Saturday, December 29, 2018

Heat sensitive Climate Change minisheet on cover from Finland

The three stamps in the climate change stamp sheet depict the dramatic effects of climate change that are expected in the near future if we allow the climate to continue getting warmer at the current rate. The particular focus of the stamps is the effect of climate change on Finnish weather conditions, nature and society. The stamps, which are designed by Timo Berry, are made with heat-pressed ink that will change color when touched with a finger. By touching the stamp with your finger, you can see what we can expect in Finland if the constant warming of the climate is not brought under control.

Here you can see how this minisheet looks like when you little bit warm it up. Minisheet is issued on 12.9.2018.


Thank you Kimmo!





Friday, December 28, 2018

Inter-Korean Summit on FDC from South Korea

From September 18 to 20, South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited North Korea and held approximately five hours of meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. During the summit, their third since April 2018, the two leaders issued a Pyongyang Joint Declaration pledging denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, improvements in inter-Korean relations, and confidence-building measures to ease military tension. Kim promised to visit Seoul "at an early date." This FDC is issued to commemorate this meeting, on 12.9.2018.


Thank you Park Choonjong!


Flags of the World Series: Christmas Island

The Territory of Christmas Island is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. Christmas Island is located in the Indian Ocean, around 350 kilometers south of Java and Sumatra and around 1,550 kilometers north-west of the closest point on the Australian mainland. It has an area of 135 square kilometers. Christmas Island had a population of 1,843 residents as of 2016. The main settlement is Flying Fish Cove. The first European to sight the island was Richard Rowe of the Thomas in 1615. The island was later named on Christmas Day 1643 by Captain William Mynors, but only settled in the late 19th century. Its geographic isolation and history of minimal human disturbance has led to a high level of endemism among its flora and fauna, which is of interest to scientists and naturalists. The majority (63%) of the island is included in the Christmas Island National Park, which features several areas of primary monsoonal forest.

Two fantastic stamps on postcard: Christmas Boobook and Brown Goshawk, from set Bird Paintings by John Gerrard Keulemans, issued on 28.8.2018.


Thank you Megan!


Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Flags of the World Series: French Southern and Antarctic Lands - Kerguelen

The French Southern and Antarctic Lands (French: Terres australes et antarctiques françaises, TAAF) is an overseas territory of France. The territory has no permanent civilian population. Those resident consist of visiting military personnel, officials, scientific researchers and support staff. This postcard arrived from The Kerguelen Islands, also known as the Desolation Islands, a group of islands in the Antarctic constituting one of the two exposed parts of the Kerguelen Plateau, a large igneous province mostly submerged by the southern Indian Ocean.

Two nice postmarks and two beautiful stamps from minisheet Tuna Fishing, issued on 2.1.2017.


Thank you Catherine!



Tuesday, December 25, 2018

Flags of the World Series: Kiribati

Kiribati is a sovereign state in Micronesia in the central Pacific Ocean. The state comprises 32 atolls and reef islands and one raised coral island, Banaba. They have a total land area of 800 square kilometers and are dispersed over 3.5 million square kilometers. Their spread straddles both the equator and the 180th meridian, although the International Date Line goes round Kiribati and swings far to the east, almost reaching the 150°W meridian. This brings the Line Islands into the same day as the Kiribati Islands. Kiribati's easternmost islands, the southern Line Islands, south of Hawaii, have the most advanced time on Earth: UTC+14 hours.

Three fantastic stamps on postcard:
First one is from set Ships and Boats, issued on 5.10.2013.
Red Phalarope (from set International Stamp Exhibition SINGAPORE 2015), issued on 17.7.2015.
Greater Crested Tern (from set Birds), issued on 9.2.2008.


Thank you Denise!


Monday, December 24, 2018

Historic Postal Vehicles on cover from Austria


The design for this year’s issue from the “Historical postal vehicles” series, which has now been running for five years, shows a passenger mail coach at the top of the pass on the Tauern mountain road. In addition to the mail, the four-horse-drawn coach is also carrying passengers and their luggage, which is strapped to the roof. The coach appears to be traveling at high speed; the road looks to be exceptionally firm and well-used. The coachman, hidden beneath the protruding roof at the front of the carriage is barely visible.24.08.2018


Thank you Wolfgang!


Saturday, December 22, 2018

FDC The 50th Anniversary of the Republic of Singapore Air Force

The RSAF was set up on 1 September 1968 as the Singapore Air Defence Command to undertake the critical role of air defence for Singapore, following the announcement of British forces withdrawal from the region. From its humble beginnings of two Cessna aircraft on lease, the RSAF has since become an advanced and capable air force, ready to respond to threats to national security and to place the defence of Singapore as its top priority. The theme of the RSAF’s golden jubilee celebrations – Our Home, Above All – represents the RSAF's commitment to be always ready and capable to defend Singapore, and its people, 50 years and beyond. Set of seven stamps is issued 1.9.2018.


