Korea Post 70th Anniversary of the Korean Election System,

KOREA POST on 13 June 2018 issued The National Election Commission's first commemorative stamps, "On the Way to the Polling Station" and "Central Election Commission Building". It marked the 70th anniversary of the Korean election. A total of 516,000 commemorative stamps were printed.

"The Road to the Polling Station” is a painting by Kim Dae-nyeon, Secretary General of the National Election Commission, and contains the message that “when voters’ desire for good politics is gathered through elections, the Republic of Korea will be filled with hope.”

The stamps were created to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Korean election system, which began on May 10, 1948, and to raise awareness of the upcoming 13 June local elections.

Czechoslovakia 10th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

CZECHOSLOVAKIA on 23 March 1959 issued a First Day Cover to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The FDC set included three different designs, featuring distinct illustrations and text (in Czech/Slovak) related to the theme: "Rovnost ras" (Racial Equality), "Den lidských práv" (Human Rights Day) and "Svět'u mír" (Peace to the World). The circular postmark indicates the FDC originated from Prague.

The face value of the stamps were: 

- 50 haléřů (indicated as "50h") 

- 1 koruna ("1 Kes")

- 2 koruny ("2 Kes")

Nyassa Company

NYASSA COMPANY, one of three British owned companies formed out of large parts of the colony of Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique) between 1891 and 1929. The company's role was to develop the region as well as run the affairs of cotton fields and plantations.  The company was also granted a charter by the Portuguese government which included the right to issue its own stamps. 

The first definitive stamps were issued in 1901 and printed by Waterlow & Sons in London. 

The stamps feature two main designs: a giraffe browsing a palm tree and a pair of dromedaries  or camels (shown here). 

Having gained this concession to issue its own stamps, the Nyassa Company issued over 140 different postage stamps between 1898 and 1925, far in excess of the normal needs of postal services in the territory. Many of these issues were beautifully designed and generated great philatelic interest, especially in Great Britain. 

The first issues in 1898 were overprints on the stamps of Mozambique, but in 1901 a lovely set of 13 pictorial Nyassa Company stamps featuring a Giraffe and a pair of Dromedaries was issued. The issues popularity was increased by the existence of an “Inverted Centre” error on every value! In fact such was the interest in the philatelic world that the London printers, Waterlow and Sons, reprinted the entire set in 1922.

In 1903 and 1910 the stamps were surcharged with new values, and in 1911 two new designs were added showing a Zebra, and Vasco da Gama’s Ship “Sao Gabriel”, these being overprinted “REPUBLICA” (shown here) to reflect to Portugal’s newly found status as a Republic.

In 1918 the original 1901 set was again surcharged, this time for the new currency of escudos and cents (shown here), and in 1921 the 1911 new designs were also similarly surcharged.

Between 1921 and 1923 a complete new set of twenty stamps was issued in the new currency featuring a reworking of some of the older designs, as well as a Native Dhow, and a portrait of Vasco da Gama (shown here). 1924 and 1925 saw the issue of a triangular Postage Due set, and overprinted Charity Tax stamps, similar to those issued in other parts of the Portuguese Empire.

When control of the area reverted to the Portuguese Colonial Government in 1929, the company lost its concession to issue postage stamps, and the stamps of Mozambique came into use.

Deutsche Luftpost Maiden Voyage of LZ129 Hindenburg

DEUTSCHE LUFTPOST issued  two LZ 129 Hindenburg stamps (blue - 50 Pfennig denomination) and  (green - 75 Pfennig denomination). Special franking mail carried on the Hindenburg flights from Germany to North America stated, as shown on this cover,  "Mit LZ 129 nach Nordamerika" ("With LZ 129 to North America"). 

The maiden voyage of the rigid airship LZ 129 Hindenburg to North America  was on 22 April 1936. In addition to the stamps, a red circular "EUROPA-NORDAMERIKA" cachet is printed on the envelope. 

This registered letter was processed in Frankfurt (Main) on 22 April 1936. The recipient addressed on this particular envelope  was Mister E. Wiebe Manager, Chicago Office Hanovia Chemical & MFG. CO. 77, E. Lake St, Chicago, Illinois / USA.

Portugal CORREIO Medical and St. Anthony of Lisbon 700th Death Anniversary - Early 1930s

 

- REPUBLICA PORTVGVESA CORREIO "Ceres" stamp is from the first series of stamps issued after the proclamation of the Portuguese Republic. It depicted the Roman goddess of agriculture, Ceres. It superseded stamps featuring King Manuel II in 1910–1911. It had an overprinted face value of 40 centavos. This particular stamp most likely was postmarked in the early 1930s.

- PORTUGAL CORREIO commemorated the 700th death anniversary (1232-1931) of St. Anthony of Lisbon (Santo António de Lisboa) in 1931. It featured the interior of the St. Anthony of Lisbon Cathedral (Santo António de Lisboa) and was valued at 40 centavos.

- PORTUGAL CORREIO commemorated the 700th death anniversary (1232-1931) of St. Anthony of Lisbon (Santo António de Lisboa) in 1931. It  depicted the facade of the Lisbon Cathedral (Sé de Lisboa). and was valued at 40 centavos.

- PORTUGAL CORREIO featured the 1937 Centenary of the Medical-Surgical Schools of Lisbon and Porto. The Rod of Asclepius symbol, associated with medicine and healing, represented the school. It was valued at 25

Nippon Post Torii Gate of the Itsukushima Shrine

NIPPON POST on 35.5 (5 May 35th year of Showa era or 1960) issued the third stamp version of the iconic "floating" Torii Gate of the Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima Island. Designers were Kimura Masaru and Kurakichi Kato. 

