COVER N. 236 - FINLAND

Postmark: Helsinki Hellsingfors 00100 - 08.04.2023 

Posted on the 8th April; Received on the 18th April 2023
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At first I thought I had to call on the help of Monsieur Hercule Poirot to help me with this one.

I knew it came from Finland, from the Capital city of  Helsinki, neatly stamped and posted,  but the fact is that I didn't know who the sender was, since it is not written on the envelope, and what's more, except for a piece of card to reinforce the envelope, it was completely empty,..

Could it be that it was from a postcrosser, sending me a postcard that he/she forgot to insert? That  was the closest I could get to any possible justification, but then I remembered I had recently received another cover from Finland and I went and compared the handwriting....

Yes, they looked quite the same...

Taking that for granted, since all letters should deserve an answer, I wrote a long letter to the sender of the original letter, thanking him for it and expressing my views on a couple of issues regarding the purpose and intent of my blog and so on and so forth.

I neatly stamped it, closed the envelope and took it the very next day to work, to go to the post office to dispatch it.

I was just about to do that, when I received a message from Alex, asking me if i had received his cover from Finland....?

What? wait a minute.... could it be......

Damn! Saved by the bell! Yes, Dear Alex, I did and i was just about to  attribute it to someone else 😀.

Nothing that would cause an international crisis, but  I am sure I was saved from having to explain a confusion that I and only I had created, due to my very poor forensic skills....

So, Thanks a bunch, Alex.... (only next time, please, don't forget to add the sender 😂)!

Anyway, a reply cover will go out soon, since no letter should go unanswered!

The 0,05 € auto-adhesive stamp, is part of a three even priced stamp set "ripples in water" issued in minisheet form on 24JAN2008.

The 0,10€ stamp is part of a 4 set stamp issued on 09MAY2017, dedicated to artic birds. The 4 stamps were also issued included in a souvenir sheet. 

The birds depicted were: 0,10€ - Long-tailed duck (Clangula hyemalis): 0,20€ - Velvet Scoter (Melanitta fusca); domestic (no facial value) - Brent goose (Branta bernicla); domestic (no facial value) - Barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis).

The auto-adhesive domestic tariff up, to 50g, stamp bearing the Finnish National Flag was issued on 06May2005, and it is the result of a design competition, won by Ville Tietäväinen, who conceived a stamp wherein the national flag is mirrored in the waters of one of the many Finnish lakes.

Siniristilippu, for such is the designation of the Finnish flag is composed by a blue cross over a white background, the former representing the lakes and the sky, and the latter standing for the ever present snow.

The neatly applied postmarks inform that the letter was posted in the Finnish Capital, Helsinki.