China Post Miscellaneous Stamps

CHINA POST miscellaneous stamps from a collector.

The "540" stamp was part of joint China-Germany issue.

Russian Post Miscellaneous Stamps

 

RUSSIAN POST (Pochta Rossii) miscellaneous postage stamps received from a fellow collector.

Ukrposhta (Ukraine Post) German National Minority of Ukraine

UKRPOSHTA (Ukraine Post) in 2020 issued four first day cover stamps dedicated to the German minority in Ukraine. This was another set of stamps in their long running national minorities of  Ukraine. 

Designer: Mikolai Kochubei
Paper: chalky
Printing process: offset
Perforation: comb 13 1/4
Size of a stamp: 30 x 40,50 mm.
Printing run: 130.000

Illustrations:
9.00 (G). multicoloured. Architecture.
9.00 (G). multicoloured. Farming.
9.00 (G). multicoloured. Music.
9.00 (G). multicoloured. Folk Dance.

 

Ukrposhta (Ukraine Post) Jewish National Minorities of Ukraine

UKRPOSHTA (Ukraine Post) in 2016 issued four first day cover stamps dedicated to the Jewish minority in Ukraine. This was another set of stamps in their long running national minorities of  Ukraine series. 

Designer: Mikolai Kochubei
Paper: chalky
Printing process: offset
Perforation: comb 13 1/4
Size of a stamp: 30 x 40,50 mm.
Printing run: 130.000

Illustrations:
3.00 (G). multicoloured. Dance "Freilachs".
4.40 (G). multicoloured. Religious feast.
4.40 (G). multicoloured. Synagogue. Zhovka.
5.40 (G). multicoloured. Tailor.

Russian Post Dagestan Heritage

RUSSIAN POST (Pochta Rossii) in 2008 issued a series of stamps on the art heritage of Dagestan, in particular their traditional attire, headdress and jewelry. Shown here is the mini souvenir sheet.

The people of Dagestan include a large variety of ethnicities. According to the 2010 Census, Northeast Caucasians (including Avars, Dargins, Lezgins, Laks, Tabasarans, and Chechens) make up almost 75% of the population of Dagestan. Turkic peoples, Kumyks, Azerbaijanis, and Nogais make up 21%, and Russians 3.6%. Other ethnicities (e.g. Tats) each account for less than 0.4% of the total population.

Dagestanis are largely Sunni Muslims, of the Shafi rites, that has been in place for centuries. On the Caspian coast, particularly in and around the port city of Derbent, the population (primarily made up of Azerbaijanis) is Shia. There is also a Salafi population, which is often a target of official repression.

China Post 70th Anniversary of Korean War

CHINA POST in 2020 issued a first day cover stamp and maxi card marking the 70th anniversary of China’s entry into the Korean War to fight on behalf of North Korea. 

In October 1950, Chinese troops crossed the border into North Korea at the Yalu River (depicted on maxi card) to fight the U.S.-led U.N. forces. Beijing says just under 200,000 Chinese died in the Korean War, while some U.S. estimates have put that figure at 900,000.

The Korean War remains the only time China has gone to war with the U.S., which was commanding United Nations forces in the 1950-1953 conflict.

Pos Malaysia 75th Anniversary of Radio Televisyen Malaysia

POS MALAYSIA in April 2021 marked the 75th Anniversary of Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) with four First Day Cover stamps. The stamp sheet commemorates RTM’s progress in each era - The Radio Era, The Radio and Television Era, The Coloured Television Era and The Digital and Multimedia Era. This was a limited edition release with only 2,000 folder sets for sale.

 

 

 

 

Correios de Moçambique Tsutomu Yamaguchi

CORREIOS DE MOÇAMBIQUE in 2010 issued a series of commemorative stamps honouring Tsutomu Yamaguchi (1916 – 2010), a Japanese marine engineer and a survivor of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings during World War II. Although at least 70 people are known to have been affected by both bombings, he was the only person to have been officially recognised by the government of Japan as surviving both explosions.