Thank you Eddie!


Greece: Cover from Sárti

Sárti (Greek: Σάρτη) is a village in the Sinthonia municipality on the Sithonia peninsula, Greece. When I and Nina was there, we took opportunity to send postcards and covers to our friends, and also this one cover to ourselves, cause we don't had any from Greece. Greek post don't have real post offices in such small places. Instead, they have postman in some small room or desk at some store, where he comes in particular time of day, only few hours per day. You can't choose stamps. They usually have only one stamp for postcard, this boat stamp in upper right side (from set Tourism, issued on 8.8.2014.), they don't expect covers to be sent. So, when we sent covers, we payed 90 cents, boat stamp  is worth 80 cents, and postman first deliver mail to real post office, when he affix additional postage. And that's how we get this two stamps (on left side) from set The 175th Anniversary of the National Bank of Greece, issued on 30.3.2016.


Friday, December 21, 2018

Gaston on cover from Belgium

I received cover from Belgium, and stamp with Gaston is wonderful reminder on my childhood when comics was very popular. Gaston is a gag-a-day comic strip created in 1957 by the Belgian cartoonist André Franquin in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Spirou. The series focuses on the everyday life of Gaston Lagaffe (whose surname means "the blunder"), a lazy and accident-prone office junior.
There's also a special cancellation on cover, but i don't know which occasion is commemorated.

Stamps on cover:
Wood Nuthatch (from set Birds of Buzin), issued on 12.9.1988.
Gaston - Youth Philately, issued on 10.10.1992.
Lily (from set Flowers), issued on 24.10.2016.

Thank you Jacques!


Thursday, December 20, 2018

UN Geneva: 50th Anniversary of First UN Conference on Outer Space

In June 2018 the international community gathered in Vienna to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the first United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space with a dedicated event UNISPACE+50. It provided a great opportunity for the international community to convene and consider the future course of global space cooperation for the benefit of humankind. UN released stamps (on 20.6.2018.) for all 3 UN postal administrations dedicated to this event, and this cover was sent from UN Geneva.

Thank you Mirek!


Registered cover from USA

Another fine cover from USA arrived, and again ruined by Customs, with big ugly yellow tape, which i removed to save a cover, but you can see damage anyways. Stamps on cover:

Girl Scouts, issued on 12.3.1987.
Sea Surface Temperatures, issued on 22.4.2014.
Pears, issued on 23.3.2017.
Black Heritage:Richard Allen, issued on 2.2.2016.
Rosa Parks, issued on 4.2.2013.
Uncle Sam's Hat, issued on 18.2.2017.
Star-Spangled Banner, issued on 28.1.2014.
Star fruit, issued on 25.4.2008.
American Toleware, issued in 2007.
Snowflake, issued on 23.10.2015.

Inside cover was nice mint American stamps and several postcards. I asked my friend for some stamps, and Sally Ride ( first American woman to travel into space) was one of them. But i didn't expected to receive this small bundle with four Sally Ride stamps and fantastic patches dedicated to American space programs! This stamp was issued on 23.5.2018.

 Hear you can see this beautiful patches dedicated to important NASA missions and four stamp strip as well.

And there was more mint stamps in this cover:
The Art of Magic, issued on 7.8.2018.
Vintage Circus Posters (four of eight), issued on 5.5.2014.
Dragons, issued on 9.8.2018.
Scooby Doo, issued on 14.7.2014.
Pickup Trucks, issued on 15.7.2016.
Soda Fountain Favorites, issued on 30.6.2016.

Inside was also various postcards

Famous Indianapolis motor speedway and famous race Indianapolis 500.

Gordon Johncock is an American former racing driver, best known as a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 and the 1976 USAC Marlboro Championship Trail champion.

 NGC 1316 (also known as Fornax A) is a lenticular galaxy about 60 million light-years away in the constellation Fornax. It is a radio galaxy and at 1400 MHz is the fourth-brightest radio source in the sky.

Painting  by Margaret Keane, famous "big eyes" artist. The work was originally attributed to Keane's husband, Walter Keane. After their divorce in the 1960s, Margaret soon claimed credit, which was established after an in-court "paint-off" in Hawaii. A resurgence of interest in Margaret Keane's work followed the release of Tim Burton's 2014 biopic Big Eyes (nice movie by the way).

And this is comic book card by Robert Crumb, American cartoonist and musician. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contemporary American culture.


Thank you Charlotte!


