The Games of the XXX Olympiad started in London from July 27 to August 12, 2012. The English city has become the first to host the modern Olympic Games three times (1908, 1948 and 2012). After the Games the Olympic Park will be constructed and will become the largest urban park created in Europe for over 150 years.
London Olympics 2012
Shimla August 2012 Vol. V Issue # 56
Monthly e-Stamp Bulletin Edited by Jeevan Jyoti for free circulation among philatelists
Readers are requested to send reports of philatelic activities in their area for publication. Short write ups by the readers about their journals, societies, publications and philatelic requirements can be sent for inclusion in this bulletin to j.jyoti9@gmail.com or rainbowstamp2008@gmail.com and by post to –
Ms. Jeevan Jyoti, c / o Mr. Ajay Srivastav, Chief Conservator of Forests, GHNP & Pin Valley National Park, SHAMSHI, Kullu - 175126. (H.P.) India
Note- This bulletin is only for circulation among a limited group of philatelists without any commercial purpose. The bulletin will be sent to the readers only on request. Those who wish to receive it regularly please reply giving the name of your city / country with the subject SUBSCRIBE RAINBOW
Dear Reader,
This is a very special “London Olympics” Issue of Rainbow Stamp News for you…In this issue I have included most of the articles related to Olympics to celebrate this grand international sports event in a philatelic way and I am sure you would like this special issue of Rainbow. Please send your feedback… Due to shortage of space Beginner’s Section and Series of “Check List for the Stamps issued worldwide in 2011 related to the theme of ‘UNESCO - World Heritage” by Mr Pradip Mallik could not be included …It will be continued in forthcoming issues. So this is thrilling and a very exciting time for sports lovers all over the world….Enjoy this issue and have a Great Time !! Best wishes to all the participants of LONDON OLYMPICS….Let’s wait for New World and Olympic Records in this great Sports Event…..
More in Next Issue ….. Happy Collecting !!
-- Jeevan Jyoti
Contents
· Recent Indian Issues
· In The News
· Interview
· From the Desk of Naresh Agarwal
· Olympic Special
· Specialized Section
· New Issues from Other Countries
· Philatelic Clubs and Societies
· Blogs & Websites on Philately
· Literature on Indian Philately
· The Lighter Side
· New Philatelic Publications
· Editor’s Mail Box
· Current Philatelic Magazines – Newsletters
Recent Indian Issues
· 16 May 2012 Karpoor Chandra - Rs 5
· 17 May 2012 M.B. Kadadi – Rs 5
· 27 May 2012 800th Urs festival of Dargah Sharif Ajmer – Rs 20 & Rs 5 + MS
· 20 June 2012 Wall Paintings – Rs 5 & Rs 20 + Sheetlet
· 25 July 2012 London Olympics 2012 – 4 stamps + Miniature sheet
· 26 July 2012 0 years of Customs Act - 1962.
Recent Special Cover and Postmark
7 May 2012 – 100 years of St Thomas School, Shimla
7 May 2012 – 25 Years of Speed Post – Shimla
31 May 2012 - World No Tobacco Day – Srinagar ( J & K )
18 June 2012 – Special cover on Jainism on the occasion of 24 Jinalay Pratishtha Mahotsava, Jain Dadabadi, Agra.
27 July 2012 OLYMPHILEX INDIA 2012 London Olympics 2012 , Bangalore
28 July 2012 Biodiversity
View : Special Covers 2012 by India Post
In The News
Collecting the 1948 Olympics
The British Postal Museum & Archive website reports that Olympex 2012: Collecting the Olympic Games, "an exhibition telling the fascinating story of the past and present of the Olympic Games through the medium of postage stamps and related memorabilia." opened yesterday at the British Library.
Olympic Games
The Post Office could hardly refuse to issue stamps for the 1948 Olympic Games, as the precedent had been established by host nations in previous years. At first just two stamps were envisaged, 2½d and 3d, later extended to include the 6d and 1/-. An air letter using the design of the 6d stamp was also planned.
Consulting with the Council of Industrial Design, several artists, and the four main stamp printers, were approached. From the designs submitted the Council chose work by G. Knipe of Harrison & Sons, S. D. Scott of Waterlows, Edmund Dulac, Percy Metcalfe and Abram Games. Before these were shown to the King, the Postmaster General felt another option should be offered, and recommended a design by John Armstrong.
