Vatican City : Card and Cover

I got a few surprise mails from Vatican City.  Thanks to Woomik of Britain for sending me these nice mails for my "Around the World Cards and Covers" collection.  He thoughtfully used Pope Francis stamps on both card and envelope which was issued in 19th February 2015 by Poste Vaticane under the series "Pontification of Pope Francis".

On both the envelope and the card, there is an imprint mentioning "Misericordes Sicut Pater" - meaning 'Be Merciful, As Your Father Is". This is the official hymn for the "Holy Year of Mercy" that runs from Dec 8, 2015 - Nov 20, 2016.  The postcard itself features various Vatican landmarks like San Angelo bridge, a silhouette of the Dome of St. Peter's Church etc.

Hologram Stamp : Brazil

Fernando De Noronha is a collection of islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the Brazilian coast. The below miniature sheet depicts the tallest peak on the islands "Morro do Pico", while the main theme shows the dolphins. The vicinity of the islands are rich with marine life.

The sheet was issued on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the "Fernando De Noronha" archipelago. The name comes from the Portuguese merchant who funded the expedition. The actual explorer who stayed there on the journey was none other than "Amerigo Vespucci", an Italian explorer who was part of the expedition. Yes, he is the same guy from whose first name the word "America" is derived.

Coffee Scented stamps : UAE

A typical day in Southern India starts with the aroma of filter coffee. On many of the highways you will see - "Kumbakonam Degree Coffee available here" - referring to the city of Kumbakonam, where the coffee preparation is unique. They serve the filter coffee in a bronze cup and saucer. Until few years back most of the houses had hand grinding machine to powder the roasted coffee.  

Recently I visited coffee plantations in Coorg, Karnataka.  I learnt about Arabica and Robusta.   I am thankful to Mr. Kenneth Sequeira for sending the Arabica coffee scented Miniature sheet for my Odd and Unusual stamp collection. The top stamp shows coffee beans being roasted, the second stamp shows hand grinder, the third one shows the pot in which arabic coffee is boiled and  the last one shows the cup. If you rub the stamps you can get the nice aroma.  It was issued in the year 2013 by Emirates Post.

An Odd item indeed!  The sheet contains four labels, what seem to be no postage stamps.  They neither show any value, nor the country name.  In the net the official announcement from UAE post is about four stamps of different face values.  But no mentioning of a souvenir sheet, I wonder why? At first I didn't notice that, but my philatelic friend noticed and informed me.

Rock Dust on Miniature Sheet: Portugal

Portugal is one of the largest manufacturers of decorative stones. To commemorate this heritage Portugal Post (ctt) issued a Miniature sheet and stamp on 2nd November 2010.  Sculptor Jorge Pe-Curto made the statue of a traditional messenger on horseback holding a letter in his left hand and a trumpet in his right is portrayed on the sheet. Those days postal workers blew the trumpet to know their arrival.  Even now, our postal workers ring the cycle bell to let others know of their presence.  He actually made the decorative stone with 7 rocks.  But the rock design in the miniature sheet is embedded with Lias and Pink Marble Powder.  Thanks to Sam Lopes from Canada for sending this Unique Miniature sheet for our swap.

Glow in the dark - Nocturnals - Malaysia

Nocturnals are animals that are active during night. Bat is a familiar nocturnal animal.  They have some special features to survive in the dark like big ears, sensitive whiskers, keen noses,s and above all, sharp vision to see the prey and predators in the dark.

To highlight this special capability, "Vision" Malaysian post issued a Glow-in-the-dark Miniature sheet in 2008.  The eyes of Slow Loris and Tarsier glow in the dark.  Thanks to Joel for sending this nice imperforated Miniature sheet for me.

You can see the glow effect below and actual sheet further down the page.

Burnt Effect on Stamp: Spain

For the 75th Anniversary of the burning of Santander (a city in Spain) in Feb-1941, Spain Post, Correos issued a stamp on Feb 15th, 2016. It has an interesting burnt effect on one side and depicts the old and new cities side-by-side. 

Interestingly, it seems Santander fell prey to flames once earlier as well - in 1893 - when a ship loaded with dynamite blew up and fire destroyed much of the city. See the newspaper report here!

Thanks Yolanda for the unique stamp :)

Permanent Pictorial Cancellation: Aayi Mandapam, Pondicherry

During the French rule of Pondicherry in the 18th century "Fresh Water" was very scarce.  To resolve this problem Aayi, a woman native to Pondicherry offered to help. She destroyed her own house to make a fresh water tank. Napolean was taken aback by the love Aayi had for Pondicherry.  As an encomium to Aayi he built a great hall (called "Mandapam" in Tamil Language). This great Mandapam now stands in Bharathi Park at Pondicherry. 

To commemorate this historic monument India Post had introduced a Permanent Pictorial Cancellation on  13th March 1998.  Below is the Picture post card with PPC issued by India Post, Tamil Nadu circle. 

The cards and covers were posted at the GPO, Pondicherry with the PPC of Aayi Mandapam.