Monday, December 17, 2018

Greece: Potamia

It's freezing outside today, and it's right time for one nice summer postcard! We received this card from Greek village Potamia on the island of Thasos. It is built in the valley at the foot of Mount Ipsario, and surrounded to the south and east by pine and sweet chestnut forests. Its coastal annexe is the holiday resort of Skala Potamias. Potamia was the birthplace of the Greek-born American sculptor Polygnotos Vagis, and a museum dedicated to his work exists in the village. Etymologically, the name of the village is derived from the streams that run through it.

Stamp on postcard is from set World Bee Day, issued on 20.5.2018.

We also received one more postcard from Greece, this time with nice street view.

It's a same stamp on this postcard, but this time without cancellation. 


Thank you Lana!


Saturday, December 15, 2018

2018 FIFA World Cup Russia: Host city Volgograd

2018 FIFA World Cup Russia was played in 11 host cities and Volgograd was one of them. Volgograd Arena was built on the site of the Central stadium, at the foot of the Mamayev Kurgan war memorial.

Formerly known as Stalingrad, Volgograd extends alongside the Volga River and has 1 million residents. Modern Volgograd is an important manufacturing centre, with industries that include shipbuilding, oil refining and steel and aluminium production.Volgograd and the surrounding area saw some of the heaviest battles during World War II. The Battle of Stalingrad was a turning point in the war. The 85-metre “Motherland calling” statue is Volgograd’s landmark and can be seen from any point of the city.


Nice postmark and a lot of stamps on this postcard:
FIFA World Cup FIFA 2018 in Russia: Mordovia Arena, issued on 23.8.2017.
Four fauna stamps from set 5th Definitive Issue, issued on 29.8.2008.
Wolverine (from set of four), issued on 12.8.2004.


Thank you Zhenya!


Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Cover from Papua New Guinea

This is my first cover Papua New Guinea, an country that occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and its offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean north of Australia. Its capital, located along its southeastern coast, is Port Moresby. The western half of New Guinea forms the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua.

Papua New Guinea is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. It is also one of the most rural, as only 18 per cent of its people live in urban centers. There are 852 known languages in the country, of which 12 now have no known living speakers. Most of the population of more than 8 million people lives in customary communities, which are as diverse as the languages. The country is one of the world's least explored, culturally and geographically. It is known to have numerous groups of uncontacted peoples, and researchers believe there are many undiscovered species of plants and animals in the interior. 

Stamps on cover are from set Frangipani Flowers: Lady in Pink, Carmine flush and Golden kiss, issued on 6.4.2005.


Thank you Jinesh!


Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Cover from French military base in Central African Republic

The Central African Republic conflict is a civil war in the Central African Republic involving the government, rebels from the Séléka coalition and the Anti-balaka militias.  MINUSCA is UN peacekeeping mission, which started in April 10, 2014 to protect Central African Republic civilians. One of the countries involved is France, and French Army use France postal system for their personnel. This is my second cover from MINUSCA mission, with four stamps and nice cancellations. Stamps on cover:

Marianne of Lamouche, issued on 1.10.2006.
Bicentenary of the Republic: Work of Gerard Garouste, issued on 26.9.1992.
Marianne type Luquet, issued on 1.1.2002.
Europa (C.E.P.T.) 2015 - Old Toys, issued on 9.5.2015.

Inside cover was this postcard from capital city Bangui. This is aerial view of Bangui and headquarters of the MINUSCA.

Thank you so much Martin and Wolfgang!


Monday, November 26, 2018

Fantastic registered cover from Canada

I received once more nice registered big cover from Canada, this time bigger than my scanner. Cover was full of beautiful mint Canadian stamps, but there's also a lot of nice stamps on cover:

Pisew Falls Provincial Park (from set From Far And Wide), issued on 15.1.2018.
Wapiti (from set Young Wildlife), issued on 31.3.2014.
Complete minisheet Great Canadian Illustrators, issued on 5.4.2018.
Naats'ihch'oh National Park Reserve (from set From Far And Wide), issued on 15.1.2018.
Ice Hockey - Memorial Cup, issued on 18.5.2018.
Bees, issued on 1.5.2018.
The 65th Anniversary of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, issued on 20.4.2018.
Weather Wonders (four from set of five), issued on 26.7.2018.
Astronomy - Milky Way and Northern Lights (whole set), issued on 29.6.2018.
The 100th Anniversary of the RMS Empress of Ireland , issued on 29.5.2014.
And the last one in extraordinary Canadian flag stamp made from fabric - The 50th Anniversary of the Canadian Flag, issued on 15.2.2015.

My friend sent me inside lot of wonderful Canadian stamps, and i received once again one of the Star Trek minisheets. I have this stamps in self-adhesive variant, but this sheet have classic gum. It's part of the set issued on 5.5.2016. There's a fluorescent frame on each stamp.

