Mariehamn, Åland

Fort McHenry Quarter Postmark

Another War of 1812 postmark from Baltimore that took a long time to find me: I believe it came from the same place as the last one. The US Mint issued the quarter in 2013 but the 200th anniversary of the Battle at Fort McHenry was in 2014.

Baltimore: Defenders Day

Another War of 1812 postmark. This one took a long time to get back to me.

Limhamn, Sweden

Limhamn is the southern district of Malmö in the south of Sweden.

Something I noticed about both stamps on the envelope are the die-cut Swedish Post logo. It's hard to see but it's there. This is the first time I've seen this on a Swedish stamp. It's a security feature that is suppose to prevent you from peeling the stamp from the envelope and reusing it. I was able to peel quite a bit of each stamp from the envelope and the die-cut parts did not remain on the envelope so the stamps remained intact.

Baltasound, Shetland

Postmarked in Baltasound: the largest settlement on the most northerly inhabited island in the United Kingdom. The island of Unst is part of the Shetland Islands and is part of Scotland. The stamps commemorate the 2014 Commonwealth Games that were held in Glasgow.

Unalaska, USA

Unalaska is a city on both Unalaska and Amaknak Islands; islands at the start of the Aleutian Island chain off the west coast of Alaska. The largest US fishery by volume is located in Unalaska at its port facility known as Dutch Harbor.

Kanazawa, Japan

From the city of Kanazawa, Japan. The pair of stamps is from a sheet commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Shinkansen high-speed rail network.

The Battle of Bladensburg

Another War of 1812 postmark. Bladensburg, Maryland is a few kilometres north east of Washington DC. The British victory there on 24 August 2014 allowed them to occupy Washington and set fire to many government buildings, including the White House. It was a humiliating defeat for the Americans.

Louisville, Kentucky

Alderney's Final Panel of the Bayeux Tapestry

This miniature stamp sheet from Alderney depicts their version of the missing scene from the end of the Bayeux Tapestry. What it interesting about this stamp is that the top layer is not paper, but cotton: 100% combed cotton, with a thread count of 167x167. It's a nice looking sheet. Has an interesting texture. 

The Bayeux Tapestry is 70 meters of embroidered cloth that depicts events leading up to the Norman conquest of England. It is believe that the tapestry was commissioned sometime in the 11th century. The end of the tapestry is missing and is believe to contain one final "scene" but exactly what it contained is uncertain.

On the channel island of Alderney, a large group of island residents came together to construct their own final scene to the tapestry. Their tapestry, at 3m in length, documents the days after the battle of Hastings in 1066, which includes the coronation of William the Conqueror as the King of England and the construction of the Tower of London.

Břeclav, Czech Republic

Břeclav is a city of 25000 in the south of the Czech Republic. It is an important transportation hub, being at a point on the Czech southern border where it forms a T with the borders of Austria and Slovakia. 

Battle of Fort McHenry FDC

First Day Covers for the latest stamp in the "War of 1812" series by the USPS: The Battle of Fort McHenry. I thought this would be the last stamp release in the series but I was just reading that a "Battle of New Orleans" stamp was planned for next year which makes sense as it was the final major battle of the war which ended in January of 1815.