USPS wins awards for children's game and book

Patriot Challenge, a Parents' Choice Recommended award winner, recently was selected as 2006 Toy of the Year by Creative Child magazine while "Curious George Wonders" a sticker/adventure book, was recognized as best in category for creative content and printing by the Printing Industries of America.

According to a USPS press release, "Patriot Challenge is a board game that celebrates America using more than 300 reproductions of stamp art to help tell the American story and challenge game players' knowledge of the U.S. It is the first game about America to feature art from U.S. postage stamps. Each stamp selected represents something important to Americans: an event, famous person or cultural reflection of American life. The game targets ages 10 and older."

In "Curious George Wonders," the 2006 Wonders of America postage stamps play host to Curious George as he travels to some of the country's most amazing sites: a stop in the Redwood Forest to see the world's largest tree, a trek through the Pacific Crest Trail on a journey through the world's longest hiking trail and a visit with the largest rodent, the beaver.

Nine of the 40 stamps included in the Wonders of America collection are featured in the book. Each of the featured stamps has a corresponding sticker for children to match. The book is sold at Barnes & Noble Inc. and in Post Offices. Actual postage stamps are included in "Curious George Wonders" as a way for children to begin stamp collecting.

To read the entire release, click here.

Headsville Post Office

The American Philatelic Society (APS) has proposed relocating a nineteenth-century West Virginia post office and general store from the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. to the American Philatelic Center (APC) in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.

According to an announcement on the APS website, "Sharp-eyed stamp collectors should find the building familiar — its interior was featured on the 1972 8-cent stamp issued to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Mail Order Industry. Many of the store’s original fixtures will be on display in its new location."

The Headsville Post Office was in use from the early 1860s until 1914. Once relocated it will again be an actual working post office at the Center.

For more information, click here.

Stamp auctions on-line

Looking for that special stamp or cover?

Then check out StampCircuit.com.

Listed are dozens of auction houses, upcoming stamp auctions, prices realized and more. There's even a section on philatelic literature. Coin auctions are also listed on the site.

If you sign up to be a member (it's free) you can also search for individual items in their auction database.

To visit their site, click here.

Gay Kingdom

UK's Stamp Magazine is reporting on-line that a 'micronation' set up by gay and lesbian activists off the coast of Australia has begun issuing its own stamps.

The Gay & Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands was set up on June 14, 2004, in protest against a ban on same-sex marriage by the Australian Parliament.

According to the publication, "The Kingdom's website states that its stamp issuing policy is conservative, 'with the aim of creating a high and distinctive reputation among the philatelic fraternity'. The stamps are denominated in euros because 'trade is carried out in this currency'."

A spokesman for the Kingdom's philatelic bureau is quoted in the article as saying, "At the moment, the stamps are being produced as a way of promoting the concept of the Gay & Lesbian Kingdom. Stamps help to reinforce the sovereign rights of any nation, and whilst there is currently only a limited service from Heaven to the Australian mainland, it is our intention for this to improve as the main island develops as a tourist destination."

To read the entire article, click here.

Stamp Q & As

Got a question about stamps or stamp collecting?

Then ask Mark Leon.

He's the resident expert on stamps and philately on About.com's All Experts.

Most of the questions he gets seem to be pretty simple - coming mostly from beginning or non-collectors, they aren't exactly toughies. Most advanced collectors could probably answer them fairly easily.

However, I sense that he's willing and able to answer some more difficult ones if given the chance.

So give Mark a try. Ask him something you've always wanted to know but were afraid to ask. It will be interesting to see his responses.

To ask a question, click here.

Reggae stamp criticised

According to Black Britain, "The Royal Mail has been criticised by a music industry expert over a new stamp collection designed to portray different musical styles in the UK for failing to acknowledge the wide influence of black music over other musical styles enjoyed in the UK."

Commenting on the way the stamps had been presented with the African drummer and reggae guitarist portraying black music Mykaell Riley, founder of the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra is quoted in the article as saying, “It’s almost saying that African and Caribbean music has nothing to do with jazz and blues and that African and Caribbean music has nothing to do with Latin America – but the origins all go back to Africa and African music.”