Another wonderful minisheet, dedicated to my favorite sport - The 50th Anniversary of F1 in Canada, issued on 16.5.2017. This stamps also have fluorescent frame.

This is minisheet The 100th Anniversary of Montreal Canadiens, issued on 17.10.2009. Using an action-oriented printing process called Motionstamp technology, the three stamps on the souvenir sheet feature replays of the historic 500th goals of Maurice Richard, Jean Béliveau, and Guy Lafleur, while playing for the Canadiens.

Because you can't see motion on this sheet when is scanned, i found this nice GIF to show you how this look like.

Scary and beautiful sharks are on this sheet issued on 13.7.2018. Beautiful design by Andrew Perro.

This circular miniature sheet of 8 stamps is Chinatown Gates, issued on 1.5.2013. It shows Chinatown gates in Canadian cities, and sheet is in shape of traditional Chinese coin.

A nice flower minisheet with daisies, issued on 1.3.2017. Nice design by Debbie Adams.

And another minisheet with flowers, this time with two lotus flowers, Nelumbo nucifera and Nelumbo lutea, issued on 1.3.2018.

And for the end this fantastic minisheet, first from series three-part series Haunted Canada!     Alberta’s Ghost Bride, Saskatchewan’s St. Louis Ghost Train, Ontario’s Fort George, Quebec’s Château Frontenac and PEI’s Northumberland Strait beautifully painted in this gummed minisheet printed in offset lithography and with foil treatment for a special ghostly effect! This was issued on 16.6.2014.


Thank you so much, Trevor!


Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Fun with Numbers and Symbols on registered cover from Hong Kong

I received registered cover from Hong Kong with complete mini sheet with ten stamps. I was confused with this stamps at first, because i didn't knew what's on them, until i saw complete set. So, this is equals sign from set Fun with Numbers and Symbols, issued on 17.7.2018. Simple set, but very original.


Thank you Tony!



Monday, November 19, 2018

Beautiful cover from Sweden

I received this beautiful cover from Sweden with four extraordinary stamps and nice cancellation from Göteborg! First two stamps on cover are  wall decorations, from set Farmhouses of Hälsingland, issued on 7.5.2015. Other two are butterflies the black-veined white and the small tortoiseshell, from set issued on 16.3.2017.


Thank you so much Henrik!


Sunday, November 18, 2018

Cover from Solomon Islands

I received my first cover from Solomon Islands, a country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania lying to the east of Papua New Guinea and northwest of Vanuatu and covering a land area of 28,400 square kilometers.  In 1568, the Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña was the first European to visit the Solomon Islands archipelago, naming it Islas Salomón after the wealthy biblical King Solomon. It is said that they were given this name in the mistaken assumption that they contained great riches, and he believed them to be the Bible-mentioned city of Ophir.

Stamps used on cover:
Rufous-tailed Waterhen (from set BirdLife International), issued on 15.11.2004.
Prehensile-tailed skink (from set     WWF Skink), issued on 7.12.2005.


Thank you Jinesh!


Common Hill Myna on minisheet from Indonesia

This beautiful bird on this minisheet is common hill myna (Gracula religiosa), sometimes spelled "mynah" and formerly simply known as hill myna, is the myna most commonly seen in aviculture, where it is often simply referred to by the latter two names. It is a member of the starling family (Sturnidae), resident in hill regions of South Asia and Southeast Asia. Indonesian Post released this issue on 5.11.2015.

I received minisheet in this cover, with two stamps used for postage:
Henry Dunant (from set 150th anniversary of the Red Cross), issued on 8.5.2013.
And second one is from set Satellites, issued on 27.9.2016.


Thank you my friend!


Friday, November 16, 2018

Personalized Postcrossing stamp, cover and 3D postcard from Indonesia

Indonesia released first Asian Postcrossing stamps in 2017, and this year we have personalized Postcrossing stamp from this country. I received this beautiful cover, 3D postcard and mint stamp inside, and also missing minisheet from 2017 edition.

This beautiful 3D postcard was printed for Postcrossing Exhibition 11-15 July at the Plaza Semanggi in Jakarta. You can't see 3D effect when i scan this card, but I've found someones video on YouTube and you can see 3D effect bellow.

This video is posed on YouTube by hana novi christinawaty, thank you!

I also received one mint personalized stamp inside, and my missing minisheet from previous Postcrossing set.

 This is my missing minisheet from last year, part of official Postcrossing set issued on 14.07.2017. Set includes this minisheet and 3 individual stamps, and this 3 stamps I received last year. You can see cover with them here.


Thank you very much Siti!