Champion Horse on New Australian stamp

 

Date of Issue : 10 May 2013

During The World Stamp Expo 2013 (10 – 15 May), Australia Post released a commemorative stamp to celebrate the 25th consecutive win and retirement of champion Australian racehorse Black Caviar.

The six-year-old mare, Black Caviar, leaves an extraordinary legacy of 25 wins from 25 starts, including 15 Australian Group 1 victories. Her consecutive wins constitute a world record for horses of the modern age competing at the elite level.

She first showed promise as a two and three-year-old with five wins from five starts. As a four-year-old her career blossomed when she faced her first Group 1 challenge in what was described as “an astonishing demolition job”. On 28 April 2012, she established a new Australian record of 20 consecutive wins when she took out the Robert Sangster Stakes in Adelaide.

In June 2012, Black Caviar journeyed overseas to compete in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot. Australians watching the race held their breath when, after taking the lead with some 200 metres to go, jockey Luke Nolen eased her back enabling second running horse Moonlight Cloud to momentarily draw level. In the final strides before the line Black Caviar surged forward to win by a head and examination would reveal that she had incurred injuries during the race.

Black Caviar returned to the track in 2013 with wins in the Lightning Stakes, William Reid Stakes and the T.J. Smith Stakes. Her connections announced her retirement from racing on 17 April 2013.

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New stamps on Birds..

 

Date of Issue : 11 May 2013

Australia Post released a range of new “miniature” artworks on stamps at the World Stamp Expo. This stamp issue is the fourth in the Australian Birds series. It focuses on pardalotes, a family (Pardalotidae) of foliage-gleaning, mainly insectivorous birds native to Australia and sometimes known as “peep-wrens” or “diamond birds”. Unlike wrens, pardalotes do not have the upward-pointing tail.

The name “pardalote” derives from the Greek word meaning spotted, as small whitish spots are common to the family, although most particularly to the Spotted Pardalote and Forty-spotted Pardalote.

Pardalotes are small, around 8.5cm to 12cm, with short tails and wings, longish legs and thick stubby beaks. Their plumage combines both dull and striking colours. They prefer a eucalypt habitat over anything else – often the high outer foliage – and they play a strong role in controlling lerp infestations (a sap-sucking insect). These monogamous birds usually feed singly or in pairs during the breeding season, darting quickly among the foliage or like small missiles from tree to tree. They often share in the tasks of nest building, egg incubation and rearing the young. Most species nest in horizontal tunnels built into earth banks.

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Australian stamp with Watermark error may fetch $ 100,000..

 

The Penny Red with sideways watermark

Here I wish to share with the Readers, an article by Michael Lallo about an Australian stamp with watermark error published in ‘ The Age ’ . The readers would find it interesting !!

 

Not worth 99c, stamp may fetch $100,000

- Michael Lallo

A flawed version of the most collected Australian stamp in the world could fetch its owner up to $100,000 – barely a month after he failed to sell it on eBay for 99 cents. It was discovered recently at a rural Scottish stamp fair, then brought to the 2013 World Stamp Expo in Melbourne where it was valued.

The stamp's owner has not being revealed but it is known he tried to sell it on eBay after discovering it had a sideways watermark, suggesting it had been fed into the printer the wrong way.The stamp is a common Australian Penny Red, of which more than one billion were printed early last century.

The owner received no bids on his offer of 99 cents, with eBay users telling him the unusual watermark "could not possibly be real". Undeterred, the man took it to a stamp fair in Scotland, where trader Ian Perry recognised its potential worth.

Perry then brought it to Melbourne's World Stamp Expo, currently being held at the Royal Exhibition Building, where philatelic experts certified its authenticity and estimated its value at $100,000. Malcolm Groom, president of the World Stamp Expo, said there could be other flawed Penny Reds out there. "They were printed on sheets of 120, so we could see a rush of people looking for more," he said. "Normally you'd get 10 cents for one with the standard vertical watermark so when you discover one that's a bit different, it's an exciting little find."

: Michael Lallo - email -    mlallo@fairfaxmedia.com.au

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Botanic Gardens on stamps..

 

 

Date of Issue : 23 April 2013

Australia Post issued a beautiful set of stamps featuring Botanic Gardens of Australia on 23 April 2013.Botanic gardens are an important resource, maintaining collections of living plants for scientific research, conservation, education and enjoyment. The five stamps in the set feature famous Botanic Gardens of Australia.

Hobart's Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens has historical plant collections, trees and convict-built walls all dating from the 19th century, and has the world's only Subantarctic Plant House.

The Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra, ACT maintains some 6,200 species, representing around a third of Australia's native plants from all parts of the country.

The Botanic Garden, Mount Tomah in New South Wales is set in the World Heritage-listed Greater Blue Mountains on the summit of a basalt-capped peak, 1000m above sea level. Its southern beeches from South America provide a spectacular autumnal colour display.

The Darwin Botanic Gardens in the Northern Territory has approximately 450 species of palms and all eight species of Adansonia or the Baobab tree.

The Royal Botanic Gardens in Cranbourne, Victoria covers 363 hectares and includes heathlands, wetlands, woodlands, Australian flora, art and architecture.

