Middletown stamp collecting workshop will introduce basics of philately

Middletown >> After finding a matchbook on the ground that said, “Send to AG Harris for these stamps,” Mike Frechette, a member of the New Haven Philatelic Society, began to build his own collection of stamps.

Since then, Frechette’s childhood stamp collection has expanded to include stamps from Newfoundland, Ireland, France and Guatemala — as well as his favorite, the Bluenose, a 50-cent postage stamp issued by the Canadian Post Office.

On Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Hubbard Room of the Russell Library, Frechette will give an introduction on the hobby he’s loved since he was a child.

During his discussion, Frechette said he will introduce audience members to the practice of stamp collecting — from the technical aspects of it, to how to understand postage, and how to mount stamps properly. In that way, participants will gain an understanding of how to start their own album.

“Stamp collecting is one of the most popular hobbies in the world and continues to be. I will put you on a scavenger hunt that you will never get tired of. Another reason why people collect stamps is it’s an endless way to learn,” he said.

For Marcia Meyers, also a New Haven Philatelic Society member, the idea of learning about the world through a tiny postage stamp is what compelled her to start collecting.

Meyers began collecting at age 8 after her sister bought her first stamp book.

The idea that she could order and exchange stamps from different parts of the world, and learn about a country’s history and their people is what propels Meyers to continue her passion. “Stamps are history and you can learn so much from that,” she said.

According to the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, the first stamp, the Penny Black, was issued in 1840.

“In the first 100 years, there was about 100,000 stamps issued. Since 1940, over 1 million stamps have been issued,” Frechette said.

Now, in order for someone to possess a worldwide collection, 10,000 to 15,000 stamps would need to be collected each year.

Currently, Frechette said there are 220 post offices in Connecticut serving the state’s 169 towns — in comparison to the 750 post offices that once operated in the state. Frechette said that the New Haven Philatelic Society has collected a total of 260 postmarks from the state of Connecticut.

When starting a collection, Frechette said it is easiest to begin with collecting topicals. “I strongly advise anyone to focus when starting. Just about anything you can think of has been put on a stamp,” Frechette said.

From Christmas stamps, to trains, to flowers, to art — there is a stamp that represents almost every interest. Art is the largest category, with more than 10,000 stamps issued, Frechette said.

But as the different types of stamps continue to grow and expand, so too does history. Frechette said in a world where conversations have evolved from sending postcards to sending emails or text messages, there is still a way to collect stamps — as a way to preserve history.

“We text and everything is there and gone instantly. One hundred years ago, the way people communicated frequently was by postcards. It was their Internet,” Frechette said. “The way we pay for postage has changed a lot, but that doesn’t negate the fact that you can collect if you know what you’re looking for, and what you are doing.”

Now even though more text messages and emails are sent rather than letters, postage continues to be a representation of our past, present and future.

“If you’ve got any curious streak in you, then you should be collecting stamps,” Frechette said. “You discover how everything is interconnected. Nothing is ever separated, it’s one big fusion of everything.”

The Introduction to Stamp Collecting will take place on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Hubbard Room of the Russell Library.

The New Haven Philatelic Society, established in 1914, organizes the fourth Sunday of the Month Collectible Show. For more information, visit wwwnhps1914.org.

http://www.middletownpress.com/article/ … /160109856

Waterville bookseller nets $50,000 in sale of rare stamp
Robert Sezak sold his upright Jenny stamp to an absentee bidder at an auction in Fairfield last week.

FAIRFIELD — Local bookstore owner Robert Sezak got a $50,000 windfall last week when a set of rare U.S. Postal Service stamps was sold to an absentee bidder at an auction in Fairfield.

The item at the auction, held last Tuesday, was a set of six “upright Jenny” stamps put out by the Postal Service three years ago. The stamps are a nod to the inverted Jenny, the most famous printing mistake in Postal Service history.

While he realized a huge profit on the $12 sheet of stamps, Sezak said he thought the bidding could have gone higher.