A resident of Nagasaki, Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on business for his employer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries when the city was bombed at 8:15 AM, on August 6, 1945. He returned to Nagasaki the following day and, despite his wounds, he returned to work on August 9, the day of the second atomic bombing. That morning, whilst he was being berated by his supervisor as "crazy" after describing how one bomb had destroyed the city, the Nagasaki bomb detonated. In 1957, he was recognized as a hibakusha ("explosion-affected person") of the Nagasaki bombing, but it was not until March 24, 2009, that the government of Japan officially recognised his presence in Hiroshima three days earlier. 

Source: Wikipedia

PostNord Sverige Swedish Film History

POSTNORD SVERIGE (formerly Posten AB) in 1981 issued their first maxi card with a first day cover stamp commemorating the history of film in Sweden. The film PostNord Sverige chose to profile was Ingmar Bergman's award-winning film, "Cries & Wispers."

This 1972 Swedish period film is set in a mansion at the end of the 19th century. It is about three sisters and a servant (Anna) who struggle with the terminal cancer of one of the sisters (Agnes). The servant is close to her and prays devoutly, while the other two sisters confront their emotional distance from each other. While Agnes' sisters remain emotionally distant, Anna comforts the suffering Agnes by baring her breasts and holding her at night. It is this scene which is highlighted in the stamp.

Academic Arthur Gibson likened it to Michelangelo's Pietà, saying "Anna is holding in her arms the pain and loneliness and sin of the world caught up in the innocent Divine Sufferer." Film scholar Marc Gervais suggested that to Bergman "a touch, on certain occasions, can make life." 

Source: wikipedia
 

 

La Poste France da Vinci Portrait of Isabelle D'Este

LA POSTE FRANCE in 1986 issued this first day cover stamp of Leonardo da Vinci's portrait of   Isabella D'Este.

Isabella d'Este (1474 – 1539) was Marchioness of Mantua and one of the leading women of the Italian Renaissance as a major cultural and political figure. She was a patron of the arts as well as a leader of fashion, whose innovative style of dressing was copied by women throughout Italy and at the French court.

She served as the regent of Mantua during the absence of her husband, Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua, and the minority of her son, Federico, Duke of Mantua. In 1500 she met King Louis XII of France in Milan on a diplomatic mission to persuade him not to send his troops against Mantua.

Isabella played an important role in Mantua during the city's troubled times. When her husband was captured in 1509 and held hostage in Venice, she took control of Mantua's military forces and held off the invaders until his release in 1512. In the same year, 1512, she was the hostess at the Congress of Mantua, which was held to settle questions concerning Florence and Milan. As a ruler, she appeared to have been much more assertive and competent than her husband. When apprised of this fact upon his return, Francesco was furious and humiliated at being upstaged by his wife's superior political ability. This caused their marriage to break down irrevocably. After the death of her husband, Isabella ruled Mantua as regent for her son Federico.

Source: Wikipedia

La Poste France Marytrs of Deportation Memorial

LA POSTE FRANCE in 1983 issued this first day cover stamp and maxi card commemorating the Memorial to the Marytrs of Deportation during WWII.

The Mémorial des Martyrs de la Déportation (English: "Memorial to the Martyrs of the Deportation") is a memorial to the 200,000 people (mostly French Jews) who were deported from Vichy France to the Nazi concentration camps during World War II. It is located in Paris, France, on the site of a former morgue, underground behind Notre Dame on Île de la Cité. It was designed by French modernist architect Georges-Henri Pingusson and was inaugurated by Charles de Gaulle in 1962.

A "flame of eternal hope" burns and The Tomb of the Unknown Deportee bears the inscription: "Dedicated to the living memory of the 200,000 French deportees sleeping in the night and the fog, exterminated in the Nazi concentration camps." At the exit to the chamber is the injunction, engraved, found at all sites memorializing the victims of the Nazis: "Forgive but never forget."

 

 

Source: Wikipedia

China Post The Silk Road

CHINA POST in 2012 issued a series of commemorative stamps dedicated to the ancient Silk Road. Shown here are the stamps and mini souvenir sheet.

