COVER N. 574 - MONACO

Postmark: Monaco Musée des Timbres et des Monnaies 11.04.2025

Posted on the 11th April; Received on the 21st April 2025

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Two nice stamps and a fine pictorial obliteration, from the tiny Principality overlooking the Mediterranean. What's not to like about it...? Un grand Merci, Roland!

Stamps, left to right:

- 0,20 € stamp illustrated with a Swallowtail sea perch (Anthias anthias) a member of the Anthiadidae family which can be found in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean sea, and which is also prone to be found in aquariums all over the world.. The stamp is part of a most beautiful definitive set of 10 stamps (10€; 5€; 2€; 1€; 0,50€; 0,20€; 0,10€; 0,05€; 0,02€; 0,01€) issued on 01JAN2002, dedicated to Mediterranean Fauna and Flora. The illustrations include a plethora of wildlife, ranging from flowers to butterflies,  fishes and sea snails, all drawn with exquisite and delicate craftsmanship for in taglio printing.

- Hot Air ballooning is both a sport and a significant  segment of tourism related economy for it is hard to resist the chance to hover over idyllic locations like Cappadocia or Monsaraz propelled by nothing but air, either that maintains you afloat in the air, or that that drives you in the form of wind. 

But in order to rise in the air and keep yourself afloat, air has to be heated up by huge burners that use up quite a bit of gas and honouring Lavoisier produce in turn a fair amount of  greenhouse friendly CO2... 

Technology developed at Monaco and used in the Balloon pictured in the stamp on the cover, impacting both the construction of the balloon itself, with the use of a double envelope system and its gas  burning apparatus, through the use of synthesised carburants have managed to reduce the amount of gas consumed by a factor of 2, thus proportionally reducing the dreaded carbon emissions. 

The balloon, built by ULTRAMAGIC in Catalonia, Spain, for the hot air balloon team  Les Aéronautes de Monaco will be participating in several events to demonstrate its technology through the course of this year.

The Monaco eco-balloon was the subject of a 2 x 1,96 stamp set issued on 02Jan 2024, both illustrated with images of the balloon flying over landmarks of Monaco: the port, on the stamp on the cover, and the Prince's palace, on the companion stamp in the set.

The stamps were obliterated with a nice pictorial postmark at Monaco's Postal Museum, bearing the arms of the Prince.

COVER N. 573 - ITALY

Postmark: Ancona Posta Italiane 03.04.2025

Posted on the 3rd April; Received on the 18th April 2025

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It has been a while since I received a letter from Italy, so I was quite happy to find one in my letterbox. Grazie mille, Giovanni!

Stamps left to right:

750 lire stamp, part of the Christmas 1993 issue, dated of 13NOV1993, comprising two stamps (600 and 750 lire) illustrated with motifs allusive to the Season. In this particular case, the stamp replicates L'Annunciazione, the top part of a  Polyptych - Polittico di Sant’Antonio - by Piero de La Francesca (1415-1492), one of the famous names of the Italian renaissance, which can be seen at the Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria, in Perugia.

Antiche Genti d'iTalia (ancient peoples of Italy) was the name of an exhibition held in Rimini in Sala dell'Arengo and Palazzo del Podestà, from the 20 March to the 28 August 1994. For the occasion, Poste Italiene issued on 06May1994 the 750 lire stamp on the cover.

The only existing roman gilt bronze sculptures are those of  Cartoceto di Pergola, which comprised at least two people on horseback and two standing women, although today only one man on horseback and a standing woman subsist, as well as the lower part of the second woman and the second horse.

On 04JUN1988, Poste Italiane issued two stamps dedicated to these sculptures, with face values of 500 and 650 Lire. The 500 l stamp, on the cover, bears the image of the head of one of the horses, while the companion stamp on the set is illustrated with the face of the surviving woman.

500 Lire stamp, part of a set of three (30;70 and 500 Lire), issued on 15OCT1964, on the occasion of the  7° Stati Generali dei Comuni per l'Europa  (7th States General of the Municipalities for the Europe of the Peoples). I cannot find any information on  this particular organisation, but I suppose that it must have subsumed into one of the current EU structures... 

COVER N. 572 - FRANCE

Postmark: Musée de La Poste - La Fabrique du Temps Paris 03.04.2025

Posted on the 3rd April; Received on the 9th April 2025

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Some time ago, given that my "probation period" time was already completed,  I decided I would try my hand at becoming an Originating Member of the London Cover Circuit Club.

To his aim, I again  pestered the Club's President, with several mails asking for information on procedures, and yet again I was answered with all the kindness and willingness to help that I have always experienced on my email exchanges with Monsieur Roland Montagne. 

