Around the World in Eighty Days is a travel adventure novel by French author Jules Verne (1828-1905), that was published in book form in 1873. Jules Verne is often referred to as being the father of science fiction – his books are full of descriptions of incredible technological advances, many of which have come to fruition since he wrote about them in the 19th Century. He made his mark beyond the world of literature and film, inspiring generation of inventors, explorers and scientists. In 1954 the United States Navy launched the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine, Nautilus, named after the underwater craft featured Verne’s novel “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”. For over a century, adventurers have followed in the footsteps of Verne’s fictional hero Phileas Fogg by attempting to circumnavigate the globe in record-breaking times.
To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the publication of Around the World in 80 Days, which is possibly the most popular of his “Voyages Extraordinaires” series of novels, the British Channel Island’s Guernsey Post has issued the Alderney stamp set seen here. Alderney stamps are released annually as commemorative issues, backed up by a definitive set every decade. The stamps are produced by Guernsey’s Postal Administration and are updated when new values are required.
The stamps were illustrated by Keith Robinson, who has depicted some of the key events from main character Phileas Fogg’s globe-trotting adventure with his French manservant, Passepartout.
Verne was a true visionary, as we are reminded in Around the World in 80 Days, where he wrote that “Anything one man can imagine, other men can make real.”
Barbados produced two fine and quite unique stamp minisheets for the 1980 International Stamp Exhibition held in London. As seen above, the 50 cent stamps show the uniforms that were, in 1980, the outfits worn by postwomen and postal inspectors. The 28c stamps feature a postman in uniform from earlier times.
But why the various shades of colour on the stamps? Well, the sheets were designed specifically to highlight the printing process being used to create the stamps and in this case, it was the layering of five colours to make a final, sixth, full-colour stamp. The margins also featured attractive illustrations of important objects associated with the postal service at that time.
Our last Black Heritage series article brought us up to the year 2019. Now we’ve reached 2023 and the 46th stamp in the series issued by America’s United States Postal Service. So we begin with 2020’s stamp that featured Gwen Ifill (1955-2016), an American journalist, television newscaster, and author. In 1999, she became the first African-American woman to host a nationally televised U.S. public affairs programme, “Washington Week in Review”.
USA 2021
August Wilson (1945-2005) was an American playwright. He has been referred to as the “theatre’s poet of Black America”. He is best known for a series of ten plays, collectively called The Pittsburgh Cycle, which chronicle the experiences and heritage of the African-American community in the 20th century. He won Pulitzer Prizes for two of the Pittsburgh Cycle plays – “Fences” and “The Piano lesson”.
USA 2022. Photo of stamp courtesy of USPS
Edmonia Lewis (1844-1907) was the first African-American and Native American sculptor to achieve national and then international prominence. Her work is known for incorporating themes relating to Black people and indigenous peoples of the Americas into Neoclassical-style sculpture.
USA 2023
So we arrive at 2023’s stamp that commemorates Ernest James Gaines (1933–2019), an American author whose works have been translated into many languages, including Chinese, Spanish, German, Russian and French. Four of his works were made into television films. Gaines’ eighth novel “A Lesson Before Dying”, published in 1993, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and won America’s National Book Critics Circle Award. The novel is based on the true story of Willie Francis, a young Black American man best known for surviving a failed electrocution in the state of Louisiana in 1946.
This set of five charity stamps shown above were issued by Italy in 1935 to benefit and commemorate the work of Benito Mussolini’s Fascist National Militia. The 20+10 cent stamp shows volunteer militia members round a ceremonial fire; 25+15c has a standard bearer; 50+30c depicts a guard at a monument; 1.25 Lire+75c features militiamen marching through the Arch of Constantine in Rome; and the 50+50c has a symbol of the air force.
Italy 1935
The four stamps seen here were produced by Italy in 1935 to promote the international Air Show, the first of its type to be held in Italy. Portraits of Leonardo da Vinci, who centuries earlier had come up with designs for flying machines, feature on the 50 Cent and 1.25 Lire stamps.
