Odd stamps : 09a hologram stamps

Time for some new odd stamps.
You see it often in banknotes and certificates, holograms are used as a security mark
Official software is secured with holograms, but in stamps it's not that common.

Holograms used in euro money

There are not many holographic stamps or stamps with a hologram.

Such a security mark is not really necessary for stamps and mostly the value of a stamp is too low to invest in such a marks.
The only reason for holograms on stamps, is to "show off", to have a "special issue"...
Briefly, to make collectors pay extra.
But it's a given fact, holograms are attractive.

A hologram is a word with greek roots : holograph : hólos (the whole) and graphein (to write, to draw).
So it's a way to write print a whole image.

What is a hologram in fact?
It's not easy to describe it in an easy way, but let's try.

When looking through a window, all waves coming from the window to the retina in your eye. The combination of those waves make us see a 3D image.
Using certain optical (and physical) techniques, a 'photograph' can be made of a certain moment in this cyclus of waves. The image itself is not 3D, but with the use of light (or laserlight) the 'idea' of waves can be reconstructed.
When waves comes from different directions, the 3D image becomes more realistic and 'deeper';
In a hologram, the natural light is reconstructed and gives us the 3D view again.
The larger the holgram is, the bettter the 3D effect and the 'deeper' the view becomes.

The Hungarian scientist Dennis Gabor discovered the basic idea for holograms in 1948, but it lastet till 1960 until the first hologram was made, by the Americas Upatnieks and Leith. Gabor received the Nobelprice for his discovery, in 1971.

So far the theory, now the stamps ...

First sheet is from Poland, a sheet with 2 stamps, one with a hologram of a butterfly.

Poland holographic butterfly

Poland detail hologram

Secondly Bhutan, a lot can be said about Bhutani stamps, but they have been a pioneer in emitting special stamps. This is a sheet to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Man' first step on the Moon.

Bhutan 2 hologram in one sheet

Bhutan detail hologram

There are more holographic stamps to follow

To be or not to be : CTO - The very obvious ones 01 b

As said in the previous article, most countries under communist influence, have loads of CTO stamps.
Sometimes the cancel is printed together with the printing of the stamp. Where the ink of the stamp stops, the cancel stops as well.

Most Eastern European stamps of the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's suffer from the same disease.
Sometimes it needs several copies of the same stamp to see the cancel was put on purpose.
Most of the stamps are still gummed, and they are 'cancelled' in the capital city in most of the cases.
All cancels are on the same date and often on the same corner of the stamp (you need 4 stamps to read the whole cancellation).
Or did you really think a very dedicated postman was cancelling all stamps at the same date, on the same way...

Especially with the stamps of the former Czechoslovakia, the gum is really nasty and can damage your albums permanently. Don't put them together in a box either, when the gum loosens, all stamps stick together.

How many reasons more to remove CTO's out of your collection!

Theme : Esperanto 02

For my second article on Esperanto, we go to Poland.
Zamenhof was born in Białystok, now a polish city, but in that time (he was born in 1859), still a part of the Lithuanian province of the Russian Empire unter the Tsar Nicolas II.

Zamenhof spoke of Lithuania as his 'beloved homeland', but never had problems with his mixed background, as being russian, polish, lithuanian and jewish. Near the end of the 19th century lots of conflicts between ethnic groups made living together not easy.
Białystok had only 30.000 habitants that time, 10% was Polish, 17% German, 13% Russian and 60 % had jewish roots. This resulted of course in a babylonic mixture of languages, slangs, dialects. German was mainly used in open areas, where Polish rather was used in intellectual circles. Hebrew, or rather Yiddish was used in commerce and trade, and peasants mainly spoke Belarussian. But after all, the official language of the region was Russian.

Zamenhofs father spoke Russian, but was teaching German, his mother Yiddish, and as he grew up, he used Polish more and more. Polish was also the language he thought his children.
In his studies to become a doctor, he learned French, Latin and Greek. Also Hebrew en English he spoke.
Finally he had a strong interest in learning Italian, Spanish and Lithuanian.

No wonder he concluded that miscommunicuation was the course of much of the misery he encountered in his town, and that there was a urgent need of a language that could be understood in every part of the city...

Two polish issues, to remeber and honour Ludovic Lazarus Zamenhof (born : Leyzer Leyvi Zamengov).