New Czech stamps - March 2010

There were three new stamps issued in March, two of them planned, one added unexpectedly, more or less.

The 10 Kč engraved "Easter" stamp, issued on 10/3, shows the typical Czech *pagan* celebration of spring (not to do much with the Christian festivities). The boys carry a huge willow (osier) rod with which they beat young girls and get ribbons and coloured eggs to put in their basket... Print-run: 7,750,000.

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Date of issue: 10 March 2010, print-run: 73,000, an engraved stamp in an offset-printed sheet dedicated to the prominent Czech romantic poet Karel Hynek Mácha (1810 - 1836), author of May. Born in Prague, Mácha loved to roam the castles and ruins in northern Bohemia... nowadays called "The Mácha Country".

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Here is the relatively unexpected addition to the issue plan, a 10 Kč stamp celebrating the two gold medals and one bronze won by Martina Sáblíková at the Vancouver Olympics. The really interesting thing is that the speedskater is nowhere to be seen:-) It has been a policy of the Czech Post not to show living personages on stamps, which, however, will change soon, due to a small "revolution" in the Czech stamp production about to take place in the coming months, there was even a feature about it in today's newspapers, more info soon.