Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Odd stamps : 06 g Stamps on cotton / silk (part 2)

In the 'lace set' there are 2 more stamps :

2 blocks 'lace'
3. lace : type Calais

Calais is know for the city in the North of France, where you can take the boat or the tunnel under the Canal towards Great-Britain.
But it's also known for its lace.

Lace from the Calais region
Lace : Calais style
4. lace : type Puy-en-Velay

Puy-en-Velay is a city South-West of Lyon in southern France.
It's the Northern part of the Loire region.

rough lace of the Puy-en-velay region
Lace : Puy-en-Velay style
Also here, the lace is attached to the stamp, on a piece of cloth.

Odd stamps : 06 g Stamps on cotton / silk (part 1)

For my next item, we go to France.
In October 2011, 4 sheetlets were issued on the theme of "lace".
Each block has a square stamp with lace from a cerain area in France.

the first two blocks
1. Lace : type Alençon

Alençon is a city in the south of France, (region Basse-Normandy)

detail stamp Alençon

lace Alençon-style

2. Lace : type Chantilly

Chantilly lace, got it's name from the Northern French city Chantilly (north of Paris).
The lace is very fine, and often in black silk.

detail stamp Chantilly

lace Chantilly-style

Both stamps have a piece of cloth stuck on the stamp.

the outline of the cloth attached to the stamp
to be continued ...

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Odd stamps : 08 Stamps with special cuts - 07 e

We have arrived at the third and last set of stamps, emitted for the 84th birthday of the King of Thailand (King Rama IX).

This issue is a bit different from the other 2 emissions.
First of all, it's only one stamp this time, not 7 as in the first and second emission.
Secondly, the stamp has a 'high' face value of 100 baht. (the other stamps only had a face value of 5 baht each).

The stamp however remains heptagonal, as a symbol of the 7th cycle (7 x 12).

The face value is higher, but that is easy to explain...

100 baht stamp - his Majesty King Rama IX
The stamps are issued with 22 karat gold print and silver print.
The theme of the third series of these commemorative stamps is "Wishing the King greatest happiness". The series come in only one design - a picture of His Majesty the King in royal ceremonial attire. The sheets have 4 identical stamps.

full sheet of 4 identical stamps

These are - so far - the only heptagonal stamps that I know of.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Odd stamps : 08 Stamps with special cuts - 07 d

More on the second issue of the 7th Cycle Birthday Anniversary commemorative stamps.

I showed already 4 out of the 7 heptagonal stamps in detail.
Let's move on to the last 3 stamps.

"Glory to the Greatest Inventor
in the year of Creativity and Innovation 2009"
WIPO Global Leader Award
by the World Intellectual Prosperity Organisation
2000 Brussels Eureka
49th World Exhibition of Innovation, Research and
New Technology

All 7 stamsp (including those in my previous post) were issued on a sheet only.
There were only 7,000,000 copies made.

full sheet with 7 stamps
All stamps are again embossed

detail of the Brussels Eureka stamp - embossed print

more to follow ...

Odd stamps : 08 Stamps with special cuts - 07 c

After the first set of commemorative stamps, a second set was issued.
As the stamps commemorate the 7th Cycle Birthday Anniversary (84 years), the stamps have 7 sides, and there are 7 heptagonal stamps in both the first and the second issue.

The stamps have a face value of 5 baht (not 7) as this is the price of sending a postcard within Thailand.
The prices of Thai stamps are very democratic and allows every one to buy and use the stamps.
And although the price of the stamps is relatively cheap, the quality is outstanding.

In this second set of stamps, we see 7 medals, awards, King Bhumibol (Rama IX) received during his reign.

50 years of reign (1996)
WHO award
Human Development Lifetime Achievement Award
given by former UN secretary Kofi Annan
King Rama IX recieves the Human Development Lifetime Achievement Award
from Kofi Annan
International Rice Research Award
given by the Intern. Rice Research Institute

to be continued ...

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Odd stamps : 08 Stamps with special cuts - 07 b

The heptagonal stamps I posted in my last post (with images of the Thai King Bhumibol) were also issued in a special souvenir sheet.
The stamps are identical, but where the single stamps are in a square frame, the stamps on the sheet are just the heptagonal stamps, without square frame.
Once out of the frame, you can't see where the stamps came from, the sheet or the single stamps.

Next to the 7 stamps on the sheet, an additional monogram of the King is added, as well as '๘๔'.
This is 84 in Thai language. The 7th Cycle ( 7 x 12) birthday anniversary.

full sheet
no square perforations between the stamps on the sheet

to be continued...

Friday, November 2, 2012

Odd stamps : 08 Stamps with special cuts - 07 a

Beautiful and unique, that's the least you can say from the following stamps.

Thailand issued 3 series of heptagonal stamps (7 sides)
As far as I know it's the first time in history that such a type of stamps were issued.
The reason for this special shape, is the fact that the stamps were issued to commemorate the 7th Cycle Brithday Anniversary.
In proper English, it means the kings 84th (7 x 12) birthday.

Thai postal services emitted 3 sets of stamps, all with heptagonal stamps.

Let's start with the first set of stamps.

4 stamps with silver print
3 stamps with gold print
We see 7 pictures of King Bhumibol (Rama IX). The same images as we find on thai baht coins.

1 baht coin
The stamps were issued on small sheets with 6 similar stamps.
For the full set, you need to buy 7 sheets of 6 stamps.

sheets with 6 stamps of each - silver

sheets with 6 stamps of each - gold

Luckily, the individual stamps are not expensive.
30 baht per sheet, is less then one Euro.
Nevertheless, the quality of the printing is superb.
Each of the stamps in embossed too.

detail front - back embossed image
to be continued ...