Copyright doubts were expressed over Knipe's design, as it showed two athletes taken from a photograph: it was therefore withdrawn.
The King approved the favoured designs, two by Armstrong in the event being presented as reserves. That by Scott was selected for the 6d as the design was suited for both photogravure (stamp) and letterpress (air letter).
The stamps were issued on 29 July 1948, and were additionally overprinted for use in Bahrain, Kuwait, Muscat, Morocco Agencies and Tangier.
Read More… : The British Postal Museum & Archive
London Olympics 2012…
Team GB Gold Medal Winners Souvenir Stamp Collection
Royal l Mail announces a Royal Mail first….. When Team GB win Gold we will immortalise their moment of victory with a Special Stamp. Every British gold medal win, whether by an individual or a team, will feature on a separate commemorative Miniature Sheet comprising six Special Stamps. Names, disciplines and sport details will appear in the border, together with the official Team GB logo.
Heroes of London Olympics on stamp…
Each Australian gold medalist at the London Games gets to be on an Australia Post stamp and receives A$20,000 ($20,900) for their image rights. They also get an upgrade when the team flies home."I think this was the thing I was most excited about it," the 20-year-old Campbell told a news conference in a fit of giggles on Sunday."It was the first thing that went through my head when we touched the wall, I'm going to be on a stamp and I get to fly back business class.
Alicia Coutts, Cate Campbell, Brittany Elmslie and Melanie Schlanger are the first Australian athletes to feature on the Australian Gold Medallist stamps for the London 2012 Olympic Games, after their gold-medal-winning performance in the women's 4 x 100m freestyle relay on Saturday 28 July.
In an inspired performance Coutts (53.90), Campbell (53.19), Elmslie (53.41) and Schlanger (52.65) set an Olympic record time of 3:33.15. They beat the 2008 gold medallists, the Netherlands, and the USA to earn them Australia's summer Olympic gold medal number 136.
Stamp of the Past
Stamp of The Past : Indian Heritage in Philately concluded…
A Stamp Exhibition on Indian Monuments, Museums, Paintings and other historical items on philately organized by Archeological Survey of India in collaboration with India Post at New Delhi concluded at Red Fort Delhi on 17th July 2012. . The Subject of the Exhibits included Indian Cultural Heritage, Monuments, Museums, Coins, Antiquities and other related stamp and material telling a story about India and its culture. This exhibition is a part of 150 years of ASI in India.
The participants, Ajay Mittal, Nidhi Mittal- New Delhi,Timir Shah – Vadodara, Pradeep Kr. Malik – Patna, Moloy Sarkar –Kolkata and Jeevan Jyoti were felicitated by Dr Gautam Sen Gupta DG ASI at a grand function held at the venue of the exhibition. However Mr Moloy Sarkar and Mr Pradeep Kr Malik could not attend this g function. This exhibition was very successful and attended by large number of philatelists and tourists from India and abroad as Red Fort is the landmark of Delhi and one of the greatest attractions for the tourists visiting India from different parts of the world . After the concluding function a magnificent Light and Sound show was conducted at Red Fort for visitors and participants.
Mr Ajay Mittal speaking at the closing function . He was given special honour at the show. Mr Mittal was the main co-coordinator with ASI to make this show grand and successful.
View : Photos of Closing Function of Stamp of the Past
More Pics at following links :
http://rainbowstampclub.blogspot.in/2012/05/club-news_28.html
India’s participation in the World Stamp Championship INDONESIA 2012
Exhibitor / Title of Exhibit / Total marks / Medal
JAIN, Pragya Kothari - “I am Bow and This is my story” – 80 - V
MOHANTY, Biraj Laxmi Mrs.- “Raptors of the world” – 61 - B
KAR, Aiswarya (Youth) - “United Nations” – 63 - B
SAHOO, Sahadeva “BAMRA (A Feudatory State of British India) Postal and Fiscal History” - 75 - LS
THAKKAR, Praful “Collectors’ Guide to First Day Covers and Folders of India 1947-1964” – 62 - B
WINNERS ANNOUNCED FOR BNAPS’ 2012 STAMP ESSAY CONTEST
The British North America Philatelic Society has announced the winners of its 2012 Youth Activity Contest. Youth were asked to write a short essay about a meaningful philatelic symbol of their country with the stamp(s) affixed to the report. Prizes were awarded to four age groups: 6-8, 9-11, 12-14 and 15-18.