Suriname 2022
From Suriname in 2022 we have six stamps with “Wayang” puppets. Wayang is an Indonesian traditional form of puppet theatre. Also from Suriname below are two more stamps from 2022. Rembrandt paintings are the subject, the top stamp is “The stoning of Saint Stephen” adjoined by a historical stamp whose subject is disputed by art historians.
Suriname 2022St. Vincent & The Grenadines 2022
The 45th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley was commemorated in 2022 by St. Vincent & The Grenadines with the above stamp sheet.
Tanzania 1989
The most-travelled Pope in history is Pope John Paul II. In 1989 Tanzania issued 12 stamps featuring scenes from his South America, Austria and Africa trips.
Paraguay 1985
Paraguay also issued this stamp to commemorate the 1985 South America visit.
Vatican City 1996
This Vatican City six-stamp set was issued to commemorate Pope John Paul II’s 1995 travels, when he visited the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Sri Lanka, the Czech Republic, Poland, Belgium, Slovakia, Cameroon, South Africa, Kenya and the United States.
Faroe Islands 2015
The Faroe Islands experienced a solar eclipse on March the 20th 2015 – a special event as the previous eclipse seen there was in June 1954. Posta Faroe Islands produced the stamps on the sheet above for the occasion.
Finland 1999
Above is a lovely stamp sheet produced by Finland in 1999. The theme is summer night birds and features: Thrush Nightingale (Luscinia luscinia); Käki, the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus); European Nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus); Corn Crake (Crex crex) and the Eurasian Bittern or Great Bittern (Botaurus stellaris).
Aland 1997
The Åland Islands commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Islands’ autonomy in 1988. This stamp sheet features the sculpture “Havets Folk” (People of the Sea). The statue is situated in Mariehamn, the Islands’ capital and site of the Government and Parliament of Åland.
Aland 1988
Fine ship stamps from Åland, issued in 1988. They show, left to right: the ketch “Albanus”, the schooner “Ingrid” and the barque Pamir (the last commercial sailing ship to round Cape Horn, in 1949)
Romania 1994
Two mini-sheets from Romania 1994, the top four stamps show edible fungi and below are four poisonous varieties.
PostBeeld adds hundreds of new stamps to its stock daily and stamps seen here represent a very small selection of items from each country. To see more, and to see recently-added stamps from other countries worldwide, I recommend frequent visits to our freestampcatalogue.com website.
Today we highlight Finnish innovations depicted on stamps over the last 30 years. This “Made in Finland” stamp sheet contains six domestic no-value indicator stamps that showcase many Finnish innovations that were born out of a need to make daily life easier. The stamps showcase six Finnish items that are now famous internationally: the heart rate monitor, the sugar substitute xylitol, the Rapala wobbler fishing lure, the Abloy lock, the pedestrian safety reflector and the winter tyre introduced into the market in 1934 by Suomen Gummitehdas Osakeyhtiö, the company that later on became Nokian Tyres.
Finland 1998
These 1998 stamps feature, from top left; garden cutters designed by Olavi Linden; Zoel/Versoul guitars – Kari Nieminen’s “Versoul” guitars have been played by the likes of Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top, Ronnie Wood from the Rolling Stones and Pete Townsend from The Who. Kari Nieminen launched the Finnish guitar company Versoul in 1995 with just two acoustic models. He now offers more than 50 different models, including electric guitars; Ergo II/Silenta hearing protectors; a Ponsse Cobra HS 10 tree harvester; a Suunto Compass; and Exel ski poles – Exel was the first company to introduce carbon technology to the ski pole industry. The breakthrough took place in 1976 at the Innsbruck Winter Olympics, where 100% of top skiers used Exel carbon poles.
