Austria Post has issued World's First Porcelain stamp on 20th March 2014. The Viennese rose stamps were designed by the Vienna Porcelain Manufacturer Augarten (Wiener Porzellanmanufaktur Augarten), Europe's second porcelain manufacturer and they are claiming that it is unbreakable.
I am very thankful to Sudhan for this Odd and unique stamp. Nice addition to my Odd and Unusual stamps collection.
Canada Post had issued 6 stamps on Canadian Ice Hockey Goalies who had made a huge difference to the game. This Playing card size sturdy stamps is a perfect way to honor the legendary goal keepers of Ice hockey. Each card stamp carries the picture of a Goalie in action and the top right corner of the stamps bear the logo of the main club the goalies are playing for.
Statistics and Highlights of the players are printed on the reverse side of the sheet (backing paper). I was keen on keeping the stamps with these stats. Mark from Canada kindly agreed to my request and sent this Goalies set for my Odd and Unique stamps collection. Thanks Mark.
Sometime in 2014, Canada Post had honored defense personnel through stamps. I am looking for them to add to this collection. If anybody has the excess set and I am willing to swap with Indian Stamps. Please contact me.
In 2014, Parks Canada and its partners located the wreck of 19th century
HMS Erebus. Sir John Franklin used two ships for his Expedition,HMS Erebus and HMS TERROR. To pay tribute to the discovery Canada Post issued one Souvenir sheet and two embossed stamps. One stamp depicts the Erebus where as the other one depicts the location of the Arctic region where the Erebus met with the accident.
Below is the cover with the two peel and stick embossed stamp sent my Mr. Mark, Canada.
Belgium is a country in Western Europe. While Belgium reminds most of us of Waffles, Chocolates and Beers, for me and most stamp collectors Belgium reminds us the Chocolate Stamp, World Record stamp, Thermochromic stamp and Of course beautiful engraved stamps. I always wish to add Belgium Chocolate stamp, 2013 100years of RMI Thermochromic stamp and the World Record stamp to my Unusual and Unique stamps collection. One of my wishes came true through a Post Card swap with Mr. Johan. He used the non denominated bpost's 2014 Women's Day World Record stamp on the card. The 2014 bpost's Women's Day stamp has set a world record for the most number of words on a stamp. A woman's face is designed exclusively with gridded words and the background is with digital micro texts. It set a Guinness World Record for most number of words on a stamp. The stamp has 606 complete words in four languages. The words are taken from the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women(CEDAW). CEDAW is an International treaty adopted by United Nation General Assembly in 1979 and came into force in 1981.
I like the card for Johan's neat hand writing. It seems that he has tried to replicate the small letters in the stamp!
The non denominated Women's Day stamp made my day.
Recently I got "World's Largest Stupa" Picture post card from Ifnabilla of Indonesia through an exchange. Thanks a lot Ifnabilla.
She was kind enough to use two nice Commemorative stamps depicting fauna. The Hare and Rabbit stamp was issued on 25th January, 2011 for the Year of Rabbit and It was issued in two denominations. The Turtle stamp was issued on 5th of November 2014. The miniature sheet of this Turtle stamp was issued in the shape of a Turtle.
The World famous Vienna Philharmonic or simply Philharmonic Gold coin has turned 25 in 2014. To commemorate its 25th Anniversary Austria Post has issued a set of Gold foil stamp.
On 10th October 1989 Austrian Mint introduced a bullion coin and named it after a Vienna Orchestra "Wiener Philharmoniker" . Philharmonic (philmarmoniker) means "devoted to music". Because of the Orchestra's inspiration, on one side of the coin depicts the "Great Hall" of Viennese Music Association, Wiener Musikverein which is the home to the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Wiener Philharmoniker). This hall is considered as one of the finest concert halls in the world along with Berlin's Konzerthaus, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw and Boston's symohony Hall. The other side of the coin has various musical instruments like the Vienna horn, Bassoon, Harp, Violin (4 of them) and the Cello.
Until 2002 one ounce coin was denominated in Austrian Schillings (ATS) and after the introduction of Euros it changed into Euros. It is considered as a purest gold bullion coin in the world and it fetched the best selling gold coin in the years 1992, 1995, 1996 and in 2000 from the World Gold Council.
Every year the design of the coin remains the same but the year only differs.
Thanks Mr. Markus for these beautiful stamps. Nice addition to my circular as well as Gold foil stamp collection.
Alderney issued a miniature sheet made of 100% pure cotton in the year 2014 and it has become the first European Nation to issue a stamp on cotton. The M/S contains some portions of 58 scenes of Tapestry showing the Norman conquest of England, including theBattle of Hastings.
The MS is shown below and the MS is coming along with a Certificate of Authenticity with unique number for each MS.
The MS is being displayed at theBayeux Tapestry Museumto celebrate the special collection of Alderney stamps (in the museum).
