Georg Stage/Photogeapher Unknown and Fulton/Jakob Jensen, Dawings: Martin Morck Process: Offset Colours: 4 Colours Size: 26.5 x 36.6mm Values: 7 KR

Stamps of Denmark: Sailing Ships (2015) was originally published on Philatelic Database

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Post Offices of Montenegro: Kotor 85330 (2017)

Post Offices of Montenegro: Kotor 85330 (2017) was originally published on Philatelic Database

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Post Offices of Croatia: Ston 20230 (2017)

Post Offices of Croatia: Ston 20230 (2017) was originally published on Philatelic Database