Theme : Zodiac signs 20

The Swedish post has a long tradition of very nicely designed stamps.
Despite that, or maybe because that, they also emitted a set of 12 stamps in 1999, dedicated to the zodiac signs.

Zodiac signs Sweden 1999 A

Zodiac signs Sweden 1999 B

Each stamp is triangular, and six of them form a hexagon.
The colours are alternatively light blue and brown/yellow, on a dark blue background.
All stamps mention 'Brev Inrikes' which means the stamp is ment for use within Sweden only.

On each stamp, we find the name in Swedish as well.
Note that the indefinite article in Swedish, is placed behind the word.

Constellation	English Name	Swedish Name	Dates
Aries	the Ram	Väduren	Mar. 21–Apr. 19
Taurus	the Bull	Oxen	Apr. 20–May 20
Gemini	the Twins	Tvillingarna	May 21–June 21
Cancer	the Crab	Kräftan	June 22–July 22
Leo	the Lion	Lejonet	July 23–Aug. 22
Virgo	the Virgin/the Maiden	Junkfrun	Aug. 23–Sept. 22
Libra	the Balance / the Scales	Vågen	Sept. 23–Oct. 23
Scorpio	the Scorpion	Skorpionen	Oct. 24–Nov. 21
Sagittarius	the Archer / the Centaur	Skytten	Nov. 22–Dec. 21
Capricorn	the Goat(-fish hybrid)	Stenbocken	Dec. 22–Jan. 19
Aquarius	the Water Bearer	Vattumannen	Jan. 20–Feb. 18
Pisces	the Fishes	Fiskarna	Feb. 19–Mar. 20

Gemini (Tvillingarna)

to be continued...

Odd stamps : 01i Perfumed stamps

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Now the days are short and the nights are longer, we try to make it cosy at home.
Regardless if you turn your house into a lighthouse or not, lights add to create a nice atmosphere in your home.
So far, there are no stamps available that turn lights on in your house, but there's another option.

It has been a while, but I posted already some stamps with a frangrance.
The stamp(s) I present today fulfill your seasons' wishes.

The stamps were issued by Estonia, in november 2016.

The low value (€ 0.65) shows a bisquit in the shape of a snowflake, topped with ice sugar.

Estonia 643 - Christmas stamp 2016

The high value (€ 1.40) looks like a christmas three, but consists of a pile of figurines, (humans and animals) holding lights.

Estonia 644 - Christmas stamp 2016

The first stamp does not only shows a bisquit, it also smells like one.
It was printed with a fragrance of ginger and cinnamon.
Both stamps are autoadhesive, and to preserve the scent, it is best to keep them in a sealed (transparent) container.

See also my other post on this fragrance :
http://rainbowstampsandcoins.blogspot.com/2013/12/odd-stamps-01e-perfumed-stamps.html

Czech Hradčany stamps - 1 haller 1.6

In 1918-1920 there was little time to print stamps for the newly formed country Czechoslovakia.
The Austrian-Hungarian empire was dissolved after the first World War, and new countries were formed. This included the need for own stamps. Due to the urge for stamps, many of the early printings were defective or at least with lots of irregularities.

The Czech Hradčany stamps can keep one busy for hours. With a bit of patience, you will easily find little (or large) flaws on the stamps.

Plate I, position 87

Plate I, position 87

The colour of the stamp is dark brown, due to the light on the photo, it appears yellowish brown.
Two flaws determinate the position on the sheet.
At first, we find an ink spot in the C of CESKO.

Plate I, pos 87, spot in C

The second mark, is right of the left branch. There we see a spot that is not suppposed to be there.

Plate I, pos 87, spot next to branch

For this position, there are no secondary (or not listed) flaws, as far as I could see.
With only two clear flaws, it might be difficult to find a copy, if the postal cancellation is hiding them.

The second Hradčany stamp is from plate II.

Plate II, position 03:

Plate II, position 03

Also this stamp has -only- two destinctive flaws.
At first, there is a small dot, outside the north east frame corner.
This is only visible with a nicely cut stamp with wide borders.

spot in the N-E corner

After lots of printing on this plate, the image became more and more blurred.
Not only the spot in the corner is visible, there are also multiple spots above the frame in general.
On early copies, only the corner spot is determinating for the position.

The second 'flaw' is much cooler.
Here, the sun is not round but egg-shaped.

egg-shaped sun

With only one stamp in your collection, it would be difficult to see if the sun is actually round or ovoid. Yet there is a tiny mark that can help you out.

'normal' sun

'ovoid' sun

On the roof, there is a tiny gap.
In the 'normal' sun, this gap is about halfway the diameter of the sun.
Compared to the 'ovoid' sun, the dots of the sun's border stop more or less at the small gap in the roof.
When comparing both versions, we clearly see the 'normal' sun is way closer to the 4th tower.

By the way the sun on the design, was never 'normal'.
According the design, this sun is rising in the west, Mucha took some 'artistic liberty' (or was it the sunset instead?).
In later designs, the sun was omitted.

to be continued ...