First place winners in each category received $25. They were:
Nina Goyette, age 8, Greendale, WI USA– Abigail Adams
Olivia Keenan, age 10, Wauwatosa, WI USA– Boston Tea Party
Prarthita Jain, age 14, Balod Chattisgarh India– Rabindranath Tagore
Archita Nigam, age 15, Balod Chattisgarh India – Hawa Mahal
Prarthita Jain from Balod, Chattisgarh, India 1st Prize in 12 -14 Age Group
Student of Class 10th at present studying at APEEJAY SCHOOL, NOIDA
Hobbies- Collecting Odd Shape Stamps, Theme : Cartoons, Harry Potter Participated in state exhibition in CG and got Silver medal in Youth category. She is the daughter of noted philatelist, Dr Pradip Jain of Balod, Chhattisgarh .
Shikhar Deep – Kullu (HP) 3rd Prize in (15 – 18 Age group)
Student of Class 10th - La Montessori School; Kalehli – Kullu (HP) .
Exhibited one frame exhibits on Sports and Mahatma Gandhi..Collects coins, Plays Badminton & Football
Other winners are :
Chitturi Vamsi, Hyderabad, India,
Chinmay Anil Nawlakhe, Bhandara, India,
Claire Natiez, Taylors, SC, USA
Thomas Devine, Janesville, WI, USA
David Devine, Janesville, WI, USA
Sara Yahr, West bend, WI, USA
Heartiest Congratulations to all Children !!
The contest reflects BNAPS’ on-going commitment to encourage young collectors. The four winning essays can be viewed at Youth Activity Contest on BNAPS website.
Entrants also received a packet of stamps.
Youth were asked to find one or more stamps that are a meaningful symbol of their country. Examples include flags, monuments, and other objects of historical significance. The stamp(s) were to be affixed to the page along with an essay of less than 250 words. The written article should explain why the (flag, monument, historical item) is an important symbol for their country. The essays could be handwritten or typed, double space is preferred. The essay to be the original thoughts of the entrant.
Click here for the BNAPS 2012 Contest Winners
Click here for the BNAPS 2011 Contest Winners
“ Olymphilex 2012 – India ”
A special Philatelic exhibition to commemorate London Olympics 2012 “Olymphilex 2012 – India” is being held at the General Post Office from 27th July to 5 August, 2012. About 40 frames have been displayed by four Olympic Philatelists and a few sport philatelists, including the veteran T.N Prahalad Rao,
Special Cover
A special cover with a special cancellation approved by the CPMG Karnataka Circle was released on 27th July, the inaugural day of the summer Olympics.
View : Glimpses of the exhibition
Special Cover on Biodiversity
Ministry of Environment & Forests and Department of Science & Technology is running a train called Science Express Biodiversity special. The train arrived Berhampur today on 28th July will remain till 29th July 2012. To commemorate the occasion, the South Orissa Philatelists' Association, SOPHIA issued a special cover on 28th. The cover was released by The Post Master General, Berhampur Region .
The special cover issued on arrival of Science Express - Biodiversity Special at Berhampur (Odisha)on 28 July 2012. The covers are carried by SCBS to Vishakhapatanam and delivered there. The cover is priced at a nominal 100/-.
These covers can be had from Mr. PRAMOD KUMAR SARAF. Ph . 09437325200.
Exhibitions..
IPHLA 2012 - Specialized International Exhibition for Philatelic Literature
IPHLA 2012 : A specialised exhibition for Philatelic Literature is going to be held from 2 to 4 Nov.2012 in the town hall of Mainz (Germany). This exhibition will be held under the patronage of FEPA & AIJP but some non European countries are also invited by them and India is also one of them.
website : www.iphla.de
For any information please contact to Mr. Wolfgang Massen, Email: w.maassen@alip.org
THAILAND 2013
THAILAND 2013, International Philatelic exhibition will be held in Thailand from 2 to 14 August 2013 in Bangkok, under the patronage of FIP. The World Philatelic Exhibition will take place from 2 - 14 August 2013 at the Royal Paragon Hall 1-3, 5th floor, Siam Paragon, Bangkok. The event will feature not only some unique postage stamp collections, but also displays of other rare and valuable collectibles from around the world. A stamp contest and competition of OTOP products will also be held as part of the event, with an international panel of judges from member countries and representatives of countries submitting collections for display.
