Stamps news and stories

NEWS BULLETIN #9

STAMPS NEWS

Are you a CHRISTMAS topicalist ?

Then check out this set of Postal Cards issued December 2, 2006. This is a first for the Costa Rica Postal Service. Although many Postal Cards have been issued since the first one in 1883, none were issued for CHRISTMAS.

Each Postal Card in the set of 5 is valued at 240 colones and features Nativity Scene, Christmas Tree, Angel, Candles and are inscribed Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo.

 

We are informed that only 500 of each were printed, which make them a scarce issue.

These Postal Cards are not listed in the SCOTT STANDARD POSTAGE STAMP CATALOGUE, but will be listed in the COSTA RICA POSTAL CATALOGUE issued by the Society of Costa Rica Collectors (SOCORICO). Check our link to SOCORICO on our home page.

Leon Djerahian

Stamps8.com

NEWS BULLETIN #8

STAMP NEWS

Do you like BUTTERFLIES ?

6 Postal Cards from the 1998 ECOLOGY set of 10 were re-issued on January 8, 2007 with new values of 240 colones overprinted on the original 150 colones value. The 6 Postal Cards include 2 BUTTERFLY cards, 2 ORCHID cards, plus a CRAB card and a SLOTH card.

 

As you can see, these are a quite a few topics represented here.

You won’t find these listed in SCOTT STANDARD POSTAGE STAMP CATALOGUE., because Scott only lists Postal Cards of the U.S.

Only 220 sets of the Postal Cards were issued, making them quite SCARCE.

Leon Djerahian

Stamps8.com

News Bulletin #7

STAMP NEWS

More about ORCHIDS ON STAMPS …

The latest Orchid stamp to be listed by SCOTT CATALOGUE for COSTA RICA will be the 1000 colones SOUVENIR SHEET issued September 25, 2006 to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the birth of PRESIDENT Jose Figueres Ferrer in San Ramon.

The Souvenir Sheet also has the distinction of being the highest face value item ever issued by the Costa Rica Postal Service. Previous highest face value was 500 colones.

Also worthy of note is that, besides the Souvenir Sheet, a stamp was issued the same day for the same purpose and it has one of the very few stamps issued by Costa Rica WITH LABEL ATTACHED (see News Bulletin #1 for more on stamps with LABEL attached).

The label reads (in Spanish) Why TRACTORS without VIOLINS !

The question to topical collectors is: In addition to a collection of PRESIDENTS, would this stamp fit into a collection of TRANSPORTATION (BUSES & TRUCKS) and a collection of MUSIC ?

Leon Djerahian

Stamps8.com

News Bulletin # 6

STAMP NEWS

Do you specialize in BUTTERFLIES ?

If you do, you want to add the latest issue from COSTA RICA to your collection. On December 1, 2006, the COSTA RICA POSTAL SERVICE reissued 4 Postal Cards of the 1998 Ecology set of 10 with new values. This was done by overprinting the new value of 240 Colones in Black on Silver to commemorate EXPOFILA 2006, the PHILATELIC EXHIBITION that took place in the Philatelic Museum of the Central Post Office in San Jose.

   

This set of 4 represents the 5th, 6th, 7th and 10th cards of the set of 10. Card #7 represents a BUTTERFLY (Mechanitis Polymnia, Fam: Ithomiidae). The other 3 Postal Cards in this new set are a SLOTH and 2 ORCHIDS. The original 1998 set of 10 contained 2 Butterflies.

The Postal Cards are not listed in SCOTT STANDARD POSTAGE STAMP CATALOGUE, but you will find POSTAL CARDS and other POSTAL STATIONERY in several of the excellent catalogues published by SOCORICO (Society of Costa Rica Collectors) located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Our website stamps8.com has a link to SOCORICO in the U.S.A., as well as a link to the COSTA RICA PHILATELIC ASSOCIATION right here in San Jose (founded in 1932).

NEWS BULLETIN # 1

STAMP NEWS

Did you know that the first modern stamp with label attached issued by COSTA RICA was the UPAEP/ENERGY stamp issued July 31, 2006 ?

.To “dress up” a collection, many specialist collectors look for interesting and often inexpensive varieties of a stamp, such as a label attached (usually one label to each stamp), or a gutter (stamps separated by a blank or illustrated label), or the serial printing number found in the margin of a sheet, or various other imprints (sometimes called TABS) found in the sheet margins. That is why experienced collectors never remove this sheet margin (also called selvedge) found still attached to a stamp.

To find the first and only other labels found on Costa Rican stamps, you need to go back all the way to 1970. A set of 2 were issued May 20 in honor of the opening of the UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION HEADQUARTERS in Bern, Switzerland. These are the only 2 Special Delivery stamps ever issued by Costa Rica. A curious fact about these 2 labels is that you could use the stamp for regular airmail if you removed the label.

This UPAEP stamp issued in 2006 was printed in sheets of 10 stamps, 6 of which had the label at left of the stamp and the other 4 with label at right. You can collect either or both as you wish.

