Author Archives: VSC

Lili’uokalani Gardens Priority Mail Envelope (U.S. 2017)

Posted on by

Updated March 11th: The Scott catalogue number for this issue is U695.

On January 22, 2017, in Kansas City, MO, the Postal Service issued a new Priority Mail Flat-Rate Envelope (Item 232700). The new product is an accountable item and features the $6.65 Lili’uokalani Gardens stamp image printed directly on the envelope along with standard Priority Mail graphics.

The prepaid envelope seeks to enhance customer convenience and improve access to USPS® services by saving time and simplifying transactions. Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamp with original art by Dan Cosgrove.

The envelope is available through The Postal Store® website at www.usps.com/shop, by calling 800–782–6724, and in the quarterly USA Philatelic catalog. It is not available in Post Offices at this time.

There is one philatelic product for this stamp issue:
232716 Prepaid Priority Mail Flat-Rate Stamped Envelope First-Day Cover, $7.09.

Technical Specifications:

Issue: Lili’uokalani Gardens Prepaid Priority Mail Flat-Rate Stamped Envelope
Item Number: 232700
Denomination & Type of Issue: $6.65 Prepaid Priority Mail Flat-Rate Envelope
Issue Date & City: January 22, 2017, Kansas City, MO 64108
Art Director, Designer, Typographer Greg Breeding, Charlottesville, VA
Artist Dan Cosgrove, Chicago, IL
Manufacturing Process: Flexography
Printer: Bell, Inc.
Printed at: Bell, Inc., Sioux Falls, SD
Press Type: Stevens
Print Quantity: 648,000
Paper Type: 12-point, clay-coated newsback
Colors: Yellow, Magenta, Cyan, Black, PMS 294 (Blue), PMS 485 (Red), Varnish
Stamp Orientation: Horizontal
Image Area (w x h): 1.59375 x 1.25 in./40.48 x 31.75 mm
Overall Size (w x h): 9.5 x 12.5 in. (envelope)
Catalog Item Number(s):

  • 232705, Regular Issue Envelope(5/pack), $33.25.
  • 232710, Regular Issue Envelope(10/pack), $66.50.
  • 232725, Regular Issue Envelope(25/pack), $166.25.
  • 232716, First-Day Cover, $7.09.

10-Cent Pears (U.S. 2017)

Posted on by

Updated January 5, 2017: The USPS says a version or versions of this stamp will be issued March 23rd in Cleveland at the Garfield-Perry March Party stamp show. There is no word on the format or formats.

Updated February 17, 2017:
On March 23, 2017, in Cleveland, OH, the U.S. Postal Service will issue the 10-cent denominated Pears stamp, in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps (Item 111500). The stamp will go on sale nationwide March 23, 2017.

Originally issued in 2016 in a coil format, Pears, a 10-cent definitive stamp featuring two red pears on a white background, is being offered in 2017, in panes of 20. The stamp art is an existing illustration by John Burgoyne, who created the original artwork with pen and ink and watercolor. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamp

Stamp Fulfillment Services will not make an automatic push distribution to Post Offices.

How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark:
Customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. Each cover must have sufficient postage to meet First-Class Mail requirements. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office, at The Postal Store website at http://www.usps.com/shop, or by calling 800-782-6724. Cutomers must affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:

FDOI – Pears Stamp
USPS Stamp Fulfillment Services
8300 NE Underground Drive, Suite 300
Kansas City, MO 64144-9900

After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. There is a 5-cent charge for each additional postmark over 50. All orders must be postmarked by May 23, 2017.

There is one philatelic product for this stamp issue:

  • 111516 First-Day Cover, $1.03

Technical Specifications:

Issue: Pears Stamp
Item Number: 111500
Denomination & Type of Issue: 10-cent Denominated, Mail Use
Format: Pane of 20 (1 design)
Series: N/A
Issue Date & City: March 23, 2017, Cleveland, OH 44101
Designer: Derry Noyes, Washington, DC
Art Director: Derry Noyes, Washington, DC
Typographer: Derry Noyes, Washington, DC
Existing Art: John Burgoyne, West Barnstable, MA
Modeler: Sandra Lane/Michelle Finn
Manufacturing Process: Offset, Microprint – USPS
Printer: Banknote Corporation of America
Printed at: Browns Summit, NC
Press Type: Alprinta 74
Stamps per Pane: 20
Print Quantity: 150,000,000 stamps
Paper Type: Phosphor Tagged Paper, Overall
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive
Processed at: Banknote Corporation of America, Browns Summit SC
Colors: Warm Gray 4/Gray, PMS 7619 Red, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black
Stamp Orientation: Vertical
Image Area (w x h): 0.73 x 0.84 in./18.54 x 21.34 mm
Overall Size (w x h): 0.87 x 0.98 in./21.10 x 24.89 mm
Full Pane Size
(w x h): 5.30 x 4.88 in./134.62 x 123.95 mm
Plate Size: 400 stamps per revolution
Plate Numbers: “B” followed by six (6) single digits
Marginal Markings:
Front: Plate numbers in four corners of pane
Back: © 2015 USPS • USPS logo • Plate position diagram • Barcode (111500) in upper right and lower left corners of pane • Promotional text

Here is the pictorial first-day postmark for this issue: It measures 2.59″ x 1.34″

APS Warns of Reno Hotel Scam

Posted on by
.
APS Header
 
Click here to share this email with another collector

HOTEL SCAM ADVISORY:  APS AmeriStamp & Stamp Show Guests

February 10, 2017

PLEASE BE ADVISED:
The American Philatelic Society (APS) has received several complaints from members regarding calls or emails received from a third party, indicating that the APS AmeriStamp Expo and Stamp Show hotel blocks are full and soliciting a room reservation through the caller’s travel agency.  When asked, the caller cannot typically identify the show hotel, and has no knowledge of our event.

This third party is NOT authorized by the APS to solicit room reservations on behalf of the APS.  This is a form of “Housing Pirating”.  These ‘housing pirates’ or ‘bandits’ are companies that phone, email, or fax convention attendees, claiming to offer room reservation services for hotels near a convention.  They may falsely claim to be affiliated with the APS.

Do not respond to any unsolicited calls or emails from a third party offering hotel reservations.  Unless you have initiated the communication, please do not provide anyone with your personal information, especially your credit card number.  If you provide your credit card information to one of these companies, your card may be charged and there is no guarantee you will have a room upon your arrival to Reno or Richmond.

APS AUTHORIZED LODGING
At this time, the only authorized blocks of rooms being held for upcoming APS shows are:

• Atlantis Casino Resort Spa – 3800 S. Virginia St., Reno, NV 89502.  To reserve a room:  Call 800-723-6500 (“AmeriStamp Expo” or “ASE”), or visit the Atlantis website.  For alternate lodging, contact Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority:  (800) 367-7366, visitrenotahoe.com.

• Marriott Richmond – 500 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA  23219.  To reserve a room:  Call (800) 228-9290, or click this APS Booking Link.  If you are seeking alternate hotels, please contact the Richmond Region Tourism: (804) 783-7450, VisitRichmondVa.com.

REPORTING FRAUD
If contacted by someone asking if you need a room at an APS stamp show, or misrepresenting themselves as a representative of the APS, please share details with the APS to help us make a case against the inquiring organization.

     • Get as much information as you can, such as the:
         » Name of the company
         » Name of the person calling
         » Company address
         » Email address
         » Telephone number
     • Request information in writing

The American Philatelic Society is NOT affiliated with the following company, whom we believe is responsible for the complaints to date:

National Travel Associates
1 (877) 595-ROOM (7666)
www .nationaltravelassociates .com
Business License: NV20111324251
Entity Number: E0274712011-2

This company, based in Nevada, may appear legitimate – having both a website and social media pages online, but it is not authorized to make room reservations for any APS Stamp Show.  Several complaints are on file about this firm with the Better Business Bureau.

Canadian Opera (Canada 2017)

Posted on by

[press release]
Canadian Opera issue sings the praises of Canadian talent

OTTAWA — In time for the 2017 opera season, Canada Post has launched five stamps celebrating two significant Canadian-penned operas and three individuals who helped to put modern Canadian opera talent on the world stage.

In their stamp design debut, Parcel Design Inc.’s creative director Gary Beelik and designer Kristine Do, with illustrator Peter Strain, have created a bold five-stamp issue that embodies the colour and drama of modern operatic performances.

