Odd stamps : 01b Perfumed stamps

On of the first articles ever, and the first topic on 'odd stamps' was about perfumed stamps.

I didn't continue with that topic, but that doesn't mean there isn't anything more to say about it.
Today, another smelly stamp (block) for you.

full sheet of chocolate stamps

The sheet promotes the export of Liberian products.
I suppose they export cacao beans and not the finished chocolates as shown on the sheet.

One problem with scentened sheets / stamps is that the fragrance is lost after a while and only a duff chocolate odour is left.

one of the stamps in detail

the first article was listed under : Odd stamps : 01a Perfumed stamps

Odd stamps : 08 Stamps with special cuts - 08 b

A more recent issue of octagonal stamps, comes from the Asian country Bangladesh.
The stamps, six in total, show us bird nest of Bangladesh.

The stamps were issued as six single stamps (issued perforated) and as a non-perforated block.

6 individual stamps, showing bird's nests

one stamp in detail - 20 taka

The printing hasn't always been very accurate, but still a nice emission.

The same stamps get repeted on the sheet.
Face value of each stamp is 20 taka, but the sheet was sold for 150 taka.

block bird nests of Bangladesh

And to show you that I don't only get those items mint; a postally used example :

cover from Bangladesh with set of octagonal stamps

Odd stamps : 08 Stamps with special cuts - 08 a

We have arrived at the 8th odd shape (see square, pentagonal, hexagonal, heptagonal stamps before).
This time, I'll bring the octagonal stamps to you.

Octagonal stamps, have 8 sides.
So far, all odd stamps are relatively new (from the 70's of the 20th century till now).
The following stamps however are dated 1898 !

10 paras

20 paras

The stamps were issued in 1898.
Turkey was occupying Thessaly (now Greece) from 1897 till June 1898.
At that time, the following octagonal stamps were in use.

1 piastre

2 piastres

5 piastres

A lot of those stamps were cancelled to order (CTO), as well as forgeries.

As you see, odd stamps aren't 'new', as these stamps show.

And there are many more ...

Theme : 1st issues : 04 Brazil

I have left you all waiting for a long time, but here it is, the 1st post of 2013.
No better way to celebrate a 1st post then with a 1st issue.

3 years after the first stamp ever was issued, Brazil was the second country to emit stamps.
In 1843, the first Brazilian stamp set (30, 60 and 90 réis) was issued.
Because of the shape of the design, it didn't take long before people started to call the set : the bull's eyes.
And that's the name the first stamp(s) of Brazil still bare.

Brazil N° 1 -  bull's eye

Similar to the first stamp in Great Brittain, this stamp does not bare the name of the country.
As there were only 2 countries at that time that issued stamps, it wasn't very hard to know whether the stamp was from Brazil or Great Brittain.
Besides, there wasn't many postal traffic either.
It lasted till 1866, then Brazil (and all other countries, except Great Brittain) put the name of the country on its stamps.

The name 'bull's eye' refers to the big oval shaped design, that looks like a bull's eye.
In Portuguese, the language of Brazil, they are called olho(s)-de-boi.
In German (also often spoken in South America) they are 'Ochsenauge(n)'.

This first issue of Brazil was printed on 1,148,994 copies.

more under 'Brazil'

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.