0-euro notes : 1 h. Belgium : Antwerp

As a kid, I travelled to London with school, I remember in the old days, we visited the usual tourist  attractions, and near the entrance of most buildings, there was the possibility to buy a souvenir coin of that specific building.
Many years later, I still have those 'medals' and some of them shifted colour over the years.

Those items are not that fancy anymore, and in the end also heavy and big to collect.
The 0-euro notes remind me of that time.
I'm still a collector and the wide variety of 0-euro notes, and the availability of a catalogue, makes collecting fun again.

Today's topic is about Antwerp (or Antwerpen in dutch). A Belgian city in the flemish (dutch speaking area of Belgium). Antwerp is know as one of the largest harbour cities in Europe, it's diamond industry, and his rich history, especially in the 17th and 18th century.
It is the home city of Pieter Paul Rubens, the famous baroque painter.

The first 0 € note of today, represents the square 'Groenplaats' near the cathedral.
Although the note is titled 'Cathedral of Our Lady', the central image on the note, is the statue of P.P. Rubens.

0 euro note 'Cathedral of Antwerp'

Rubens was born in Siegen (Germany in 1577) and moved to Antwerp where he also died in 1640.
A bit odd is the date mentionned on the top of the note : 'anno 1518'.

Antwerp anno 1518 ?

The cathedral as depicted, was finished around 1521. In 1518 the square might have looked like depicted, but at that time, Rubens was not born yet. The date can refer to the cathedral at that time, but certainly not to the square view in 1518.

Rubens is world wide know for his paintings of religious scenes, but as well for his portraits.
He often depicted volumtious women, a sign of wealth and beauty at that time. Also famous, is his 'selfie', or auto-portrait, with wide hat.

Rubens auto-portrait, on various stamps.

The cathedral was ment to have two towers, but the plans of 1565 were never executed. A fire in 1533 and the costs for the renovation,  as wel as the rise of protestantism, which led to less income for the church, resulted that the secodnd tower never was built.

  

plans for a second tower 1565

Cathedral now

to be continued ...

Odd stamps : 01h Perfumed stamps

Two new sheetlets were added to my collection recently. Both are issued in 2019, in India, and are sheets with a typical fragrance of the country.

2019 Indian Perfumes - Orange blossom

The first sheetlet depics oranges and orange blossoms, as well as a vase which contains the fruity fragrance.

Frequently used in perfumes, this flower has long been believed to bring good fortune and as such is often seen in bouquets and wreaths at weddings.

Blossoms, fallen of a tree, can be dried and used for tea. Orange blossom water, is also used in cooking, and in cakes. The orange blossom even has it's own day. June 27 is Orange Blossom Day!

Oranges and orange blossoms

The second sheetlet is also issued with a lovely fragrance, agar wood. This agar wood or eagle wood, comes from the aquilaria trees, is a typical product from the North Eastern part of India, and further on towards Thailand and even Viet Nam.

2019 Indian Perfumes - Agar wood

The natural wood of this tree is white and rather odourless. When the tree gets infected by a specific type of mold, the tree 'defends' itself by producing a type of resin, called agar or aloes. This results in a dark strong wood in the heart of the tree, and the very appreceated fragrance.

The fragrance is described in the bible, and used for religious and medical ceremonies by Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims for over two thousand years.

Nowadays, the trees are infected on purpose, to create it's unique fragrance.

infected agar wood in the centre of the tree

Currency Today : India 03

I don't know if size really matters, but as far as the Indian banknotes concerns, there is something to say about their sizes.

First of all, the smaller denominations, 5, 10 and 20 have the same hight.
Same goes for the other notes of 50, 100, 500 and 1000.

The 50 note is a bit smaller then the 20, but from then on, they all increase in lenght.

all banknotes front side

As there is so much to say about Indian banknotes, I had to mention the languages at the back of the notes.
Let's put them next to eachother:

5, 10 and 20 ( 15 languages)

50, 100, 500 and 1000 (15 languages)

If we look at one note in particular, we see 15 languages that are spoken in India.