ENERGY CONSERVATION was the theme of the stamp and UPAEP are the initials in Spanish for Union Postal de las Americas, España y Portugal, rendered in English (before the addition of PORTUGAL) as PUAS, Postal Union of the Americas and Spain. UPAEP stamps are issued almost every year by most of the countries of this Postal Union since 1989.

The SCOTT STANDARD POSTAGE STAMP CATALOGUE lists a strip of UPAEP stamps issued December 19, 1994 as two stamps plus label, but since the label falls BETWEEN the 2 stamps, we prefer to call that a GUTTER

LEON DJERAHIAN
stamps8.com

News Bulletin # 2

STAMP NEWS

If you like TURTLES ON STAMPS, you must try and get this recent issue of COSTA RICA.

In a sheet of 10 different FAUNA and FLORA of Coco Island National Park is a Carey Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricaas). The other stamps in the sheet are birds, fishes, dolphins. The designs are taken from a painting by British artist Deirdre Hyde.

Get it soon, only 20,000 sheets were issued on August 25, 2006 and they are not going to last long !

Coco Island National Park was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1997.

The last issue of Turtles from Costa Rica was in 1998, December 1 to be exact, and was a strip of 3 Turtles honoring the 50th Anniversary of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

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But the last issue honoring Coco Island as a UNESCO World Heritage site was a set of 2 Birds issued April 5, 2001.

LEON DJERAHIAN
stamps8.com

News Bulletin # 3

STAMP NEWS

Did you know that COSTA RICA recently issued an ORCHID stamp ? It may not be listed in SCOTT STANDARD POSTAGE STAMP CATALOGUE as such !

The reason is that it is not a central theme but in the margin of a Souvenir Sheet honoring the 100th Anniversary of the birth of President Jose Figueres Ferrer (not be confused with his son, also President, Jose Figueres Olsen).

A stamp and this Souvenir Sheet were issued September 25, 2006. Only the Souvenir Sheet shows the ORCHID (Stanhopea Confusa) in its margin, the stamp of the same design does not but has another interesting facet. It was issued in a sheet of 6 stamps plus 6 labels (one below each stamp). This could become scarce, since only 6,000 sheets were printed.

The Stanhopea Confusa is native to COSTA RICA and was discovered by Günther Gerlach, curator of the Munich, Germany, Botanical Garden.

Stamps with label attached are also quite a novelty for COSTA RICA stamps, this is only the second modern stamp issued by Costa Rica with a label attached, the first was the UPAEP/ENERGY issue previously reported on.

But the ORCHID is a frequent theme of Costa Rican stamps since it is a national symbol. Before this new issue was an issue of October 5, 2001, an attached pair of 2 stamps issued to commemorate the Third Hispanic-Costa Rican Philatelic Exposition. Before that, there was an issue of 2 high-value stamps on December 1, 1999 honoring PhilexFrance ’99, one of which also features the only EIFFEL TOWER on Costa Rican stamps.

LEON DJERAHIAN
stamps8.com

News Bulletin # 4

STAMP NEWS

FRUITS ON STAMPS lovers should greet this one with open arms. The latest Flora issue from COSTA RICA is a strip of 3 different native FRUITS stamps (Bixa orellana, Hymenaea courbaril, Garcinia intermedia).

Only 6,000 sheets were issued on October 12, 2006. Each sheet contains 5 sets of those 3 Fruits.

Many Flora stamps were issued by Costa Rica, but believe it or not, Fruits are not so common. The last Fruits stamp was an issue of March 25, 1991, a painting of a Banana Picker, now in the National Theater in San Jose.

Before that, you have to go all the way back to 1980. A set of 6 stamps were issued on September 24 picturing Fruits, Bananas, Cocoa, Coffee, Flowers and Sugar Cane.

LEON DJERAHIAN
stamps8.com

News Bulletin # 5

STAMP NEWS

I’ll bet that the average FROGS ON STAMPS collector doesn’t know these exist.

In 2003 a Green Frog (Agalychnis Callidryas) and in 2005 a Red Poison Frog were issued by COSTA RICA as CVPs (Computer Vended Postage).

You won’t find these in the stocks or the price lists of the average dealer. That’s because you can’t buy these from the Costa Rica Philatelic Office.

Another reason is that the SCOTT STANDARD POSTAGE STAMP CATALOGUE does not list Computer Vended Postage labels from countries other than the United States. But they are listed in the German MICHEL catalogue.

Of course, COSTA RICA has issued many postage stamps with Frogs on them. The latest Scott-listed was a stamp of February 23, 2005 (Dendrobates pumilio) as part of a set of 3 stamps issued in honor of the Centenary of ROTARY INTERNATIONAL, which was founded by an American (Richard Harris).

The other 2 stamps of that same set picture a Butterfly (Morpho Granadensis polybaptus) and the wheel, symbol of Rotary Imternational.

Scarce items at that, since only 10,000 were issued of this Rotary set.

LEON DJERAHIAN
stamps8.com