Cool Timeline
Black Heritage – Part 11
Part 11 in this series of Black Heritage stamp articles begins in the year 2002 with poet, journalist and author Langston Hughes (1902-1967). He was just eighteen years old when he composed his first – and best known – poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” Hughes was an important figure in…Read More
Sturgeons and Caviar – Wildlife and Highlife Under Threat?
The fish depicted on the stamp shown, issued in 1965 by Mongolia, is the Siberian Sturgeon (Acipenser Baeri). Sturgeons are among the largest fish on Earth, can grow up to eight metres long and weigh as much as 1,360 kilograms. They take up to 15 years to mature and can…Read More
Horatio Nelson – A Chip Off the Old Block
In June 1803 Admiral Horatio Nelson embarked on HMS Victory as Commander in Chief in the Mediterranean. This was the first year of the Napoleonic Wars and in the period leading up to the decisive 1805 Battle of Trafalgar he had been either blockading or chasing the French and Spanish…Read More
Malawi via Nyasaland etc.
One of the most popular British heroes of the late 19th-century Victorian period was the Scottish missionary and explorer David Livingstone (1813-1873). On one of his expeditions he traversed the country we today know as Malawi. Blantyre, Malawi’s second city, is named after Livingstone’s birthplace in Scotland. In 1973 Malawi…Read More
Recently Added to Stock
Some examples of items recently added to PostBeeld’s stock – beginning with a fine stamp sheet from the Isle of Man issued in 1991 to mark the 80th anniversary of the island’s annual Tourist Trophy motorcycle races (see also articles https://freestampmagazine.com/2019/02/12/manx-and-the-speed-kings-part-one/ & https://freestampmagazine.com/2019/04/01/manx-and-the-speed-kings-part-two-irish-winners/) Europe in Space was the theme for…Read More
Olympic Wonders
Estonia became independent from Russia in 1918 and first competed as a nation at the VII Olympiad, the 1920 Summer Olympic Games held in Antwerp, Belgium. In 2020 Estonia issued a special pure silver stamp to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first gold medal win for Estonia by Alfred Neuland in…Read More
Black Heritage – Part 10
Part 10 in this series of articles begins in the year 1998 with a stamp commemorating Madam C.J. Walker (1867-1919). Madam C.J. Walker created hair-care and cosmetic products, particularly specialising in products for African-American hair. She developed a very successful door-to-door selling and mail-order business as white department stores would…Read More
Stamp Errors Part 15 – Seven Wonders of the World
A stamp issue from the South Arabian postal administration of Aden in 1968 was dedicated to the old and, what might have been considered by its designers in 1968, new wonders of the world. The stamp sheet has two triangular airmail stamps each with the value of 200 Yemeni fils.
Shades of Madagascar
The set of definitives shown here was issued in 1903 by Madagascar, a French colony from 1897 to 1958. The stamps’ artwork features a Zebu (a cattle breed) a small tree and a Lemur. The tree is the ornamental ‘traveller’s tree’, Ravenala madagascariensis, the only Ravenala species of the genus Strelitziaceae. This…Read More
Pro Patria
Pro Patria, in Latin, means ‘for one’s country’. The Pro Patria Association is a Swiss patriotic and charitable association whose aim is to promote Swiss National Day, which now takes place every August, and to collect funds to benefit disadvantaged groups and minorities. Much of the money collected comes via the sale of postage stamps and…Read More
