Behind the Stamp

 I will be archiving this blog. There's no way in hell that I will ever, EVER turn a profit from my 6 months of work.  I've lost motivation to continue, and school's coming up. I've started a new WordPress blog, and you can find it here here . So this is the last post ever. Goodbye.

Australia- home to dogs and spiders that murder you, and bears that fall out of the sky. That's one part of it. The next part of it is where the people live - the southeast! Home to cities like Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, and Canberra, people ACTUALLY LIVE HERE (or at least more than 5). There's this one highway that goes from Sydney all the way to Adelaide - the Prince's Highway. Built in 1920, it's an almost 2000 kilometer long route that goes from Sydney thru Wollongong, Melbourne, Geelong, Adelaide, and ending at Port Augusta, SA. Stamp Description The stamps feature the cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Geelong, and Mount Gambier, featuring a vintage style poster for each. Under that, the city name and the caption "Princes Highway 1920-2020" with the value on the bottom. In the Mount Gambier stamp, it shows two people sitting on a hill overlooking the Blue and Valley Lakes; in the Geelong one, it depicts Waterfront Park, looking out towards the harbor; f...

Washington DC is home to a great amount of sites, memorials, fancy buildings, lack of votes in Congress, and taxes; one of these great sites is the World War II memorial, commemorating the lost lives in the war. A totem is there for every single state, with thousands of gold stars for the dead, surrounding a large fountain in the middle. The foliage and decor puts the memorial in direct view of the Lincoln Memorial, giving a very pretty This stamp shows the memorial against a sunset; this was only the planned version, as the actual memorial hadn't been finished yet. It was issued in Washington DC, on May 29, 2004, in zip code 20060, shown above. It's worth 37 US cents.

   Brexit: the one political joke that will almost never get old. Delayed by a year, Brexit was the UK's attempt to try to pull itself out of the EU and unintentionally trying to destroy the Good Friday Agreement. But, we did get a new stamp out of this (from Austria, of all people). Shown to the left, this stamp depicts a map of the current European Union, highlighted in blue, and the UK, in gray. To the left of that, two dates, one crossed out. That is the original date for Brexit, and the release of the stamp, which was delayed by a year. These are worth  €1.80 and were released on Jan 31, 2020 in Vienna, Austria. Stay safe, and wear a face mask.

Europa Stamps, found all across Europe, are extremely fun to collect. They feature a different theme each year, and each country comes up with a creative stamp to add to the set. For example, in 2018, the year's theme was "Bridges". This week, and yet another one very difficult to research, Armenia. Armenia's submission shows the Tsakkar Natural Bridge near Lake Sevan, the largest lake in the country, and in the town of Tsakkar. I couldn't find any other things that were in English, and therefore my very limited research ends here. This is a very short article, the next one will be out soon. The stamp is worth 350 Armenian Dram. To left: FDC courtesy of Armenia Post.

The Indian Pacific - a railroad to trump all others. It crosses the whole of Australia, going all the way from Sydney to Perth. 70-75 hours of a barren landscape in what is basically first class. The stamp shows an Indian Pacific train in front of a sunset/sunrise, and under the words "Transcontinental Railway: 50 Years" and it's face value, AUD 1.10. The railroad was completed on February 8, 1970, meaning this year it celebrates its 50th anniversary. It was released on February 11, 2020. In 2010, Australia Post also released an Indian Pacific stamp, this time showing the whole train in the outback, in front of some mountains. That stamp was worth 55 Australian cents. This stamp was released on May 7, 2010 The Ghan is a railway that goes from Adelaide all the way to Darwin in the north. This stamp is part of the same set, showing a very pretty view of a train in the outback. This and the last stamp were released in May 7, 2010. It's worth 55 Australian cents...

Beijing won the bidding for the 2022 winter olympics, meaning lots of construction and lots of stamp issues to cover. China Post was undoubtedly the first with stamps showing the mascots, logo, and winter sports. The winter sports set is a pane of 4, with stamps showing cross country skiing, biathlon (rifle shooting and cross country), alpine skiing, and freestyle skiing, on top of some mountains and with the logo in the corner. They're worth RMB1.20 each. They were released on November 16, 2018 and were designed by Shen Jiahong. Stay home, and stay safe.

Royal Mail released this set of stamps to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Forestry Commission, the British equivalent of the US Forest Service. This set shows six stamps, each showing some forest in Britain. Going clockwise from the top left, the stamps show Glen Affric in Scotland, Sherwood Forest (yes, Robin Hood) in Nottinghamshire, Glenariff Forest in Northern Ireland, Kielder Forest in Northumberland, Coed y Brenin in Wales, and the National Arboretum in Gloustershire. The Forestry Commission was created in 1919, to protect the great forests across Britain, and to prevent deforestation in these forests. Logging was crazy back in the day, and forests were chopped down at increasing speeds.  The Forestry Commission was created to combat that and preserve Britain's forests for generations to come. These stamps were released on August 13, 2019, in East Molesey, London, UK.

