The 2015 Definitive additional value stamps are a continuation of the 2014 Definitives. They have been printed using a special easy peel self adhesive paper that ensures ease of peeling and a afixing of the stamps onto envelopes. An additional one pound stamp has been produced in tribute and to replicate the original ‘Penny Black’

A definitive stamp is a postage stamp that is part of the regular issue of a country’s stamps, available for sale by the post office for an extended period of time and designed to serve the everyday postal needs of the country. The term is used in contrast to a ‘commemorative stamp’, a stamp ‘issued to honour a person or mark a special event’ available only for a limited time. (read more)

published April 24th, 2015

On 20 March 2015, the United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) will issue a set of 6 stamps to commemorate World Poetry Day. A decision to proclaim 21 March as World Poetry Day was adopted during UNESCO’s 30th session held in Paris in 1999.

In celebrating World Poetry Day, UNESCO recognizes the unique ability of poetry to capture the creative spirit of the human mind. One of the main objectives of the Day is to support linguistic diversity through poetic expression and to offer endangered languages the opportunity to be heard within their communities.

The observance of World Poetry Day is also meant to encourage a return to the oral tradition of poetry recitals, to promote the teaching of poetry, to restore a dialogue between poetry and the other arts such as theatre, dance, music and painting, and to support small publishers and create an attractive image of poetry in the media, so that the art of poetry will no longer be considered an outdated form of art, but one which enables society as a whole to regain and assert its identity.

Poetry reaffirms our common humanity by revealing to us that individuals, everywhere in the world, share the same questions and feelings.

Poetry is the mainstay of oral tradition and, over centuries, can communicate the innermost values of diverse cultures.

Source: WOPA Stamps

published April 23rd, 2015

Commemorating the 400th anniversary from the construction of the Wignacourt Aqueduct

Since ancient times, aqueducts were constructed to convey water from one location to another usually by using a system of natural riverbeds, canals bridges or other forms of stonework. In Malta aqueducts were mainly built above the ground in the form of bridges.

The Knights of St John built Valletta on an arid, rocky peninsula that had just one natural spring and consequently an aqueduct was necessary so as to provide the new city with water. The first attempts to build an aqueduct were made in 1596 by Grandmaster Martin Garzes. Many engineers were employed, but most of their attempts failed. (read more)

published April 22nd, 2015

On 17th September 1938 a notice No. 326 was forwarded, which was published in the Official Gazette on 31st October 1938. By Executive Order, inter alia, “From this provision it comes into force that the assessors of Greenland’s Governing post record that messages sent from Greenland to Denmark and abroad shall be stamped with Greenland stamps”.

With effect from December 1st 1938 The Greenland Post Office became a member of The Universal Postal Union. The Postal Service’s sales office for stamp collectors, Bernstorffgade 32, Copenhagen K, started selling the new Greenlandic stamps on 1st December 1938.

The first stamp series of The Greenland Post Office were housed in a presentation folder which was handed out during the UPU Congress in Buenos Aires on 23rd May 1939. The front of the folder showed a picture of King Christian X, greeting Greenland’s population during the first royal visit in 1921.

(read more)

published March 26th, 2015

Archaeological research undertaken in 1995 on the site of a new agricultural operation in Vichten showed that the terrain in question covered the foundations of one of the most remarkable Roman villas ever discovered in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The excellent state of preservation of the buried remnants is explained by the topographical location of the building built on a slight natural terrace of a hill, facing due south, which rises more than 50 m above the site. From late antiquity, the ruins of the villa were progressively covered by material eroded from the nearby plateau causing the remainder of the villa to be hidden under large mounds of earth (between 0.5 and 3.5 metres).

Dating from around 240 A.D., the mosaic of Vichten, which has an area of 61.3 m2 and is in an excellent state of preservation, shows in its main area the mythological and literary subject of the nine Muses, daughters of the supreme God, Zeus, and of the goddess of memory, Mnémosyne. The Muses are reproduced following the order defi ned around 700 B.C. by the Greek author Hésiode : Clio, Muse of history ; Euterpe, Muse of music and lyric poetry ; Thalie, Muse of comedy ; Melpomène, Muse of tragedy ; Terpsichore, Muse of dance and dramatic choirs; Erato, Muse of love poetry ; Polymnie, Muse choir singing and harmony ; Uranie, Muse of astronomy and lastly, in the large central medallion, Calliope, Muse of epic elegiac poetry, in the company of the prince of poets, Homer. The eight « exterior » Muses are oriented on an axis towards the middle of the central medallion. The depiction of the clothing and other attributes of the different personalities, identified by latin inscriptions included above each medallion, is very detailed.
(read more)