Stamps were entitled:

- Strong Pass in Desert (Green Horse)
- Mystic Ancient Lands (Pitcher)
- Scences of the Western Regions (White Horse)
- Ancient City with Thousands of Years' History (Black Camel)

Designers: Chen Jingyi, Hui Bin, Li Qun

Hellenic Post Greek Independence from the Ottoman Empire

HELLENIC POST (ELTA) in 1982 issued this first day cover stamp and maxi card commemorate the War of Greek Independence was was fought from 1821 until 1832. It began as a rebellion of Greeks within the Ottoman Empire, a struggle which resulted in the establishment of an independent kingdom of Greece.

La Poste France Hansi La Promenade

LA POSTE FRANCE in 2009 issued this first day cover stamp and maxi card of "La Promenade",  of children in Alsatian costumes, circa 1917.  It was one of many works by Hansi who hailed from Colmar, Alsace.

Jean-Jacques Waltz ((1873-1951), also known as "Oncle Hansi", or simply "Hansi" ("Little John") was a French artist of Alsatian origin. Hansi became famous with his polemical satiric work Professor Knatschke (1912), which became a best-seller in France, as well as several other militant works. He came to incarnate the symbol of pro-French Alsatians, especially among "revanchist" French intellectuals.

For making fun of German military and professors, he was imprisoned several times by the German authorities, culminating in a one-year sentence given by the tribunal of Leipzig in July 1914. He escaped to France, where he joined the military as a translator-officer when the First World War broke out.

In 1940, Hansi, still wanted by the Gestapo for his militant works and his treason of 1914, had to flee into Vichy France. He was attacked by the Nazis in Agen, and fled to Switzerland. Badly wounded because of this attack, he remained weak until he died in 1951.

 Source: Wikipedia

Russian Post The Way to Victory - Berlin Offensive Operation

RUSSIAN POST (Pochta Rossii) in 2020 issued a series of 75th anniversary first day cover stamps entitled "Way to the Victory," which celebrated the Soviet victories of World War II. Shown here is the Berlin Offensive Operation.

The Berlin Offensive Operation (April 16 - May 8, 1945) was the final stage of the Great Patriotic War, during which the Soviet troops defeated more than 500,000 enemy forces and stormed the German capital, Berlin.

The circulation of this maxi card was limited to 10 copies. Designer paper: 300 g/m2.

Russian Post Way to the Victory - Battle of Battle of Königsberg

 

RUSSIAN POST (Pochta Rossii) in 2020 issued a series of 75th anniversary of first day cover stamps entitled "Way to the Victory," which celebrated the Soviet victories of World War II. Shown here is the Battle of Königsberg.

The Battle of Königsberg, also known as the Königsberg offensive, was one of the last operations of the East Prussian offensive during World War II. In four days of urban warfare, Soviet forces of the 1st Baltic Front and the 3rd Belorussian Front captured the city of Königsberg, present day Kaliningrad, Russia. The siege started in late January 1945 when the Soviets initially surrounded the city. Heavy fighting took place for control of overland connection between Königsberg and the port of Pillau, however by March 1945 Königsberg was hundreds of kilometres behind the main front line in the eastern front. The battle ended when the German garrison surrendered to the Soviets on 9 April after a three-day assault made their position untenable.

This maximum card uses a stamp depicting in bas-relief a group of soldiers in the Battle of Königsberg. The circulation of this maxi card was limited to 10 copies. Designer paper: 300 g/m2.

 

Russian Post Way to the Victory - Siege of Sevastopol and Crimean Campaign

RUSSIAN POST (Pochta Rossii) in 2020 issued a series of 75th anniversary first day cover stamps entitled "Way to the Victory," which celebrated the Soviet victories of World War II. In the continuation of this series, the battle for Crimea and the defense of Sevastopol is featured on this maxi card. 

Soviet forces are shown in combat with soldiers of Nazi Germany  during the Siege of Sevastopol and Crimean Campaign which lasted from September 24, 1941, to July 4, 1942. Sevastopol was a key naval base of the Black Sea fleet, where Red Army soldiers and sailors displayed heroism and valour. During the 10 months of the siege, the Soviet forces contained Nazi Germany on the southern front and prevented them from launching an offensive on the Caucasus.