In 2019, New Zealand Post released a set of stamps depicting the Te Araroa trail, which crosses the country top-bottom. It travels 3000 km (~1900 mi) from Cape Reinga in the north, to Bluff Point in the south, via Auckland, Tongariro NP, Wellington, the Cook Strait, and the entirety of the Southern Alps. Te Araroa is Maori for "The Long Pathway", which takes several (3-6) months to go the whole distance. Going back to the stamps, there are six total in the set. Going clockwise from the top left corner, the stamps show 90 Mile Beach, Tongariro, Nelson Lakes, Lake Hawea, Stag Saddle, and Karamu Walkway. This stamp was released on September 4, 2019, and was designed by Hannah Fortune. Stay home, and stay safe.

Enjoy the great outdoors, or at least virtually for now. This set features five stamps repeated twice on the paper. The stamps depict activities like building a sandcastle, cross-country skiing, hiking, biking, and canoeing. Fun fact: the full sheet for this stamp uses what I believe is the Rockwell Thin font. Please correct me if wrong. The stamp will be released on June 13, 2020, in Incline Village, NV; it has no set face value as it's a forever stamp. It was designed by Derry Noyes and Gregory Manchess. Stay home, and don't do any of the listed activities until at least July. Please don't.

Urban Transit was the theme chosen for a 2004 stamp set. It features metro and light rail systems from Calgary, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. It was released on April 30, 2004, in Toronto, ON. It was designed by Debbie Adams, a renowned stamp designer for Canada Post. Toronto Subway Toronto's subway system consists of four lines going all across the city. It currently has 75 stations, with 39 more in construction. It was opened in 1954, meaning it's the oldest subway in Canada. It's run jointly by the Toronto Transit Commission and the City of Toronto. Vancouver Skytrain Vancouver's Skytrain is a light rail system covering 54 stations across 3 lines. It's the longest rail transit system in the whole of Canada. It was opened for the 1986 World Expo, in which the theme was transportation. It's run by Translink and BC Rapid Transit. Surprisingly it's the newest one on this list. The Montreal Metro is the second oldest metro in Canada, and the ...

Europa Stamps, found all across Europe, are extremely fun to collect. They feature a different theme each year, and each country comes up with a creative stamp to add to the set. For example, in 2018, the year's theme was "Bridges". This week, we have a real fun one to research, Andorra. Andorra's submission was kinda a weird one. If you know anything about their geography, you'll know that they're sandwiched in the Pyrenees and in between France and Spain. That makes government operations weird, also meaning that they release two stamps for every Europa competition, one for French and one for Spanish post. Here, I'll talk about both. Time for a mega-article. Andorra (French 🇫🇷): This stamp features the Pont de la Tosca in Las Escaldes, a town right next to Andorra La Vella, the capital. The bridge crosses the Riu Madriu right next to the lifeline of the country, the Valira d'Orient. It is worth €1.20 and was released on May 5, 2018. Andorra (S...

Europa Stamps, found all across Europe, are extremely fun to collect. They feature a different theme each year, and each country comes up with a creative stamp to add to the set. For example, in 2018, the year's theme was "Bridges". This week, we have the second country/region alphabetically, which is Albania. Albania's entry was very hard to research, as all the pictures were far too blurry and half of the time consisted of me attempting to find these bridges on Google Maps. Anyways, the stamps depict the Gorica Bridge in Berat, and some bridge in Skhoder in the north of Albania. They are worth 200 and 250 Albanian Leks respectively. They were designed by Spiro Vlahu and released on October 25, 2018.

Europa Stamps, found all across Europe, are extremely fun to collect. They feature a different theme each year, and each country comes up with a creative stamp to add to the set. For example, in 2018, the year's theme was "Bridges". This is the start of a series that goes from A-Z for Europa stamps. Each post will feature one country. This week, we have the first country/region alphabetically, which is Åland. Åland's entry for the Europa 2018 stamps features the Bomarsund Bridge, one of only 2 arch bridges in Åland, which connects the municipalities of Bomarsund with Prästö. The stamp was designed by Sandra Henriksson and was released on May 9, 2018 in Mariehamn, the largest city in Åland. Shown: Single stamp (right), FDC (under)

Squaw Valley, California, was the host of the 1960 Winter Olympics, the 13th of it's kind. It's nomination was a surprise, considering it, in 1956, only had one lonely chair lift and was an unincorporated village, and that it beat the likes of Innsbruck (barely) and St. Moritz. Thirty countries came to participate in the Olympics that year. Today, you can still visit the location right next to Lake Tahoe and 30 miles from Reno as the crow flies, and 25 miles from Carson City as the crow flies. The stamp shows the Olympic rings over a snowflake, with all that under the words "XIII Winter Olympics", and is worth 4 US cents. On the side are the words "California 1960". At the bottom are the words "United States Postage". Shown: Single stamp (left), FDC Artcraft (bottom)