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Cute Bush Babies from Australia..

 

This is the second in the Bush Babies stamp series by Australia post produced in co-ordination with the Perth Mint’s release of bush baby coins. Bush Babies II features five more young Australian animals – platypus, echidna, brush-tailed possum, kookaburra and wombat. The stamps capture the whimsy and character of these young Australian animals.

 

Scientists didn’t know what to make of the platypus when they first saw this strange animal that lives in water and on land, has a duck-like bill, a tail and short squat legs. The platypus is a monotreme – egg-laying mammal – and is protected in Australia.

Largely covered with strong pointed spines which protect it from predators, the echidna also has a long snout and sharp claws, both used in its search for food. The echidna shares with the platypus the rare distinction of being a monotreme – they are the only two in the world – and is protected in Australia.

A marsupial, the brush-tailed possum is the most common possum in Australia, found all long the east coast of the country. It is very active at night and sleeps most of the day.

The Wombat is among Australia’s favourite animals, and loves to forage at night on native grasses, shrubs and trees before returning to its burrow for the day.

The Kookaburra is the world’s largest kingfisher, and is best known for its rather hysterical laughing call. It is a meat-eater preying on lizards, snakes, insects, mice and other small birds.

Source : http://www.stampnews.com/

Club News

Glimpses of SOLPEX 2013 Solan ( Himachal Pradesh )

Award Winners  with Mr Umbesh Upmanyu (5th from the Left), Director, HP Postal Circle

Mr Prem Verma In-charge, Shimla Philatelic Bureau with the participant, Bhumika Sharma

Exhibits by Bhumika Sharma at SIMPEX 2013, Shimla

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Earth Hour..

 

Earth Hour : 23 March

 

Earth Hour is a worldwide event organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and held towards the end of March annually, encouraging households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour to raise awareness about the need to take action on climate change.

The event, conceived by WWF and Leo Burnett, first took place in 2007, when 2.2 million residents of Sydney participated by turning off all non-essential lights. Following Sydney's lead, many other cities around the world adopted the event in 2008. Earth Hour 2013 will be held today on March 23, 2013 from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. during participants' local time.

Martyr’s Day – 23 March

Philatelic Tributes to the Heroes of the Nation

- Special Cover prepared by Sanjiv Jain – Dehradun -

Today is Martyr’s Day in India. 23rd March is the  death anniversary of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru and  is declared to be Martyrs' Day.

Commemorative Coin on Shaheed Bhagat Singh

 

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New stamps on Year of Snake..

 

Australia Post celebrates the Year of the Snake

To celebrate the Year of the Snake, Australia Post released a Lunar New Year stamp issue featuring the Chinese character for the snake, shown in the $1.80 stamp, and its pictorial representation, shown in the 60c stamp.

The Snake is the sixth sign in the Chinese zodiac and symbolizes wisdom, caution and romance. The Year of the Snake begins on 10 February 2013.

Famous people born in the Year of the Snake include Sir Sidney Nolan, Audrey Hepburn, Bob Hawke, June Bronhill, Liz Hurley and Pierce Brosnan. According to Chinese Astrology they are likely to be or have been intelligent, graceful, independent, analytical and charming.

Zodiac 2013 stamp from Thailand

Thai Post has issued a stamp to celebrate the Year of the Snake. The Snake is one of the 12-year cycles of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac and related to the Chinese calendar, as well as in related East Asian zodiacal or calendrical systems.

  

2013 Year of the Snake stamps from New Zealand

The snake is the sixth animal in the Chinese lunar calendar, and those born in the Year of the Snake are thought to be elegant, insightful, motivated and highly intellectual. According to ancient Chinese folklore, snakes are deities in disguise, and a snake entering a house brings good fortune for all who live there.

The 2013 Year of the Snake stamp issue by New Zealand Post reflects different aspects of Chinese tradition and culture. The four stamps also celebrate New Zealand's growing Chinese community.

  

The stamps in this issue are as follows:

70c – Chinese Calligraphic Snake. The striking Chinese 'snake' character on this stamp was created by Zhao Meng-fu, a scholar, painter and calligrapher from the Yuan Dynasty (1254-1322 AD).

$1.40 – Paper-cut Greeting Snake. The greeting snake paper-cut on this stamp features images of the silver fern (Cyathea dealbata) and the pomegranate - a Chinese symbol of luck, fertility, wealth and long life.

$1.90 – Koru-Snake Lantern. New Zealand's links with China are celebrated in this lantern design. The unfurling fern represents new life, growth and strength, while the rounded lantern symbolizes wholeness and harmony. The snake is decorated with the peony, which is widely regarded as China's national flower.

$2.40 – Queenstown and Red lanterns. The koru-snake lantern is taken to new heights, soaring on the Skyline Gondola above Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu. This area is also home to the Winter Festival, and in 2012 the Festival included a lantern parade, with an array of colourful lanterns and a Chinese dragon lighting up the streets.