Further to the electronic exchange, Roland made sure I would get my package of Club information inside this impeccable C5 envelope with no less than 6 stamps on it with an interesting postmark that I hadn't yet seen, from a museum I have not yet visited.... 

Un grand Merci pour toute votre disponibilité et amitié, Roland!

Stamps left to right:

Haguenau is an Alsatian Commune located in the Gran Est region of France. Founded in the 12th century its origins are traceable to 1115, the year when construction began for an hunting lodge for Duke Frederick, the One-Eyed, on the forests that the Swabian Dukes had aquired.

Being located in Alsace means that its ownership has shifted between France and Germany over the years, only to be definitively (hopefully :-)) handed over to France after the end of the 1st World War, by the Treaty of Versailles.

Celebrating the 1900 years of its establishment, la Poste issued on 06JUL2015 the beautiful 0,68 € stamp on the cover, illustrated with landmarks of the city, l to r: Musée Alsacien; Tour des Pêcheurs; Bureau de Tourisme.

1,16€ stamp for domestic service, lettre verte, part of the two stamp 2023 Chinese New year issue, that began to circulate on 14JAN2023, dedicated to the Year of the Rabbit. The companion stamp, with a face value of 1,80€ for international service can be seen here.

1,08 € stamp issued on 12APR2021 in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the publication of the famous Le Petit Prince novel by Antoine de Saint-Exupèry, featuring one of the wonderful illustrations that the author also produced for his book.

The UN declared 2011 as the  International Year of Chemistry, while at the same time highlighting the role of women scientists for the advancement in this particular field of knowledge, for 2011 also marked the 100th anniversary of Marie Curie's second Nobel prize (the first having been awarded in 1911 both to her and her husband Pierre)

Honouring the occasion, La Poste issued the 0,87 stamp on the cover, illustrated with an image of Marie Curie in her laboratory and the legend 2011 Année International de la Chimie

Courrèges is an high end French fashion brand. La Poste chose it for the 2016 issue of the Valentine's day series featuring French luxury brands initiated in 2000. Two satmps were issued on 15JAN2016,  with face values of 0,70 (on the cover) and 1,40 €.

0,01 € Marianne stamp of the 23JUL2018 issue.

The Postmark was applied at the Musée de La Poste, in Paris. 

Inaugurated in 1946, the Musée was relocated to its current location at 34, boulevard de Vaugirard, in 1973.

COVER N. 571 - FRANCE

Postmark: 150 ans de l'opéra Carmen Georges Bizet 1er jour 27.03.2025

Posted on the 27th March; Received on the 10th April 2025

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The beautiful gipsy lies dead on the ground while the assassin, knife still dripping blood from the treacherous wound it inflicted on the tender flesh, comes round to the immensity of what he just did, while being carried away by the soldiers...

Vous pouvez m'arrêter.

C'est moi qui l'ai tuée !

Ah ! Carmen ! ma Carmen adorée !

Thus the drama ends and the curtain falls, after one of the many outstanding arias and duets that give life to probably the most famous of all operas: Georges Bizet’s (1838 - 1875) magnificent chef d'oeuvre, Carmen, based on a novel by French writer, archaeologist and historian  Prosper Mérimée (1803 - 1870).

A classic story of love and betrayed love, with a perfect triangle (well a square, if you count Zuninga, the Dragons lieutenant), centred on an hedonist beauty, whose charms no man can resist.

I first heard an aria from Carmen many years ago, included in one of those "best of the opera" 33 rpm that were issued by publishers like the Reader's Digest... I am not absolutely sure, but think it was Callas singing the Habanera.... I must have been in my teens and I absolutely loathed it... not the music, but the voice. I know, I know... it is probably a sin or an act of hubris, but to this day I am not a fan of Callas' timbre... 

But over the years I heard the beautiful aria sang by many other singers and  even if I never had the chance to watch a live performance of this masterpiece, I too fell for the spell, not of the beautiful free minded gipsy, but of its outstanding musicality.

How can one not love the Seguidilla, or that heartbreaking  "Carmen il est temps encore..." of the last duet... sheer musicality, sheer beauty...

Carmen was first taken to the stage on the 3rd March 1875, 150 years ago.

Such a significant anniversary of a masterpiece, could only be honoured with a matching masterpiece, so la Poste issued on 27MAR2025 the outstanding souvenir sheet that Thanks to Eric and André, I am very happy to possess in my collection.

Un grand, grand merci, Eric et André!

Upon receiving the cover, I was overjoyed to notice that the sheet was autographed by its designer and engraver Ms. Sarah Lazarevic, who, I learned upon researching her name,  has designed quite a few issues for la Poste. 

On the polychrome in-taglio image, we have Carmen (who is the main feature of the 2,10 € stamp) dancing (could it be the Seguidilla?) while D. Jose, in his Dragons regiment attire watches, totally enraptured.