The postcard quite possibly is from the 1950s.

Posta Romana Centenary of the "Orient Express " Train

POSTA ROMANA on 30 December 1983 issued a "EUROPA" series stamp to commemorate 100 years since the first trip of the "Orient Express " train. It showed the famous train arriving in the Bucharest North railway station (Gara de Nord). The stamp carried a face value of 10 Romanian Lei (10L). This maxim card shows the station. It was affixed with this stamp, but postmark cancellation was 2 August 1987 issued  during the "Transfile '87" philatelic exhibition. 

Nippon Post Kabuki Theatre - 1972

NIPPON POST on 1 March 1972 issued a First Day Cover featuring Japanese Kabuki theatre stamps. The three stamps depicted scenes from Kabuki plays, including "Kumagai Jin'ya" and "Awa no Naruto". Postmark cancellation originated from Osaka, Japan.

The stamps were part of a series showcasing Japanese traditional performing arts, specifically Kabuki theatre. 

Kabuki puppets are typically half-life size and manipulated by three visible puppeteers working in harmony with a narrator and musician.

Imperial Japan 50th Anniversary of Postal Service -1921

IMPERIAL JAPAN issued in 1921 this commemorative postcard to mark the 50th anniversary of their postal service. A 1.5 yen postage stamp and special red cancellation postmark dated  4 December  Taisho 12 (1923), from Osaka was affixed to the postcard.

It depicted early mail delivery in the Meiji era, showing a postal worker on horseback and a horse-drawn carriage, which began in 1871, contrasting past and present postal transport methods (within the card modern transport like rail and shipping is shown).

HISTORICAL CONTEXT: 

The first modern postal service connected Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka in 1871. Baron Maejima Hisoka, who proposed the system and coined the Japanese word for postage stamp (kitte), is featured in an inset photo on the original card.

Deutsche Bundespost NASA-ESA Mission with Dr Ulf Merbold

DEUTSCHE BUNDESPOST issued a 40 Pfennig stamp  the Space Shuttle orbiter showing its solid rocket boosters.  The design was associated with the "Industrie 4.0 Weltraumlabor" (Industry 4.0 Space Laboratory) theme. The cancellation postmark originated from Houston, TX, dated 28 November 1983. It was issued in conjunction with the STS-9 joint NASA-ESA mission aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. The STS-9 mission focused on scientific research in microgravity. 

It was the first flight of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Spacelab module. Ulf Merbold was the first non-US citizen and West German to fly on a NASA space mission. 

The USPS 13c stamp of the US Flag over Independence Hall on this postcard was from the Bicentennial Series, first issued on 12 April 1976. It featured the 13-star Betsy Ross flag above a depiction of Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

Vietnam Cong Hoa "Strategic Hamlets"

VIETNAM CONG HOA (South Vietnam) on 26 October 1962 issued a First Day Cover  set of stamps and cachet to commemorate the "Strategic Hamlets" programme (known in Vietnamese as Ấp Chiến Lược), a counter-insurgency plan during the Vietnam War. Two of four stamps in the set included one green (1₫) and one orange (0₫50), depicting soldiers guarding a fortified settlement. Postmark cancellation originated from Saigon, South Vietnam.

USSR XXIV International Astronautical Congress (IAC)

USSR  in 1973 issued a  cover commemorating the XXIV International Astronautical Congress (IAC) held in Baku, USSR. It combined several commemorative stamps and postmarks related to Soviet space exploration. 

- Three 10-kopeck stamps from a 1970 series commemorating the Luna 16 robotic probe, the first mission to return lunar soil samples automatically to Earth. The stamps depict the probe's soft landing on the Moon, the return capsule launch, and its parachute landing back on Earth.

- A 4-kopeck stamp (date 1965) and a 10-kopeck stamp (date 1978/79) appear to be related to other Soviet space achievements or general postal use.

- A stamp with cosmonauts V.V. Kovalyonok and A.S. Ivanchenkov who spent 140 days in space as part of the Soyuz-29/Salyut-6/Soyuz-31 mission.

Deutsche Demokratisch Republik 10th Anniversary of the Soviet-DDR Manned Spacefligh

DEUTSCHE DEMOKRATISCH REPUBLIK issued a First Day Cover stamp on 24 June 1988 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the joint Soviet-DDR manned spaceflight. The stamp featured cosmonauts Sigmund Jähn and Valery Bykovsky who manned the joint spaceflight. Sigmund Jähn, the first German in space, is seen  signing the returned space capsule. The stamp had a face value of 5 DDR Pfennig.

Jähn, an East German Air Force pilot, flew aboard the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 31 to the Salyut 6 space station on 26 August 1978. He was accompanied by Soviet cosmonaut Valery Bykovsky. The mission was part of the Soviet Intercosmos programme and lasted for nearly eight days. 

During his time in space, Jähn performed various scientific experiments. These included technical experiments with the MKF-6 multispectral camera for remote sensing of the Earth's surface, material science experiments on crystallization, like the formation, recrystallization, and the cultivation of a monocrystal. He also conducted medical experiments on how weightlessness affects speech, occupational psychological studies, testing the hearing sensitivity of regular crew members, biological experiments on cellular growth under weightlessness, and the connection between microorganisms with organic polymers and inorganic substances.

As of 2024, twelve German astronauts have travelled to space and conducted scientific research. Dr. Ulf Merbold was the first West German in space and the only German to have made the journey the most often -- three times