The article goes on to say, "The stamp issue came about as every year a large number of post offices throughout Europe agree to do a stamp issue called ‘Europa’ on a particular theme. This year’s theme was cultural diversity. But the term diversity has been portrayed through a very narrow interpretation which is not an accurate representation of how these different musical styles came to be in Britain."

To read the entire article, click here.

Lions International Stamp Club

Shown above is Ross Paine of Wollongong, Australia who is the co-ordinator of the Lions International Stamp Club (LISC).

The purpose of LISC is to foster and develop the avocation of stamp collecting among Lions, Leos, Lionesses and their families and to increase international goodwill among Lions.The group formed during the 34th Lions International Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA, in 1951.

Members can participate in activities such as Stamp Exchange and Used Stamp Collection Programmes for charitable and community service, New Issue Services or just the collection of Stamps and First day Covers which bear the Lions emblem.

More than 100 countries have issued Lions logo postage stamps in recognition of Lions club activities. The first Lions stamp was issued by Cuba during the 24th Lions Clubs International Convention in Havana in 1940.

For more information, click here.

Fanatically philatelic

Staff writer Chris Birk writes in the Scanton Times-Tribune, "Tracing its roots to 1949, the Scranton Stamp Club — formally known as the Northeast Pennsylvania Philatelic Society — brings together about 20 men from across the region. They’re all linked by a hobby that, in pop-culture circles, is often derided as the epitome of boredom."

In his article, Fanatically Philatelic, Birk says the club hopes to capitalize on National Stamp Collecting Month coming up next month with signs and posters in post offices and libraries promoting the hobby.

He also says club members will likely spend time next month handing out packs of stamps at a local mall and possibly other high-traffic areas.

According to Birk, "About 40 separate stamp clubs congregate each month throughout Pennsylvania. In some larger U.S. cities, clubs for younger, junior members have cropped up, as young people continue to take an interest in a centuries-old hobby."

To read the entire article, click here.

Stamp Forum

Brad Hooper from New Zealand e-mails to say he'd like to invite readers of the Round-Up to visit his new Stamp Forum http://www.stamp-forum.com

"Please feel free to sign up and post your collections, want lists or just general stamp stuff."

Brad maintains the Stamp Links website which had lots of good links to other philatelic sites.

To visit Stamp Forum, click here.

For Stamp Links, click here.

"Odd-ball" Monroe goes up for auction

Delaware Online reports that retired electrician, Charles Jacobs, from Allentown, Pa., was working on his collection two years ago when he discovered a gem that may be "the only one of its kind."

The stamp (shown here) bears the likeness of President James Monroe and contains a major perforation error. According to the article, the stamp could fetch as much as $50,000 during an auction today.

When Jacobs first stumbled upon the stamp, he had no idea how special it was.

“I just thought it was an odd-ball stamp,” he said.

The article cites Linn’s as saying, "The typical Monroe stamp has 11 perforation holes on all four sides, but the rare stamp contains only 10 holes on its top side. Only a few such stamps were produced when a 10-gauge perforation wheel unintentionally replaced an 11-gauge wheel."

To read the entire article, click here.

Canada to release PERMANENT™ stamps

According to a Canadian government news Web site, Canada will be the first North American country to issue non-denominated stamps that will retain their value indefinitely.

Their new PERMANENT™ stamps will be accepted at the basic domestic Lettermail rate and replaces next year's 52¢ domestic rate definitive stamps.

Canada, however, is not the first country to issue a stamp that retains its value. Britain, Finland, Israel, Belgium, France, Norway, Monaco and Sweden are a few countries that also sell stamps that are always worth the going rate.

The PERMANENT™ stamps will go on sale at the current domestic rate of 51¢ on November 16 at postal offices throughout Canada. These stamps will be accepted at the new 52¢ rate effective January 15, 2007 when the basic Lettermail rate increases by one cent.

The United States plans on issuing something similar in 2007 and are being referred as "Forever" stamps.

To read the entire article, click here.

Rarest Czech stamp

Czechoslovakia's Radio Praha reports on their Web site, "Paper is plentiful and most of it is worth next to nothing. But like paper money, postage stamps can be incredibly valuable. One postage stamp that is considered the most unique, and possibly the most valuable in Czechoslovak history, has just been shown to the public for the first time in decades."