“I was hoping it would go for more. A couple of people told me it would for $80,000,” he said Tuesday. With the slump in the stock market, however, he was prepared for a lower bid.

There were no bids on the floor at the James D. Julia auction house in Fairfield and all the bids were absentee, Sezak said. The winning bid was confidential, and he doesn’t know who ended up with the stamps.

In an email Wednesday, Megan Noyes, the administrative manager of the auction house, said the stamp set was sold for $59,205, which included a buyer’s premium, a percentage fee the auctioneer charges the auction winner.

The Postal Service printed the rerun of the inverted Jenny in 2013 to commemorate the original. In 1918, the Postal Service released its first 24-cent airmail stamp, which featured a Curtiss JN-4H biplane, but 100 stamps in the original 2.2 million run were printed upside down and immediately became collectors items.

When the postal service released its contemporary version of the accidental stamp, it hid 100 sheets of stamps with the biplane upright in the 2.2 million stamps released to the public.

Sezak, who uses the $2 stamps to send books from Re-Books, his used-book store on the Concourse in Waterville, started searching for his upright Jenny after he heard about the secret release. In November, he finally got his wish, buying the rare stamps during a trip to the post office.

He doesn’t have any special plans for spending the money other than paying bills and maybe squirreling some away for a rainy day, Sezak said.

The experience hasn’t turned Sezak into a stamp collector. He just saw an opportunity to find a rarity through his regular trips to the post office. That doesn’t mean he isn’t a collector at heart. As a bookseller, getting hold of exceptionally rare volumes such as a first edition of “Tamerlane,” Edgar Allan Poe’s first work, or “Maggie: A Girl of the Streets,” by Stephen Crane, is a constant quest.

“I’m still looking for a Holy Grail of books,” Sezak joked.

Peter McGuire — 861-9239

https://www.centralmaine.com/2016/02/10 … tamp-sale/

Postage stamp for ‘British Schindler’ issued

Britain’s Royal Mail issued a commemorative stamp featuring Sir Nicholas Winton, known as the “British Schindler.”

The first class stamp, which was issued Tuesday, is part of a set of six commemorative stamps honoring some of the United Kingdom’s greatest humanitarians and their achievements, the BBC reported.

Winton, who helped rescue 669 children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, died July 1, 2015, at the age of 106. An online petition calling for the stamp set up later that month by the Jewish News garnered nearly 106,000 signatures. The Royal Mail commissions 12 new stamps each year that must be approved by the Queen.

The other two first class stamps feature Sue Ryder, who founded homes for people in need, and Nobel Prize-winning scientist Lord Boyd Orr. The other three stamps feature Quaker philanthropist Joseph Rowntree; Eglantyne Jebb, founder of the organization that became Save the Children; and Josephine Butler, a Victorian-era campaigner for women’s rights and social reform.

Winton, the baptized son of Jewish parents, was a 29-year-old stockbroker when he arrived in Prague in December 1938. He was planning to go on a skiing holiday in Switzerland, but changed his plans when he heard about the refugee crisis in Czechoslovakia, which had just been occupied by the Nazis. In the following nine months he organized eight trains that carried children, the vast majority of them Jewish, from Czechoslovakia to safety in Britain.

Winton’s heroism was unremarked until the 1980s, when his wife found evidence of the rescues. The discovery led to a reunion with some of the children and a documentary. Winton received many honors in his later years, including the knighthood. Last year, the Czech government flew him to Prague in a military plane to receive the country’s highest honor.

The Schindler reference is to the German industrialist Oskar Schindler, who is credited with saving some 1,200 Jews in the Holocaust. His story was made into an Academy Award-winning film, “Schindler’s List.”

http://www.jta.org/2016/03/16/news-opin … ler-issued

NEW: Postal service debuts Yellowstone National Park stamp

Postage stamps commemorating Yellowstone National Park and 15 other National Park Service units will be for sale to U.S. Postal Service customers later this year.

