Miscellaneous Stamp News

On 1 December 2009, a TAAF stamp will be issued to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Antarctic Treaty System.

Mexico has issued a pair of "Preserve the Polar Regions and Glaciers" stamps: $13.00 and $10.50 pesos featuring images of the glaciers on Iztaccihuatl and Popocatepetl and Citlaltépetl. The stamp pair is available in a limited issue sheetlet of eight.

The Canadian National Philatelic Center 25th Anniversary Cancel

The Canadian National Philatelic Center celebrated their 25th Anniversary on 1 October 2009. A special cancel was created to mark the occasion. I mailed in my cover to be cancelled with a Canadian Inventions 2009 Five-pin bowling stamp on it as 2009 was also the 100th Anniversary of Five-pin bowling. The cancel was applied by hand and I think they did an excellent job it.

Guernsey SEPAC issues for 2009

Active Post Offices in the Canadian Arctic

Last month I got this cover back from Eureka Nunavut and I was pleased to not only see a pictorial cancel but also a cachet. There is another similar cachet on the back of the cover. Eureka is known as the garden spot of the Arctic because the area is home to more plants and wildlife than anywhere else on Ellesmere Island.

Over the past few months I've received a number of covers from post offices all across the Canadian Arctic. I've assembled the best of them and put images of them on a page here. Also on that page I've included a google map that shows all of the Canada Post outlets located above the Arctic Circle.

Fall Issues from Luxembourg

Some new stamps from Luxembourg issued 16 September 2009. The souvenir sheet commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Luxembourg Federation of Philatelic Societies. The stamp images on the stamps are heavily embossed with lots of detail. The Railroad series commemorates 150 years of railway use in Luxembourg. And finally, Luxembourg’s first SEPAC issue.

Butterflies and Landscapes of Liechtenstein

The Butterflies set was issued 9 September 2009 and is the first stamp issue designed and produced entirely in Liechtenstein. When I received these stamps I figured the must have been printed on heavier paper. But they came with an insert that explained how to remove the stamps from the backing paper which refreshed my memory – these are self-adhesive. Unlike any perforated self-adhesive issues I’ve encountered, these separated from one another with ease. However there is no split across the backing paper so freeing individual stamps once separated from a stamp pane may be difficult.



16 September 2009 also saw the release of the second SEPAC issue from Liechtenstein. The new issue resembles the first SEPAC issue in size, theme and value (1.30 CHF). The new stamp features the Chapel of St. Mamerta in Triesen.

Preserve the Polar Regions Update

After acquiring the Aland Preserve the Polar Regions and Glaciers issue I realize I now have all of the officially recognized stamp issues from this series. I’ve compiled a list with images of each stamp issue and placed it here. This last one gives me a total of 37 countries. India was suppose to issue a commemorative earlier this year as well but apparently it has been delayed until December 19th of 2009. Other countries that were suppose to produce stamps for this series were Mexico, Paraguay and Uruguay but I’ve not been able to find any information about these.

My First SEPAC Issues of 2009

On 16 Sept 2009, a number of the postal administrations participating in SEPAC (Small European Postal Administrations Cooperation) issued their second part of the initial SEPAC three part series featuring “Beautiful Corners of Europe”. The first of these issues to come my way was from Aland. It consisted of two stamps. A domestic rate stamp featuring Föglö and a European rate stamp featuring Saltvik. This scenery series from Aland has been on-going for some time now, prior to its inclusion into the SEPAC “Beautiful Corners of Europe” series.



This year, 12 countries are participating in the series

Greenland
Iceland
Faroe Islands
Aland
Guernsey
Isle of Man
Jersey
Gibraltar
Luxembourg
Monaco
Liechtenstein
Malta

San Marino is sitting out. In 2007 both Luxembourg and San Marino did not participate in the series.

Falkland Islands Charles Darwin Commemorative

This year is the birth bicentennial of Charles Darwin. He was born 12 Feb 1809 and several postal administrations have issued stamps to commemorate the occasion. This is also the 150th anniversary of his work “On the Origin of the Species” which first went on sale in November of 1859. It’s interesting to note that the concept of natural selection which is commonly accepted today as… common sense, was considered highly controversial when first proposed by Darwin.

On 23 April 2009, the Falkland Islands issued this beautiful commemorative set. It honors Darwin and his visit to the Falklands in 1833 and 1834 during his famous world-wide scientific expedition aboard the HMS Beagle. I didn’t think much of this set until I saw it against the blue background. Very well done.

Two Covers from Norway

These are two covers that were retuned to me from Norway today. Tromsø located at 69°40′N 18°56′E is the largest city in North Norway. Ny-Ålesund located at 78°55′N 11°56′E on the island of Spitsbergen in Svalbard, Norway is one of the worlds Northern most settlements.

Azerbaijan’s Preserve the Polar Regions and Glaciers Issue

Sometimes countries issue stamps featuring popular themes just as a way to attract collectors and generate revenue. Small countries issuing stamps featuring US presidents or space missions for example. So I though this might be a similar case with Azerbaijan’s “Preserve the Polar Regions and Glaciers” issue. But I was very wrong. Apparently they sent an expedition to Antarctica that reached the South Pole 26 January 2009 and have plans to build a base on Antarctica someday as well.

Cover from Svalbard

Received this cover from Svalbard Norway today. It was post marked "Tempelfjorden". The Tempel Fjord is about 60km East of Longyearbyen. In the winter a schooner, the Noorderlicht, remains in the fjord icebound and acts as a tourist stop for people on dog sled or snow mobile tours out of Longyearbyen. On the ice next to the ship is a mail box where tourists can mail post cards. Apparently the mail is transported back to Longyearbyen by dog sled, hence the "Polar Dog Mail" cancellation mark.

I received this cover in July when the ship is not frozen in the ice. Was my cover post marked at Tempelfjorden? Not likely. My guess is that it was actually cancelled in Longyearbyen since that's where I originally sent it to.