Shown above, philatelist Ludvik Pytlicek unveils what is thought to be the only Czech stamp that has a 'four crowns' denomination and is printed on granite paper.

According to the report,the stamp will be on view at an international collector's conference in Prague. In November, Pytlicek will travel to Monaco on the invitation of Prince Albert, where he'll show his possession to the crème de la crème of world philately, the Monte Carlo Club.

To read the entire article, click here

West Haven Collection

Cherrystone Auctions in New York City is auctioning off the West Haven Collection of United States, Confederate States and Possessions on October 4.

According to the firm, "Some of the highlights of the collection include Baltimore and St. Louis Postmasters' Provisionals (two of the latter in superb condition), a nice selection of 1847 Issue with various scarce cancels and 10c fractional usages (including the only known horizontal bisect aside from the Miller Collection at the NY Public Library), original gum Grills, 1869 Pictorial Inverts, and a beautiful 1c Pan American invert (the finest we have seen)."

The "back of the book" is also virtually complete, with rare Postage Dues, Officials complete with high value State Dept. (mint & used) and Special Printing "Specimen" overprints (in complete sets), Newspaper Stamps, Carriers & Locals, including postal history and combination usages, as well as some very scarce Confederate Postmasters' Provisionals, including Greenville, AL (one of two known) and Goliad, TX.

The Possessions section has a nice selection of Hawaiian numerals, Philippines Air Post (Madrid-Manila with scarce overprints), as well as Guam and Puerto Rico (with Ponce Provisional).

The entire sale can be viewed their website: http://www.cherrystoneauctions.com.

If you go there, double click on the small pictures of the stamps. They will get huge! Seeing such stamps 10x their original size is quite a treat. The detail is amazing.

And here's a little secret... if you right-click on your mouse, you can save it to your hard drive and form your own virtual collection without spending a dime!

Butterflies on stamps

The Ludhiana [India] Newsline reports that a philatelist of international fame, Dr. S.K. Sondhi, has more than 5,000 stamps on butterflies, which he has displayed at both national and international exhibitions.

According to the site, Dr. Sondhi has been collecting stamps since he was 10 after he received a gift of postage stamps and album from his cousin. Among them were 3-D stamps of Bhutan. From then on he was hooked on the hobby and began collecting butterflies on stamps.

"Stamps are just one manifestation of Dr. Sondhi’s love for butterflies. He has coins of West Indies having butterfly impressions. There are dozens of phone cards having butterflies photos, wall hangings of dead butterflies, and the photographs of every butterfly in the ‘Butterfly Zoo’ at Niagra Falls in Canada."

To read the entire article, click here.

Postman Bob

While the U.K. has "Postman Pat", the Cayman Islands has "Postman Bob".

Shown here in a Cayman NetNews photo marking the success of the islands' new postal code campaign, the caption reads,

"Mascot 'Postman Bob' is flanked by the Minister of Communications, Works and Infrastructure Hon Arden McLean, Deputy Postmaster General Anthony Williams and Postmaster General, Sheena Glasgow, the day the new codes were launched."

I thought a mascot was an animal?

Who knows? Maybe the Cayman Islands post office and "Postman Bob" aren't telling us everything. He sure looks pretty slick (with his bedroom eyes, open shirt and cut offs) compared to "Postman Pat".

To read the entire article, click here.

USPS gets a "Freedom Team Salute" from U.S. Army

According to a USPS press release, Secretary of the Army, Frances J. Harvey, honored the U.S. Postal Service for being one of the nation's largest employers of men and women who served in the Army, National Guard and Army Reserve.

Secretary Harvey presented Postmaster General John E. Potter with a special "Freedom Team Salute" pin in a ceremony at the Pentagon yesterday in recognition of this achievement.

Over 185,000 -- or nearly a quarter of the Postal Service's 700,000 employees -- come from a military background, and the majority served in the Army. Nearly 1,900 employees are currently serving in the National Guard, nearly 4,800 are currently in the Army Reserve and more than 4,000 current postal employees are retired Army veterans.