The Yellowstone stamp features two bison silhouetted by the winter morning sun.

The image for the stamp was captured in Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley in February 2000 by Art Wolfe of Seattle.

Wolfe said in a news release he found the bison on a frigid minus 30 degree morning as the animals were warming up from the night before.

The Yellowstone stamp is part of a 16-stamp series to commemorate the National Park Service’s 100th anniversary.

None of the other stamps in the series feature Wyoming or Colorado parks, but the stamp for Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park is a painting produced in Wyoming’s Teton Range.

The stamps are first-class “forever” stamps and will be available for purchase on June 2.

http://www.wyomingnews.com/news/new-pos … 783f7.html

Wish You Were Here: Royal Mail stamps honour 50 years of Pink Floyd

Stamps mark half-century since group turned professional, with albums and live performances represented

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesig … d-50-years

India's spirituality is its strength, unfortunate some link it to religion: PM Modi

PM Modi was addressing a function to commemorate the centenary celebrations of the Yogoda Satsanga Society of India (YSS).

Hailing spirituality as India's strength, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today lamented that some people tend to link it to religion and asserted that the two are very different.

Addressing a function here to commemorate the centenary celebrations of the Yogoda Satsanga Society of India (YSS), he said Yoga is the first step towards the journey of spirituality. Modi said the world compares India on the basis of its population, GDP or employment rate, but it has neither known nor recognised India for its spirituality.

"India's spirituality is its strength. But, it is unfortunate that some people link spirituality to religion. But both spirituality and religion are very different," he said. The prime minister also hailed Yogi Paramahansa who left the shores of India to spread his message but remained connected to the country all the time.

Even for a second the Yogi was not away from his motherland, which he kept remembering even in his last words, the PM said. Back from campaign trail in his Varanasi constituency, Modi recalled how the Yogi is still remembered in Kashi and his teachings, "which are as pure as Maa Ganga", continue to flow within many in the holy city where he spent his childhood.

Modi's remarks come in the backdrop of a raging debate over attempts by political parties to polarise society on the lines of religion, especially during elections. The Yogoda Satsanga Society was founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1917.

A special postage stamp on Yogoda Satsanga Society was also released by Modi to commemorate the occasion. Recalling the words of former President APJ Abdul Kalam who felt that India's spiritualness is its strength and this process should continue, he said that the spirituality of the country has been strengthened by India's sages and saints.

Talking about Yoga, he said it is simple an entry gate to the spiritual world. "Yoga is the entry point to spirituality. Yoga is the entrance point to one's spiritual journey. One should not consider it as the last point, as it is simply the entry gate to the spiritual world," he said.

"Once an individual develops an interest in Yoga and starts diligently practicing it, it will always remain a part of his or her life," he added. The prime minister also recalled that the path shown by the Yogi was not about "mukti" (salvation) but "antaryatra" (quest within).

The PM said despite three-four generations having gone, there has not been any dilution or diversion in Yogi's teachings. He said the 'Kriya Yoga' practised by Paramahansa revitalises the subtle currents of life energy in the body.

Remembering the last words of Paramahansa, the prime minister said his teachings are humane and full of compassion towards all. Modi was later given a memento with the Yogi's last words inscribed on it, which speak about the strength of spirituality of his motherland.

Canada Post issues 2017 sequels to 2016 Star Trek stamp series

A formidable fleet of philatelic items and premium-priced Canada Post keepsakes has assembled for the release of Star Trek Year 2, Canada Post’s code name for its April 27 sequel to the widely promoted and creatively crafted stamps issued May 5 last year (Scott 2911-2922).

The 2016 set celebrated the 50th anniversary of characters who made famous the original TV series that debuted in the United States and Canada in September 1966.

That first issue was detailed by Michael Baadke in Linn’s here, here, and here, because Canada Post took its time revealing all the details.

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This year, what Canada Post is calling Star Trek Year 2 chiefly depicts the commanders, their vessels, and their arch-nemeses of the best-known film adaptation of the original series and four of its TV spin-offs on five die-cut, self-adhesive permanent-rate stamps paying Canada’s domestic letter rate (currently 85¢).

