EAST TIMOR - TIMOR LESTE

2011 New stamp issue by the EAST TIMOR Postal Office

AICEP* : 20 years

*Associação dos Operadores de Correios e Telecomunicações dos Países de Língua Oficial Portuguesa

Official vs. Non-official

Hello!

Today I'm posting about Official versus Non-official First Day Covers.

Official FDCs are the ones issued by the countries' Postal Agency, like the one I'm showing you bellow, issued 30.4.1973:

PORTUGAL: Europa CEPT issue of 1973

On the same day, a Portuguese national collectors' association, named CFP and probably one of the biggest in the country, also issued its FDC, with of course a different cachet.


Some more examples of other FDCs issued by the CFP:

In my personal opinion, all cachet makers have their space in the philatelic market, the US is a good example of that... with so many makers!!! Yes... I know that the official US PO FDCs are blank ones, wich leaves more market room for all the makers!

Our Portuguese official PO FDCs are not blank but with a chachet.... And that is probably the reason why, here in Portugal, today no one makes any cachet FDCs! We all buy the oficial ones or none at all!

So... I leave here an enormous congratulation to all former cachet makers of Portugal and all the still active cachet makers in the world... that still give us the chance to pick a FDC from a huge variety of diferent cachet images :) Thank you all!!!

WWF Muriqui Monkey

BRAZIL 1986

Hello!

I think you all know that I collect stamps related to COSMOS/SPACE and also WWF... Yes... I'm glad that you knew that!


Today I have the above FDC to show you... It is a local WWF FDC issued by the Brazilian Post Office and not an official one from WWF.

Myself, I prefer the local ones and not the oficial ones, and you?


This set was issued in 1986 and is the 1st WWF issue from Brazil! It depicts the Muriqui Monkey.The name muriqui comes from the Tupi Indians of Brazil.

In the wild, muriquis are restricted to small, isolated patches of Atlantic coastal forest in Brazil. There are fewer than 2000 muriquis remaining in the wild.

The majority of their diet is composed of leaves and fruit, but they also eat flowers, bark, and buds.

Natural predators of muriquis include felids, such as jaguars, as well as raptors, but because top predators require large home ranges, the isolated patches of forest in which muriquis live do not support these animals in high enough numbers to create a critical threat for muriquis at Barreiro Rico and Montes Claros

Information retrieved from: Cawthon Lang KA. 2006 August 30. Primate Factsheets: Muriqui (Brachyteles) Taxonomy, Morphology, & Ecology. . Accessed 2008 August 17.

Japan...

Hello!

How are you today?

This FDC was sent to me from Japan... I have no information about this issue! Is it Hello Kitty? I think so, but I'm not sure!!!

Have any idea?

You can see the complete set bellow (sorry for the poor quality of the image but my scanner went berserk!):

For me it's always a reason to celebrate when I receive a FDC from Japan since it seems to be so rare and difficult to get one.

Do you receive many Japanese FDCs?

I wonder if there are any Japanese collectors reading my blog?

EURO 2008

Goodbye Euro!!!

Portugal 2 : Germany 3

What a shame for Portugal... yes... I'm Portuguese but I'm also a philatelist and because of that I appreciate the great stamps some countries issued to commemorate EURO 2008! Yes... I know... not everything can be bad!!!


Above you can see one FDC from Poland... very nice isn't it?

See you soon in front of a TV watching a football game somewhere!!! :)

Tourism in Cuba

Above you can see one FDC that I've received just the other day... notice the snail on the cancellation... very clear and nice, isn't it?

The stamps on the envelope were issued last year 2007 in a set of 4v, depicting Tourism.

When will any of my readers invite me to go visit Cuba? I wonder...

50th Anniversary of the Space Age

On a previous post here I've written about a set of stamps that would be issued by the UN post commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Space Age.


Above you can see one FDC with a stamp from that set. It has the NY cancellation and was issued on Oct of last year 2007.