The Freedom Team Salute program provides soldiers with a means to recognize their supporters: spouses, parents, and employers of National Guard and Reserve Soldiers. Honorably discharged veterans may likewise nominate themselves for recognition under this program.

Nominees will receive an Army lapel pin, an Army decal, a certificate and letter signed by the Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Staff of the Army thanking them for their support.

For additional information, click here.

A message from Postman Pat

Dear Friends,

I'm very excited to let you know that my brand new website is now available. For the first time ever you can watch clips from my show.

Why not take a look now at www.postmanpat.com. There's lots of fun stuff to see and do.

You can even explore Greendale and learn more about your favourite characters from my show.

September is a very exciting month as it's my birthday! If you're in the UK I hope you will join me as part of my UK tour. For details view the Party information on my new website.

I hope you'll join in all of the party fun!

Best wishes,

Postman Pat (and Jess the Cat)

More on the Beatles

Ian Billings of Norvic Philatelics in the U.K. was nice enough to e-mail me that there will ALSO be a minature sheet of four stamps (shown above) of Beatle memorabilia that will be released on January 9, 2007.

This is in addition to the set of six stamps showing the group's album covers (see my Sept. 13 post).

Ian says,"The Associated Press release and other media releases don't seem to have included the minature sheet."

This is true.

To visit Ian's Web site, click here.

To visit his online store, click here.

Stamp collecting is risky business

"Stamp collecting is far more risky than you think," according to Broadway.com.

It reports a new play, Mauritius, opens October 6 in Boston at the Huntington Theatre Company's Stanford Calderwood Pavillion.

PlayBill.com reports, "The unlikely world of philately (stamp collecting) becomes the setting for this drama which finds two half sisters at odds over potentially priceless stamps..."

"In this gripping world premiere, a seemingly simple sale becomes dangerous when three seedy, high-stakes collectors enter the sisters' world, willing to do anything to claim the rare find as their own."

For ticket information, click here.

Beatles on stamps

The UK's Times Online report Royal Mail's first issue of 2007 will show six of the Beatles most popular album covers.

The set will feature the covers of "With The Beatles" (released in the U.S. as "Meet the Beatles", "Revolver", "Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band", "Abbey Road" and "Let It Be."

The site goes on to say, "It was only last year that the rule was deliberately broken that members of the Royal Family could be the only living people identifiable on British stamps."

"There was uproar among philatelists and royal-watchers alike in 1999 when Queen drummer Roger Taylor could be clearly seen in the background of a stamp honouring the band’s legendary late singer Freddie Mercury."

McCartney and Starr are still alive, Lennon was murdered in 1980 and Harrison died in 2001

To see other Beatles stamps from around the world, click here.

Rock 'n' roll poster mystery

The Sydney Morning Herald reports, "Ten historic Australian rock'n'roll posters will be released as stamps [Sept. 12], and Australia Post is adamant that the 37-year-old unsolved mystery surrounding one of them will not drag the company into a legal quagmire."

The problem is nobody knows who designed the 1969 Masters Apprentices' poster(shown above in the center of the top row).

Various attempts were made to locate the original artist but they were fruitless.

Rock poster historian Murray Walding is quoted in the article as saying, "It's one of those things where, even though the artist is unknown, then in that case it is cleared by those who commissioned the work."

When the Herald asked Walding if the designer could now emerge and claim royalties from Australia Post for the stamp, he said, "It is entirely possible. It is one of those research problems you have. I haven't seen anything that resembles this kind of work.

To read the entire article, click here.

Church Street station

Church Street station was one of four New York City post offices closed as a result of the tragic events of September 11, 2001.

Shown above are postal inspectors, assisted by National Guard troops, securing the mail from Church Hill Station in the days and weeks following 9/11.

The Church Street Station Post Office served the 10007 ZIP code for the neighborhoods surrounding the World Trade Center and processed and delivered all mail to the World Trade Center, represented by its own ZIP code, 10048.

Jeffrey Brodie, a curator at the National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution visited the Church Street Station a few weeks after 9/11. His goal was to collect items from that post office that symbolized the time of the attack as well as objects that characterized the role of Church Street Station in the community.

