Odd stamps : 06 p Stamps on cotton / silk

Once again, a new smooth stamp/sheetlet from Thailand.
Depicting two pets, a dog with a cat on his back, and printed on velvet paper.
Touching the stamp/sheetlet, it feels like petting the animals for real.

This sheetlet of 25 baht, is only issued on 300,000 copies. A rather small number for a country with almost 70 million people (2024).
It was issued on February 2024 to commemorate the 'Love your pet - day'.
The stamp was printed on velvet paper, to promote philately.

In the bottom corner of the sheetlet, we see a qr-code which leads to the website of the Thai post.
For those who don't speak phasa Thai (Thai), the site is also available in phasa Ankrit (English):

Thailandpost.co.th

to be continued....

Theme : Alphabets - 03

It took me a while, but finally I was able to find the complete set of the alphabet, used in Colombia.
The alphabet is the same as in all Spanish-speaking countries, and is the standard Latin alphabet, extended with some additional characters.
I could call it the 'Spanish' alphabet, but since the stamps are issued in Colombia, I'll name it the 'Colombian alphabet'.

The set consists of 30 stamps; 29 with characters and one with the message 'Learn to write'.
The set comes in 3 rows of 10 stamps each.

30 stamps on the 'Colombian alphabet'

The first stamp invite us to 'learn to write' and then the A-B-C starts:

A for Águila, B for Búfalo, C for Cóndor

Each of the stamps depicts an animal (except for the W and the X) - there are no animals starting with a W or an X in Spanish, so 'wagon' and 'xilófono' are used.

The 'CH' is considered a separate consonant, written with two letters C+H. The word 'chimpancé' is pronounced the same as in English.
Also the 'LL' is unknown in the English alphabet. In Spain it will be pronounced as 'lj' but in South America 'sj' is a more common way to pronounce the 'LL'.
If the animal is named 'lama' you could say in Spanish : la llama se llama Llama...

N and Ñ

Also typical for the Colombian (Spanish) alphabet is the 'Ñ' which we see in the country name 'España'. Because the 'ñ' is so typical for the alphabet, it is nowadays used on spanish stamps as a security mark.
The 'ñ' is cut out of many stamps as a security mark.

the 'ñ' cut out of the stamp

The full set of 30 stamps has been given a catalogue value of € 30, about $ 1 each.

to be continued...

Odd stamps : 08 Stamps with special cuts - 01 j

It has been a while since I posted some round stamps.

Round stamps are not an exception anymore, but still the shape is special.
It will not easily fit in standard albums, with individual holders and in classic albums, it tend to roll away.

Today I present a special set of stamps, that were issued in 2005.
Two round stamps depict the two Giant Pandas Chuang Chuang (male) and Lin Hui (female) from the People's Republic of China. Both pandas are ambassadors of friendship in the so-called Panda-Diplomacy of the P.R.China.

A panda showing his tongue,
and a panda eating bamboo

 

They are residents of the Chiang Mai Zoo since October 2003. The pandas are on 'loan' from the Zoo of Chengdu and will help to learn Thai about wildlife conservation.
Both pandas were supposed to return in 2023, but unfortunately, on September 19, 2019, Chuang Chuang passed away, aged 19.

The sudden death of the Giant Panda, has put some stress on the diplomatic relations between both countries, as millions of people in China (P.R.) questioned the cause of death of the male bear.
Chinese experts arrived later on to investigate the case.

Apart from the two individual stamps, also a souvenir sheet was issued.

2005 Thailand Giant Panda sheet

 

This issue was the first round emission in Thailand, followed by the emblems of the different regions in 2007 (see previous posts)

Theme : Alphabets - 02a Thai alphabet - part 1

One of my favourite modern stamps is a set of 44 alphabet stamps, issued by Thailand.
They were all depicted in two sheets, one of 24 and one of 20 stamps, in 2011.

The Thai alphabet has more letters then the latin (western) alphabet, 44 consontants and 15 vowel symbols that can be combined into 28 vowel forms in total.
In addition to this, Thai is a tonal languages, the tone in which a word is pronounced, changes the meaning of the word.

