Saturday, March 16, 2013

India MS: 2012

Miniature sheets of India issued in 2012

Mar 14, 2012: Civil Aviation Centenary



Mar 27, 2012: 800th Urs of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Dargah Sharif, Ajmer



Jul 25, 2012: London 2012 Olympic Games



Oct 12, 2012: Philately Day



Oct 16, 2012: XI Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, Hyderabad



Dec 23, 2012: Lighthouses


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Friday, March 15, 2013

Bleriot Monoplane Shaped Miniature Sheet

A unique sheet, shaped as a plane, is what collectors interested in odd shaped sheets and stamps and aircraft got on the occasion of the 2011 World Post day.


The World Post day happens each year on October 9, remembering this date for the establishment of Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1874 in Bern, Switzerland. The South African Post office highlighted the year 2011 World Post Day stamp with the 100th anniversary of the first South African airmail flight. It commemorated this historical flight, with a miniature sheet, an airmail postcard rate stamp and a first-day cover.

The miniature sheet in the shape of a Bleriot monoplane was issued on 7th October 2011. Paul Treleven created the artwork for the miniature sheet as well as for the stamp depicting the monoplane in flight.

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NOTE: Please click on the images for a larger view / closer look.

Cover - Canada

A really nice cover from Canada.



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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Cover - Nicaragua

Yesterday I received this lovely cover from Nicaragua. My second one so far. Beautiful cover with three of the six stamps set of vintage Toyota cars.


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Cover - Australia

A lovely cover from Cheltenham, Australia. Its got these lovely stamps of Christmas Island and a one of the five Christmas issues of 2012. Thanks Glen for the lovely cover.


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Sunday, March 10, 2013

India 2012

Its time, to share with you, the complete year set of Indian stamps from 2012. This year saw a decline in the number of stamps issued during the year compared to earlier years, however, there were some really interesting releases and one of my favourites is the light house stamps. Only 47 stamps were issued as against 61 stamps in 2011.

As usual, first, here are the pictures of all the stamps as stored in my stock album and then pictures of the sets with a small description.





14th March 2012: CIVIL AVIATION CENTENARY


India Post issued these four stamps to commemorate 100 years of civil aviation in the country.Indian Civil Aviation completed 100 years on 18th February, 2011. The year 2011-12 was declared as the Civil Aviation Centenary Year, starting from 18th February, 2011 and ending on the same date in 2012. On this date in 1911, the first commercial plane flew in India between Allahabad and Naini.

27th May 2012: 800TH URS, DARGAH SHARIF, AJMER


These two stamps were issued commemorating the 800th annual Urs festival and the Dargah Sharif shrine.
Dargah Sharif is a sufi shrine of sufi saint, Moinuddin Chishti located at Ajmer, Rajasthan, India. The shrine has the grave of the revered saint, Moinuddin Chisti.
The annual Urs festival commemorates the death anniversary during the first six days of the Rajab (falls between March and July). During Urs, the Dargah's main gates, which normally remains closed, are opened for the devotees. In honor of the saint during the Urs, concerts are held reciting Chishti's own works and others. It attracts a large number of devotees to the shrine.

20th June 2012: WARLI and SHEKHAWATI PAINTING


Warli Painting – Warli folk paintings are the painting of Maharashtra. Warli is the name of the largest tribe found on the northern outskirts of Mumbai, in Western India.

Shekhawati Painting- The havelis or mansions of Shekhawati Rajasthan are known for their wall paintings. The themes depict gods, kings, flowers, arabesques and scenes from daily life.

25th July 2012: LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES


Since the 1968 Olympics  India post has issued stamps commemorating the games. During the last Olympics too, India Post released a set of four commemorative postage stamps. The stamps are a stylized portrayal of sportsmen engaged in Volleyball, Rowing, Sailing and Badminton .

16th October 2012: ENDEMIC SPECIES OF INDIAN BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS


1. Nicobar Megapode
2. Venated Gliding Grog
3. Hoolock Gibbon
4. Bugun Liocichla

05th November 2012: INDIA ISRAEL- JOINT ISSUE


India Post and Israel Post jointly Issued new setenent stamps for Deepavali and Hanukkah respectively

23rd December 2012: LIGHT HOUSES OF INDIA

Picture as seen above. Two stamps featuring the Mahabalipuram and Alleppey lighthouses. This is the third release featuring light houses. First one was released in 1985 featuring the Minicoy lighthouse and the secone one in 2011 featured the Fort Aguada light house.

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International Letter Writing Week 2011 - Thailand

Post box shaped souvenir sheet commemorating letter writing in cute comic-book style illustrations. This sheet and the four stamps were issued on 10th April 2011.


The four stamps on the sheet depict the journey of a letter, writing, posting or sending it across, receiving it and finally reading it. Beautiful sheet.

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Cover - Brazil

This cover, I received from Brazil has three lovely stamps on it. These stamps are from the set of 24 stamps celebrating the 350th anniversary of the Brazilian Post.


Titled Brazilian Post 350 Years: History, People and Action, the set of 24 stamps follows in chronological order from 1663, with the beginning of the regular postal service in Brazil, ending in 2013 with the final stamp displaying the official logo of the 350 years of the Brazilian Post.

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Saturday, March 9, 2013

Cover - Portugal

This is only my second cover from Portugal. This time there are five different commemoratives on the cover as against a single stamp on the cover I had received earlier in 2011. Great cover with lovely clear cancellations


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Tuesday, March 5, 2013

"Takahe" Shaped Miniature Sheet

To all of you wondering what a Takahe is, its a bird, a flightless bird native to New Zealand and an endangered species. On the 6th of July, 2011, New Zealand post issued a set of three stamps and a miniature sheet commemorating this bird along with two others.


Take a closer look at the picture above. Alongside the denomination on each of these stamps is printed "Plus 10c Children's health". The 10-cent surcharge on each stamp in this issue is towards Te Puna Whaiora's seven Children’s Health Camps throughout New Zealand, that, help children and their families in times of need.
The flightless birds featured on the stamps are the kiwi, kakapo and takahe. These were all once more abundant and widely distributed throughout New Zealand than they are today. These precious birds are still around only through the ongoing help of conservation programmes.

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Sunday, March 3, 2013

Train Shaped Miniature Sheet

Ravindra Ratnapala from Sri Lanka sent me this lovely train shaped miniature sheet for my collection of odd shaped stamps and sheets.

Sri Lanka post issued five stamps on February 2nd, 2011 commemorating 25 years of service of the Viceroy luxury coal powered steam train. One of the stamps was also issued in a miniature sheet format, the one you see below and is the longest stamp issued by Sri-Lanka till date. It measures 123 mm long and has a denomination of 45 Lankan rupees (LKR), the equivalent of about 20 INR.


The train is in operation even today and is mainly a tourist service. Of its coaches, a couple are air conditioned and the train also has a restaurant and a bar.

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NOTE: Please click on the images for a larger view / closer look.