Finland 1994
Two stamps from 1994 featuring successful Finnish industries. The 2,30 stamp features wood processing – the production of a wide range of products from planks to pulp and paper, a major sector of industry in Finland; an important discovery by Artturi Ilmari Virtanen (1895-1973) who in 1945 became a Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry for his research and inventions in agricultural and nutrition chemistry; Assa Abloy – a global leader in the manufacture of locks and locking systems; Finland was also once famous as a builder of ice-breakers, vessels needed by Finland’s ports every winter to clear shipping lanes through the sea ice seen here is the ice breaker MS Fennica. The stamp on the right features a Vaisala radiosonde – an electronic device that is used to measure meteorological variables in the atmosphere; theRapala fishing lure;the mobile phone developed in thelate ’70s byNokia and television manufacturer Salora – in the 1980s Salora was incorporated into Nokia andas an indication of the progress made by the late ’80s, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was famously pictured using the latest handheld Nokia mobile phone to contact the Kremlin while on a visit to Helsinki in 1987;top right of the stamp is a wind power plant.
The last set of new stamps showing the late Queen Elizabeth II’s silhouette has been issued by Great Britain’s Royal Mail. This particular feature has appeared on special stamps since 1968. The magnificent prestige stamp booklet at top celebrates the centenary of the Flying Scotsman steam locomotive.
The booklet contains stamps showing the steam locomotive, that was built in 1923 and ran between London and Edinburgh, in settings including North Yorkshire, Northumberland, Berwick-on-Tweed and Victoria Station in London. Additionally there are four stamps featuring travel poster artwork from the 1920s and 1930s plus an extra pane of barcoded definitive stamps.
Great Britain 2023
The Flying Scotsman is considered a national treasure of engineering and design and the eight beautiful stamps honour the 100-year journey of one of the world’s most celebrated steam locomotives. There are four First Class and four £1.85 landscape stamps:
First Class – No. 60103 at Pickering Station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, 2016; The Christmas Dalesman steam special in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, 2019; Cathedrals Express crossing the Ribblehead Viaduct in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, 2017; Steaming through the town of Blyth in Northumberland, 2016; and
£1.85 – In a blizzard at Heap Bridge on the East Lancashire Railway, 2016; Cathedrals Express excursion crossing the England/Scotland Royal Border Bridge at Berwick-upon-Tweed, 2016; At Victoria Station, London, 2002; and at Shildon, County Durham, 2019.
Since we last featured the topic of lighthouses in 2019 there have been many great issues for the collector. Here we’ve made a selection from those produced in the three years up to and including 2022. Naturally if you visit PostBeeld’s freestampcatalogue.com website you will find many more examples.
Germany 2022
Germany issued this stamp in 2022 as part of its annual lighthouse stamp series. The stamp features the Friedrichsort lighthouse that stands on a small island on the north-western side of the Kiel Fjord in Friedrichsort at the point where the Fjord has its narrowest point. It serves as a guide, cross mark and light for entering the port of Kiel and the locks of the Kiel Canal.
United States of America 2021
The “Lighthouse Series” was introduced in 1990 by the United States of America as a stand-alone set of five stamps but proved so popular that the last in the Series, shown here, was issued in 2021, five years after the death of the stamps’ famous illustrator Howard Koslow (b.1924-d.2016). The lighthouses depicted on the last set seen here are, from left: Montauk Point, New York State; Navesink, New Jersey; Erie Harbor Pierhead, Pennsylvania; Harbor of Refuge, Delaware; and Thomas Point Shoal, Maryland.
Uruguay 2022
These stamps were issued by Uruguay in 2022 to commemorate “Artisanal Fishing in Uruguay”. It features the Punta Palmar Lighthouse (also known as the Punta del Diablo lighthouse), located on the east coast of Uruguay.
St. Pierre & Miquelon 2022
The stamp above, issued by Saint Pierre and Miquelon, shows the now inactive Pointe aux Canons lighthouse, situated in the harbour of Saint Pierre. The stamp below features a lighthouse keeper polishing a lamp’s lens. On the left of the stamp we see the 1881-constructed Pointe Plate Lighthouse.
St. Pierre & Miquelon 2022Poland 2022
Cape Rozewie is a headland on the Baltic coast of Poland, close to the village of Rozewie. In 2022 Poland produced the stamp sheet seen here to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the beautiful Rozewie lighthouse.
Jersey 2022
The miniature sheet for this 2022 Jersey issue features the famous Corbière lighthouse, with its original Jèrriais name “La veue d’la Corbiéthe”. Jèrriais is a form of the Norman language spoken in Jersey.