All consonant signs are being displayed in the central stamps.
In the border of the first sheet, we see 24 stamps of 1 baht.
The alphabet starts with Ko/Kai (of Go/Gai) - like the G in the french Garçon.

Sheet 1 : K/G ko/kai to th/thong

Each letter refers to a word, this makes it easier to remember Kai/Gai means 'chicken'

Ko/Kai - Go/Gai  - ก ไก่ (chicken)

Cho/Chang -ช ช้าง (elephant) 

The second sheet continues with N to H

Sheet 2 : N no/nu to H ho/hu

Po/Pla - ป ปลา (fish)

Lo/Ling - ล ลิง (monkey)

The vowels are partly included in the consonant sound - ba/da/fa/ga/ha/ja/ ....
The vowel signs or combinations, alter the original vowel - bo/do/fo/go/ho/jo/ ... and are less important than in western alphabets.
Therefore, this system is called an abugida, in which vowels have a lower status than consonants and its notation is secondary.
Unless a specific vowel is written or diacritics are added, all consonants have their own specific vowel sounds included. MBK* will be read as MoBoKo, unless mentioned otherwise.
*MBK is a shopping mall in Bangkok.

ล - L(o)
◌ิ - i
ง - ng
The ล which is normally 'lo' becomse 'li' because of the ◌ิ which is placed on the proceeding consonant. That's why it should be pronounced as : 'ling' (monkey): ลิง
Each stamp is issued as a 1 baht stamp.
Sending a postcard within Thailand used to be at the rate of 3 baht.
Sending a letter to Europe, you'll need 15 baht, which results in very colourful covers.

to be continued...

Currency Today : Venezuela 14

In this post, I present the last two Venezolan notes (at this moment).

200 BsS and 500 BsS

Again 2 new designs were used.
The 500 note has Simón Bolívar on the front side, but now he is depicted from the right hand side.

The back side of the notes puts two more vulnerable animals in the picture.

reverse side of 200  BsS and 500 BsS

The parrot on the 200 BsS note, is a large parrot or small macaw.
The bird is not that uncommon in captivity, and often found as pet. However in the wild, the Guacamayo is vulnerable.
Although the picture on the banknote is only one colour, the Guacamayo/Papagayo Militar/Verde is known for its colourful, but predominal green plumage, resembling a military uniform

Guacamayo on 200 BsS/VeS

Guacamayo or Papagayo Militar or Verde

The last note in the 2018 set, is a 500 Boliváres Soberanos note (equivalent of 50,000,000 Boliváres fuertes).
As it is the highest denomination (for now), it shows the national hero Simón Bolívar on the front side.
At the back, an endemic bird is depicted. This is the only animal on the banknotes that is not endangered of vulnerable.

Venezuelan Turpial

The Venezuelan Turpial or Tourpial is the national bird of Venezuela.

Venezuelan T(o)urpial

In 2015, there was an international beauty contest in Tokio, Japan.
Each miss represented her country in a dress that referred to her country.
Edymar Martínez did this in a 'turpial' dress. I don't know if the dress made any difference, but she won the 2015 Miss International competition.

Miss (Turpial) Venezuela - Miss International 2015

Edymar Martinez representing Venezuela poses in a national dress during the 55th Miss International Beauty Pageant in Tokyo, Japan, November 5, 2015. Photo: Reuters

Currency Today : Venezuela 13

Moving on to the 5th and 6th note in the 2018 set of Venezolan banknotes.
50 BsS and 100 BsS (or 5 and 10 million old BsF).

50 and 100 Boliváres Soberanos

Again two new designs :

50 BsS :
Date of issue : January 15, 2018.
Signature G

100 BsS :
Date of issue : March 22, 2018
Signature G

Signature on 100 BsS/VeS

At the back side:

reverse side of 50 and 100 BsS

Two of Venezuela's endangered animals:
on the 50-note the legenda underneath the animal says 'Cunaguaro'.
In Spanish, it refers to two types of animals:
1: the Leopardus Pardalis or Ocelot,
2: the Leopardus Tigrinus or Tigrillo/Oncillo.

