Sunday, March 10, 2013

Theme : Zodiac signs 02 b

It's been a long time since I posted something on Israeli stamps, regarding zodiac signs.

The set I posted earlier : http://rainbowstampsandcoins.blogspot.be/2011/05/theme-zodiac-signs-02.html

Now I proudly present two FDC's with the full set of stamps cancelled on Feb. 27, 1961.


Honestly, I'm not a big fan of FDC's, as they are all CTO cancels, but on the other hand, it's a good way to collect clear cancels on all stamps of a certain set.
An FDC (First Day Cover) also gives you some extra information.

As you might know, Hebrew's language is written from right to left.
Therefore, you can see that the set starts in the right hand corner and values add up gowing to the left.

All stamps have their TAB. This is very typical for Israeli stamps.
On each tab you can see the latin name of the zodiac sign, as well as the circle with all 12 signs.

Cancel both on stamp and on tab

I noticed it before, but also here you can see that the tab on 2 stamps (Virgo and Leo) is shorter then on the other 10 values of the set.

short and longer tabs


Theme : Tintin (Kuifje) 08

It doesn't happy too often that I find a new item for my theme collection.
But today I found.

I wrote about Tintin stamps, issued by the Netherlands in my previous posts, http://rainbowstampsandcoins.blogspot.be/2011/04/theme-tintin-kuifje-2.html

To celebrate two Dutch cities : Hattem and Urmond, who were commemorating their 700th anniversary in 1999 and 2000, the two Tintin stamps were placed on two individual covers and cancelled with a special cancel.

This cancellation is double special as the dates are Dec. 31, 1999 and Jan. 1, 2000.

two covers in special album

Let's have a closer look

1999 - cover :

cover Dec. 31, 1999


Special cancel city Hattem
Hattem is a city in the Dutch province : Gelderland; (central-east) and got it's city rights in 1299.
In 1999 they celebrated their 700th anniversary.

location of Hattem
2000 - cover :

The second cover, is cancelled in Urmond, on Jan. 1, 2000.

Cover Jan. 1, 2000

Special cancel village Urmond

There are no written documents that state that Urmond got city rights in 1300.
The oldest remains date from the 12th century, but the (now) village itself, claims to have the rights since 1300. Therefore, the cancel on Jan. 1, 2000 (also 700th anniversary).
Urmond is now part of the Dutch city 'Stein', in the province Limbourg.

Location of Urmond (city Stein)

Both covers are presented in a cardboard cover, holding the two covers.
On the front and back page of the cover, "Millennium Wissel" - Millennium Change is printed.
On one side with 1999 - 2000, on the other side 2000 - 1999.

printing on both sides of the cover


Monday, March 4, 2013

Currency today : the Netherlands 01

The Netherlands...

long time ago, two countries, Belgium and the current 'Netherlands'.
A country with a turbulent history of monarchs, from popluar, to extremely unpopular and back to very popular...

A small overview of the Kings and Queens who were ruling the Netherlands since 1815.

Willem I


Wilhelmina van Pruisen


















Willem II
Anna Paulowna

















Emma

Willem III
Sophia










































Wilhelmina
Hendrik
Willem
Maurits
Alexander
















Juliana
Bernhard





















Beatrix
Claus

























Willem-Alexander
Máxima











































Amalia
Alexia
Ariane

There is something special about the coins and the stamps...

First King Willem I (Guillaume I):

Willem I (facing right) - not in my collection
King Willem II

Willem II (facing left) - not in my collection
King Willem III

Willem III (facing right) - not in my collection
Queen (regent) Emma

She wasn't really Queen, her title was Queen-regent until her daughter Wilhelmina succeeded the throne.
There are no circulation coins with Queen (-regent) Emma.

Queen Wilhelmina

Queen Wilhemina - facing left
Queen Juliana

Queen Juliana - facing right
Queen Beatrix

Guilder coin Beatrix (facing left)
Euro coin Beatrix (facing left)

(soon) King Willem-Alexander (Willem IV)

King Willem - Alexander will be the new monarch on the Dutch coins... guess what side he will be facing...



Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Odd stamps : 06 h Stamps on cotton / silk

The number of odd stamps that were issued in the last months, and those who are about to be emitted in the near future is enormous.

I'm trying to keep up with all new issues, and I also try to buy them, so that I can present it on this blog.
The item of today is again a very special issue.


This stamp was issued to celebrate the year of the Dragon (2012).
It is printed on 100% silk.


It is also printed on gummed paper, so it's not an auto-adhesive stamp.
It was issued by the Hong Kong, China authorities and is a truly beautiful stamp.