Lunar Year of the Snake stamps from Macao

There are two kinds of theories about the attributes of the Five Elements in each year: one saying is dependent on the "Heavenly Stems" while the other is based on the sound retainers of the Five Elements, which are calculated by "Heavenly Stems" and "Earthly Branches".

The Macao Post adopted the "Heavenly Stems" calculation method to figure out the nature of the "Five Elements" in the sixth issue of the third series of Chinese Zodiac stamps "Lunar Year of the Snake". According to the "Five Elements", there are five different natures of snake: "Water Snake", "Metal Snake", "Earth Snake", "Fire Snake" and "Wood Snake". This year, the snake’s nature from the "Five Elements" is "Water Snake", so it becomes the main character of the five stamps.

 

Source : International Stamp News

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New Christmas stamps from Australia

 

Date of Issue : 1 November 2012

Australia Post issued a beautiful set of 5 stamps on 2nd November 2012 for Christmas. The three stamps shown above  in this set are non religious.The brightly coloured, celebratory subjects are suggestive of familiar Christmas carols "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas", "Jingle Bells" and "Ding Dong Merrily on High".

The designs of the stamps are awesome and depict a child's delight at Christmas time.

 

The traditional Christmas story is presented in two of the five stamps from this year's Christmas stamp issue. These religious stamps are based on the Adoration of the Magi, a wool and silk tapestry in the Art Gallery of South Australia.

The tapestry shows three richly garbed magi, or kings, offering their gifts of myrrh, frankincense and gold to the Christ child. Matthew's gospel tells how the magi travelled afar from the east, and their origin is suggested by their turbans and embroidered clothing as well as by the dark skin colour of one of the kings. The Virgin and Child are seated on a mound of hay within the manger, while Joseph, pausing from his labour of wood chopping, witnesses the reverential scene. An attendant angel appears in the background, with the illuminating star held in his hands. All around there is a profusion of flowers, including the lily, rose, iris, periwinkle, pansy and snowdrop, which are all acknowledged as symbols of the Virgin.

The Adelaide tapestry was woven between 1900 and 1902 at the Merton Abbey Mills in London, England, and was sixth of 10 versions. It was expressly commissioned by the Adelaide collector The Hon. (later Sir) George Brookman and was acquired by the gallery in 1917.

Australia Post  also issued a special  beautiful aerogramme for Christmas.

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“Roma” on stamp …

 

The Italian Post has issued a stamp to commemorate the 150th anniversary of spread Italian daily newspaper "Roma", which first publication was issued on 22 of August 1862. The stamp is designed in a form of a newspaper featuring the painting "Garibaldi landing at Marsala" by Girolamo Induno and the first historic page of the newspaper.

Club News

A Question of Rupees 50 Million (5 Crores) on Postage Stamp !asked by Millenium Star Amitabh Bachhan on KBC  :

DOUGLAS DC 4

Date of Issue : 15 December 1947

Identify the Aircraft on first postage stamp issued after Independence !! 

Answer : DOUGLAS DC 4 ( shown above )

it was issued on 15 December with Ashokan Capital stamp after the first issue of Indian Flag stamp of Independent India on 21st November !!

: Shrikant Parikh - Ahmedabad http://www.setenantsofindia.blogspot.in/

In 1948 on May 29, One more similar stamp  was issued Aircraft face towards right: Name is" 'Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation'. ( Shown below )

Date of Issue : 29 May 1948

AUSTRALIA 2013 Melbourne / Australia 10 - 15 May 2013

• AUSTRALIA 2013 FIP WORLD STAMP EXHIBITION
• ROYAL EXHIBITION BUILDING MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA
• 10 - 15 May 2013

www.australia2013.com

Australia 2013 - Home www.australia2013.com

Mrs Damyanti Pittie is the National Commissioner  for this exhibition. Email : dm_pittie@mtnl.net.in

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Indonesia 2012 - World Stamp Championship

 

 

 

Hi  !

INDONESIA 2012 is taking place in the bustling capital of Jakarta - the 2012 International Stamp Exhibition will bring collectors and philatelic enthusiasts together from around the world.Indonesia 2012 will be held from 18 to 24 June with the support of the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie and the Federation of Inter-Asian Philately, and is expected to be the largest philatelic exhibition ever held in Indonesia. To commemorate this big philatelic event,  New Zealand Post is issuing an exhibition miniature sheet and exhibition souvenir cover. Australia Post also issued a beautiful souvenir sheet to commemorate this philatelic event.

This is all for Today'…..More in Next Post….Until then ….Have a Nice Holiday !!

Jakarta is located on the north-west coast of Java, and is Indonesia’s largest and most populous city. Collectors and philatelic enthusiasts from Asia and around the world will attend the exhibition – adding to the cosmopolitan nature of the city.

 

The exhibition miniature sheet incorporates three stamps from the ‘2012 New Zealand Native Trees’ stamp issue. The stamps are set against a picturesque image of a pōhutukawa tree in Kaikoura in New Zealand’s South Island. Also featured in the design is the official Indonesia 2012 logo - a letter-carrying pigeon in the batik style. Pigeons are known around the world as a symbol of peace and were historically used as message carriers.

Souvenir Sheet from Australia

 

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