Flora

The year 2006 was declared the International Year of Deserts and Desertification by the United Nations General Assembly. Several countries issued stamps that year in an effort to raise awareness of the problem of increased desertification in the world.

PostBeeld continues daily to add hundreds of new stamps to its vast stock, among some of the new additions is a great amount of British Commonwealth stamps. The first examples show the profile of Queen Victoria on stamps from Trinidad,…

A recent issue by Swiss Post shows two images not visible to the naked eye that relate to common garden flowers. A microscopic factor of nearly 3,000x was necessary to display the invisible scenery on this stamp.

The thematic collector of mushroom/fungi stamps has an amazing choice of stamps to seek out. It is thought that there are around 10,000 known varieties of mushrooms, with experts predicting possibly thousands more undetected. Here are some fine examples of…

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Its aim is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have…

Modelled on America’s “Liberty Bell”, the 10-ton “Bell of Freedom and Peace” featured on those stamps arrived at Schöneberg Town Hall (then in the Western Sector of Berlin) on October 21, 1950, having travelled from the United States via Bremerhaven and the…

Climate change, global warming and environmental Issues are, quite rightly, often in the news. I, for one, am more than pleased with the great focus on these subjects nowadays although there are many influential people and organisations that, despite scientific…

According to calculations made by an international team of scientists there are 307 million lakes in the world. That number includes all natural lakes, but not human-made lakes such as reservoirs formed by dams. Most lakes on earth are small,…

Coffee is second only to oil as the most-traded commodity in the world.   As mentioned in the previous article, Brazil is the largest coffee producer in the world. Coffee is also an important agricultural product for the economy of…

PostNL issues a ‘Life in the North Sea’ commemorative stamp sheetlet today. This contains illustrations of plants and animals found in the North Sea region, drawn by four scientific illustrators from the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden.

In 1968 the Falklands Islands issued the attractive definitive set of stamps shown below. They featured flowers native to the Islands. Then in 1971, as Great Britain was about to adopt a decimal currency system, the stamps were reissued overprinted…

In 2010 the Dutch stamp sheet entitled ‘Lang leve het bos!’was voted the best Netherlands stamp issue of the year. It features nature to be found in woodlands and was designed by Bart de Haas.

A mint, never-hinged stamp pair issued by South-West Africa in 1936. Below, five 1937 Edward VIII Coronation stamp pairs, South Africa. 2004 Football European Championship winners Greece commemorated by this set of four stamps. World Wildlife Fund stamps issued by…

Animals, architecture, sport, famous people, flowers, transport ……… Which topic/theme is most popular among stamp collectors?

The Aso National Park, on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu, was designated a national park in December, 1934. After extension in the year 1986, it was renamed Aso-Kuju National Park. The stamps above were issued in 1939, featuring park…

On July 14, 1956 the company Clípol was founded in Andorra, the tiny independent principality situated between France and Spain in the Pyrenees mountains. It’s known for its ski resorts and for its tax-haven status that encourages duty-free shopping. The…