Along with the sheet, a certificate of authenticy was given to each buyer.
I got mine as well of course.

I'm looking forward on receiving such a stamp (sheet) on a postally used letter.
I do hope to get such a copy one day.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Odd stamps : 08 Stamps with special cuts - 01 i

Round stamps are still my favourite stamps.

Turkey issued a set of 4 round stamps, depicting 4 common birds.

Turkey 2011 - full sheet
The first stamp shows us a common Northern Pintale (Duck)

Northern pintale
Nothern pintale (male and female)
On the second stamp, we find a turtle dove

European Turtle Dove

Turtle dove in action
The two higher values are wildlife birds:

First we see a Pheasant

Pheasant

Pheasant
The last stamp is depicting a partridge

Partridge

partridge
Such stamps don't stick together in a sheet without at least a more square or rectangled shape to support them.
For that reason a pic of the back side of the sheet.
It's truly a festival of lines and curves.

back side of the sheet - lines and curves

Odd stamps : 05 d Stamps in braille

After Belgium and Brazil, we go to Sweden for our next stamp (sheet) on odd stamps.
We saw already some fine examples of stamps with braille print.
The sheet I'm presenting today was issued in 2009.

full sheet - Sweden 2009
On top of the sheet, we see the alphabet, writtin both in latin letters as in braille.
In the Swedish writing system, also the letters å, ä and ö are used.

detail with å, ä and ö
The sheet shows us two almost identical stamps, both with the same text in braille.
One stamp is in hot pink colour, the other one more bluish pink.

two, almost identical stamps
The text on the stamps is written in braille and in Swedish: "Se med andra ögon" (see with other eyes).

also the word : Brev (letter) is written

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Currency Today : Bangladesh 02

We continue our collection of Bengali notes, with the 20 taka-note.

I received 2 different notes, but as far as the website of the Bangladesh Bank concerns, there's only one note.
However, the first note (and the one on the website) is monochorme green.


The second version of the note, varies from yellow to green, and the decoration on the right hand side, is red.

On the back side, the differences are less clear, but still you see a more yellowis.
Both notes are for the rest identical (year, signature, topic).

reverse - Shat Gombuz Maszid of Bagerhat district
reverse (2) - Shat Gombuz Maszid of Bagerhat district
This notes, shows the Shat Gombuz Maszid (the Mosque with Sixty Domes) of Bagerhat district.
This mosque is the largest in Bangladesh build in the sultanat period. It is said to be the most impressive Muslim monument of the whole Indian subcontinent.
the Mosque with Sixty Domes

the Mosque with Sixty Domes


The same monument can be found on this set of Bangladesh stamps :


As an extra, when I was having a closer look at the banknotes of 20 taka, I found this rather spooky creature on the front.
I guess it was just ment as an ornament, but while examinating it, I found it also on the 10 taka note.
For those who have the banknotes ... find the spooky decoration ...

spooky 10
spooky 20

Currency Today : Bangladesh 01

For my next item on banknotes, I got a set of notes from my contact in Bangladesh.

The new series of banknotes are very nice.
We start the set with the 2 taka note.
The 1 taka note existed too, but is replaced by a coin.
On the 1 taka note, the coin was depicted.
The 1 and 2 taka notes are actually issued by the Ministry of Finance and not by the National Bank.
In fact they are mint notes, not banknotes.

Although the 2 taka note is still in use, it soon will be replaced by coins too.

The older 2 taka notes had the national bird : Doyel (or Oriental Magpie Robin) on the front.

2010 2 Taka note
The new notes show Sheikh Mujibur Rahman; Bengali politician and founder of Bangladesh.
He was also the first president and later became Prime Minister.
He can be found on all further notes.


On the back side of the 2 taka note, you will see the Shaheed Minar, a national monument, erected to commemorate those who died during the Bengali Language Movement Demonstrations in 1952.

2 taka note (front)
2 taka note (back)

The second note, and the first 'bank' note, issued by the Bangladesh Bank, is a 5 taka -note.
From here on, all notes have the same front (obverse) style.
The back (reverse) side is more interesting for us.



Reverse - Photograph of the Kusumba Mosque of Naogaon.

The next note, 10 taka, is a very modest picture of the National Mosque.
The lines are very straight. But the note is still beautiful, thanks to the vibrant violet colour.

Reverse - Photographs of the National Mosque
On each note, you will see also the National Monument. it's printed in the colours of the individual banknotes, and can be found in the middle of the front side of each note.


National Monument (here on the 10 taka note)


more notes in my next post...