Two of the highly theatrical stamps depict significant Canadian operas. Filumena — composed by John Estacio with a libretto by John Murrell — tells the true story of the only woman ever to be hanged in Alberta: an Italian immigrant convicted of murdering a police officer. The opera is being restaged by the Calgary Opera in celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday, and held its opening performance on February 4. Commissioned to celebrate Canada’s centennial in 1967, Louis Riel — composed by Harry Somers and featuring a libretto by Mavor Moore in collaboration with Jacques Languirand — romanticizes the life of the legendary Métis leader. It is being restaged in 2017 to mark both the 50th anniversary of its debut by the Canadian Opera Company and Canada’s sesquicentennial.

The additional three stamps pay homage to the artists who bring magic to the stage. Bass baritone Gerald Finley and soprano Adrianne Pieczonka are regarded internationally as being among the greatest operatic voices on the modern stage. Director Irving Guttman, known as “the father of opera in western Canada” for his artistic vision, is credited with discovering and fostering some of the country’s greatest talent.

The issue includes a booklet of 10 Permanent domestic rate self-adhesive stamps (two of each design), measuring 32 mm x 32 mm, and a gummed souvenir sheet bearing a row of the five stamps. An Official First Day Cover, which incorporates lyrics from both operas, is cancelled in Calgary, Alberta. As with all 2017 stamp issues, Canadian Opera includes references to Canada’s sesquicentennial, which are visible when the stamps are illuminated by a black light. 

Year of the Rooster (Australia 2017)

Posted on by

[press release]
Australia Post celebrates the Year of the Rooster
To celebrate the Year of the Rooster, 28 January 2017 to 15 February 2018, Australia Post is releasing two Lunar New Year stamps.

As the tenth sign in the Chinese Zodiac, the Rooster symbolises confidence, resourcefulness, courage and persistence.

Creating this year’s Lunar New Year range in line with traditional Chinese design and customs, Australia Post Philatelic Manager Michael Zsolt said the products, including a postcard, give everyone an opportunity to send wishes of good fortune and health to family and friends, both here and overseas.

Completing her tenth stamp issue in the Lunar New Year series of twelve, Hong Kong-born Dani Poon said she used paper cut motifs, a popular form of Chinese art, to represent the Rooster in the $1 stamp. The Chinese calligraphic character for the Rooster is shown in the $3 stamp.

“The Chinese assign the Rooster as a proverbial mascot to the five virtues – civil responsibility, marital fidelity, courage, kindness and confidence. Those qualities are illustrated in the minisheet story – the Rooster coaxes the fearful hidden sun out from her hiding place. The puffed-up chest of the Rooster in the $1 stamp sums up the Rooster’s positive personalities. The Rooster is also traditionally related to the chasing away of evil spirits, by calling the sun out and bringing the light to life,” Dani said.

Famous people born in the Year of the Rooster include Britney Spears, Cate Blanchett and former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

A highlight of this stamp issue is a special silk minisheet pack, finished with purple foil detailing and where one of the three sheets in the pack is printed on silk. A 24 carat gold Year of the Rooster minisheet in a presentation case is also a highly collectable part of the range.

Collectors and those celebrating the Chinese New Year will be interested in a limited edition (8,888) Chinese New Year Dragon postal and numismatic cover featuring a $1 Perth Mint coloured coin.

Other products associated with this stamp issue are a minisheet, zodiac sheetlet, first day cover, stamp pack, postcard, prestige booklet, customisable $1 stamp in the Personalised Stamps™ range, gutter strip of 10 x $1 stamps with design, domestic and international postage paid envelopes and a Lunar New Year of the Rooster postal and numismatic cover.

The Christmas Island Lunar New Year: Year of the Rooster 2017 stamp issue is available from 10 January 2017 at participating Post Offices, via mail order on 1800 331 794 and online at auspost.com.au/stamps while stocks last. Personalised Stamps™ can be ordered at auspost.com.au/pstamps. The Christmas Island Lunar New Year: Year of the Rooster 2017 stamps are valid for postage in Australia.

For an interview with designer Dani Poon, visit the Australia Post Collectables website auspostcollectables.com.au. The Australia Post Collectables website is a central resource for stamp collectors and philatelic enthusiasts across the globe.