New Caledonia 2022
The main island of New Caledonia is Grande Terre and located at the extreme south end of the island is the Cap N’Dua Lighthouse, shown on the 2022 New Caledonia stamp above. Below we have a 2021 New Caledonia issue depicting the Tabou Reef Lighthouse in the foreground after construction was completed in 1890 and inset the lighthouse in 2021 after renovation work.
New Caledonia 2021
The Tabou lighthouse is barely 2 kilometres from Amédée Island, where the better-know Amédée Lighthouse is situated. Below is the stamp New Caledonia produced in 2015 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Amédée Lighthouse.
New Caledonia 2015Estonia 2022
The Narva-Jõesuu Lighthouse, seen here on the 2022 Estonia stamp, is located at the mouth of the Narva River, close to the border with Russia.
Aruba 2022
This set of stamps from Aruba, issued in 2022 and entitled “Landscapes of Aruba” features the Nordwestpunt Lighthouse, also known as the California Lighthouse as a result of the ship of that name that was wrecked near the point where the lighthouse was eventually built in 1916.
Latvia 2021
Seen here on the 2021 Latvia stamp is the Irbe Lighthouse, the only offshore lighthouse in Latvia, located in the Irbe Strait of the Baltic Sea, 20 kilometres from the coast. The lighthouse was built in 1986.
Guernsey 2021
Sark, a Channel Island protectorate of the United Kingdom near the coast of Normandy, is Europe’s first International Dark Sky Community. Sark has neither public lighting nor motor vehicles beyond tractors used for farming. The Milky Way is visible thanks to Sark’s offshore location, its generally low use of residential and commercial electricity, and its striking absence of public street lights. Star gazers from all around the world have visited the observatory of the Sark Astronomy Society (SAstroS), which is in the heart of the island. The stunning Guernsey stamp set released in 2021 shows as follows: 50p – A view of Saturn, Jupiter and the Milky Way taken near Monk Rock on Sark, looking south with Brecqhou on the horizon; 70p – A view of the night sky from the east coast of Sark at Point Robert Lighthouse; 73p – The Milky Way with Jersey on the horizon and Sark’s La Coupée on the right; £1.00 – A view of Saturn, Jupiter and the Milky Way seen from the west coast of Sark looking to the southwest over Mer Tower; £1.15 – Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3), taken from Little Sark overlooking Brecqhou, Jethou, Herm, with Guernsey on the horizon and £1.20 – La Seigneurie (the ancestral home of the Seigneur of Sark) silhouetted against the Milky Way looking west.
Georgia 2021
The beautifully-illustrated minisheet entitled “Georgian Maritime Lighthouses”, printed in 2021 but issued in 2022 by the former Soviet Union state of Georgia, depicts in striking colours three lighthouses against a backdrop of the setting sun. On Georgia’s Black Sea coast they are, from left to right are the Poti Lighthouse, built 1864; the Sukhumi Lighthouse, also built in 1864; and the Batumi Lighthouse. A very basic lighthouse was built here in 1863 but in 1882 the old construction was torn down and rebuilt using French labour.
Taiwan 2020
Five lighthouses featured on the Taiwan stamps from 2020. Seen here is the Guoshen Lighthouse; the Chiutzu Shan Lighthouse; the Beiding Lighthouse, located on an island in the Taiwan Strait near the Chinese mainland; the Hualien Lighthouse; and theTaping Dao Lighthouse, located in the disputed Spratly Island chain in the South China Sea between Vietnam and the Philippines.
Ukraine 2020
Ukrposhta, Ukraine’s national postal service, produced the fine stamp minisheet above in 2020. Shown here are the lighthouses Yevpatoriisky, Byriuchyi, Illinskyi, Stanislav-Adzhyholskyi, Mhanomskyi and Zmiinyi.
France 2020
Then we have a 2020 First Day Cover from France featuring guiding lights and below the twelve booklet stamps that are seen on the FDC.