These begin with a stamp honoring USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) commanded by Admiral James T. Kirk (played by Montreal-born William Shatner, the principal Canadian connection to the series), vs. the “genetically enhanced superhuman” Khan Noonian Singh, from the 1982 motion picture Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Khan was reprised in the film by actor Ricardo Montalban 15 years after he had first played that role on Space Seed, a 1967 episode from the original 1966-69 Star Trek television series.

The other new Star Trek stamps feature comparably combative pairings.

Capt. Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) was memorable at the helm of the USS Enterprise-D (NCC-1701-D) in the second TV series, Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–94), and four subsequent feature films.

The nemesis portrayed on the stamp is in fact Picard himself, transformed to serve as Locutus, a servile emissary of the Borg in its attempts to assimilate and dehumanize the rest of the Enterprise crew. The Borg used control by electromechanical implants to turn organic beings into drones to do their bidding, exterminating all other life in their conquests.

In the third TV series (1993-99), Capt. Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) commanded Deep Space 9, an orbital docking station previously controlled by Dukat (Marc Alaimo) for the Alpha Quadrant’s Cardassian Union, a dangerous military dictatorship bent on occupying and brutally ruling neighboring occupied planets, including nearby Bajor.

Star Trek Voyager, the fourth TV series (1999-2001) also was named for its vessel, Voyager (NCC-74656), helmed by Capt. Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew). On its first mission, according to the StarTrek.com database, a “powerful alien technology” pulled Voyager and “a renegade Maquis vessel” in the distant Delta quadrant, 70,000 light-years from Earth, making returning home the principal ongoing mission of the series.

The adversary pictured on her stamp is the ruthless Borg Queen (Alice Krige), who had overseen Picard’s conversion to Locutus. In the final episode of the series, Janeway destroys the Borg Queen.

The fifth series — Enterprise (2001-05), later changed to Star Trek: Enterprise to make clear the connection to the original series — was the origin story of faster-than-light warp drive and the United Federation of Planets, starring Capt. Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) commanding the first starship Enterprise (NX-01).

Star Trek: Enterprise also portrayed the first interstellar conflict between humanity and aliens. The Xindi were creatures of six races from a single distant planet that attacked Earth, personalized in the series by reptilian Commander Dolim (Scott MacDonald), whom Archer slays.

Rounding out the issue are two very different stamps depicting very different but memorable spacecraft from the science fiction series. The first is a permanent-rate coil stamp picturing the Enterprise’s small but versatile Class F shuttle Galileo (NCC-1701⁄7), printed in a coil of 50 stamps, available with a special Enterprise coil dispenser in the shape of a Canada Post mailbox.

Collectors can also buy coil strips of four or 10. As was true of the self-adhesive backing liners on last year’s Star Trek coil stamps, “Famous quotes from the series are revealed on the back of the coil.” Only 300,000 were printed.

The second is an oversized $5 stamp picturing the Borg Cube, an intimidating colossus measuring three kilometers on each side. Embossed, debossed, and enhanced with foil for a 3D effect, this oversized stamp is available only in the prestige booklet and as one in a set of seven official 2017 Star Trek first day covers.

Designed by Kosta Tsetsekas and Adrian Horvath of Signals Design Group in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Post says “these stamps share a similar look to those issued in 2016, with a more modern feel.”

According to Horvath, “The ships, the captains and, especially, the villains give these stamps more drama.”

The five commemoratives will be sold as permanent-rate, self-adhesive stamps in booklets of 10 with a cover design showing the five commanders rendered as though beaming down. These were printed in four-color offset lithography by Lowe-Martin.

Also available will be a $7.35 pane of five perforated stamps with moisture-activated gum in various denominations: the Kirk stamp remains at permanent rate (85¢), while the other stamps are $2.50 (Picard), $1.80 (Sisko), $1.20 (Janeway) and $1 (Archer). These were printed in five-color offset lithography by Lowe-Martin.

