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!

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):

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!

Czech cover no. 7

This is a cover of a small registered packet sent in November 2011 from Brno 12 Post Office to Kromeriz. The delivery cost 64 CZK (approx. EUR 2.5) for a 660 gram shoebox. The first stamp on the right shows Alois Musil, Czech traveller, from a series of stamps dedicated to explorers, the 3 CZK stamps is a Christmas stamp from 1995, the 10 CZK is a Baroque stove from 2008 (located in Castle Sternberk), and on the left there's a quartet of Christmas stamps issued in 2007 with a painting by Josef Lada.

Cover from Argentina no. 5

Received in January 2012, a big cover with a miniature sheet showing the polo player Adolfo Cambiaso. The stamp was issued as part of the series "Ídolos del deporte argentino - Serie 3", on 12 November 2011. It was cancelled with the first-day-of-issue postmark, plus there is a regular postmark from Villa Nueva (Córdoba) with the date 15 December 2011. Gracias, Germán!!

Cover from Spain no. 10

Aa usual, I received the current Spanish EUROPA stamp from Jose Luis in Carballo, Galicia. This year's topic is Visit... specific country. And this is the nice Spanish contribution. Muchísimas gracia!!

Cover from Italy no. 27

And another beautiful cover from Italy... with a magnificent engraved stamp showing the monastery La Trinità della Cava near the city of Cava de' Tirreni in the province of Salerno in southern Italy. And it goes with a very special cancellation 11/11/11 from Treviso - The European City of Sports 2011. Grazie di nuovo, Giovanni.

Cover from Italy no. 26

So, here we go again with a bunch of new covers and postcards... This cover was sent from Treviso in northern Italy on 14 March 2012, and has a EUR 0.75 stamp from a two-stamp series issued on 18 November 2011 dedicated to postal savings. Thank you, Giovanni!!

Santa Claus cover from Finland no. 2

Courtesy of Giovanni we received a fantastic present from the Santa Claus office at the Artic Circle, from Napapiiri, Finland! Santa, as usual, sent a greeting and a lovely picture and a calendar, and put on a stamp with himself, this time from 2001, and cancelled it with a special postmark. Thank you, Giovanni!!

Cover from Dominica

Disney's Chip and Dale are soaking and drying stamps on this lovely cover sent on 28 July 1986 from Dominica to Ceske Budejovice (Budweis) in South Bohemia. The set of 4 large stamps was issued in 1986 to commemorate the Ameripex philatelic exhibition held in the US.

Cover from Grenada

Still tripping in the Caribbean, here's a cover sent on 10 April 1991 from Grenada to Trinec in Silesia/Czechoslovakia. The bird stamps are definitives from a series issued in 1989.

Cover from Montserrat

Continuing the trip along the Caribbean, here's an airmail cover sent from the island of Montserrat to Trinec in North Moravia sometime in 1989/1990. The moon-landing stamp is part of a quartet of stamps from 1989, commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the the First Manned Moon Landing.

Cover from St. Kitts

Following the cover from the island of Nevis, here's a cover from St. Kitts, the neighbouring island forming with Nevis the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis (West Indies, pop. around 51,000). The cover was mailed from the capital of Basseterre on 12 July 1993 To Czechoslovakia (it should have been the Czech Republic by then). The ship stamp is part of a big series of stamps issued in 1990, the stamp depicting the Cathedral of St. John the Divine is from 1993, commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Diocese of the North Eastern Caribbean and Aruba.