The National Postal Museum obtained a number of items from the Church Street Post Office. Each item was chosen for its relevance to the day of the attack or its importance to the work of that post office in its community.

These have been incorporated into a moving on-line exhibit, September 11, 2001: Collecting and Exhibiting a National Tragedy.

To view, click here.

Vietnamese War Museum stamp exhibit

The Vietnam News Service reports forty collections of nearly 8,000 stamps featuring Viet Nam’s history and people are now on display at the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City as part of the country’s National Day celebration held last week.

"The highlights are collections featuring the country’s cultural heritage, pictures of President Ho Chi Minh with children, and images of both war and peace."

To read the entire article, click here.

For more on the postage stamps and postal history Vietnam, click here.

Simon Wiesenthal's stamp collection

Famed Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal's stamp collection will be auctioned off in Germany this month and is expected to fetch at least 500,000 Euros according to Eldad Beck of YNetNews.com.

Beck reports, "The collection, which includes rare stamps from the nineteenth and twentieth century, will be put on auction on September 27 at the Heinrich Kohler stamp auction house in Wiesbaden."

The collection is worth some 250,000 Euro, but experts believe it is likely to fetch double the amount.

The collection features rare Austrian stamps printed in the town of Graz, including portraits of Hitler. Wiesenthal's daughter, Paulina, inherited the collection last year when her father died.

A holocaust survivor, Wiesenthal became keen on collecting stamps after WWII when his doctor recommended he find a hobby to overcome sleeping disorders.

To read the entire article, click here.

Resident Evil

According to Tim Surette of GameSpot.com, "When gamers think about Resident Evil, they often think of flesh-eating zombies, spine-tingling terror, and over-the-top, gruesome deaths. However, in Japan, they apprently think of stamp collecting."

Surette says, "Capcom's Resident Evil franchise turned 10 years old this year, and to celebrate the occasion, Japan will be getting a series of RE-themed postage stamps. A set of 10 stamps [shown above]valued at 80 yen ($0.68) each will go on sale on September 20 and run for two months."

Five of the stamps will feature some of the series' more popular characters--Leon Kennedy, Ada Wong, Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield, and Rebecca Chambers. The remaining five bear the game's Japanese name of Biohazard, as well as a logo of S.T.A.R.S., the fictional special-ops squad that takes on hordes of zombies.

Cooooooooool!

For dealers who offer new issues from Japan, click here.

The Philatelic Communicator

The Philatelic Communicator, the journal of the American Philatelic Society Writers Unit #30, has a new editor and 'new look' which includes color according to Dr. Everett L. Parker, an associate Global Stamp News editor.

In the July/August edition of Global Stamp News, Parker writes in his Philatelic Journals column, "New editor Albert W. Starkweather of Tampa, Florida titled his opening article 'Let's Get Visual!' as he discussed online publishing. Ronald E. Lesher discussed color in philatelic journals, and Thomas M. Fortunato wrote about Internet websites promoting society growth."

There were several other articles in the journal, including an article on non-philatelic outlets for philatelic writers.

For additional information, contact Secretary George E. Griffenhagen, 2501 Drexel St, Vienna, VA 22180-6906 or click here to go to the Philatelic Communicator Website where current and back issues can be downloaded in a PDF format.

Dr. Parker also writes,"If your society journal is not reviewed, it is likely because I do not receive it. Please ask that I be placed on your secretary or publisher's mailing list. The address is: Dr. Everett L. Parker, 719 Moosehead Lake Road, Greenville, ME 04441-9727; email: eparker@midmaine.com.

For Global Stamp News subscription information, click here.

New Zealand interactive "Gold Rush" stamp

Scoop Independent News reports that, "New Zealand Post's latest - and interactive - stamp issue commemorates the gold rush years that proved crucial to the development of New Zealand as a nation in the 19th century."

The set of five stamps depicting the county's early gold miners at work is scheduled for release today.

According to Scoop, "For the first time New Zealand Post has produced a stamp using heat-sensitive thermographic ink - which means that if you rub the 45-cent stamp, the heat from your finger will magically reveal gleaming nuggets in the pan of the 1880s prospector depicted in the photograph."