I just received a few Malaysian stamps on roses (released in the year 2014 for Valentine's day) sent to me by Shiouming from Singapore. The below 3 set of stamps shows:
1. Hybrid Tea Rose
2. Grandiflora Rose
3. English Rose
Shown below are miniature sheets from the two different series issued by Malaysia. The second M/S shows Red Hybrid Tea Rose in a heart shaped scented stamp.
I could not attend today's SIPA meeting, instead my father took some notes.
In today's meeting Mr. Venkatasubbhu Ramakrishnan shared details about the Excel catalogue.
Mr. Nelson spoke about stamps from "Anguilla"- A British overseas territory in the Caribbean. It is named after the eel fish. He also spoke about his trip to Kovaipex at Coimbatore.
Mr. Bhaskar provided updates on Malaysia exhibition. It seems Malaysia used Indian stamps before they began issuing their own. There were some special folders issued on the occasion. He also pointed out that Karnapex is being conducted in January 2015. Retired Cmdr Sriramarao will be showcasing 20 frames from his collection at The Music Academy, from December 16 to 20.
Mr.Hemachandra Rao showcased a few Hungarian stamps printed using UV spotting( As opposed to embossing).
New Attendees:
- Mr. Prashanth originally from Bangalore and a stamp collector since childhood. He highlighted the Post Crossing web forum.
- Two youngsters who have taken interest in stamps attended along with their Dad.
A Big Thanks goes to Mr. Anil Reddy who gave me a Miniature sheet which was released by Post Malaysia in order to commemorate the Kuala Lumpur World Youth Stamp Exhibition. The Miniature depicts 2 flowers- Hibiscus and Rafflesia. Below is the miniature sheet.
The above Miniature sheet was released on December 3rd 2014.
Thanks to the efforts of Sanctuary Asia, I had the opportunity to visit the Guindy Nature Park. We walked around 1.5 kms inside the reserve accompanied by guard and guides. We went as far as the ground where Black Bucks usually roam around. It is interesting to note that on Google Maps, the Black Bucks ground is marked as a "Polo Ground". Maybe it is used to play Polo occasionally?
Until early 1900s, this stretch of forest extended all the way till Tiruchirapalli. Hard to imagine that it is quite isolated now and the 8th largest National Park in India. Originally owned by a Britisher named Jeffries, it was used for game hunting and had almost 500 hectares of land. Post Jeffries death, it was sold to the Govt in 1910 to settle his debts. Subsequently, in 1947 it was established as a reserve. Currently 270.54 Hectares are demarcated as reserve and the rest is occupied by Raj Bhavan, IIT, Children's Park, Cancer Institute etc.
Today's walk was organized by Mr. Vinoj Matthew Philip with additional guidance from Mr. A.K.Sahay. Mr. Sahay has written a few books including : Glimpses from India's Natural World and Green Tops of Goa. We were accompanied by Mr. Kanniappan, Mr. Parthasarathy - Park Staff and Ms. Kamala Devi (My School Teacher).
The native deer (Indian Black Buck) are not vastly outnumbered by the Spotted Deer. The only predator are the Jackals and they are also rapidly growing in number. Indian Black Buck is one of the fastest animals on land and prefers open pastures for grazing. While the Jackals are scavengers by nature, they do their own hunting in this park.
As with any nature reserve, there are snakes, though mostly non-venomous. The top 4 venomous snakes including the Cobra and Russells Viper are also found here.
You can see the Black Bucks romping around in the video below. The 'real black' ones are the male and the rest are females.
You can see Mr. Vinoj talking about misconceptions around snakes while standing near a termite hill.
Below, Mr. A K Sahay is explaining the reason for rapid climate change and how it is going to affect all of us. Towards the end, you can see some Black Bucks as well.
Since this is a blog on stamps (!), I am including an assorted set of stamps of India depicting animals and birds.
Today's meeting kicked off with Mr. Hemachandra Rao highlighting a recent magazine issued by American Topical Association. He was pleasantly surprised to find that a write-up on Castles, it featured Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur in 2nd place right after Malbork Castle in Poland. While India has issued at-least two sets of stamps on Forts of India, the details presented in the magazine was impressive.
Another article in the magazine is written by a philatelist's wife, who observed a new theme of stamps featuring trains as a side-artifact (i.e. not as the main subject, but part of background and usually hard to locate). Some of stamps that Mr. Rao is interested in (ships) are shown with a steam train in the horizon!
Yours truly, Deepthi mentioned how use of stamps for doing school projects is increasing. Currently, I and my sister are working on "Agriculture through Stamps" and "Timeline".
Mr. Anil Kumar Reddy voiced his thoughts around scope for collecting definitives. Apart from being cheaper than commemoratives, the variety in re-issues (adhesive, paper, perforation, water-mark, color etc.) would be worthy of study.
Mr. Bhaskar, provided an update on upcoming exhibitions including Karnapex and other exhibitions at Tiruchi and Coimbatore.
Mr. Nelson, continuing on his alphabetical countries theme, covered Angola. Seems like there are 3 distinct periods: Portuguese, Independent (post 1975) and Republic (post 2002). In recent times, the stamps issued by Angola has increased significantly (relatively speaking).