Since the Ocelot is not an endangered animal, we see the Oncillo or Tiger Cat on the note.
This animal is vulnerable and lives in mayor parts of Venezuela, as well in almost the entire country of Brazil.

Tiger Cat or Oncillo

Tiger Cat in action

on the  100-note we see a brown spider monkey.
The animal only lives in Colombia and partly in Venezuela, and now is critically endagered.
It is considered to be in the top 25 of most endangered primates.

Brown spider monkey

lovely animal on the edge of extintion

to be continued ...

Currency Today : Venezuela 12

The 3rd and 4th banknote in the 2018 series of the Boliváres notes, are 10 and 20 BsS / VeS.
Both notes have January 15, 2018 as issuing date.

10 and 20 (new) Boliváres

The design for the 20 BsS-note was already used in the older sets.

(see : https://rainbowstampsandcoins.blogspot.com/2019/03/currency-today-venezuela-08.html )
Since 10,000 BsF is 200 times 50 BsF, and 20 BsS is 200 times 10,000 BsF, this new note has the same value of 40,000 old 50 BsF notes !

Both notes (10 and 20 BsS) have the same date of issue and the same signature

signature on 20 BsS/VeS -note

reverse side of 10 and 20 BsS

On the reverse side, both notes continue with endangered or at least vulnerable species.
The 'oso palmero' or Giant Anteater, lives in the northern part of South America. Covering almost all of Venezuela, Brazil, down to Colombia, Ecuador and norther parts of Argentina and Paraguay.
Althouh its habitat covers a great part of South America, the animal is vulnerable.

Giant Anteater - Oso Palmero

Oso Palmero on 10 BsS/VeS

The reverse side of the 20 BsS note shows a Jaguar (Yaguar in Spanish).
This animal is not endangered or vulnerable, but close to vulnerability.
The latin name is 'pantera onca', the word 'panther' is derived from classical Latin panthēra, itself from the ancient Greek pánthēr (πάνθηρ).
The word jaguar (Yaguar) however is thought to derive from the Tupian word yaguara, meaning "beast of prey".The word entered English presumably via the Amazonian trade language Tupinambá, via Portuguese jaguar. The specific word for jaguar is yaguareté, with the suffix -eté meaning "real" or "true". The above languages are spoken in various parts in Brazil, next to Venezuela.

real Jaguar

Jaguar on 20 BsS/VeS

to be continued...

Currency Today : Venezuela 11

In January 2018, the old Boliváres Fuertes notes have lost that much value, that it became impossible to use the old notes.
Imagine you paying 1,000,000 boliváres for a coffee, with 10 notes of 100,000.

In stead of printing new notes with even higher denominations, they dropped 5 zero's, so 100,000 Boliváres fuertes became 1 Bolivar Soberano (sovereign).
The 1 Bolivar is a coin, from 2 Boliváres on, new banknotes were printed.

They fit seamlessly with the previous types of notes. The note mentionnes 'bolváres', but in fact it's a new currency. They old Boliváres are officially VEF (fuertes) and the new ones VES (soberanos).
When looking up exchange rates, the two types are as different as dollars and roubles, except, they were issued in the same country.

Again, the banknotes are in high quality printing, and very attractive in design.

The first two note in the VES-set are 2 and 5 Boliváres. The date of issue is January 15, 2018.
We see signature H (similar to the issues in 2017).

signature H

At the back side of the notes, we find again some endangered or vulnerable animals that live in the Venezolan region.

2 and 5 Boliváres Soberanos / VES

For the 2 BsS (VES) note, the design is that of the Yellow shouldered parrot.

a very popular but vulnerable pet in Venezuela

yellow shouldered parrot

What's in the name. The Yellow shouldered parrot, is a yellow shouldered parrot...
It lives in the north of Venezuela, from the tropical Islands Margarita and La Blanquilla to the Dutch Caribean Island of Bonaire. In Aruba the bird is extirpated, and possibly also on Curaçao.