It Pays To Run A Postal Service

Posted on by

Australia Post announced February 23rd that Fahour has resigned, as of July 2017. Although there is no mention of why or where Fahour is going, the press release sings his praises.

Who makes more? The head of the postal service or the head of state?

In Australia, the answer is “postal service.”

According to the Associated Press, Ahmed Fahour (right), managing director of Australia Post, was paid AU$4.4 million in salary and a AU$1.2 million bonus in the last fiscal year.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull should deliver mail: He wasn’t paid a tenth as much — just AU$507,000.

The AP points out that U.S. Postmaster General Megan Brennan only made $286,137 last year, but in fairness, we should point out that the Australian dollar is only worth 76% of the U.S. dollar. So Brennan made AU$374,780.72, while Fahour “only” made US$4.3 million (US$4,275,090.99, to be exact). That’s at today’s exchange rate; it wasn’t that much different last year.

Just as an aside, the President of the United States receives an annual salary of US$400,000, or AU$524,179.20.

Australia Post didn’t want the senate committee to disclose how much Fahour made, saying it and its top executives “would become targets of unwarranted media attention.” Such as showing up in The Virtual Stamp Club’s LloydBlog.

Turnbull was a banker before entering politics and has a personal fortunate estimated at AU$200 million, but he says he told Australian Post’s chairman “that remuneration is too high.”

“As someone who spent most of his life in the business world before I came into politics, I think that is a very big salary for that job,” Turnbull told reporters.

(By the way, the Associated Press referred to the postal agency throughout its story as “Australian Post.”

Beautiful Netherlands (Netherlands 2017)

Posted on by

[PostNL press release]
Postzegels Mooi Nederland zijn ontdekkingsreis langs beken en rivierdalen
Beautiful Netherlands stamps explore streams and river valleys

The Beautiful Netherlands 2017 series depicts the meandering course of streams and river valleys, the cultural and historical landscape, along with a striking national monument. For example, the historic Saxon farm in the village of Anderen is featured on the Drentsche Aa stamp. The stamp for the Linge also shows Fort Asperen (near Leerdam) and the stamp for the Reest features the Reestkerk from the village of Oud-Avereest.

Images of the peace and calm along streams and river valleys
The three streams pictured have meandered through the landscape for centuries. Because humans have left this historic landscape intact, the streams retain their original form. Nature, agriculture, culture and liveability are central to the landscape and coexist well. Each stamp sheetlet combines nature and culture in the form of monumental architecture.

Meandering stream
PostNL marketing director Ludo Voorn on the stamp sheetlet: “Designers Sonja Haller and Pascal Brun from Amsterdam have very cleverly managed to cast the stream and river valleys in the lead role. They’ve achieved this by incorporating the meandering streams from beginning to end as lines on the stamp sheetlet, without people or buildings. This brings the striking landscapes of Drenthe, Overijssel and Gelderland into view.”

Later this year, PostNL will bring out further Beautiful Netherlands stamp sheetlets focusing on the river valleys of the Dommel and the Geul, and a collection sheet containing all five stream and river valleys.

Availability
The Beautiful Netherlands 2015 stamps are marked ‘Nederland 1’, the denomination for items up to 20g in weight destined for mail within the Netherlands. These stamps will be available from 30 January 2017 at all Bruna shops and via Collectclub.nl. The stamps are valid until further notice.

Mathieu Da Costa (Black History) (Canada 2017)

Posted on by

[press release] [This stamp’s issue date is February 1]
2017 Black History stamp commemorates Mathieu Da Costa
17th century interpreter believed to be the first person of African descent to arrive in Canada whose name is known today

OTTAWA – Canada Post’s annual Black History Month stamp for 2017 will commemorate a historical figure who continues to fascinate and confound scholars.

Admittedly little is known about Mathieu Da Costa. From the few records that remain, historians conclude he was a free man who earned a living as an interpreter for Europeans who were trading with Indigenous people in the New World. Believed to be of African or even Euro-African descent, his connection to Canada came in the year 1608 – the year Samuel de Champlain founded the city of Québec – when Da Costa signed a contract to work for French fur-trader, explorer and governor of Acadia, Pierre Dugua de Mons.

