A small selection of stamps added to PostBeeld’s stock recently can be seen below. Please note: for each country featured in the article, there will have been many more stamps added to PostBeeld’s freestampcatalogue.com website.
In 1950, Venezuela issued this airmail stamp series featuring the protection of the country’s flora – specifically specifically focusing on the Tabebuia Chrysantha flower shown on the stamps.
Issued in 1951, this great set of airmail stamps from Venezuela features gas and oil facilities and the coat of arms of the State of Zulia. Zulia is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo, situated in northwestern Venezuela, bordering Lake Maracaibo – the largest body of water of its kind in Latin America. Its basin covers one of the largest oil and gas reserves in the Western Hemisphere.
Some great additions to stock from Great Britain if you check PostBeeld’s website, including this set featuring photographs of Winston Churchill at different stages of his life and some of his famous quotes. And below is a special collector’s sheet from Christmas 2024. The sheet features eight First Class stamps, eight Second Class stamps, one First Class Large Letter stamp, one Second Class Large Letter stamp and two £2.80 stamps. Each stamp features a snowy scene of a UK cathedral: Edinburgh, Liverpool, Armagh, Bangor and Westminster.
These Pro Juventute stamps and the first day cover were issued by Swiss Post in 1986.
The United States Postal Service issued “The Pan-American Inverts” souvenir sheet seen here in 2001. The Pan-American Exposition held in Buffalo, New York in 1901, highlighted advancements of the 19th century in industry, transportation, manufacturing, and the arts. On opening day, a series of six bi-coloured stamps commemorating the exposition was issued. A limited number of the stamp sheets were printed with inverted centres: the 1-cent stamp depicting the steamship, “City of Alpena”; the 2c stamp depicting the train, “Empire State Express”; and the 4c stamp depicting an early electric automobile. The rare inverts quickly became collectibles.
This 2001 souvenir sheet includes reproductions of the famous Pan-American inverts in their original colours as well as four reproductions of a “cinderella” stamp that originally commemorated the 1901 Pan-American Exposition. (A cinderella is an item that resembles, but is not, an official government-issued postage stamp.) The design of the red and blue, diamond-shaped cinderella features a charging buffalo in the centre with the words “Pan-American Exposition Buffalo.” The addition of an 80-cent denomination makes each of the four cinderella reproductions official postage stamps. A detail of the cover illustration from a 1901 souvenir guide also appears on the 2001 souvenir sheet. In the illustration, an allegorical female representing unity among the Americas stands on top of a globe. In her left hand she holds a flag – half-Canadian, half-American – and her right arm rests on the back of a buffalo. The globe shows the western hemisphere and includes the words “Pan-American Exposition 1901. Buffalo, NY, USA.” Niagara Falls appears in the background.
The 5.60 Zloty stamp on this Polish stamp sheet from 1963, entitled Conquering Space, depicts Mariner 2 (Mariner-Venus 1962), an American space probe to Venus, and was the first robotic space probe to report successfully from a planetary encounter. The 6.50 Zt features Mars 1, the first spacecraft to fly by Mars, although communications had been lost before it reached the planet.
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships is a bienniel competition for cross-country skiing, ski-jumping andNordic combined skiing, organised by the International Ski Federation (FIS). These three rare minisheets were produced to commemorate the 1962 event held in Zakopane, Poland.
Colourful orchid stamps from Namibia issued in 1999. In value order they show: Eulophia hereroensis, Ansellia Africana, Eulophia leachii and Eulophia speciosa.
Also from Namibia three stamps, one overprinted ‘Registered Mail’ featuring vegetables and grain – from 2005.
The 1967 World Jamboree was the 12th World Jamboree of the World Organization of the Scout Movement. The camp was held in Farragut State Park, on the southern shore of Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho, in the northwestern United States. It was the second time a World Jamboree had been held in the Americas. The camp welcomed 12,011 participants from 105 countries. Dubai produced the above stamps to commemorate the event. For those interested in Scouting stamps PostBeeld has recently added a great collection to its stock, shown here are just a few.
The 13th World Jamboree was held in Japan in 1971 and Fujeira issued a gold and silver stamp for the event during which a typhoon struck and thousands of scouts had to evacuate the camp site for 48 hours.
Also from 1971, Sharjah featured Scouts from various European countries with accompanying famous landmarks in this set of stamps.
The Holy See’s participation in the Brussels World Fair was commemorated by a series of Vatican City postage stamps. The designs represent Pope Pius XII and the Holy See’s pavilion at the fair.
These higher value definitives from Suriname (1936), then a Dutch colony, show Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands who reigned for nearly 58 years (1890-1948), making her the longest-reigning monarch in Dutch history.