The Star Trek prestige booklet from Canada Post contains all the stamp designs in perforated format in two panes with different layouts, with the commemoratives denominated the same as the perforated stamps in the pane of five, as well as the $5 Borg Cube stamp.

The prestige booklet sells for $21.95 Canadian (approximately US$16). Each pane in the booklet shows different full-color scenes from the television series and includes text describing the action in English and in French. Canada Post printed 75,000 prestige booklets.

Collectors also can obtain uncut press sheets containing six of the five-stamp panes from the prestige booklet (5,000 produced).

Also available are sets of first-day covers (15,000 produced) and picture postal cards. The seven first-day covers display the seven permanent-rate stamps with full-color photo illustrations as cachets, plus popular Star Trek: Voyager character Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) depicted as a Borg drone on the $5 Borg Cube FDC, and a cutaway view of the shuttle on the permanent-rate Galileo FDC. All first-day covers are postmarked in Vulcan, Alberta, with the exception of the Montreal-postmarked Kirk FDC.

The five picture postal cards are franked with the Star Trek franchise’s delta logo, the title of the movie or series, and five images adapted from top-rated moments or episodes in each, with imprinted versions of each of the five stamps depicting a commander.

The booklet of 10 self-adhesive stamps is Canada Post product No. 414038111, the coil of 50 is 404040117, the special mailbox-shaped Enterprise coil dispenser is 342086, available for $5.99 Canadian. A coil strip of 10 is 404040119, and a strip of four is 404040118.

The perforated five-stamp souvenir sheet is 404039107, the prestige booklet is 413039111, the 19-inch-by-26-inch uncut press sheet of six panes of five perforated stamps from the prestige booklet is 404039149 (5,000 printed), the set of seven first-day covers in a sturdy color folder is 414013131 (15,000 printed), and the set of five postal cards is 262466 (no quantity printed was specified).

These items are available on the Canda Post's website, and by mail order from Canada Post Customer Service, Box 90022, 2701 Riverside Drive, Ottawa, ON K1V 1J8 Canada; or by telephone from the United States or Canada at 800-565-4362, and from other countries at 902-863-6550.

Canada’s stamps and stamp products also are available from many new-issue stamp dealers, and from Canada Post’s agent in the United States: Interpost, Box 420, Hewlett, NY 11557.

http://www.linns.com/news/world-stamps- … -line.html

Two New Vatican Postage Stamps

Celebrate St Francis de Sales, Mark 500th Anniversary Reformation

The Vatican will issue two new postage stamps on November 23, 2017, the Holy See Press Office announced October 31, 2017.

A 2.55-euro stamp celebrates the 450th Anniversary of the birth of Saint Francis de Sales.  A 1.00-euro stamp marks the October 31, 2017, 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.

Saint Francis de Sales was born in the French border town of Thorens-Glières on August 21, 1567, of an ancient and noble heritage At a young age, Francis de Sales showed interest in theology during his formative years of study that soon led him to a vocation to the priesthood. He carried out his ministry with the firm desire to safeguard the Church of Rome from the reform of Calvin.

Saint Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church, is one of the fathers of modern spirituality and influenced the most important figures of the 1600s in Europe. He brought back many faithful separated from the Catholic Church by speaking about the love of God. Many religious congregations took inspiration from him, including the Salesian Family founded by Saint John Bosco, who chose him as patron of his efforts, both because he was one of the most venerated Saints in the Piedmont region of Italy, and because he incarnated the principles of loving kindness, optimism and Christian humanism that became the foundation of the teaching methods of don Bosco. Francis de Sales was beatified in 1662, and canonized by Pope Alexander VII just three years later. Marco Ventura portrays him in the style of an antique stained glass window, with his pen in hand, since he is patron of journalists and writers...............................................

https://zenit.org/articles/two-new-vati … ge-stamps/

US Postal Service Honoring Military Dogs With New Forever Stamps

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — If you’re a stamp collector and dog lover, you’ll be in luck later this year. The U.S. Postal Service is preparing to honor the country’s four-legged heroes.