published March 25th, 2015

An encounter with a Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) in its own environment is the dream of everyone who visits the Arctic. The polar bear is the very symbol of the northern polar areas, just as penguins are the signature species of Antarctica. The polar bear is reckoned to be the largest land predator in the world, rivaled only by the Alaskan Kodiak bear. The record-holding polar bear was shot in Alaska in 1960 and weighed 1003 kg, but they rarely reach this size. A full-grown Polar bear on Svalbard weighs about 500 kg and usually has a maximum life span of 25 years. The oldest Polar bear recorded on Svalbard was a female aged 32. The population there is now estimated at about 1500. Hunting of Polar bears has been prohibited on Svalbard since 1973. Climate changes are starting to create serious problems for the Polar bear and researchers are concerned about the recent developments in the Arctic. The absence of summer ice in the polar basin may become a reality in the course of this century. At the same time the winter period when new ice is formed may become shorter. This will restrict both living areas and the possibility of hunting seal. Seal represents more than 90 per cent of the Polar bear’s diet.

(read more)

published March 25th, 2015

‘That sandwiched aren’t food, and love isn’t hate, that’s all I know for now about sandwiches and love’.

So wrote Danish poet Johan Herman Welsh on the occasion of a social gathering in the 10770’s at which only open sandsiches were served. At that time Danes ate two hot meals a day and sandwiches were regarded as something of a last resort. Bread slices with fat or butter and maybe a little salami were certainly not seen as high style.

A hundred years later, things were quite different. Social developments and divisions of labour meant that fewer people could make it home to the simmering pots for lunch, so for them the solution was sandwiches in a lunchbox. At the same time, it had become easier to obtain fresh produce. Now people could easily get fresh meat and fish, which previoulsy were heavily salted and smoked so they would keep. (read more)

published March 16th, 2015

Personalised stamps were first introduced over a decade ago and now Jersey Post has given islanders the opportunity to personalise their mail. This set of eight self-adhesive stamps will be issued for our Philateliccustomers and are also part of the new personalised stamps service which will also be launched on issueday. For this service, the stamps have been produced, attached to stamp labels which can bepersonalised; customers can add a photograph, logo or message to the label. The personalisation allowsthe recipient of the mail to feel a connection with the sender even before they open the envelope.There are four Local Letter stamps and four UK Letter stamps. In the initial stages of design for this stampissue the design team at Jersey Philatelic thought about what type of mail would benefit from a personaltouch. Each of the bright and eye-catching images was especially sourced to provide a range ofinterpretations and uses. The general feeling was that personalised mail would mostly consist of invites toengagement parties, weddings or christenings; sending birthday invites or birthday wishes; thank younotes, new address notification and Christmas cards.

Source: WOPA Stamps

published March 13th, 2015

The British Red Cross is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the world’s largest independent humanitarian network. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement began in 1863, inspired by a Swiss businessman, Henry Dunant. He had been appalled at the suffering of thousands of men who were left to die due to lack of care after the Battle of Solferino in 1859. Dunant proposed the creation of national relief societies made up of volunteers who were trained in peacetime to provide neutral support in times of war. In response to his vision the founding charter of the Red Cross was drawn up in 1863.

(read more)

published March 6th, 2015

The roots of the Luxembourg Aeronautical Federation go back to the formation of the “Aéro-Club Luxembourgeois“, founded on 28th November 1909 in the Café du Commerce at the Place d’Armes in Luxembourg.

Its first project, after its creation, was to organise, in June 1910, an international week of aviation at Mondorf-les-Bains.
On this occasion, the Aéro-Club was able to achieve its first official goal: the popularisation of aeronautical knowledge and the control of the performances, a power it still holds today for all aeronautical and astronautical activities in the Grand Duchy.

At the present day, about 30 non-profit aeronautical associations and institutions form part of the Luxembourg Aeronautical Federation (FAL). Its main role is to coordinate, encourage, and support the efforts of affiliated clubs in matters of sport and recreation and to represent the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg on national and international issues as a member of the International Aeronautical Federation.

As part of the festivities for the Luxembourg aeronautical centenary, the Office des Timbres is issuing these special stamps whose design brings together the most important disciplines of Luxembourg aeronautics and the new airport building.

To celebrate the issuance of these stamps, a postal flight will be organised for the month of June 2009.

Source: WOPA Stamps

published March 5th, 2015

Croatia is a European state situated at the contact of the Middle and South-East Europe – from the furthest eastern rims of the Alps in the north-west to the Pannonia Plane and the Danube River bank in the east and the Adriatic Sea coastline in the south. The Croatian Adriatic coast is 1,777 km long and well-indented with more than 1,200islands, islets and rocks. With a pleasant, moderate continental climate in the interior of the country and a warm Mediterranean climate in the costal area, Croatia has today a population of 4.5 million inhabitants–of which are mainlyCroats (90.42%), while the remaining are national minorities (the most numerous being: Serbs, Bosniaks, Slovenians, Hungarians, Czechs, Italians and Albanians). (read more)

published March 3rd, 2015