The World's Fair 1986 was held in Vancouver, Canada, with the theme of "Transport and Communications: World in Motion, World in Touch" Over 80 countries were in attendance at the fair, which lasted from May 2, 1986, to October 13, 1986. The four stamps feature different symbols of the event, showing a satellite, Canada Place, the monorail, and Science World, in no specific order under geometric patterns. The satellite stamp is worth 39 Canadian cents, and shows a satellite to the corner, with a satellite dish in the middle, adjacent to an old timey telephone. The words in the top left corner say "Communications, Vancouver" with the Expo 86 logo in the opposite corner. The Canada Place stamp shows Canada Place from the harbor, with the iconic very pointy roof with the Pan Pacific hotel in the back. There's a simple pattern of repeating maple leaves on top. In the top left, it says "Canada Pavillion/Pavillion du Canada, Vancouver", with the logo in...

The Antarctic Treaty stamp was released on June 23, 1971 in Washington D.C., and was designed by Howard Koslow.. The face value is 8 US cents. It commemorates the ten year anniversary of the signing of the Antarctic Treaty, signed by twelve countries originally to promise to keep Antarctica for research purposes only. It shows a map of Antarctica, adjacent to the words "Antarctic Treaty- 1961-1971".

I love the design of this stamp. It depicts a photo by Art Wolfe, showing the Big Sur coastline, arguably one of the most breathtaking places in California. The text at the bottom says "California" in shiny letters, in an art-deco style font.. It was designed by Carl Hermann, and was released on September 8, 2000, in Sacramento, California 95813. California joined the Union on September 9, 1850. It's a 33 US cent commemorative stamp.

This stamp, released during the cultural revolution, to celebrate every province creating a committee to control the cultural revolution in that specific province. You can see the government as a macro-manager, leaving the employees (provinces) to do their own work. You saw by the title, it's an error stamp. Why? When first published, the stamp didn't show Taiwan and the Spratly Islands as part of China. Taiwan was highlighted on the map, and the Spratlys were left off entirely. These stamps are now worth up to 3.7 million Hong Kong dollars (US$475,000/£290,000), sold in Hong Kong in 2009. Released November 24, 2019. Recalled same day.

The Royal Philatelic Society of the UK celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2019, hosting a huge exhibit in Stockholm, affectionately called "Stockholmia", a huge convention from May 29, 2019, to June 2, 2019. It consisted of over 300 contestants, using up 27,392 album pages in the displays. The stamps show many place in Stockholm, like the city hall, as well as antiques like rubber stamps. They are complemented with a contrail spelling "hello". Released May 29, 2019, in Windsor PO.

On December 10, 2019, the long-awaited Taipa Line of the Macao Light Rapid Transit (MLRT) opened to the public for service. This occasion was commemorated by Macau Post, creating a set of stamps for the trams. It shows a MLRT tram running across an elevated railway, similar to the ones in Vancouver. Released December 10, 2019. Shown: First Day Cover

Singapore is a very small city-state, but is completely packed with surprises. Those include many parks, and around 5 million people in 280 miles squared. Those parks include Admiralty, East Coast, Bishan-Ang Mo Kio, and Labrador parks, which were all featured on the Singapore National Day 2019 - Parks stamps. They all depict ordinary citizens who are having fun in the parks, surrounded by nature. Released August 9, 2019 in, well, Singapore.

For 2020, the EU chose the two cities of Galway, Ireland, and Rijeka, Croatia, as the Capitals of Culture for 2020. To commemorate this event, An Post and Croatia Post jointly issued postage stamps depicting Galway and Rijeka. Released January 23, 2020 in Galway. Shown: First Day Cover (An Post)

In 2013, the London Underground turned 150 years old! Royal Mail swooped in and created stamps to commemorate this huge milestone in London transport. They show specific scenes from throughout the Tube's history, from 1863, with the opening of the Metropolitan Line all the way to 1999, with the opening of Canary Wharf on the Jubilee. In order, the events are: 1863: The Metropolitan Line opens           Stamp shows a steam train approaching Paddington. 1898: Tunneling under London streets           Stamp shows construction workers working a boring machine under a street. 1911: Commute to the suburbs           Stamp shows Edwardian folk commuting in and out of Central London. 1934: Art Deco on the Piccadilly           Stamp shows Boston Manor station, constructed along with many others in the 20s and 30s in the art deco style. 1938: Classic Rolling Stock       ...

These 5 stamps depict the five largest cities in Australia: Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide (Set 1), Sydney, and Perth (Set 2). There are postcard pictures on every stamp, with Sydney Harbor facing the south on the Sydney stamp, the north bank of the Yarra River in Melbourne, the north side of the Brisbane River in Brisbane, the Karrawirra Parri/River Torrens facing the Adelaide Oval on the north side in Adelaide, and Elizabeth Quay Island on the northern side of the Swan River in Perth. Issued 9/20/19 (set 1) and 9/23/29 (set 2).