 

"10 rupees"  in 15 languages

For the die hard fans :

Language 1 2 5 English One Rupee Two Rupees Five Rupees Gujarati એક રૂપિયો બે રૂપિયા પાંચ રૂપિયા Hindi एक रुपया दो रुपये पाँच रुपये Nepali एक रुपियाँ दुई रुपियाँ पाँच रुपियाँ Kannada ಒಂದು ರುಪಾಯಿ ಎರಡು ರೂಪಾಯಿಗಳು ಐದು ರೂಪಾಯಿಗಳು Konkani एक रुपया दोन रुपया पांच रुपया Malayalam ഒരു രൂപ രണ്ടു രൂപ അഞ്ചു രൂപ Marathi एक रुपया दोन रुपये पाच रुपये Assamese এক টকা দুই টকা পাঁচ টকা Sanskrit एकरूप्यकम् द्वे रूप्यके पञ्चरूप्यकाणि Bengali এক টাকা দুই টাকা পাঁচ টাকা Tamil ஒரு ரூபாய் இரண்டு ரூபாய் ஐந்து ரூபாய் Telugu ఒక రూపాయి రెండు రూపాయిలు ఐదు రూపాయిలు Punjabi ਏਕ ਰੁਪਏ ਦੋ ਰੁਪਏ ਪੰਜ ਰੁਪਏ Urdu ایک روپیہ دو روپے پانچ روپے Oriya Language 10 20 50 English Ten Rupees Twenty Rupees Fifty Rupees Gujarati દસ રૂપિયા વીસ રૂપિયા પચાસ રૂપિયા Hindi दस रुपये बीस रुपये पचास रुपये Nepali दश रुपियाँ बीस रुपियाँ पचास रुपियाँ Kannada ಹತ್ತು ರೂಪಾಯಿಗಳು ಇಪ್ಪತ್ತು ರೂಪಾಯಿಗಳು ಐವತ್ತು ರೂಪಾಯಿಗಳು Konkani धा रुपया वीस रुपया पन्नास रुपया Malayalam പത്തു രുപ ഇരുപതു രൂപ അൻപതു രൂപ Marathi दहा रुपये वीस रुपये पन्नास रुपये Assamese দহ টকা বিছ টকা পঞ্চাশ টকা Sanskrit दशरूप्यकाणि विंशती रूप्यकाणि पञ्चाशत रूप्यकाणि Bengali দশ টাকা কুড়ি টাকা পঞ্চাশ টাকা Tamil பத்து ரூபாய் இருபது ரூபாய் ஐம்பது ரூபாய் Telugu పది రూపాయిలు ఇరవై రూపాయిలు యాభై రూపాయిలు Punjabi ਦਸ ਰੁਪਏ ਵੀਹ ਰੁਪਏ ਪੰਜਾਹ ਰੁਪਏ Urdu دس روپے بیس روپے پچاس روپے Oriya Language 100 500 1000 English Hundred Rupees Five Hundred Rupees One Thousand Rupees Gujarati સો રૂપિયા પાંચ સો રૂપિયા એક હજાર રૂપિયા Hindi एक सौ रुपये पांच सौ रुपये एक हज़ार रुपये Nepali एक सय रुपियाँ पाँच सय रुपियाँ एक हज़ार रुपियाँ Kannada ನೂರು ರೂಪಾಯಿಗಳು ಐನೂರು ರೂಪಾಯಿಗಳು ಒಂದು ಸಾವಿರ ರೂಪಾಯಿಗಳು Konkani शंभर रुपया पाचशें रुपया एक हज़ार रुपया Malayalam നൂറു രൂപ അഞ്ഞൂറു രൂപ ആയിരം രൂപ Marathi शंभर रुपये पाचशे रुपये एक हजार रुपये Assamese এশ টকা পাঁচশ টকা এক হাজাৰ টকা Sanskrit शतं रूप्यकाणि पञ्चशतं रूप्यकाणि सहस्र रूप्यकाणि Bengali শত টাকা পাঁচশত টাকা এক হাজার টাকা Tamil நூறு ரூபாய் ஐந்நூறு ரூபாய் ஆயிரம் ரூபாய் Telugu నూరు రూపాయిలు ఐదువందల రూపాయిలు వెయ్యి రూపాయిలు Punjabi ਇਕ ਸੋ ਰੁਪਏ ਪੰਜ ਸੋ ਰੁਪਏ ਇਕ ਹਜਾਰ ਰੁਪਏ Urdu ایک سو روپے پانچ سو روپے ایک ہزار روپے Oriya

Finally, to be complete, the word "rupee" is derived from the Sanskrit word रूप्यकम् (rūpyakam)

and means "silver". This same word in Bengali is : টাকা (taka); and 'taka' is the currency in Bangladesh.