Odd stamps : 10 a Stamps on/in wood or cork

You can hardly imagine the types of material can be used for stamps.
This 10th subitem is dedicated to stamps made out of wood or cork.

For the first article, I am taking you to Africa, to the republic of Djibouti.
Djibouti is a small country, in the Horn of Africa (North East).
When this part of Africa was colonised in the 19th century, the whole area was divided between the French, the Italian and the British.
The French, who claimed the most northern part of Somalia, renamed the area into Afars and Issas, until it became independent in 1977 and was renamed into Djibouti.

Stamps of Djibouti are hardly amongst the most wanted stamps in the world, (except maybe those from Afars and Issas). The ones you will find are most likely to be CTO (cancelled to order).
Nevertheless, fort this item on wooden stamps, this is a very special issue...

Djibouti block 2 - CTO

The sheet above and below are printed on a thin wooden plate (0,2 mm). At the back there is glue like a sticker, protected by a paper foil.
Although both blocks are cancelled, the paper foil at the back is not removed, which means both block were never postally used.

Djibouti block 6 - CTO

Djibouti block 6 - back side

Block 2 was issued in 1983, block 6 in 1987.
Catalogue price (Yvert) for both blocks is around € 50.

to be continued...

Odd stamps : 08 Stamps with special cuts - 02 g

I almost forgot to share with you, one of the most beautiful triangular stamps I have.
For this last item on 'triangular' stamps, I take you to the Baltic region, showing airmail stamps of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Where african countries use triangular stamps mainly for revenue stamps (tax); the Baltic area has this preference to use triangular stamps for airmail. At least, in a time where airmail stamps were different from regular 'land mail' stamps.

In a way the purpose was the same. One look at the letter could tell you what kind of mail it was.
As revenue stamps draw the attention in Africa, here the airmail stamps will surely have drawn the attention.

Estonia :

Latvia :

Lithuania :

A more detailed look will be posted later, when I talk about the Baltic Countries in particular.