Interesting FDC... don't you agree? If you have the others please let me know and we could trade or I could buy them from you.

Thank you!

Beneficial Insects from Canada - Part II

Hello! Do you remember one of my latest topics about the NEW Low Value Definitives dedicated to Beneficial Insects issued by the Canadian Post? (here)

Today I feel very fortunate for being the recipient of such issue. Above you can see the FDCs sent to me by our fellow stamp collector Y. W. LEUNG. THANK YOU!

Up close I confirm that this is a very beautiful and detailed set... and did you know that the stamps are really small?!! Tiny! Very very nice indeed.

Australia Space on stamps Part III

I was thinking of all the subject headings I could give this piece, and all sounded so clichéd.. so just Space on Stamps, and Australian stamps, as today the new Australia Space stamps were issued.

I chose this FDC to show you all.... the Miniature Sheet on a Cover...

Hope you like these... I have a gutter pair strip on my own blog.. Enjoy!

And if you want to read a really good article - in my view - on Space, try THIS.

More later, as 4th October is the 50 year anniversary of Sputnik am going to do something special for you Jose..... well am going to try...
Enjoy your stamps... Michael

Czechoslovakia revisited

Do you like the FDC above? As a space/cosmos collector I really like it... but what's its real philatelic value?

And why do I ask this? Well... lets see...

It's a 1966 Czechoslovakia FDC with 2 of a set of 6 stamps on topic Space Explorations reused this year 2007. Extra stamps from the now Czech Republic were added to complete postage.

The 2 stamps from 1966 have a face value of 1.30 Czechoslovak koruna.

The others have a face value of 13.50 Czech koruna (current currency of Czech Republic).

My question is... should a FDC from a country that since 1993 is split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia continue to circulate from Czech Republic? Could it also circulate from Slovakia?

And in your country? Does something similar happen? Can you put in the mail your old FDCs?

I'll wait for your comments and ideas!

FDC from Malaysia

Aga Khan Award for Architecture

Date of Issue
04.09.2007

Denomination
50 sen


Thank you Blog contributor Kenny Wong!

Mystery FDC

Blank FDC

Here is a blank envelope, issued 1937 to commemorate the coronation of King George VI... well, what puzzles me is... from which country is it? I guess it's from GB or any of its colonies at the time.


Since it's the first time I see a blank FDC from this period I don't know for sure where it was issued... some stamps affixed to the cover would help, wouldn't they?

Have you any idea of where it was issued?

Where are King George stamp experts when you need them? eheh!

FDC from Jamestown

400th anniversary of the settlement
of Jamestown

In the FDC above you can see the triangular 0.41USD stamps featuring a painting of the three ships that carried the first English colonists in 1607 to Jamestown, Virginia.

Do you know why the stamp is triangular shaped? Well... at first... me neither! But after doing some online research I've found out that the Jamestown settlers shortly after their arrival built a fort in a triangular formation with circular bulwarks, or watch towers, at each point. You can literally (virtually, that is!) visit the Fort at Virtual Jamestown! I'm sure you'll enjoy it... it's a return to the past in just a few minutes!

"the fort is called, in honor of His Majesty's name, Jamestown."

William Strachey,
Jamestown Secretary, 1610

FDCs from Slovenia

Today in my mailbox ... from Slovenia

They're 3 FDCs issued this year 2007...
Thank you Tina!

Hope you like them...

1st FDC: 24 January - Greeting Stamp - Love

2nd FDC: 25 May - Fauna - Butterflies

3rd FDC: 25 May - Slovene Mythology - Elves

Hmm... Elves?!?... Don't they always make you remember Snow White?

Space Russian Stamps/FDCs

In my previous post I talked about a Russian cover and I remembered that I'm missing some 2007 Russian space related items so if you are a Russian collector you may also be the one to help me - stamp.friends@gmail.com

I'm looking for the following:

The 50th anniversary of "Plesetsk" cosmodrome
MNH S/S + FDC


50th Anniversary of Space Age
Only FDC

Thank you!