A couple of red eucalyptus flowers, entangled in each other, fully symbolic in their form and colour, separates the two lovers, while, on the background , La Giralda, Seville's Cathedral Tower, overlooks the two characters, for a sense of place, but also, I'm led to think, symbolising the  the established morals and values transgressed by the dramatic pair.

The First Day Postmark was issued at Paris, the city were Carmen was premièred.

COVER N. 570 - POLAND

Postmark: Gdansk 50 - ZA - 24.03.205

Posted on the 24th March; Received on the 9th April 2025

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It is Easter time. Although not a believer, I cannot fail to understand the importance that Easter has for Catholics all over the world, myself having been raised in what was (and still is, even if not as much as it was 60 years ago) a country deeply rooted in the Catholic faith.

Easter is a time of rebirth, a time of renewal. For me, it is another way of saying spring, and I do believe that both events occurring at more or less the same time, is not a matter of chance or coincidence…

So Happy Easter, to those of faith and  Happy Spring to those who lean more towards a spirituality driven by the cycles of nature and the return of the swallows.

And Dziękuję bardzo, Roman, for your nice Easter cover. Happy Easter to you too.

Stamps, left to right:

- 20 g stamp for international service, issued on 03OCT2028,  dedicated to the Via Carpathia, a transnational road scheduled to open in 2025, linking Klaipėda, Lithuania to Thessaloniki in Greece. 

- "S" tariff stamp, part of a set of two, (1 regular mail; 1 priority)  illustrated with images of Easter Bunnies, issued on 25FEB2025.

- Just like Easter Bunnies, decorated eggs (and not that decorated; in Portugal, for instance, the thing is Chocolate Eggs!) are very typical of the season.

For a number of years, Polish post issued a series of definitive stamps dedicated to decorated eggs from cities of Poland.

The "A" tariff stamp is part of the two stamp issue of 2019, dated of 18MAR2019, and it features a beautiful oklejanka (a type of Easter egg decorated with paper cuts (?) glued onto it) from the city of  Łowicz.

The Postmark hails from the famous city of Gdansk. 

POSTCARD N.178 - SINGAPORE

Postcard sent on the 21st March, received on the 8th April 2025.

Postcard image: The Fullerton Hotel 

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Ravi sends me a postcard from Singapore, enlightening me with a piece of postal history. Bohomȧ  sthoothi, Ravindra!

What is today the Fullerton Hotel, a 5 star luxury hotel down in the centre of the Island/City State, was  in its inception, which dates back to 1928, Singapore's General Post Office, and there it functioned until March 1996.

Nevertheless, it is yet possible to post cards and letters, from the hotel, since Singapore Post opened a philatelic shop in the basement of the Hotel in 2020, from where Ravindra sent me the postcard.

The date stamp of Fullerton's post office can be seen obliterating the two "1st local" tariff stamps, part of a set of six ( (1st local; 45; 65; 80 cent; 2; 5 Dollars) issued on 12NOV2011on the occasion of the  20th World Orchid Conference, which took place in Singapore.

Each of the stamps in the set is illustrated with a beautiful watercolour of a specific orchid. The "1st local" tariff stamp Ravindra used on this postcard showcases the Vanda Miss Joaquim orchid, the national flower of Singapore, a naturally occurring hybrid, resulting from cross pollination between Papilionanthe teres (Vanda teres) and Papilionanthe hookeriana (Vanda hookeriana).

COVER N. 569 - ERITREA

Postmark: Asmara 24.02.205

Posted on the 24th February; Received on the 8th April 2025

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You don't expect to receive a letter from Eritrea often.... not unless you are friends with the Ghost Who Walks, the elusive Phantom, whom gossip has it that he was seen recently in Asmara.....

Danke sehr, Alex. And double thanks for letting me add another country to my list!

Eritrea became independent in 1993 and has never had legislative elections ever since, what says a lot about the type of political regime that rules it.

A former Italian, then British colony and later annexed by Ethiopia, Eritrea, located in the horn of Africa and having for neighbours Ethiopia, Sudan and Djibouti, it is also one of the poorest countries in the world, occupying position 175 in the raking of  the Human Development Index, which numbers 193 countries (2022 data).

The Phantom used a single stamp souvenir sheet with a face value of 10 Eritrean nakfa, issued on 29DEC1997.

This stamp is part of a large issue comprising two 9 x 3 nafka mini-sheets plus 2 x 10 nafka souvenir sheets, dedicated to "Great underwater marine life".

The stamp on the cover bears the image of a Powderblue Surgeonfish (Acanthurus leucosternon), an Indian ocean dweller of the Acanthuridae family.