The 5 boliváres-note shows a critially endangered endemic frog, the 'sapito rayado' or Veragua stubfoot toad or even Rancho Grande harlequin frog.
This frog's habitat was the Caracas surroundings, but due to human influence (Caracas is known as the concrete jungle), the animal is now seriously threatned.

Sapito rayado - Veragua stubfoot toad

also known as the Ranch Grande harlequin frog

to be continued ...

Currency Today : Venezuela 08a

The last notes of the 2016-2017 series, were issued in December 2017.
In the previous post, I spoke about the 5000 Boliváres fuertes note.
This note was reissued in December, but with some changes, similar to the 20,000 Boliváres note I presented earlier (https://rainbowstampsandcoins.blogspot.com/2019/03/currency-today-venezuela-05.html).

5000 boliváres fuertes (Dec. 17 and March 17)

On the right, we see the March 2017 version, on the left the December 2017 version.

Version March 2017 :

1. metallic ink to indicate the value (colour shift when tilt)

2. date of issue March 2017

3. signature H

4. broad security tread 'BCV 5000'

5. darker flower ornament

Version December 2017 :

1. one colour for the value (no colour shift)

2. date of issue December 2017

3. signature G

4. small security tread 'BVC'

5. pale flower ornament

The 10,000 boliváres note is new to this set.

The design was previously used for the 50 Boliváres fuertes note (2007-2013),
but now, the face value is 200 times higher.

50 boliváres fuertes

10,000 boliváres fuertes

The reverse side, depics the 'Oso Frontino', the spectacled bear. Although this animal is not endangered, it's considered as vulnerable. It is also the only bear that has its origin in South America.
Its habitat is on the west side of South America, from the north of Colombia and parts of west Venezuela, downwards over Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.

10,000 boliváres fuertes - reverse side

50 boliváres fuertes - reverse side

to be continued ...

Currency Today : Venezuela 07

In March 2017,  a number of new notes are added to the second series of Boliváres Fuertes.

A 500, 1000 and a 5000-note are added to the set.
Meanwhile, a new signature combination is added (signature H)

500, 1000 and 5000 boliváres fuertes

The new notes' design was used already in the first series (2007-2013), but then with more vibrant colours. And due to inflation, the value of the new notes are 200 to 250 times higher than the previous issues.

2, 5 and 20 (old) boliváres fuertes (2007-13)

At the reverse side, three different - local - animals are depicted :

reverse side of 500, 1000 and 5000 boliváres fuertes

On the 500 note, we see 'toninas'. It is a type of freshwater dolphin, indigenous to the Amazon and Orinoco rivers in the American continent, where it occupies the first place among the largest dolphins that inhabit these rivers, it is also known by the names of dolphins pink or bufeo, being its scientific name "Inia geoffrensis". The toninas base their feeding on fish of different types, their average life time is between 30 and 40 years, the presence of these animals in an ecosystem is synonymous with the healthiness of said area since they usually live in clean waters, these dolphins are currently in danger of extinction, so their conservation has become very important.

Toninas

On the 1000 note, two 'cuspones' or armadillos are depicted. The animal is also on the edge of extinction in Venezuela, and can be found in the wild, in the southern part of the country, near the Brazilian rainforrest, and in the south west, near the border with Colombia.

Armadillos or 'cuspones'

Finally the 5000 note, depics another critically endangered animal, the Hawksbill Sea Turtle.

This animal normally lives in the waters around the equator world wide.

endangered Sea Turtles

Similar to the 2007-2013 set, the reverse side of the shown notes, was used previously.

reverse side of  2, 5 and 20 (old) boliváres fuertes

Despite the low value of all of these notes, the design is really beautiful and the notes are worth collecting. The low value made the original notes so useless, that many were destroyed or used to make souvenirs for the few tourists.

A pity in my opinion, but understandable.

money to make 'art'

more to follow ...