Ethiopian Postal Serice Ancient Rulers of Ethiopia (Series 2)

ETHIOPIAN POSTAL SERVICE (The Ministry of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones of the Imperial Ethiopian Government) in 1964 issued of the fourth and last series of stamps depicting some of the greatest ancient Leaders of Ethiopia. This issue of six stamps starts with the Emperor Sertse Dengel, Founder of the Gondar Dynasty who began to reign in 1571, and ends with the Emperor Menelik II who died in 1913. The stamps were written in English and Amharic. Harrison & Sons Ltd were the printers.

- 5c - SERTSE DENGEL (1563-1597) The Emperor Sertse Dengel came to power shortly after Ahmen Gragn’s invasion was overcome with immense struggle.

- 10c - FASILIDAS (1632-1667) The Gondar Dynasty began to flower in the reign of Emperor Fasilidas.

- 20c - EYASU THE GREAT (1682-1706) The City of Gondar which had grown in glory during the reign of the Emperor Sosnios, Fasilidas and John I attained the summit of its splendor during the reign of the Emperor Eyasu I.

- 25c - THEODORE II (1855-1868) The last 80 years of the Gondar Period of Ethiopian History are called the “Period of the Princes”.

- 60c - JOHN IV (1872-1889) The Emperor John was a sovereign who was devout, heroic and a great patriot.

- 80c - MENELIK II (1889-1913) The Emperor Theodore united the northern and central parts of Ethiopia and thus accomplished the first part of the task of unifying the Nation.

Ethiopian Postal Service Ancient Rulers of Ethiopia (Series 1)

ETHIOPIAN POSTAL SERVICE  (The Ministry of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones of the Imperial Ethiopian Government) were issued on 2 November 1962 issued seven stamps honouring the ancient rulers of Ethiopia (Abyssinia). These colourful stamps featured an inset illustration of each ruler whereas the main visual represented their historic feat. The stamps were written in English and Amharic. Harrison & Son Ltd were the printers.  The artwork was created by renowned Ethiopian artist, Afewerk Tekle. This particular cover, while not the original 1962 FDC, contains all seven stamps and originated from Ethiopia and dated 1964. Destination was Switzerland.

The seven stamps:
- 10c - King Bazen with Madonna and stars over Bethlehem.
- 15c - King Ezana was ruler of the Kingdom of Aksum (Eritrea) who defeated the Kingdom of Kush.
- 20c - King Kaleb and fleet in Port Adulis.
 - 50c - Gebre Mesqel Lalibela, King of Ethiopia and church of Saint George located in the rocky hills of Lalibela.
- 60c - King Tesfa Iyasus (Yekuno Amlak) was Emperor of Ethiopia  and the founder of the Solomonic Dynasty.
- 1$ - King Lebna Dengel (King Dawit II) and battle against Mohammed Gragn.

Ethiopian Postal Service 100th Victory Anniversary of The Battle of Adwa

ETHIOPIAN POSTAL SERVICE on 2nd March 1996 issued a series of six commemorative stamps marking the centennial victory of the Battle of Adwa. The cachet on this envelope depicts the then victorious Emperor of Ethiopia, Menelik II. Designer was Bogale Belachew. The printer was Harrison & Sons Ltd. Perforation was comb13½ x 14½ using an Offset Lithography printing method.

The Battle of Adwa  was the climactic battle of the First Italo-Ethiopian War. The Ethiopian forces defeated the Italian invading force on 1 March 1896, near the town of Adwa. The decisive victory thwarted the campaign of the Kingdom of Italy to expand its colonial empire in the Horn of Africa. By the end of the 19th century, European powers had carved up almost all of Africa after the Berlin Conference; only Ethiopia and Liberia still maintained their independence. Adwa became a pre-eminent symbol of pan-Africanism and secured Ethiopian sovereignty until the Second Italo-Ethiopian War forty years later.

Source: Wikipedia

Ethiopian Postal Service Traditional Ethiopian Jewelry

ETHIOPIAN POSTAL SERVICE issued on 14 May 1976 a set of four 20c stamps depicting Ethiopian jewelry. These multicolour First Day Cover stamps were printed by Courvoisier (Helio Courvoisier) S. A., using a Photogravure method. Perforation was comb 11¾.

Ethiopian Postal Service Traditional Hair Styles of Ethiopian Women - Series 2

ETHIOPIAN POSTAL SERVICE issued on 28 April 1977 a series of stamps depicting the regional hair styles of Ethiopian women - 2nd  Series. The stamps included hair styles from the Wollega, Gojjam, Tigre, Harrar, Gemu Gofa, Sidamo and Wollo. The designer was Alle Felege Selam. The printer was Hélio Courvoisier S.A., La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerlan. The Printing Process was 4-Colour Lithography.