France 2020
The top four stamps feature the Cayeux Lighthouse (or Brighton Lighthouse), located south of the Bay of Somme; Brittany's Grand Léjon; the Créac'h lighthouse located west of the island of Ouessant, which marks the entry into the English Channel; and the Saint Mathieu lighthouse, located near Brest. The middle four stamps show the Old lighthouse; the Eckmühl lighthouse, located on the tip of Saint-Pierre, in Finistère; and the Four and Cape Ferret lighthouses. The bottom examples depict the Espiguette Lighthouse in the South of France; the Sanguinaires lighthouse that dominates the highest point of the Grande Sanguinaire, the main island of the Sanguinaires archipelago. It is 18 km west of Ajaccio. It marks the southwest coast of Corsica and the entrance to the Gulf of Ajaccio; the Bel-Air lighthouse on the island of La Réunion, a French overseas department in the south-western Indian Ocean; and the Caravelle, on the Caribbean Island of Martinique.
Denmark 2019
And finally five Danish lighthouse stamps: (left to right) the Hammeren Lighthouse on the Baltic island of Bornholm; the Lyngvig, on the west coast of Jutland, Hirtshals’ lighthouse above the village of Stenbjerg; the Taksensand near the village of Fynshav and the Langelands, located on the west side of Omø Island.
The oldest known funicular is in Hohensalzburg Castle, Austria and it’s known as the Reisszug. It is used to transport people and cargo from the Nonnberg nunnery to the castle. The Reisszug has been in operation since the late 15th century. It is thought that it was originally built to transport building materials and workers during the construction of the castle. Today we focus on countries that have produced stamps featuring the funicular railway system. At top we have Lithuania’s Žaliakalnis funicular (on the stamp left) which runs between Kaunas and Žaliakalnis and began operating in 1931, with a capacity of 36 passengers. Seen on the stamp right are carriages from the Aleksotas Funicular railway, also in Kaunas. The Aleksotas began services in 1935.
Norway 2018
Norway’s Fløibanen is a funicular railway in the Norwegian city of Bergen. Connecting the city centre with the mountain of Fløyen, with its mountain walks and magnificent views of the city, it is one of Bergen’s major tourist attractions and one of Norway’s most visited attractions. Posten Norge issued the above stamps in 2018, the 100th anniversay of the railway.
Switzerland 2014
The steepest cog railway in the world is in Switzerland, climbing from Alpnach to Mount Pilatus, offering great views of Lucerne and in operation since 1889. A cog (or rack) railway is a steep railroad that has a track with cogs engaged by a cogwheel on the locomotive to ensure traction.
Luxembourg 2017
The stamps above, from Luxembourg in 2017, show the Pfaffenthal-Kirchberg funicular on the left. The funicular became operational in 2017. On the right is an example of a new generation of trams introduced in Luxembourg in 2017.
Hungary 2020
in 2020 Hungary commemorated the 150th anniversary of the Budapest Castle Hill Funicular or Budavári Sikló funicular railway in the capital city of Hungary, Budapest. It links the Adam Clark Square and the Széchenyi Chain Bridge at river level to Buda Castle above. The line was opened on March 2, 1870. In 1986 a stamp was produced with a view of the railway from its lower entrance.
Hungary 1986Ukraine 2015
There are two funicular railways in Ukraine, one in Odessa and the other – featured on the stamp above that was issued in 2015 – in the country’s capital Kiev. The Kiev Funicular, which opened in 1905, links the district of Podil to the Upper Town city centre.
Hong Kong 1977
The transportation stamps seen here were produced by Hong Kong in 1977 and show the various forms of transport commonly seen in the region. The Peak, Hong Kong’s most popular attraction, can be reached via the Peak Tram funicular railway, featured on the $1.30 stamp, which carries passengers to the upper levels of Hong Kong Island.
In 2023 Great Britain’s Royal Mail issued yet another in its series of stamps celebrating the careers of famous British rock bands and musicians, this time featuring the “Heavy Metal” band Iron Maiden.