To read the entire article, click here.

For additional details and ordering information, click here.

Pluto

Paul Dellinger writes in The Roanoke Times, "The International Astronomical Union did more than demote Pluto from the planetary status it had held for the past 76 years."

He says, "It exonerated a piece of classical music by Gustav Holtz, called into question the veracity of the U.S. Postal Service and instantly transformed all kinds of science-fiction stories into alternate-history tales."

When the world's astronomers met in Prague last week, they passed a measure that limits the definition of "planet" in a way that excludes Pluto. From now on, only (1) a spherical object that is (2) circling the sun and that has (3) "cleared the neighborhood around its orbit" by sweeping up all stray objects with its gravitational pull can properly be called a planet.

Tiny Pluto does not meet the last criterion according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Dellinger states, "In stories of interplanetary exploration, Pluto was always the last planet, the border of the solar system, the sun's last outpost, and not only in science-fiction stories. Even the U.S. Post Office thought so. When it issued its "nine planets" stamps in 1991, the caption for No. 9 was "Pluto -- not yet explored."

"Robert Staehle, one of the scientists from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on hand for the unveiling of the new stamps, took that caption as a challenge and ended up as project manager for what was called the Pluto Express -- a planned quick and cheap mission to the ninth planet," reports Dellinger.

"That mission got put on hold in 2000, but eventually morphed into New Horizons, which launched Jan. 19 and is scheduled for its closest approach to Pluto in June 2015."

"Although Pluto was a planet when the spacecraft blasted off, it will no longer be one when it arrives."

To read his entire article, click here.

Josh Bolton, White House Chief of Staff

The Washington Post is reporting that White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolton kept what his sister calls a “meticulous” stamp collection as a boy.

Born in 1954, the WP says, "Bolten is said to be known within the Bush administration as a details man," and "Bolten’s intellectual curiosity and the deliberative fashion in which he breaks problems down are part of what make him skilled at his job."

M-m-m-m...maybe being a stamp collector had something to do with that. No word if he still collects.

Happy Labor Day to ALL our government employees!

To read the entire article, click here.

"Motorcyle" postmark

KCCI, Des Moines, Iowa reports, "The post office is in a pickle over the spelling of motor-sickle. At least, that's how Arlo Guthrie might explain it."

According to the Associated Press ,"Problem is, the Postal Service recently, with great fanfare, issued a new set of stamps depicting motorcycles. Collectors who buy copies issued on the first day the stamps are available can get them with a special commemorative postmark."

Unfortunately, the colourful postmark spells it "motorcyle".

Having discovered this, the post office has announced that new orders for first-day envelopes will have a corrected postmark.

"Unless the buyer wants it spelled wrong. In that case, they can still order the version with the incorrect postmark if they include a note asking for the incorrect version."

Send your requests to INFORMATION FULFILLMENT, DEPT 6270, US POSTAL SERVICE, PO BOX 219424, KANSAS CITY, MO, 64121-9424.

North Korean stamps go on sale in South

According to Stanley Gibbons Monthly, the controversy regarding the disputed Dokdo islets was rekindled earlier this month following South Korea's decision to sell North Korean stamps entitled "Dokdo's ecological environment".

"Japan reacted furiously two years ago when South Korea produced a set of stamps featuring Takeshima, one of the two islets which have historically been claimed by both South Korea and Japan."

"North Korea later joined the fray by issuing a set of stamps based on an 18th century map that identifies the islets as Korean. The South refused to sell them on that occasion, but they seem to be taking a different stance and allowing the sale of this latest issue."

To read more on how philately has become a weapon in a territorial tiff, click here.

Believe it or not

Transunion.com of Albany, New York reports, Harold Osborne, 90, (shown above) has had the same post office box for 83 years!

Staff writer Kenneth C. Crowe II, says in his article,Special Delivery of Praise, "the U.S. Postal Service Albany Division saluted Osborne as being among the 16 families that have had the same post office box for 60 years or more. It's the post office's way of remembering the 300th birthday of Benjamin Franklin, considered America's first postmaster general."

Osborne received two framed sets of stamps including one honoring Franklin.

To read the entire article, click here.