New Czech stamps - February 2009

Issued today, 18 CZK stamp commemorating the FIS Nordic World Ski Championship 2009 which will take place in Liberec (North Bohemia) on 18 February - 1 March 2009. The stamp is printed in offset, in 900,000 copies.

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This souvenir sheet is a real wonder. The Czech Republic with no sea, polar regions or penguins issues a stamp showing all of these. However, in a worthy cause, since it participates, along with about 40 other countries, in the "Preserve Polar Regions and Glaciers" project, started by Finland and Chile. All the stamps/souvenir sheets issued in this worldwide line bear the logo of a crystal. The Czech Republic opted for a rather expensive sheet, with a very small print-run of 85,000 copies (as far as I know, there has not been a stamp since 1993, when the Czech Republic was created, issued in such a small quantity). The stamp is engraved, as usual, the rest is printed in offset. I am really curious how difficult it will be to locate and buy this sheet for a mere mortal.

Some other stamps in this project can be seen here.

Medieval postcard from France

A lovely view of the fiery outer walls of the medieval city of Carcassonne, the capital of the Aude department in southern France. One of the places I visited myself on my travels through this exciting country.

This postcard was sent to me on 17 March 2008 from Montpellier and I received it three days later. In contrast to the solemn beauty of the fortress is the ultramodern TGV train shown speeding on its way from Paris to Zurich or Frankfurt (stamp issued on 11 June 2007). The 1 eurocent yellow Marianne (philapost) is from 2007 (I believe), the two 5 eurocent brown Mariannes (IPTV) were issued in 2005. Thank you, Nancy, for this lovely UNESCO WHS card!

Cover from Hungary

A lovely cover received on 16 January 2009 from Budapest, Hungary, sent 3 days earlier. It bears no less than 5 stamps of attractive topics. The two horses are from a series called Our Living Heritage II - Horses, issued on 9 May 2006, and are a Shagya Arab (75 HUF stamp) and Mezohegyesi Halfbred (90 HUF stamp). They were two more stamps in the series plus a sheet with three more horses, print-runs 250,000 each for the single stamps, and 150,000 for the sheets.

Our Living Heritage series was issued also a year later, on 9 May 2007, this time presenting dogs. This cover has the 62 HUF stamp with komondor, a sheep dog of Asian origin (print-run 450,000, the sheet of 600 HUF was published in 150,000 copies).

The two symbolic Olympic stamps were issued on 16 April 2008 along with a third stamp of 170 HUF.

Thank you, Tamás!

Postcard from Iran

A large panaromic postcard with a great view from Kordestan in western Iran. It was sent from Tehran on 24 April 2008 and reached me on 5 May 2008. The two stamps of 650 rials were issued in 2007 for the New Year (1386).

Postcard from Switzerland

The library in the Benedictine abbey of St. Gallus in the city of St. Gallen in northern Switzerland, an absolute Baroque beauty treasuring many rare manuscripts like the Nibelungenlied.

This postcard was sent on 20 January 2009 from Uberuzwil (post-code 9242, nice commemorative postmark), and bears four different stamps. The latest of them, issued on 6 September 2007, shows Schnellen Ursli, a children's book character depicted by Alois Carigiet (1902-1985). The other stamps are from the 1960s and commemorate the 50th anniversary of the "Sweitzer Mustermesse in Basel" (1966), the Iceskating World Championship in Davos (stamp from 1965, Championship took place in 1966), and the joining of the Swiss Confederation in 1815 by the cantons of Valais, Neuchatel and Geneve (stamp from 1965). Thank you, Doris:-)

Cover from Singapore no. 2

An impressive cover received on 2 February 2009 from Singapore (sent on 23/1/2009). Few countries have such nice definitives! The two birds here are: Crimson sunbird (Aethopyga siparaja) on the 5c stamps, and Blue-thoated Bee-eater (Merops viridis) on the 30c stamp. The whole series was issued on 6 June 2007.

Thank you Liu Nian!

Postcard from Finland no. 2

Received yesterday 2 February 2009, sent from Tampere on 30 January 2009. The postcard shows traffic thoroughfares in the eastern part of Helsinki. The stamp, issued on 20 October 2008, is taken from a souvenir sheet dedicated to the Finnish geologist and artic explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (1832 — 1901). It shows the iron steamer Sofia, one of the ships he sailed. Since he also explored many parts of Greenland, this country published the same sheet in a joint issue with Finland. However, the distribution of the stamps and coupons is different there. The sheet is engraved by Martin Morck.

Thank you, Teija.

Cover from Croatia no. 3

Another fine cover from Tomislav, sent on 27 January 2009 from the town of Nedelišce and received 3 days later on 30 January. This time there is an impressive selection of four ships, selected from a 9-piece series dedicated to the craft connected with the Croatian coast or history, issued by the Croatian post on 27 August 1998. The 1.20 kuna stamp shows the oldest ship of all, the serilia liburnica; the 1.50 kuna stamp takes us to the 11-12th centuries when condura croatica was in use; the 1.60 kuna stamp features a Ragusan argosy from the 16th century, and the 7.20 kuna ship called Amorella is wholly modern and represents the production of shipyards in Split.

Thank you, Tommy!

Postcard from Bahrain

Another surprise in my mailbox: a postcard from the Kingdom of Bahrain on the Persian Gulf. The picture shows the Pearl Monument in Manama, a reminder of the country's trading past based on pearls.

The large stamp of 200 fils was issued on 16 December 2008 along with ten others, in two sheets dedicated to the Bahraini Ardha, a type of folkloric dance performed by the Bedouin tribes of the Arabian peninsula. The smaller green stamp is a charity stamp of 10 fils with the symbol of three corn spikelets. The card was postmarked on 27 December 2008 which means it travelled over a month, despite bearing an airmail label (Malaysian). Thank you Lay Hoon:-)

Cover from Malaysia no. 2

A nice pictorial cover received on 30 June 2008 from Johor in Malaysia (the postmark is illegible, but I suppose the letter came from Muar where the sender lives). Nurulhuda used the first day cover for the series called "Butterflies of Malaysia" (issued 24 April 2008) and put on two of the 4 stamps: Malay red harleyquin (Paralaxita damajanti damajanti - 50 sen), and Glorious begum (Agatasa calydonia calydonia - RM1). Thank you, N.!