POSTCARD N.173 - SWITZERLAND - UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION

Postcard sent on the 30th December, received on the 7th January 2025.

Postcard image: Voeux Bonne Année 2025 

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A very interesting postcard with best wishes for the year. Mon grand Merci, Roland!

As I read on its website, Philapostel is the most important philatelic association in France. Sadly the website does not have any historical notes on the association itself (or maybe I could not find them), but from what I also managed to infer, the Association congregates chapters in several French regions.

This year, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Union Postale Universelle, UPU, Philapostel issued this very nice "Happy New Year" postcard, which was kindly sent me by Roland from Berne, the Swiss Capital and also the location of the UPU Headquarters.

Of special note is the 90 cents UPU Service Stamp, issued on 09SEP2003, highlighting the commitment to the improvement of service quality in postal services, symbolised by a stamped envelope encircled by the letter Q. 

Since 1957, through an agreement with the Swiss Post, UPU has sporadically issued service stamps, the last issue dating of 2012.

The 1 Franc stamp, on its side, is part of the two Swiss Post two stamp Christmas issue of 1006, which began to circulate on 21NOV2006.

The mechanical postmark which strangely  failed to hit the satmps celebrates the 175th anniversary of Swiss Post, which was celebrated ion 2024.