The USPS will release four new stamps that feature military-working dogs later this year.

The forever stamps depict breeds commonly used in the armed forces, including German shepherds, Labrador retrievers, Belgian Malinois and Dutch shepherds.

Dogs have been serving in the U.S. military since World War I.

Irish stamps issued Oct. 3 honor Thin Lizzy

reland’s An Post issued two €1 stamps Oct. 3 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy.

In announcing the stamps, An Post said: “One of the greatest bands to come out of Ireland, Thin Lizzy remain giants of Irish rock, decades after they first came together in 1969.”

One of the Thin Lizzy stamps depicts the band’s front man and founding member Phil Lynott (1949-86). It is his second appearance on an Irish stamp; he previously was honored in the 2002 Irish Rock Musicians set (Scott 1437, 1441).

The other new stamp depicts Jim Fitzpatrick’s artwork for the cover of the band’s 1979 album Black Rose.

Steve Averill designed the stamps. Cartor Security Printing printed them by offset lithography. The stamps are se-tenant (side-by-side) in a souvenir sheet and in panes of 16 (eight of each design).

For ordering details, visit the An Post website.

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Iraq celebrates Baghdad's churches with dedicated postage stamps

A one-of-a-kind print series will feature the capital’s most important Christian places of worship, from drawing by the artist Saad Ghazi. A first set of 4,000 stamps has been printed and distributed to post offices. This initiative is part of a project to highlight Iraq’s Christian cultural heritage. For Bishop Warduni, this is “a positive gesture, a sign of good will.”

Baghdad (AsiaNews) – For the first time, Iraqi Post has decided to celebrate the churches of Baghdad with postage stamps that present the most important Christian places of worship in the capital.

This unique gesture consists of a series of eight different stamps drawn by artist Saad Ghazi, featuring the churches of seven different Christian denominations, all in colour, 3x4 centimetres.

Issued on 29 September, the first set of 4,000 stamps were produced at the printing house in Baghdad of the Iraqi Telecommunications and Post Company telecommunications, which owns and operates Iraqi Post.

Speaking to AsiaNews, the Auxiliary Bishop of Baghdad Shlemon Audish Warduni, right-hand man of the Chaldean patriarch Louis Sako, said he was happy about the postal service’s decision, especially since it comes at a critical time in the country’s history, marked by violence and the SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus) emergency.

“Of course, we don’t have the reality we want but news like this, about stamps, is still a positive gesture, a sign of good will,” he explained. "This is one way [for the authorities] to gain the respect of the people, of Christians, but the situation on the ground remains difficult because of COVID-19 and the attacks that continue, such as the one that took place overnight.”

The prelate's last reference is to a series of rockets that landed near Erbil international airport, Iraqi Kurdistan, believed to have targeted the US base in charge of Western operations against the Islamic State.

The new postage stamp is part of a set of initiatives recently adopted by the Iraqi government and international organisations to preserve Iraq’s Christian historical and cultural heritage and ensure the survival of the Christian community after years of mass exodus due to violence.

Recent examples of this include the awarding the 2020 Sakharov Prize to Archbishop Michaeel Najeeb Moussa of Mosul, and the renewed unity between the Chaldean patriarchate and the Iraqi government in the fight against corruption and sectarian violence.

As part of plans to rebuild Iraq’s artistic, historical and cultural heritage, UNESCO recently announced plans to restore the historic church of Al-Tahira in Mosul, northern Iraq’s largest city, which was a stronghold of the Islamic State (IS) for years.

When jihadis ruled the city, they almost completely devastated the building. Now the restoration project, which includes rebuilding the external and internal walls, seems to have started thanks also to the financial support of the United Arab Emirates.

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Iraq-celebrates-Baghdad's-churches-with-dedicated-postage-stamps-51183.html