The first series of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics stamps will be issued from January 2011 to 2015. Stamps will depict Sochi, its sports and tourist facilities and Olympic sports. Olympic philately is rooted in the modern Olympics and was a means of attracting money and interest to the Games. Organizers of the first 1896 Athens Olympics faced financial difficulties and issued series of 12 stamps to save the situation. From 50 …  Read More →

On August 18, 2010 Belarus issued five stamps from the series “The Red book of the Republic of Belarus. Mushrooms”. The stamps feature: – Clavariadelphus pistillaris – Langermannia gigantea – Hericium coralloides – Sparassis laminosa – Polyporus umbellatus—splitterQSWEDFR—On August 18, 2010 Belarus issued five stamps from the series “The Red book of the Republic of Belarus. Mushrooms”.—splitterQSWEDFR—Belarus;  Read More →

The Israel Philatelic Service has released two new Greeting Stamps (definitive). The stamps are also issued in the “My Own Stamp” sheet format. “Happy Holidays” This stamp breathes new life into the traditional greeting and lends it a new and special twist. In Israel, people greet each other in this manner on seven different occasions each year, and the routine greeting becomes more festive and elegant when accompanied... 

On 26 August, 2010, An Post issued a stamp to commemorate legendary stamp engraver, Czeslaw Slania. Czeslaw Slania was born near Katowice in southern Poland on 22 October, 1921, and became one of the world’s most prominent stamp engravers. In 1945, he enrolled at the Academy of Art in Krakow. The Government printing house was located nearby and for a time he worked there as a bank note engraver. In April, 1960, the Swedish Post Office employed... 

The 150th anniversary of the Burke and Wills expedition, the first South – North crossing of the continent is celebrated with the release of this special stamp issue. On 20 August 1860, the Burke and Wills expedition left Melbourne for the Gulf of Carpentaria. The explorers hoped to be the first Europeans to cross Australia from the south to the north. While the explorers reached the Gulf, the expedition ended in tragedy. Physically exhausted... 

On September 17, 2010, Monaco will issue a postage stamp to celebrate 50 years of the Monaco Scientific Center. The Monaco Scientific Center (C.S.M.) is an independent public establishment founded by Prince Rainier III on 23 May 1960 in order to provide the Principality with the means to carry out scientific research activities. It is essentially dedicated to marine biology. Since 1990, it has specialized in studying the function of coralline... 

Iceland Post has started selling and distributing bottled messages – “Message in a Bottle”. These items which can be purchased in post offices are amusing message holders made to be sent as mail to friends and relatives in Iceland and abroad. The item consists of a plastic bottle (26 g) with a nice picture from Iceland on one side and an address label on the other. The bottle…  Read More →

Norway Post has issued a series of stamps to celebrate 50 Years of Television in Norway. The first tests of television broadcasts in Norway were conducted in 1954. Television broadcasting officially began in 1960, making Norway one of the last countries to launch television in Western Europe. The reason for this was the country’s geography and rural settlement, which made it a very expensive operation. NRK (the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation)... 

The autumn stamps kick off on 13 September with pop antiques from the 1960s. Many homes in those days had the Cobra phone, go-go boots, ball chair and floral mirror shown on Pekka Piippo’s stamp. The Antiques stamp series thus makes a leap in time from the previous Gustavian and Art Nouveau stamps. The national parks stamp takes us this time to Torronsuo in Southwest Finland. The first class non-value indicator stamp designed by Teemu Ollikainen... 

A set of six postage stamps plus a Miniature Sheet will be issued on 7th September 2010 to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Jersey Freshwater Angling Association. The stamps and Miniature Sheet feature a selection of freshwater fish which can be found in the reservoirs, streams and ponds of Jersey. —splitterQSWEDFR—A set of six postage stamps plus a Miniature Sheet will be issued on 7th September 2010 to mark the 50th Anniversary... 

The rarest native seabird on Christmas Island, the frigatebird, is featured as part of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Conservation Stamp Collection. The frigatebird (Fregata andrewsi) is the rarest endemic seabird on Christmas Island, listed as vulnerable under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Considerable areas of the frigatebird’s former breeding habitat have been cleared, and its current breeding... 

On 14 August 2010, the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee in collaboration with the Singapore Post launched four Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games (Singapore 2010) stamps. This is the third stamp issue on Singapore 2010. The stamps come in a set of four designs featuring the Singapore 2010 Mascots, Lyo and Merly, in poses showcasing the Culture and Education Programme (CEP) and Singapore 2010 Sports. The first two designs highlight... 

The traditional “Day of the Stamp” commemorative, with a surcharge of EUR 1.30 to support organised philately in Austria, is to be launched at the largest federation exhibition of the year, OVEBRIA, where it will be presented to the interested public. The stamp shows in the foreground a modern Austrian Railways Railjet train and the coat of arms of Gmunden, while in the background can be seen the charming town of Gmunden, the venue... 

In August China Post issued special stamp patterns for the 16th Asian Games when the Games celebrated its 100-day countdown. The stamp pattern for envelopes features the Games’ Emblem with a denomination of 1.2 yuan and that for postcards features the Games’ Mascots with a denomination of 0.8 yuan. —splitterQSWEDFR—In August China Post issued special stamp patterns for the 16th Asian Games when the Games celebrated its... 

New Zealand Post has issued a suite of collectable products created in honour of what will arguably be the biggest year in New Zealand rugby history. With an unrivalled winning percentage since the first test against Australia in 1903, the All Blacks will carry the hopes and expectations of more than four million New Zealanders onto the field. Despite decades of change in how the game of rugby …  Read More →