PCI has nominated Mr. R D Binani as Commissioner for India, his address :33-B Rowland Road, Kolkata 700 020 E mail : binanipm@gmail.com Mob:9830073058
IREX (Individual Regulation of Thailand 2013) : http://thailand2013.com/irex/
Entry Form : http://thailand2013.com/irex/entry-form/
News from Philatelic Clubs and Societies
Jamshedpur Philatelic Society
Monthly meeting of Jamshedpur Philatelic Society was held on 8th July 2012. New team was elected as:-
President:- Mr. Rahul De
Vice President : Syed Hafizuddin, Mr. K. K. Rikhi
Secretary: Ashok Kumar Tiwary (e-mail:ashoktiwary695@gmail.com) Asst. Secretary: Mr. Rajinder Singh Treasurer: Mr. S.R. Arun kumar
Gujarat Philatelists’ Association
New Working Committee of GPA for the year 2012-2015
Committee for the term 2012-2015
1. Mr. Praful Thakkar ( I.A.S. Retd) - President
2. Mr. Mainak Khathiara – President Emeritus 3. Mr. Vijay Navlakha – Vice President
4. Mr. Dharmesh Shah - Secretary General 5. Mr. Manish Shah – Joint Secretary 6. Ms. Mayurika Shah – Treasurer 7. Mr. Iliyas Patel – Editor & Advisor
Committee Members
1. Mr. Prakash Jambudi 2. Mr. Prashant Shah 3. Mr. Varad Dhakey 4. Mr. Rajan Vakharia 5. Mr. Jatin Trivedi 6. Mr. Prathmesh Patel
Stamp Expo at Chennai
Invites everyone to visit the STAMPS EXPO to be held on 11th and 12th of August, 2012 at centrally located Dharmaprakash Hall [non air-conditioned], 10 Raja Annamalai Road, Purasawalkam, Chennai 600084. This is a non-competitive Expo and will open from 10 am till 7 pm on both the days. We hope that this Expo fulfils the long felt need of the Stamp collectors who yearns for a regular Stamp Shows in and around Chennai.
The Stamps Expo will showcase the culture, history, heritage, flora & fauna thro postage stamps. The school children and general public will be treated with these colourful and educative stamps.
There will be limited number of 25 Stamp Dealer Stalls from all over India to cater to the ever growing needs of the stamp collectors. The Dealer Stall will be allotted on first come first allotment basis on payment of Rs. 4,000/- payable to South India Philatelists’ Association.
A Philatelic Auction will take place between 3 to 6 pm on Sunday 12th August 2012 at the
Venue. Philatelists who are interested to participate in the Auction for selling their items need to send the materials and their starting bid price at the latest by 2nd August 2012. The decision of the Auction Committee is final on all aspects of the Rules for Auction and is binding on all the participants.
For more details contact : Email : sipagold@gmail.com Web : www.sipa.org.in
Stamp exhibition on 'Gandhi ji & Freedom Fighters of India" in Lucknow
Lucknow Philatelic Society will organize a two day State Level Thematic Philatelic Exhibition on 'Gandhi ji & Freedom Fighters of India" on 2nd to 3rd October 2012.
For the first Time State level Competitive Thematic Philatelic Exhibition will be held from 2 - 3 October-2012 on "World Non Violence Day" the birth anniversary of "Rashtrapita Mahatma Gandhi" which will be known as "AHIMSAPEX-2012" organized by Lucknow Philatelic Society with cooperation of Chief Postmaster G.P.O.Lucknow-226001
For details contact - Secretary , Lucknow Philatelic Society Mobile:9335241891, 9839266243, 9452270133 email : lkophilsociety@gmail.com
Philatelic Events
Jul 27- Aug 5: Bangalore, “OLYMPHILEXINDIA 2012” Olympic and Sports Philately Exhibition
Organizers: Karnataka Philatelic Society
Venue: Philately Museum, Bangalore GPO
Timings: 10am to 4pm (excluding Sundays and Postal Holidays)
Dec 8-10: Dak Ticket Milaan 2012 (National Stamp Fair and Exhibition)
Organizers: Chhattisgarh Philatelic Association
Venue: Bilaspur
Timings:-9.30 AM to 6 PM
Contact: C R Andhare 09826644060, Atul Jain 09300311007, Naresh Agrawal 09425530514
Dec 14-17: New Delhi, Stamps of India National Exhibition 2012
Organizers: Bharatiya Daktikit Sangstha, Kolkata
Venue: Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan, Bhai Vir Singh Marg, Gole Market, New Delhi
Timings: 11am -6pm
Contact: Savita Jhingan 0 9718873273, sine@stampsofindia.com
Website: http://www.stampsofindia.com/sine2012.html
Interview
With diversified academic interests, he is a state awarded artist and a P.G.Diploma holder in Management Studies. Post Independence India with its sidelines and philatelic literature are his main philatelic interests. He has won a number of medals at State to International levels on his collections as well as on his philatelic literature mainly for his regular works on Year Book on Indian Philately a detailed assimilation of every year’s activities in philatelic scenario in India.
