Braille Stamps

 Braille Stamps

Odd World - Luxembourg

My Luxembourg collection of Odd and Unusual Stamps/MS

Odd shape 
Octagonal Shape - Roman Mosaic

Braille stamp

Silk Stamp 

4th January: World Braille Day

4th January, the birth day of Louis Braille is celebrated as a World Braille Day every year.  Louis Braille is the French man who invented the Braille Code for the blind people.  He lost his eyesight completely in an accident in his childhood.

Before the invention of Braille code, blind people used "Hauy System", which is an embossed Latin letters.  Since this system required lots of training, Louis tried to introduce an alternative system and he succeeded in his attempt. 

Braille Code is an embossed dots, uses a rectangular 3x2 cells and each cell represents one alphabet.  The simplicity of this code enabled the publishers to print Braille books in large numbers.

"The Anna Centenary Library" based in Chennai-India, is one of the largest libraries in South Asia. It has a separate section for the Braille books on the ground floor.

Below is the stamp issued by Luxembourg Post in 2009 for his birth Bicentenary. The cost of the stamp (0.90 Euro) is shown in Braille on top. The image itself is depicted overlaid on a fingerprint.

Roman mosaic Stamp: Luxembourg Post

In the year 1995, Archaeological research undertaken at Vichten, Luxembourg resulted in the discovery of Roman villas.  Those Roman villas were made around 240 AD.  To commemorate this remarkable event, in the year 2007 Luxembourg Post issued a souvenir sheet depicting the unearthed mosaic which adorned the reception hall of one of the Roman villa. This mosaic stamp has the well-known Greek poet Homer and the Muse Calliope in the middle square box where as other eight muses surrounding them in four octagonal boxes and each box depicts 2 muses.  The muses' names are clearly seen in the stamp. (In the below stamp you can see Muse Polymnia).

Now this unearthed mosaic can be seen at the Luxembourg's National Museum of History and Art. 

Luxembourg - Silk Stamp

To commemorate the 80th anniversary of FSPL Luxembourg Post has issued a very special stamp made of silk. Federation des Societes Philateliques du grand-duche de Luxembourg (FSPL) is Luxembourg’s national philatelic federation.  It was founded in February 22nd 1934.

To mark the 80th anniversary a stamp sheet made of 100% silk was issued. The top layer of the stamp contains 30g of silk/sq.m.  Two stamps are printed on a sheet.

On the €0.60 stamp, two miniature-size young collectors stepping into a stamp album, a magnifying glass and a giant hand with stamp tongs are shown. A horse-drawn coach is also shown. Pictured in the selvage area to the right of this stamp is another miniature collector dumping stamps out of a wheelbarrow and a hand holding a device to project a stamp image onto the wall.

One stamp image is shown on the €0.85 stamp, along with Luxembourg’s architectural landmarks, Adolphe Bridge. When it was built early in the 20th century, it was the largest stone arch bridge in the world.