Regional Hair Styles:
0.05 Ethiopian Birr - Hair Style from Wollega
0.10 Ethiopian Birr - Hair Style from Gojjam
0.15 Ethiopian Birr - Hair Style from Tigre
0.20 Ethiopian Birr - Hair Style from Harrar
0.25 Ethiopian Birr - Hair Style from Gemu Gofa
0.40 Ethiopian Birr - Hair Style from Sidamo
0.50 Ethiopian Birr - Hair Style from Wollo

Ethiopian Postal Service Traditional Hair Styles of Ethiopian Women - Series 1

ETHIOPIAN POSTAL SERVICE issued on 15 December 1975 a series of stamps depicting the regional hair styles of Ethiopian women - 1st Series. The stamps included hair styles from the Illubador,  Arussi, Eritrea, Kaffa, Begemder and Shoa. The designer was Alle Felege Selam. The printer was Hélio Courvoisier S.A., La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerlan. The Printing Process was 4-Colour Lithography.

Regional Hair Styles:
0.05 Ethiopian Birr - Hair Style from Illubador
0.15 Ethiopian Birr - Hair Style from Arussi
0.20 Ethiopian Birr - Hair Style from Eritrea
0.35 Ethiopian Birr - Hair Style from Kaffa
0.50 Ethiopian Birr - Hair Style from Begemder
0.60 Ethiopian Birr - Hair Style from Shoa

Transkei Post Xhosa Women’s Headdresses

TRANSKEI POST on 28 August 1981 issued four stamps on Xhosa Women’s Headdresses.

The souvenir sheets shown here included:
  5c - Eyamakhwenkwe
15c - Eyabafana
20c - Umfazana (Young Married Woman)
25c - Ixhegokazi (Old Woman)

Republik of Bosna I Hercegovina 10th Anniversary of Srebrenica Massacre

REPUBLIK OF BOSNA I HERCEGOVINA in 2005 issued a commemorative 10th anniversary stamp marking the Srebrenica Massacre, also known as Srebrenica Genocide. Two images on a vertical stamp depict women at a graveside memorial praying and grieving over departed victims. The stamp's illustration was created by Bosnian Muslim artist Mersad Berber; these two paintings are  from his portfolio entitled "Never Forget Srebrenica". 

This stamp is very difficult to document as so little information is available about it. This stamp, along with two Dutch stamps, are the only known commemorative stamps dedicated to the Srebrenica Massacre.

The Srebrenica Massacre occurred in July 1995, during the Bosnian War. It culminated after three years of fighting over Srebrenica territory and finally resulted in the genocidal killing of more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys in and around the town of Srebrenica. Minors not transported to safety by the UN met the same grim fate: 600 minors, including babies, toddlers, children and teens, were also summarily executed and dumped into mass graves. Multiple rapes and suicides also happened.

A list of missing or killed people during the massacre compiled by the Bosnian Federal Commission of Missing Persons contains 8,372 names. As of July 2012, 6,838 genocide victims have been identified through DNA analysis of body parts recovered from mass graves; as of July 2021, 6,671 bodies have been buried at the Memorial Centre of Potočari, while another 236 have been buried elsewhere.

Bosnian Serbs reject the classification of genocide and dispute the high number of dead. Despite their account, much testimony and evidence provided during the subsequent trials at the The Hague and courts elsewhere, prove otherwise. The 'ethnic cleansing' was described as extensive, horrific and graphic in detail.

As of July 2021, the UN court in The Hague has upheld the life sentence handed down to former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic. This makes the number of life terms imposed for involvement in the Srebrenica genocide to five. Among the other convicts sentenced to life have so far included Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic,  wartime chiefs of security of the Bosnian Serb Army’s Main Headquarters, Zdravko Tolimir and Ljubisa Beara, and Vujadin Popovic, who was the assistant commander of security for the Bosnian Serb Army’s Drina Corps. Besides them, a total of 48 individuals have been sentenced to more than 700 years in prison by courts in The Hague, Sarajevo and Belgrade for involvement in crimes related to the Srebrenica massacres.

Source: Wikipedia and Balkan Insight

Polish Post German Camp for Polish Children in Łódź (1942-1945)

POLISH POST on 8 December 2022, issued a First Day Cover recognising the "German Camp (KZ Kinder) for Polish Children in Łódź (1942-1945)". he stamp shows two figures of children behind barbed wire, symbolising the trauma of imprisonment and suffering in captivity.

The stamps were printed using the offset technique, on fluorescent paper, in the format of 31.25 x 43 mm, in a circulation of 144,000. The sales sheet contained 12 stamps. The project author was Jan Konarzewski.

Kinder-KZ Litzmannstadt (German: Polen-Jugendverwahrlager der Sicherheitspolizei in Litzmannstadt, Polish: Prewencyjny Obóz Policji Bezpieczeństwa dla Młodzieży Polskiej w Łodzi) was a Nazi German concentration camp for Polish Christian children in occupied Łodź during World War II, established in December 1942 adjacent to the Litzmannstadt Ghetto where Polish Jews were imprisoned before the Holocaust.