It is a great pleasure to present hereunder an interview conducted by Mr Naresh Agarwal with him. He provided his views on the contemporary philatelic issues of India today and suggested some ways out. All this makes an interesting and thought provoking reading.
Mr Madan Middha may be contacted at email : madan_middha@yahoo.co.in if the readers have any question about his thoughts on Contemporary Indian Philately."
1.When were you introduced to the beautiful world of philately? Tell us something about your philatelic interests? Also about your most cherishable achievements in this field.
As far I remember the year was 1967-68 when I saw a stamp album in my eldest brother’s books. He was studying at the BHU for his engineering degree at the time and came home for the summer vacations. That was a true teenage “Love at First Sight” story. My brother did not pursue the hobby further but I developed a genuine interest in the Hobby. After the customary hiccups and realizations, I concentrated on India & Neighboring countries, but soon was the realization that everything cannot be collected, so I focused on India and later on Post Independence India with a special interest in Postal Stationery and allied items. Philatelic Literature, reading and writing both, always attracted me and I never let an opportunity to pass, to do so.
I have a great deal of achievements through philately which I cherish the most; a large number of international level friends like you. I do not consider medals & certificates as achievements; I do philately for my own sake and satisfaction and not for medals and diplomas. Yes, they work as incentives but they are not the objectives. I have a large number of them won at various levels including Internationals, but do not have any structured record of them.
2.Your “Year Book of Indian Philately” started in 1997 has become a reference book for Indian philately over the years. Where do you find a place for this publication when all the information is already available on net? What more are you thinking to improve and popularize it?
The universe of Philately is so huge; everything which is sincere and focused finds its place in it. I am extremely optimistic about its place. No doubt, the Net is an information explosion, but that is its handicap too. We present the information in a structured manner. Permanency is another factor in our favour. Electronic information is liquid and unstable; it flows freely and can change at any point like in Wikipedia. To make it permanent, secure, safe & intact, you need to print it out - we do it at the first place. Handling ease is one more quality which favors us; you can take a book, anywhere & everywhere and can study / use is the ways you like. Moreover, I believe in the sanctity of the Printed Word.
In my opinion there is no way, other than more improved output every time, to popularize it ; I try to do so every time. The only thing which does not favor us is its frequency; it comes only once a year. I am thinking over this too, and hope to come forth with a delightful solution soon.
3.Philately is king of hobbies and hobby of kings? How far this statement is justified in today’s scenario? What you admire the most in philately, and what the least?
The quote is true even now and remains the same, only the contexts have changed. There is no doubt about Philately being the King of Hobbies. For the second part, earlier it was for the Kings at Heart, now it is for the Kings at the Pocket. We have transformed this humble hobby in to an investment avenue of the wealthy people. It has become necessary to discover ways and formats in which people with limited means are able to fit. One Frame Exhibits & Thematics are some of the ways to that.
Thematics is the branch I admire the most in philately, it expands the knowledge and suits everyone, from a new comer to a very advanced collector, from a collector with a small pocket to a collector who has not limit to fix. Every definition of philately is true only when you consider that in the context of thematic philately. You are not bound by any external condition when you do thematics. Thematic collections are never incomplete and side by side always have scope for further expansion and improvement. Thematics can be instrumental in attracting new collectors to the philatelic fold.
Fiscals & Maximaphily are the couple which I personally consider forcibly imposed of the face of philately. Fiscals are not a part of philately, not by any definition of the hobby, they are altogether a different class of collectibles, may be older, costlier and scarcer, but not a part of it. Some stamps which are used both the way, postally & fiscally, are no doubt an integral part of philately but not all fiscals. Moreover they have independent global organizations to promote this genre of collectibles, like American Revenue Association ; do they include postal stamps and other philatelic items in their exhibits with fiscals ? No & No ! Then why we are supposed to do so ?
