Postage stamps from around the world
World leaders have always been an obvious choice as subjects on commemorative stamps but this stamp issued on 25 November, 1974 by Dominica on the occasional of the Centenary of Winston Churchill's birth on 30th November, 1874 is unusual in the informality of the setting.
The one-half cent issue pictures Winston Churchill at the Race Track and was printed on unwatermarked paper by
Format International Ltd, London.
Did you know that 2008 is The Year of the Frog? Zoos, botanical gardens and aquariums around the globe are joining in a massive public awareness campaign to highlight the amphibian extinction crisis.
This 1974 North Korean postage stamp illustrates the Rana catesbeiana ... better known as the Bullfrog! It was part of a set of four stamps all featuring frogs. The stamps were issued without gum.
This 1964 stamp featuring the equestrian sport of show jumping was issued by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (CCCP) on the occasion of the Tokyo Summer Olympics (the Games of the XVIII Olympiad). Tokyo had won the rights to hold the games in 1958, having previously been awarded the games in 1940 then eventually refused the honour after Japan's invasion of China. As fate would have it the outbreak of the Second World War saw the cancellation of what would have been the 1940 Helsinki Olympics. The Tokyo Games were significantly the first Olympics to be hosted by a non-Western nation. 2008, of course, will see another important first with China hosting the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
It probably won't come as a surprise that I have a particular liking for small stamps that have the feel of the very first stamp - the Penny Black! This 4 cent US postage stamp featuring President Abraham Lincoln was issued on 19 November, 1965 as part of the Prominent Americans Issue between 1965 -1978 and features an instantly recognisable and almost iconic profile portrait of the assassinated president.
This striking little stamp was designed by Bill Hyde and engraved by J. S. Creamer.
Here's a great example of why it's nice to get international snail-mail now and again! My writer friend Adam Williams sent me some documents from China a couple of years ago in a large envelope, quite literally, covered with commemorative stamps. The large block of twenty stamps on the right depicts an anecdote about the early life of Sima Guang (1019 - 1086 AD), a Chinese politician and writer of the classical chronicle Historical Events Retold as a Mirror for Government (Zi Zhi Tong Jian), which is used to illustrate his great intelligence and ingenuity even as a child. The stamps show a baby falling into a vat of water and Sima Guang smashing the vat with a stone, causing the water to spill out and thus saving the child.
The 80 Fen stamp shows Sima Breaking the Vat, and is the second episode in the tale with another 80 Fen stamp showing the Baby's Fall into Water, with the Rescue appearing on the 2 Yuan stamp. The set was designed by Li Wei and first issued on 1st June 2004, several months before this letter was posted in August 2004.
Interestingly, the bird stamp on the left, had been issued as a regular, rather than commemorative stamp, on 1st February, 2002 as part of a set of three depicting Chinese birds.
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FIFA World Cup 2006 Official FDC Trinidad Tobago US $14.99 |
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MOLDOVA FIFA Soccer World Cup South Africa 20102v US $.99 |
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FIFA World Cup 1994 in USA FDC from Slovakia US $2.49 |
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FIFA World Cup 1986 in Mexico Registered Envelope Hung US $4.99 |
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FIFA World Cup 1986 in Mexico FDC from Poland US $2.99 |
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FIFA World Cup 1982 in Spain FDC from the USSR US $2.99 |
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Fifa World Cup 1986 FDC Match Mexico Paraguay 11 US $2.49 |
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RO 2006 FootballFußballFIFA World CUP381variety MNH US $6.75 |
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