The prisoners were Polish children of deported Poles from all Polish provinces. The Nazis kept an eye out for Polish children with Nordic racial characteristics, those among them found to be classified as "racially valuable" were sent from here to the German Reich for adoption and Germanisation to be raised as Germans. About 3,000 (between 12,000 and 13,000 according to International Tracing Service) children were forced into passing through the camp. The 1,600 child labourers performed work closely connected with the industrial output of the ghetto, with Jewish instructors. The youngest ones on record were merely two years old, while most of them were aged between 8 and 14.

After the end of German occupation in Łódź (after January 19, 1945),  older children left the camp and went alone to their family homes. Some of the younger children did so too, but soon afterwards they returned to the camp, because they could not cope with life outside its fence. Hence, they were taken by the reviving services and charity and care organisations.

Source: Polish Post and Wikipedia

 

Thuringen (Soviet Zone) Reconstruction of Bridges in the DDR

THURINGEN (POST-WWII SOVIET  OCCUPIED ZONE) on 30 March 1946 issued a set of imperforate stamps  to publicise the reconstruction of bridges in the Soviet zone state of Thuringen. The surtax went to aid in the reconstruction projects. The four stamps depicted the Saalburg Bridge, the Camsdorf Bridge in Jena, the Goschwitz Bridge, and the Ilm Bridge in Mellingen. all in the German Democratic Republic (DDR).

The Soviet zone state of Thuringen, or Thuringia in English, has been continuously inhabited since the beginning of the 4th Century. In 1945, the state of Thuringen was expanded by the Soviets to include parts of Prussian Saxony and the areas around Erfurt, Mühlhausen, and Nordhausen. Erfurt, which dates back to the 8th Century, became the new capital of the East German state.

Source:  WWW Stamp Collecting World

Spanish Sahara Nomads and their Attire in the Sahara

SPANISH SAHARA in 1972 issued 11 definitive stamps showing the nomads of Spanish Sahara in their native attire. The First Day Cover stamps here were postmarked in March, April and June 1972. All stamps were printed in Spain.

New Zealand Post 100th Anniversary of the Founding of Canterbury Settlement - 1950

NEW ZEALAND POST in 1950 issued a five commemorative stamps marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of Canterbury, New Zeealand. The 1d, 6d and 1s designs were completed by J Berry, the 2d by L C Mitchell and the 3d by J A Johnstone. The printer was Bradbury Wilkinson, England. Stamp sizes were 1d and 3d: 24mm x 40mm;  2d, 6d and 1s: 40mm x 24mm. Sheet Size was 120 stamps per sheet Perforation Gauge was 13.5. Paper Type used was Wiggins Teape 'Royal Cypher', multiple NZ and star watermark. The cachet on the First Day Cover is an illustration of Canterbuury. The postmark originated from 20 November 1950.

 

 The 1d, 6d and 1s designs were completed by J Berry, the 2d by L C Mitchell and the 3d by J A Johnstone.

Single 1d -  '
Christchurch Cathedral'. This fine building stands in Cathedral Square, Christchurch.

Single 2d - 'Memorial to Pioneer Women'. This stamp commemorates those pioneer women who crossed the hills from Lyttelton to Christchurch on foot.

Single 3d - 'John Robert Godley'. Leader of the Canterbury Association's venture and the Founder of the Province.

Single 6d  - 'Canterbury University College'. Now known as  the University of Canterbury.

Single 1s - 'Timaru'. An aerial view including Caroline Bay.  The city's Coat of Arms and motto appear at the bottom of the stamp.

Royal Mail Great Achievements in British Design

THE ROYAL MAIL on 13 January 2009 issued a splendid set of 10 stamps celebrating the greatest achievements of British design. Designers HGV sourced examples of each of the objects, which were then photographed by Jason Tozer. Finally captions, values and Machin heads were added. The 35mm square stamps were printed by Cartor Security Printers of France in lithography, perf 14½, in sheets of 30/60. Three were 22 special postmarks for the day of issue, after which they were not available.

The stamps included:

1st Class – Supermarine Spitfire

The superlative Battle of Britain fighter with its distinctive elliptical wings was designed by R J Mitchell who sadly died before the plane went into production.

1st Class Large – Mini Skirt

Mary Quant rewrote the fashion rules for women forever with her daring design.

1st Class – The Mini

Sir Alec Issigonis made use of every available space in the small car that was as much a fashion statement as a means of transport.

1st Class – Anglepoise Lamp

George Carwardine’s flexible design brought light wherever it was needed.

1st Class – Concorde

Aerospatiale and BAC’s supersonic jet was capable of twice the speed of sound and beautiful to look at too.

1st Class – K2 Telephone Kiosk

Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s design bright-red phone box always stood out on the streets of the UK.

1st Class – Polypropylene Chair

Found in public buildings throughout the world, almost everyone will have sat on a Robin Day chair at some time.

1st Class – Penguin Books

Edward Young’s book jacket design was instantly recognisable as a Penguin edition.

1st Class – London Underground Map

Harry Beck’s easy to understand design was based on an electrical wiring diagram.

1st Class – Routemaster Bus

Once a symbol of London to visitors from all over the world now only a few of Douglas Scott and Colin Curtis’s remain on London’s streets.