Great Britain 2023
Inexplicably to many heavy metal musicians and fans, the British band Iron Maiden has not been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Since the release of its eponymous debut album in 1980 Iron Maiden have sold over 130 million copies of their albums worldwide, despite minimal radio and mainstream media support. To date the band’s catalogue has sold over 200 million copies worldwide, including albums, singles, compilations and videos. The 1980 record’s cover art featured Maiden’s iconic stylised logo along with the zombie mascot Eddie, who has appeared on every album cover since. Iron Maiden was the first metal band played on MTV in 1981, which brought it additional success and recognition. The eight stamps celebrate iconic Iron Maiden performances across four decades of epic live tours. The First Class stamps show Steve Harris performing in Vancouver in June 2010; singer Bruce Dickinson at Hammersmith Odeon, London, May 1983; guitarists Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Steve Harris in Pamplona, September 1988 and drummer Nicko McBrain in Quito, March 2009.
The four £1.85 stamps above feature: Dave Murray, Bruce Dickinson and Janick Gers in Rio de Janeiro, January 2001; guitarist Adrian Smith and bass player Steve Harris in Helsinki, May 2018; the band performing perform at Twickenham Stadium, London, July 2008 and singer Bruce Dickinson sword fighting with mascot Eddie in Birmingham, August 2018.
Great Britain 2023
There is also an exclusive stamp sheet saluting Eddie – Iron Maiden’s notorious mascot. The stamps celebrate ever-present Eddie through the ages, from his appearance on the cover of Iron Maiden’s debut album (left) to his current Samurai-inspired incarnation for 2021’s “Senjutsu” album. The stamps are set against a backdrop of artwork from the band’s first official live album, 1985’s “Live After Death”.
Here is a very small selection from the hundreds of stamps added daily to PostBeeld’s vast stock. For a better insight you are welcome to visit the company’s websites.
Botswana 2001
In 2001 this beautiful stamp sheet was produced by Botswana. It is one of Botswana’s “Wetlands” stamp series.
Latvia 1936
Above stamps from Latvia (1936) with portraits of famous Latvian poets and authors. From left to right are poet Atis Kronvalds, poet Andrejs Pumpurs, author Juris Maters and author and journalist Mikelis Krogzemis.
Estonia 1924
This Estonia stamp from 1924 shows a map of the country one year after it gained independence. In 1924 there was a failed coup d’etat by communist party supporters.
Ireland 2022
This Ireland 2022 stamp issue featured atmospheric photographs of four leading Irish singer/songwriters who have performed on the Pyramid and Acoustic Stages at the famous Glastonbury Music and Arts Festival. The featured artistes are Christy Moore, Sinéad O’Connor, Lisa Hannigan and Andrew Hozier Byrne (Hozier).
Jersey 1984
This wonderfully-illustrated stamp set from Jersey in 1984 featured various famous lifeboats that, via their heroic crews, saved the lives of people in distress on the seas surrounding the Channel Island of Jersey. The stamps show left, top to bottom, a 1949 rescue of survivors from the ship “Maurice Georges” carried out by the lifeboat “Hearts of Oak”. Then another 9p stamp depicting the rowed lifeboat (can you imagine!) “Sarah Brooshoft”, close to the Demie de Pas lighthouse. The 12p shows the “Elizabeth Rippon”, a Watson-class lifeboat based at St Helier from 1948 until 1975, carrying out a rescue operation in 1949. It was the first British lifeboat with a covered deck cabin and aluminium alloy structure. Top and middle right you have again “Elizabeth Rippon” pictured saving the yacht Santa Maria in 1951 and then saving people in 1973. Finally there is the “Thomas James King”, named after an heroic former St Helier lifeboat coxswain. Built by Groves and Guttridge at Cowes on the Isle of Wight, she served in Jersey from 3 February 1975 until December 1989. It was launched 288 times and saved 155 lives.
Indonesia 2011
The year 2023 is the Year of the Rabbit and for the previous Rabbit year, 2011, Indonesia issued this beautiful celebratory special pack. Then below, also from Indonesia in 2011 a gorgeous set featuring traditional Indonesian textile patterns.
Indonesia 2011Jordan 1989
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan produced the above stamps to commemorate the Festival of the Arabian Horse in 1989.
