Postcard from Armenia

A lovely postcard received today from Yerevan, Armenia, showing the Church of Hripsime (completed in 618) in the city of Vagharshapat, (Echmiatsin), which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Cathedral and Churches of Echmiatsin and the Archaeological Site of Zvartnots.

The card was sent only 5 days ago and bears two definitive stamps of 120 AMD from 2012, showing a letter from the Armenian alphabet.

Thank you very much, Yuri!

Cover from Thailand no. 4

A nice cover sent from Phetchaburi in Thailand with the complete set of 4 stamps issued in 2011 as part of the Thai Heritage Conservation project. They show various sights at the Muang Tam Religious Sanctuary in Buriram province. Print run of each stamp: 500,000. The cassia definitive is from 2010. Thank you, Terdsak!

Cover from Sri Lanka

A fantastic cover received recently from Piliyandala (susburb of Colombo) by Gayanth.

The black-and-white set of four classic cars (Morris Minor, Austin 12, Jaguar SS 100, Rolls Royce 20/25) was issued in 2011, also in a souvenir sheet:

The London Olympics stamps from this year were issued in a similar form, here's the 15 rupee value,

and the whole set:

The 20 rupee Aquarius stamp is part of a series of twelve zodiac signs from 2007:

and Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, was celebrated in 2011 as well (here in connection with Sri Lanka):
 

Thanks a lot, Gayanth! Also for the used stamps and the postcards!

Cover from Sweden no. 2

A fantastic cover received a few days ago from Stockholm, Sweden, with 11(!) engraved stamp, works by such authors as Cz. Slania (the two top left stamps from 1982 (Living Together), or M. Morck (Niels Bohr, 1982). The topics range from Nobel Price winners (Hamsun, Kroch, Bohr, Kawabata), to Christmas (1985) and horse sports (1990, engraved by I. Sjooblom), with a stamp commemorating the 8th World's Postal Congress, from 1974. Thank you very much, Minna!

Cover from St. Helena

A beauty, unfortunately not sent to me, but to somebody in Budweis (Ceske Budejovice) in 1989, from the tiny island of St Helena (of the Napoleon fame). Both the 10p "Madonna with the Pear" Christmas stamp and the 13p stamp from the series Flags and Uniforms, were issued in 1989. The envelope bears the postmark Jamestown/St. Helena.

Cover from the USA no. 9

Recently, I've talked a bit about classic cars so here's another nice cover with them...this time from the US, with two of the five stamps commemorating the classic cars of the 1950s as part of the Americans on the Move series. Depicted here are 1957 Lincoln Premiere and 1959 Cadillac Eldorado. The letter was sent from Oakland, CA.

Czech cover no. 9

A letter sent from me to Slovakia (where I took it for myself), with two "A" stamps taken from a sheet of 9 stamps and 12 tabs issued in 2010 to promote philately. Hand-cancelled in Kromeriz, 767 02 (Post Office in the Main Square, fortunately not using machine cancellations yet). 

 

Cover from Belarus no. 5

A nice two-stamp cover with the coats of arms of the towns of Kamyanyets (issued in 2005 in a series of 3) and Vitebsk (issued in 2008 also in a series of 3) sent from Hrodna in 2010. The total facial value of the stamps is 950 Belarus ruble, which is 0.085 euro or 2 Czech crowns = ten times cheaper than sending a letter the other way round...

Thank you very much, Helena!

Postcard from Pitcairn Island no. 2

A great postcard sent from the Pitcairn Island, postmarked 1 June 2011, showing part of Adamstown.

The NZD 1,50 stamp features the French helicopter cruiser Jeanne d’Arc from a series of four stamps depicting aircraft over Pitcairn, issued on 21 October 2009. Thank you so much, Giovanni!

Postcard from Russia no. 4

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Here's a very nice postcard senr from St. Petersburg showing the main sights of the town of Kronshtadt, in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, located on Kotlin Island, 30 kilometers west of Saint Petersburg. The historic centre of the city and its fortifications are part of the World Heritage Site Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments. Pop. 43,000.

The 10 rouble stamp (16 Feb 2009) commemorates Grigory Yakovlevich Bahchivandzhi (1909-1943) is the test pilot of scientific research institute of the Air Forces, the Hero of the Soviet Union. Print run: 800,000 - quite a small number, I think, 800,000 copies of a stamp is an average print run of a commemorative here in the much small Czech Republic.

Cover from Barbados

Here's another of the treasure chest of exotic covers which I bought at an auction last year, sent from Barbados do Ceske Budejovice (Budweis) in 1987. The 75c stamp is part of a 4-stamp series dedicated to Jewish legacy in the island of Barbados and features a list of the Ten Commandments.

Czech cover no. 8

This A4 cover sent by registered post bears the stamps in the total value of CZK 37. The "Z" (overseas rate, CZK 21) self-adhesive was one of the first such stamps in use from 2010 ("Zodiac" by Alfons Mucha), the "A" (domestic, CZK 10), Fifinka was another one of them, and then there are 3 definitive chrysanthemums from 2011.

Time of travel - 1 day.

The packet was sent from Rokytnice nad Jizerou (Liberec Region/Bohemia) in the western part of the Giant Mountains (Krkonose), which highland character can be seen also in its coat of arms,

to Kromeriz, Zlin Region/Moravia (tending more toward wine-production - the winegrowing knife in the arms):

New Czech stamps + an offer

Talking about vintage cars, I am happy to show a new set of six self-adhesive stamps which were issued by the Czech Post on 5 September. These are pictures by self-taught Czech artist Václav Zapadlík who specialises in the so called "Auto Art". The big stamps (5.5 x 3.3 cm) show:

a) Duesenberg SJ - 1933
b) Wikov 70 - 1931
c) Mercedes Benz 540 - 1936
d) Rolls Royce Phantom III - 1938
e) Bugatti Royale 41 - 1934
f) Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8a - 1929

and are simply awesome. Since I noticed that our local post-office has quite a lot these booklets, I am offering to send one stamp from the series on a postcard or a cover to anyone interested. In return please send me a nicely-stamped postcard showing the place where you live. (In case we haven't exchanged before, please send first, I will reply right upon receiving your card). The E rate means "EUROPE" and one stamp covers the postage to all European countries, for overseas I will add a definitive. I will send the mail hand-cancelled.

If interested, please drop me an email at milan @ noir . cz

Postcard from Slovakia no. 8

Here's a postcard sent by our granny from Bardejov, in the east of Slovakia. It shows the Church of St. Giles (Aegidius), which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site: Historic Centre of Bardejov.

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The engraved EUR 0.80 stamp from 2011 shows Tatra 87, one of the classic Czechoslovakian cars, made by Tatra in Kopřivnice here in Moravia in 1936-1950. According to Wikipedia, John Steinbeck and Jay Leno, among others, drove this highly original car with the unmistakable shark's fin. The other stamp in the series shows the Prague-made Aero 30. Print-run 1 million each.

Cover from Hong Kong no. 6

Another great cover sent from Hong Kong by Brian, with one stamp from the series HK Delicacies, issued on 30 August 2012, with the first-day-of-issue postmark. The stamp features Wonton noodles. More about the whole set is here. Thank you very much, Brian!

Postcard from Spain no. 6

Another postcard from Catalonia, sent by me from L'Estartit, showing the map of the province of Girona. I assume there is a whole series of these attractive cards, covering the entire Spain, published by Escudo de Oro in Barcelona. I saw this one only in one place of all the kiosks and card-racks, in one of the narrow streets leading to the Girona cathedral. And the stamps:

The EUR 0.36 civic value "No contaminar" shown earlier, and a rose from 2007.