Odd stamps : 05 c Stamps in braille

In 1974, Brazil already issued a sheet with Braille inscription.
The sheet isn't very colourful, and maybe not the highlight of my collection, but the fact that this is one of the first sheets printed with braille on, it's surely is an interesting sheet.

detail of the sheet, stamp of Brazil with braille

The sheet was issued for the fifth general assembly for the blind's welfare
On the sheet, under the stamp, an additional text is aded:
freely translated it means: "a blind man becomes a participating citizen"

full sheet - Brazil 1974

on the way to more ...

Odd stamps : 05 b Stamps in braille

In 1979, Brazil emitted a souvenir sheet dedicated to the blind.

The sheet is very colourful and there's embossed printing.
Reason for this sheet is the 150th anniversary of the first braille printing.
Thanks to the braille writing, blind people can participate in the world's evolution.

Full sheet in braille

detail - stamp out of the sheet

This was not the first braille sheet that was issued in Brazil..
more in my next post...

Odd stamps : 05 a Stamps in braille

This is a very nice subtopic in the series of 'odd stamps'.

A little introduction:

Louis Braille, born on January 4, 1809 in the small village Coupvray, east of Paris, was the son of a leatherer and horse tack maker.
As a child he played in his father's workshop. Trying to copy the work of his father, he got severely injured in his eye. Although he was taken care of, in a specialised hospital in Paris, the infection damaged also the other eye, and by the age of 5, the boy was completely blind.

Brave Louis stayed in Coupvray until he was 10 and went then to a  school on Paris, specialised in higher education for blind youth. This private school however was based on a reading system using embossed latin characters. (the Haüy - system). This was the first and only attempt to allow blind people to 'read' books.
However the process of writing was so complicated that Louis hardly could write back to his family.

Louis Braille

1821, Braille learned of a communication system devised by Captain Charles Barbier of the French Army.
Barbier willingly shared his invention called "night writing" which was a code of dots and dashes impressed into thick paper. These impressions could be interpreted entirely by the fingers, letting soldiers share information on the battlefield without having light or needing to speak. The captain's code turned out to be too complex to use in its original military form, but it inspired Braille to develop a system of his own.

In 1854, two years after Brailles death, his reading system was adopted at the National Institute for Blind Youth, in Paris, and later on also all over France.
In 1855, the first Braille-typewrite was introduced at the World's Fair.

(French) braille alphabeth

Now to the stamps :
In 2009, to celebrate the 200th birth date of Louis Braille, Belgium issued a large stamp with Louis Braille, and his alphabeth.

Belgium 2009 - Louis Braille

back side of the stamp - embossed writing

The stamp was issued for use within Belgium, and was printed in sheets of 10 stamps.

sheet of 10 (reduced size)

more to follow ...

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 ...

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.

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 ...

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...

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 ...

Theme : Zodiac signs 11l

12/12 Year of the Rat (2008)

My first, my last, my everything ...

The Rat is the first animal in the zodiac cycle.
But since the special sheets started in 1997, we started this set of articles with the second animal.

The first animal on the last sheet, and maybe the most spectacular one of them all...

2008 sheet - Year of the Rat

The corners of the sheet are cut in a special way, following the decoration on the sheet.

corner of the sheet
embossed decoration

In this sheet, the stamp is not a rectangle, but in the shape of a barrel.

one decoration and one stamp
twice an embossed rat
stamp in the shape of a barrel

Almost the whole sheet is embossed, the rats (both on stamp and decoration), but also all other animal of the zodiac cycle, that are placed around the stamp of the rat.
The decoration (corner and outline) are also embossed.

nearly complete embossed sheet

embossed animals, barrel shaped stamp

Finally, as seen previously on other sheets, also this sheet has a label with the bar code, attached to the side of the sheet.

tab with bar code

The Rat type is very sociable. Such people are full of charm and vivacity, and love being surrounded by people. In case of something not goes like planed they are able to quickly assess both the hindrances and the new chances, and while others are wondering how to react and what to do, these people have already seen and taken advantage of the opportunity that lies there. They are usually strong-willed and ambitious. On the other hand they should be careful not to force their ideas on other people. Generally these people enjoy all forms of social interaction, and no party is complete without their lively wit and humor.  

Some Famous Rats: Louis Armstrong, Shirley Bassey, Marlon Brando, Doris Day, Clark Gable, Hugh Grant, Charlton Heston, Gene Kelly, Glenda Jackson, Kris Kristofferson, Gary Lineker, Sean Penn, Burt Reynolds, Olivia Newton-John, Tommy Steele, Donna Summer, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Kim Wilde.

Years of the Rat : 1912 - 1924 - 1936 - 1948 - 1960 - 1972 - 1984 - 1996 - 2008 - 2020 - 2032

After this sign, we go back to the Ox
 

Theme : Zodiac signs 11k

We are reaching the end of the Zodiac series, issued by Canadian post.

11/12 Year of the Pig (2007)

The second last sheet, issued in 2007, is for the year of the Pig (Boar).
This is the last animal in the cycle, but as we started with the second one, there is still the 'first' animal that will be explained in my next post.


The Boar type is usually an honest, straightforward and patient person. Such man is a modest, shy character who prefers to work quietly behind the scenes and when others disappear he/she is often there to offer support. This type of people is reserved with those who they know not too well, but as time passes and they gain confidence those around may discover a lively and warm-hearted person behind that mask of aloofness. In spite the fact that those who born in the year of pig have a wide circle of friends and acquaintances, they have only few close friends who understand them and share their inner thoughts and feelings. It is easy to put trust in pig type; he/she won't let you down and will never even try to. Such people simply want to do everything right according to the social control. 

11th sheet - year of the Pig

The sheet is rather modest,  but has a nice, unusual cut.
The stamp in the sheet is also modest, an embossed rectangle.
We see a second pic on top of the stamp, but that's similar to the other sheets, just for decoration.

detail - sheet year of the Pig

To see the effect of the embossed image, we better flip the sheet again.

2 embossed pigs, one stamp, one decoration

Some Famous Pigs: Bryan Adams, Woody Allen, Julie Andrews, Fred Astaire, Richard Attenborough, Lucille Ball, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Glenn Close, Richard Dreyfuss, Farrah Fawcett, Ernest Hemingway, Barry Gibb, Alfred Hitchcock, Elton John, Kevin Kline, Jerry Lee Lewis, Dudley Moore, Marie Osmond, Michael Parkinson, Lee Remick, Ginger Rogers, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steven Spielberg, Emma Thompson. 

Years of the Pig : 1911 - 1923 - 1935 - 1947 - 1959 - 1971 - 1983 - 1995 - 2007 - 2019 - 2031
Next : Rat