He also talked about the recent issue on Anagarika Dharmapala by India Post (on 25th October 2014). There is not of concerns in vernacular magazines on suitability of issuing such a stamps, purportedly reciprocating a Swami Vivekananda stamp issued by Sri Lanka.
Mr. Venkatasubbu Ramakrishnan spoke on his efforts to consolidate all details of India issued stamps from 1947 on-wards and make it available as Excel files for easy search and cataloging personal collections.
Sochi, Russia is situated along the black sea is mainly covered with rocks such as Mesozoic and Cenozoic. It was named Sochi in the year 1896 and got its city status in 1917. During World War II, it served as a rehabilitation center and at present it is the major resort town of Russia drawing millions of visitors annually, mostly during May to September. It is also the unofficial summer capital of Russia.
In 2007, Sochi won the bid to host the XXII Winter Olympic Games and Para Olympic Games and in 2014 it successfully conducted those two major events. This was the first time Russia had hosted Winter and Para Olympic Games after the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) in 1991. Sochi, Russia hosted the XXII Winter Olympic Games from 7th to 23rd February 2014. To commemorate this event Liechtenstein Post has issued a stamp on 11th November 2013.
The face value is 2.60 and the the name Liechtenstein are printed using theSilver Hot foil printingmethod. Stone originating from Sochi was powdered and mixed with paint and affixed to the stamp using thermography process. Thermo means heat. Using heat to create the letters or images on the desired surface is called thermography. Here the powdered rock is mixed with the paint and applied on the stamp paper and heat is used to affix that firmly on the stamp. If you glide your fingers on dark blue colour place you can feel the powdered stone.
UNESCO has declared this year as a "International Year of Crystallography". UNESCO names every year according to certain theme. So focus will be on that particular theme for that year. Usually scientific and environment related themes are selected. Crystallography plays key role in medicine, atomic structure etc.
To commemorate 2014, Swiss Post had issued two stamps on Crystallography on 6th March, 2014. To make it more special, these stamps are printed in Hot foil printing process. In Hot foil printing heat is used to transfer metallic foil to a solid surface. Here silver foil is used to make the crystal design and the names of the crystals.
The 85 centime stamp has the picture of Epidote, a green colored mineral which is abundant in Switzerland and the 1 franc stamp has the picture of Amethyst, a quartz variety found almost everywhere.
Swiss National Park (SNP), one of Europe'soldest National Parks, is situated in Canton, East side of Switzerland. It was established on 1st of August 1914. It is part of UNESCO's biosphere reserve. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has been categorized SNP as a Strict Nature Reserve, which means the visitors has to strictly follow the rules and regulations of the Park to protect its nature. This park draws the attention of more than one and a half lakh visitors a year. This year is the centenary year for SNP and to commemorate this, Swiss Post has issued stamps on 6th March-2014depicting a panoramic view of SNP.
When I heard about Swiss Record stamp I was wondering what that would look like. I haven't seen any real Records.
When I got that stamp I was looking for more information about Record. My father told me that before cassettes they used to listen music in Long-Play Record players. Even I have rarely seen cassettes and cassette players. All I know is CD's and CD players,mp3 players.
On 4th September 2014 Swiss Post issued a Record Stamp, a stamp with a special coating on which Swiss National Anthem has been imprinted on it. There is a hole in the center of the round stamp so that it can be placed on the record player to play brass version of the Swiss national Anthem.
Now I have the record stamp, I have to look for the Player to test it.
You can see the scanned image of the record below:
The postal History of Hong Kong dates back to 1841. From then till 1846 it was located in Garden road. Later it was relocated to Queen's road Central. I heard that it was one of the first buildings along the Queen's central. Then in the year 1911 it was moved to Des Voeux Road and Pedder Road, which is named after Mr. Pedder who was the first Harbor Master of the Port. It is fondly known as "The old lady of Pedder Street". The GPO building is considered an architectural masterpiece.
Hong Kong Post issued a stamp on 29th April 2014 depicting the Pedder Road GPO building, which was operational from 1911 to 1976. It is an odd shaped stamp issued under the title "A Journey Through Hong Kong's Postal History".
Below is the reverse side of the above miniature sheet, where you can see the shape of the stamp clearly.
The current GPO is in Conaught Place near Jordine House, Central Hong Kong.
According to Chinese Lunar Calender the year 2014 is the Year of Horse. Like previous years this year also Hong Kong post has issued a special silk stamp miniature sheet. This comes with an authenticity certificate. It was issued on January 11th this year.
Hong Kong post has issued a miniature sheet on Chinese Dinosaurs on February 20th, 2014 which glows in the dark. The miniature sheet is printed with a luminous effect which allows the unique features of the Chinese dinosaurs to glow in the dark. Odd as it may seem, I was not aware of this fact till I stumbled on a write-up on the net. Now that I have verified that it *does* glow in the dark, I am excited about this category of stamps.
I have one from Croatia that has IR printing on it.
