Concordia Antarctic Research Station

This was returned to me from the French/Italian Antarctic research station Concordia. It's marked with the stamp of the 40th Italian National Research Expedition and signed by Concordia's summer station leader station leader Riccardo Scipinotti. The position "Dome C" stamped at the bottom left gives the coordinates of the base. Dome C is one of several Antarctic ice domes which are large hills or caps of ice accumulation. This particular dome is 3300m thick.

  

The Founding of Québec City in 1608

This postmark from Québec City, the capital city of the Canadian province of Québec, is in the shape of a postage stamp with a design from a 2008 stamp that commemorated the 400th anniversary of the founding of the city. It was a joint issue with France and was part of a series of stamps that commemorated French settlements in North America.

Marsa, Malta

A collection of recent stamps from Malta. From left to right, a SEPAC 2024 tourist attractions stamp featuring the Mgarr Harbour in Gozo, a Malta Railway stamp from 2024 showing the Hamrun railway station, a 2025 Year of the Snake stamp, and below that a Porbeagle Shark stamp from a 2023 set featuring marine life in the Mediterranean.

Hornbills of Malaysia

On this cover from Selangor is a set of stamps from 2024 featuring hornbills found in Malaysia: the Weathered hornbill, Great hornbill and the critically endangered Helmeted hornbill. The stamp at the bottom depicts Boy Scouts in uniform from a Stamp Week 2024 set that shows various student organization uniforms. And the stamp on the left depicts children making music, from a 2018 set feature children's activities.

Marion Dufrense OBS Austral 2025

Where's the postmark? This was returned from the Marion Dufresne during its involvement in an oceanographic campaign in the waters between the Kerguelen Islands and the islands of St Paul and Amsterdam. Lots of handstamps from Amsterdam support staff on the back. And after a few Google searches I think I know why it's not postmarked. Bad weather kept them from disembarking at Kerguelen and then a fire on Amsterdam Island required the vessel to halt all activities and provide rescue assistance. No chance to drop off the mail at a TAAF base.

Mumbai, India

Received from Mumbai. The souvenir sheet from 2018 commemorates 70 years of diplomatic relations between India and Serbia. The the stamps on the right from 2015 commemorates the International Day of Yoga which is June 21.

Fierce Battle at Chibi, China

Sent to me from Chongqing with a lovely year of the snake postmark. The souvenir sheet on the left with a very large stamp from 1994 depicts the "Fierce Battle at Chibi" aka the Battle of Red Cliffs. It is taken from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms: a 14th century historical novel based on 3rd century records documenting the end of the Han Dynasty. The battle was fought by the three kingdoms over control of the Yangtze River in 208-209 AD. The other stamp from 2018 is from a pane of stamps that commemorate the Yangtze River Economic Zone.

Yokohama, Japan

The bridge depicted in the postmark is the Yokohama Bay Bridge. The stamps are from Japan Post's 20th century series issued in 2000. This pair of stamps was from a sheet of ten that was sheet number 17 in the series. The stamp on the left commemorates the Japan National Team at the FIFA Worldcup in 1998 and the stamp on the right commemorates Japanese astronaut Mohri Mamoru participating in STS-47 aboard NASA space shuttle Endeavour in 1992.

USA Christmas FDC

USA first day postmarked 2024 Christmas stamps from Park City, Utah. Sometimes mail can take a really long time to reach its destination, even when it doesn't have to cross an ocean. The blue jay stamp on the right is one of fifty stamp designs in the 1987 North American Wildlife stamp pane. The label at the bottom advertises the upcoming international philatelic exhibition planned to take place in Boston in May of 2026.

Bački Petrovac, Serbia

From the town of Bački Petrovac in the north Serbian province of Vojvodina. The envelope theme and postmark are "Flora". I'm not sure if it was a special event or a first-day postmark for another stamp. The stamp on the right is from a set of six bringing attention to the World Expo to be hosted by Belgrade in 2027. The stamps in the set all have a space exploration theme. And the pair of stamps on the left from 2019 promote online safety for children.

Liège, Belgium

From the Belgian city of Liège with a lonely 2013 King Philip worldwide priority mail definitive.

Halifax, Nova Scotia

A nice postmark from Halifax showing the city skyline with the Macdonald bridge and city hall in the foreground. Halifax is the capital city of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.