“While the full story of Mathieu Da Costa may never be known, interest in his life and in his unique connection with our country is a reminder of the values of respect, acceptance and diversity that Canadians cherish,” says Canada Post President and CEO Deepak Chopra.

With no portrait of Da Costa available, designer Andrew Perro and illustrator Ron Dollekamp worked closely with Canadian historical illustrator and storyboard artist Francis Back to ensure the period clothing and sailing ship reflect De Costa’s time and socio-economic milieu. As with all stamps issued in 2017, the Black History stamp will contain references to Canada’s sesquicentennial that are visible only via a special black light.

The domestic rate stamps, available in booklets of 10, are self-adhesive and measure 32 mm x 25 mm. The Official First Day Cover is cancelled in Tadoussac, Quebec, where historians believe Da Costa may have come ashore.

Brit Hayyale Ha’Etsel (Israel 2017)

Posted on by

from Israel Post; this stamp will be issued February 7, 2017:
The National Military Organization in Eretz Israel (Etsel) broke away from the Haganah paramilitary organization in the spring of 1931. In the years before the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the organization operated clandestinely against Arab rioters during the revolt of 1936-1939 and took part in “Nonetheless” operations together with the Revisionist, Betar and HaTzohar groups to rescue European Jews before and during WWII. Members in Poland fought against the German enemy in the ghettos and took part in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 1943 as part of the Jewish Military Union, led by Pawel Frankel. Members in Eretz Israel were recruited to fight against Germany as volunteers in the British military. Etsel commander David Raziel was killed in the line of duty in Iraq on May 20, 1941. In February 1944 the Etsel, led by Menachem Begin, waged a campaign against the British authorities and government policy in Eretz Israel. Members were suppressed from within by the Haganah, but obeyed their leader’s decree never to take up arms against their brethren. Together with the Haganah-Palmach and Lehi, Etsel fighters, and especially those sentenced to death by hanging by the British Mandate courts, contributed to the establishment of the State of Israel. On July 13, 1980, the anniversary of the death of Etsel military leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky, Prime Minister Menachem Begin spoke at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem of those who fought both overtly and clandestinely: “Ö with their blood they sprouted the tree of freedom for their People, with their bodies they paved the way to the mountaintop”.

The Brit Hayyale Ha’Etsel organization (est. 1983) is committed to commemorating the memory of the fighters throughout the generations and to preserving their legacy.

Goals: to organize former Etsel members within a non-partisan social framework, encourage historical research, literary works and documentation to endow the legacy of the Etsel and its fighters. From the start, the organization has worked to achieve government recognition of the Etsel’s contribution to national liberation, defense of the Jewish Yishuv in Eretz Israel against Arab rioters and the struggle against the British authorities and against the Arab armies during the War of Independence. The Alliance (“Brit”) works to have the Etsel’s fallen, injured and missing declared as fallen IDF soldiers.

The organization worked to erect a memorial monument dedicated to the Acre prison escapees, to those who fell during the Altalena Affair and to those hanged on the gallows by the British. It has also established the Etsel Museum and the Etsel Museum 1948 named after Amichai Paglin (Gidi) in Tel Aviv-Jaffa in collaboration with the Ministry of Defense, as well as the Etsel Museum in Jabotinsky Shuni Park in Binyamina and the monument commemorating the 51 Etsel members who fell in the battle for Ramlah in 1948. The organization also conducts memorial services and holds services commemorating the fighters in the Etsel plots in cemeteries around Israel. The operations of the Brit, including documentation, publishing and film production, expose the public to the heroism of the Etsel fighters at the dawn of our independence.

— Yosef Kister
Jabotinsky Institute historical consultant and researcher

Description of the Stamp and First Day Cover
The stamp design is based on a photograph of Etsel combat soldiers who fought in the Menashia Battle in Jaffa (April 25-May 1, 1948).

The stamp tab features a quote from the Betar Song, written by Ze’ev Jabotinsky, and the Etsel Badge, which was presented by the Ministry of Defense to those who served in the Etsel.

The FDC features a photograph of the Etsel’s Jerusalem Regiment in formation, Jerusalem August 4, 1948.

From left to right: Mordechai Raanan and Menachem Begin.

The photographs and quote are courtesy of Jabotinsky Institute in Israel.