1.- The Aland Post.
Åland Post Stamps now presents some big news! The very first auction arranged by Åland Auctions is planned to be held in November.
Åland Auctions is a website auction house, and we plan to have three or four auctions every year. Initially, all objects will be older philatelic material, stamps, covers, cards, et cetera. You have the possibility of creating your own personalized Åland stamps! You choose* the motif, so take the chance and choose one of your favourite photos for your own unique stamp! Here, we present some of the possibilities for My Stamps; however, your fantasy sets the limit.
2.- Top 13 most valuable postage stamps in the world.
Cape of Good Hope Stamp
Cape of Good Hope Stamp
Estimated value: US$40,000
Issued in 1853, the Cape of Good Hope stamp is the first postage stamp in the Cape of Good Hope, and even in the whole of Africa. It firstly came out in the forms of 1- and 4-pennies, and the stamp with two other face values was issued two years later.
The stamp sports a triangular shape, so that even the illiterate could tell that it was not a stamp from another country, although many other countries have issued triangular stamps since then. Its design is a female figure sitting on top of an anchor, which is resting on top of a rock, symbolizing the Cape. The stamp was designed by Surveyor General Charles Bell and printed by Messrs. Perkins, Bacon & Co., a famous printer of books, bank notes and postage stamps.
3.-Bird stamps from British Indian Ocean Territory.
The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) or Chagos Islands is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia.
The territory comprises the six atolls of the Chagos Archipelago with over 1,000 individual islands (many tiny) having a total land area of 60 square kilometres (23 sq mi).
The largest island is Diego Garcia (area 44 km2), the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States.
Following the eviction of the native population (Chagossians) in the 1960s, the only inhabitants are US and British military personnel and associated contractors, who collectively number around 4,000 (2004 figures).
Brunei is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia. Apart from its coastline with the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the state of Sarawak, Malaysia, and it is separated into two parts by the Sarawak district of Limbang.
It is the only sovereign state completely on the island of Borneo, with the remainder of the island belonging to Malaysia and Indonesia. Brunei's population was 401,890 in July 2011.
The official national history claims that Brunei can trace its beginnings to the 7th century, when it was a subject state of the Srivijayan empire under the name P'o-li. It later became a vassal state of Majapahit empire before converting to Islam in the 15th century. At the peak of its empire, the sultanate had control that extended over the coastal regions of modern-day Sarawak and Sabah, the Sulu archipelago, and the islands off the northwest tip of Borneo.
5.- Belgium, Folklore and traditions.
Were you captivated by handed-down tales related by your parents or grandparents? Do you know about thè superstitious beliefs of past generations? Birth, marriage and death had their own traditions.
In our fast evolving society there is little room for thè customs and folklore of our ancestors. Be that as it may, some traditions nave survived:
ringing thè death knell, exchanging wedding bands, Easter eggs and « S singing children on Twelfth Night.
The folklore of our country is expressed in major events, parades and processions. They are often religious in origin, while some even go back to thè era of thè Celts.
6.- Portugal, Issuing programme 2010.
CTT Correios de Portugal, S.A.—meaning Postal Services of Portugal, plc—is the national postal service of Portugal. The acronym CTT comes from Correios, Telégrafos e Telefones—Post, Telegraph and Telephone—the former name of the postal administration. CTT has become a public limited company in 1991, but all the capital is still controlled by the Portuguese government.
In 2007, CTT started to offer a mobile phone service in Portugal, under the brand name Phone-ix.
CTT was also the designation of the postal services of the former Portuguese Colonies. It is still the designation of the Macau Postal Service.
Guyana previously known as British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and (for over 200 years) of the British.
It is the only state of the Commonwealth of Nations on mainland South America, and it is also a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which has its secretariat headquarters in Guyana's capital, Georgetown.
Guyana is also known for being one of only two Caribbean countries that is not an island, the next country being Belize. Guyana achieved independence from the United Kingdom on 26 May 1966, and became a Republic on 23 February 1970.
The Republic of the Congo, also referred to as Congo-Brazzaville, is a country located in Central Africa. It is bordered by Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Angolan exclave of Cabinda.
The region was dominated by Bantu-speaking tribes, who built trade links leading into the Congo River basin. Congo-Brazzaville was formerly part of the French colony of Equatorial Africa.
Upon independence in 1960, the former colony of French Congo became the Republic of the Congo. The People's Republic of the Congo was a Marxist-Leninist single-party state from 1970 to 1991. Multiparty elections have been held since 1992, although a democratically elected government was ousted in the 1997 Republic of the Congo Civil War.
9.- List of notable postage stamps.
Traditional philately is the study of the technical aspects of stamp production and stamp identification, including:
* The initial stamp design process;
* The paper used (wove, laid, etc., and including watermarks);
* The method of printing (engraving, typography, etc.);
* The gum;
* The method of separation (perforation, rouletting);
* Any overprints on the stamp;
* Any security markings, underprints or perforated initials ("perfins"); and,
* The study of philatelic fakes and forgeries.
Thematic philately, also known as topical philately, is the study of what is depicted on the stamps. There are hundreds of popular subjects, such as birds on stamps, and ships, poets, presidents, monarchs, maps, aircraft, space craft, sports and insects on stamps. Interesting aspects of topical philately include design mistakes and alterations, for instance, the recent editing out of cigarettes from the pictures used for United States stamps, and the stories of how particular images came to be used.
10.- Bird stamps from Cayes of Belize.
The cayes, the offshore atolls and the barrier reef are one of the main attractions of Belize. The barrier reef, which is 185 miles long, is the longest in the Western Hemisphere. The cayes (pronounced keys) are islands that are located between the mainland and the barrier reef.
Although the mangrove cayes are normally uninhabitable by humans, they do provide a superior habitat for birds and marine life.
Many birds, fish, shellfish, and marine organisms begin their lives within the protection of the mangrove. On the other hand, the island cayes, which are distinguishable by their palm trees, have provided the foundation for the development of many fine resorts to serve the water sports enthusiasts and the marine naturalists. The cayes and atolls provide superior opportunity for scuba diving, snorkeling, fishing, boating, sailing and sea kayaking, as well as being a habitat for both nesting birds and turtles.
Philately has been considered as an "auxiliary science of history" because it is based on the general principles of other sciences, which in turn contribute to enrich it. It acquires knowledge of the sciences, of the arts, of languages and opens an immense road of social relations through all countries. This science broadens broad horizons of culture, discovers artistic temperaments and offers the interest of the new and the unknown, while performing a positive therapeutic wor.