This maximum card uses a stamp depicting in bas-relief a group of soldiers in the battle for the Crimea and Siege of Sevastopol during the Second World War II. The circulation of this maxi card was limited to 10 copies. Designer paper: 300 g/m2. 

Russian Post Way to the Victory - Prague Offensive

RUSSIAN POST (Pochta Rossii) in 2020 issued a series of 75th anniversary first day cover stamps entitled "Way to the Victory," which celebrated the Soviet victories of World War II. Shown here is the Prague Offensive.

The Prague Offensive operation (May 6–11, 1945) was the last strategic operation of the Red Army in World War II, during which the German Army Group Centre and part of the Army Group South were destroyed, Czechoslovakia and its capital Prague were liberated.

The gold embossed postage stamp depicts a meeting of a group of Soviet soldiers with liberated residents in Prague. The circulation of this maxi card was limited to 10 copies. Designer paper: 300 g/m2.

 

Russian Post Way to the Victory - Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation

 

RUSSIAN POST (Pochta Rossii) in 2020 issued a series of 75th anniversary first day cover stamps entitled "Way to the Victory," which celebrated the Soviet victories of World War II. Shown here is the embossed gold stamp with maxi card of the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation.

The Manchurian Operation (August 9 - September 2, 1945) was the final offensive of the Armed Forces of the USSR and the troops of the People's Revolutionary Army of Mongolia during World War II, which resulted in the liberation of the territories of China and Korea occupied by the Imperial Japanese forces, the unconditional surrender of Japan, and the transfer of the Kuril Islands and southern Sakhalin to the USSR.

The circulation of this maxi card was limited to 10 copies. Designer paper: 300 g/m2. 

Poste Vaticane 50 Anniversary of Vatican Radio

POSTE VATICANE  in 1981 issued a first day cover stamps marking the 50th Anniversary of Vatican Radio. The cachet on the envelope features Pope Pious XI, future Pope Pious XII and Guglielmo Marconi. The stamps depict Marconi and Pope Pious XI, Pope John Paul II, old Vatican Radio microphone and Vatican Radio antenna and statue.

Canada Post Marks Radio Canada International Transmitter Site

CANADA POST in 1971 issued a First Day Cover stamp of Radio Canada International's then-new transmitters at Sackville, New Brunswick. 

Indeed, their 100 kW transmitters could be heard anywhere in the world. In the western United States where I lived at the time, their signal would pin the S-meter on my Realistic DX-160 to the max  In Malaysia, their Sackville transmissions could be received as well, usually in the winter months on 9.620 kHz. The Sackville facility has since been razed and RCI no longer broadcasts from Canada.

Post Luxembourg of Radio Luxembourg

POST LUXEMBOURG in 1955 issued a First Day Cover stamp and Maxi Card of Radio Luxembourg studio and antenna array.

Any radio listener, particularly shortwave radio hobbyists, will remember Radio Luxembourg. The station was heard all around the world. I certainly do. I was living in a suburb north of Denver in 1977. I distinctly recall listening to the Paul McCartney & Wings hit song, "Mull of Kintyre" over Radio Luxembourg. Happy days!

Italian Post Miscellaneous Stamps

ITALIAN POST stamps shown here were received from collectors in Italy.

USPS Jim Henson's The Muppets

USPS in 2005 a series of 37-cent stamps commemorating director, producer, writer, and puppeteer Jim Henson (1936-1990), creator of The Muppets. This sheetlet featured 10 stamps and a photograph of Jim Henson taken by Norman Seeff in New York City in 1986. The stamps depicted the Muppet characters most famous for their roles in "The Muppet Show" and the various Muppet movies.

The muppets depicted include:
• Kermit the Frog
• Sam the Eagle
• Statler and Waldorf
• Animal
• Rowlf the Dog
• Fozzie Bear
• Miss Piggy
• Swedish Chef
• Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant, Beaker
• Great Gonzo and Camille the Chicken