Jan Mayen Cover

Jan Mayen is a small volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean between Greenland and Norway and even though it is part of the Kingdom of Norway, the closest part of Norway is some 1000 km away. There are no civilian settlements on the island but the Norwegian Armed Forces mans a research station there year round. It took a couple of month to get my cover cancelled (slow delivery or perhaps a slow post office) but only two weeks to get it back to Canada. The cancel turned out perfect. I used a pair of Preserve the Polar Region stamps from the Norwegian souvenir sheet. I didn’t want to remove them from the sheet but I wasn’t too sure how the cancel would look against its grey background so out they came.

Jan Mayen is located at 70°59′N 8°32′W putting it just above the Arctic Circle.

Covers

Over the past month I've received a few covers from fellow European collectors:



Eric from France sent me this cover with several recent engraved stamps. I've always liked stamps produced this way and LaPoste does a really good job with them.



Adolf from Germany sent me a cover featuring a stamp that commemorates the Luther memorials in Eisleben and Wittenberg. It was cancelled at the International Stamp Show in Essen (May 2009).



Andre from Portugal sent along a cover bearing some stamps from Portugal's "exotic fruits" series. I really need to get back to Portugal for a visit some day soon.

New San Marino Issues

The 2009 Europa issues from San Marino were recently issued (8 May). With San Marino stamps I either like them or hate them but I’ve enjoyed the last few Europa issues, including this one. I also liked the “Sammarinese Ceramists“ set issued 20 Feb 2009. It’s a series of three stamps that commemorates/brings awareness to the production of ceramic art in San Marino. So far it is my favorite San Marino issue of 2009.

Ross Dependency South Magnetic Pole Flyover Cover

On 17 January 2009, New Zealand Post sent 2500 Ross Dependency 2008 British Antarctic Expedition FDCs on a flight over the South Magnetic Pole. It was a commemorative flight, marking the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the South Magnetic Pole by Douglas Mawson, Edgeworth David, and Alistair Mackay. However there is some doubt that they actually found the correct location.



The occasion is marked on the FDC with a special cachet on the lower left. The stamp series on this envelope was issued 5 November 2008 to mark the anniversary of Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition: the British Antarctic Expedition. The $2 stamp in this series commemorates Mawson, David, and Mackay's discovery of the South Magnetic Pole.

I think a little more could have been done to make the cover special. Perhaps having them individually numbered would have been enough. It's a nice cachet - well done. But it's a first day cover for a stamp series that was issued 5 November 2008. I think it would have been more significant if the stamps had been cancelled on the day of the flight instead. Even so, it is a nice FDC and will find a good home in my collection.

New Stamps from Belgium

I received these stamps from a fellow collector in Belgium: Preserve the Polar Regions and Europa 2009. The Polar Regions sheet was issued 9 March 2009 and features Belgians Alain Hubert and Dixie Dansercoer who walked across the Arctic from Russia to Greenland in 106 days in 2007. The Europa sheet was issued 6 April 2009 and this copy was signed by the stamps designer: Thierry Mordant - an extra touch that I really appreciate. Thank you Thomas!

Still Looking for Davo Preserve the Polar Regions Album

I’m still not able to find anything on the Davo website about this album but the recent issue of Greenland Collector does have a small advertisement with pricing. Apparently with all stamps included it sells for €95.00 and without stamps, €37.50.

BAT Recognizes 100 Year of Naval Aviation

The Royal Navy celebrates 100 year of aviation on 9 May 2009. This dates marks the 100th Anniversary of the first naval order for an air ship. A number of British Commonweatlh nations and territories are issuing stamps to commemorate the occasion. I believe the British Antarctic Territory was the first (1 January 2009) with a set of 4 stamps and a souvenir sheet. The stamps feature the Westland Lynx (10p), the Fairey Seafox (10p), the Westland Wasp (90p) and the Supermarine Walrus (90p). The £2souvenir sheet features the Mayfly: the first airship purchase ever made by the Royal Navy. The contract was awarded to Vickers and it took two years to design and construct. But it was never put into use. The ship was damaged beyond repair on its first test flight.

New Stamps from Switzerland

Here are a few of the new issues from Switzerland, valid after 8 May 2009:





The first is a self adhesive issue that features the European Wildcat. The second is the Swiss Europa 2009 Astronomy issue which features glow in the dark orbits and planets. And finally, a souvenir sheet commemorating 100 years of the Swiss Pro Patria Foundation.

Barry's Bay Ontario Żurakowski Park Cancel

This is a cancellation I recently received from Barry’s Bay Ontario. The stamp is the Canadian “First Flight” stamp issued on 23 February 2009. It commemorates the first flight of the Silver Dart on 23 February 1909 at Baddeck Bay in Nova Scotia. It was the first controlled powered flight in the British Empire.

The cancellation was made by the Barry’s Bay Post Office. The CF-105 Arrow was a delta winged fighter jet developed in Canada by Avro Aircraft Limited between 1953 and 1959. Janusz Żurakowski, a Polish born fighter/test pilot, was the chief development test pilot for Avro at the time. He was the first to pilot the CF-105 and several of its variants before the program was abruptly cancelled. He retired with his family to Barry’s Bay Ontario and lived there until his death in 2004.

A park in Barry’s Bay named after Janusz Żurakowski is also home to the 1/3 scale CF-105 Arrow monument featured on this cancellation.

Greece: Preserve the Polar Regions and Glaciers

A nice little sheet from Greece with a pair of circular stamps.

Norway's Preverve the Polar Regions not quite circular

Norway issued a "Preserve the Polar Regions" sheet in February of 2009 and it consisted of a pair of 8 Kr stamps. One stamp had UV sensitive print that showed the ozone layer coverage of the Earth and the other was printed with a foil embossing technique. They look very nice. But what confused me was the perforations. They are perforated as square stamps but the globe graphic in each stamp is perforated as a circular stamp. However the 8 Kr and Norway labeling is not within the circular perforation boundary so I can't consider them circular stamps.



Here are some of my favorite recent circular issues:

France and French Andorra Preserve the Polar Regions