New Czech stamps - June 2010

After a pause... I am here with the new Czech stamps series, this time covering the month of June 2010.
On 16 June the Czech Post issued a really nice engraved stamp of 17 Kč commemorating the 700th anniversary of the succession of the Luxembourgs to the Czech throne. The stamp shows the married couple of John of Luxembourg and Elisabeth of Bohemia. As a result of their marriage, Jean of Luxembourg became king of Bohemia in 1310. The stamp is a joint issue with the Duchy of Luxembourg, was designed by Czech artist Karel Zeman and printed in Prague. Print-run 265,000 stamps.

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Two geographical stamps were issued on the same day in the "Beauties of Our Country" series. 12 Kč stamp dedicated to the town of Klatovy (in Plzeňský kraj in West Bohemia), known for its Baroque pharmacy, carnations, catacombs, and the Renaissance townhall with the Black Tower; and 14 Kč stamp of the town Štramberk in Moravskoslezský kraj, with historic centre and the Gothic tower called Trúba. Print-run of each stamp: 224,000.

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Always on 16 June, another geographical stamp, showing the landscape of the Protected Landscape Area of Žďárské vrchy (Žďárské Hills) approximately in the centre of the Czech Republic. Print-run: 1,500,000.

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16 June: an offset printed stamp of 21 Kč (overseas rate for postcards and light letters up to 20 grams) commemorating the 600th anniversary of the Old Town Astronomical Clock, one of the major sights of Prague. Print-run: 500,000.

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On 23 June the Czech Post issued this unplanned 10 Kč stamp to celebrate the victory of the Czech team at the World Ice Hockey Championship in Germany (ice hockey is one of the national passions). The player kissing the trophy looks a bit like Jaromír Jágr, the team's captain, but only remotely, as it is still not permitted to portray living people on Czech stamps (except the president). Print-run: 1,500,000

Postcard from Malaysia no. 2

Zvětšit mapu



A beautiful postcard received from the city of Kota Bharu, capital of Kelantan state in northern Malasia, showing a tropical dream... a sunset over Kok Bay at Pulau Langkawi, part of an archipelago of 99 islands in the Andaman Sea, some 30 km off the mainland coast of northwestern Malaysia (state of Kedah).

The attractive 50-sen tiger stamps was issued on 23 February 2010 in a joint emission with Korea. It shows Korean tiger, aka Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica, or tygr ussurijský in Czech). The other stamp in the se-tenant series shows Malayan tiger. The stamps commemorate the year of the tiger and also the 50th anniversary of Malayan-Korea diplomatic relations.

Thank you, Yi Yi!

Cover from Canada

A cover received yesterday from Toronto, Canada, after a seven-day journey. The stamp of 1.70 CDN was issued on 14 April 2010 in 660,00 copies and commemorates 60 years of friendship between Canada and Israel. The concept of the image is very simple, people crossing from the symbol of Canada to that of Israel and vice versa, but I find it brilliant! The self-adhesive joint-issue stamp has a coupon attached with the map of the world and the repeated symbols.

In Israel this stamp was also issued on 14 April 2010.

Thank you, Tristan!

Cover from Italy no. 4

Here is a truly fantastic A4 cover from Giovanni!!! There are two miniature sheets, one dedicated to the Italian comics (fumetti) and its famous heroes Coccobill, Diabolik and Lupo Alberto, and the other to one of the most important works of the world's literature, Dante's La Divina Commedia. This sheet is remarkable in that it is part of a joint issue with San Marino and Vatican and reproduces on the tab the last part of the sentence of the Inferno, while the San Marino and Vatican versions reproduce the preceding parts. The whole text of the first sentence is: Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita mi ritrovai per una selva oscura ché la diritta via era smarrita.

The comics sheet was issued on 23 October 2009 on the occasion of "La Giornata del Colezionismo" ("The Day of Collecting"), and the Dante sheet two days earlier on the occasion of "La Giornata della Lingua Italiana" ("The Day of the Italian Language").

Grazie, Giovanni!

Postcard from Italy no. 3

Another great card from Giovanni, who is presenting me with the beauties of Milan, Italy. This one shows the interior of the famous Teatro alla Scala. The 65 eurocent stamp follows the Thai topic of my previous post, because it shows the Golden Mountain Temple in Bangkok, a part of a joint Italian-Thailand issue from 2004 (21 April). The other stamp show the Colosseum in Rome. Grazie, Giovanni!!

Cover no. 2 from Germany

Received today from Frankfurt am Main (17), a lovely pictorial cover with two commemorative stamps dedicated to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The 65c stamp (issued on 12 July 2007) shows a palace in Riga, Latvia along with two statues. The same stamps were issued in 2007 also in Latvia.

The larger 145c stamp was issued on 7 May 2009 and depicts five of the Luther Memorials in Eisleben and Wittenberg (Saxony-Anhalt). This stamp is also part of series of stamps dedicated to German UNESCO World Heritage sites issued this year by the United Nations in Vienna, Geneva and New York.

Thank you very much, Gabriela:)

Joint-issue from France

Another great letter from France! Sent on 6 February 2009 from Lyon Bellecour (with a nice postmark) and received 3 days later. The se-tenant stamps issued on 23 June 2008 are a joint project of the French and Brazilian postal administrations and show the French Mer de Glace and the Brazilian Serra do Aracá in the Amazonian Forest. The 85 eurocent on the French part cover postage to Brazil, and the 55 eurocent on the Brazilian part cover postage to France. The Brazilian counterpart was issued two days earlies, with facial values of RS 2 for both stamps.

Thank you very much, Thomas!

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.

Registered cover from the Czech Republic no. 2

Received on 5 January 2009, a registered letter posted in Líbeznice near Prague featuring a big miniature sheet issued on 12 September 2008 in commemoration of the Praga 2008 World Stamp Exhibition, in a joint issue with Austria (and its Wipa 2008), print-run: 200,000.

The theme is common for the two countries as it shows a carriage of the express mail operating between the cities of Brno (South Moravia) and Vienna in 1750. The image comes from the collections of the Postal Museum in Prague. There is also a small definitive from the zodiac series: virgo - 2 CZK, the total thus reaching 37 CZK, which is the current rate for domestic registered letters exceeding 100 grams.

As is typical for these miniature sheets, the stamp in the centre is engraved, and the rest of the picture is printed in offset

Christmas cover from Germany

Yesterday I received this nice letter from Wurzen, Germany, dated 2/12/2008, with the complete series of this year's German Christmas stamps. They were issued on 13 November 2008, in a joint issue with Vatican, since one stamp shows a picture housed in a German museum, and the other one a picture which can be found in a Vatican gallery. The pictures are: Raffaello - Adorazione dei Magi (1517-1519) [55 + 25 eurocent] and Albrecht Durer - Geburt Christi (around 1500) [45 + 20 eurocent]. Both very nicely designed. Thank you, Thomas!

Postcard from Finland

Postcard from Mikkeli, the capital of the Central Finland province (33,000 inhabitants), with an interesting stamp from the 2007 joint-issue with Hong Kong, sent to me in December 2007 from Lappeenranta. Thank you N.