Similarily they have introduced Maximaphily. A large proportion of the collectors still do not know about the real maximaphily and its composition. The maximum cards ( a great proportion of collectors still write them as Maxim Cards) were happy enough to be a part of general philately without any technicalities attached to them. God knows who suggested to make them a different class, standing all alone in that without any companion. They must be feeling too lonely in their class. Let us abolish the separate class and include them in the postal stationery or let them enjoy their life as a simple philatelic item.
These are my personal views and everybody is free to collect / not to collect them. But if a debate is set rolling by my comments, I would feel happy.
4. In the modern world, when the life styles have changed, priorities have changed, many new sports and hobbies, including virtual games, have emerged, children have become more conscious about their career; how can Philately survive? What are the affects of over-commercialization of the hobby?
We have to project the hobby as an aid to studies and a career development tool before the new generations, to flourish. One can pursue every other interest and hobby through philately. We can enjoy any game, can explore the planet and the universe, can sharpen our knowledge and can project every aspect of the life through philately. Philately has capability to be complimentary to everything. In fact we have failed to present the hobby before the society in an attractive manner; hence doubts and questions like this are surfacing in our minds.
As far the commercialization is concerned, it was always associated with philately. From the early days when philately started to be recognized as a hobby, to the present, commercial aspect is always embedded with it. New products, newer collectibles, attractive designs; promotional shows by the postal departments, issues of allied items, albums & catalogues are some evidences which reflect the commercial angle of the hobby. What is new, the activities and visibility of the commercial philately have increased manifold which I see as a symbol of an expanding market for the hobby. This, in turn, has increased the importance of “Philately - the Hobby” too.
On the unfair side, the difference between ‘Philately the Hobby’ and ‘Philately the Business’ has blurred. Hybrid philately has emerged where dealers are exhibitors and exhibitors have become dealers. Entry of the dealers in to exhibiting space has created an un-even playing pitch tilted heavily in favor of the dealers. This has discouraged the real philatelists greatly. Hobbyist can not match the reach and resources of a dealer and is left far behind in acquiring good quality materials at reasonable prices, leading him to frustration. Similarly the collectors have also started to corner material to create false scarcity and make money on a later day; turning themselves into disguised dealers & encroaching genuine dealers’ ground. This should be discouraged; dealers should act as dealers only with an aim to enrich the collectors with their expertise & quality materials and the collectors should remain collectors and leave the philatelic trade for the dealers to manage.
As an alternate, dealers may be confined to the invited / non-competitive exhibiting rather than competitive exhibiting.
5 . Of various electronic and printed philatelic bulletins/journals/magazines, being published in India, which one you find more comprehensive? What suggestions do you give for improvement in this direction?
Personally I see none of them at the satisfying levels; most of them are with blurred focus and surviving on content left-overs and repetitions. A particular news item can be seen in a number of journals, sometimes even with the same text wordings, language and illustrations. This is because of resource splits and summitry egos of the individuals publishing / producing them. No one wants to help others for a common cause, hence this degradation. I draw your attention towards a number of websites & blogs on the Net which are not updated for months and some for years even. This reflects the inability of the concerned to gather enough materials to publish; then why did they venture in to it, why did not they contribute to other running blogs / sites? Towering egos, the answer is!
Literature generation is a very tough task and requires great deal of inputs including finances, research work, recordings, reporting, sincerity & quality time, generally out of capacity for an individual. The only way for the improvement which I see, is pooling of resources with professionally capable editorial & management teams, which can be entrusted the task.
We do not need a hoard of publications; only FIVE editions of a centralized journal, one from each regions, North, South, East, West & Central, covering their regions for literary / activity inputs, will suffice. These should be available to everyone on subscription. Every one capable & willing to contribute in any way should do so to make these editions useful for all. In addition to this, specialized studies and other research works can also be published by the centralized core editorial team, if & when available.
6. India post has organized a good number of philatelic shows in the recent past to boost the philatelic activities and to promote philately in India. What do you think about them and what results such frequent shows have achieved? What do you suggest?
No, India Post did not organize these shows to promote philately. These were put together to exhaust the budget allocations meant for the promotion of philately, which otherwise should have been lapsed. The quality of the job & management of most of these shows are a clear cut evidence of this fact.
What is needed for genuine promotion of philately are only 4-5 sincere and professionally managed annual philatelic exhibitions in different parts of the country, by rotation, leading to a National every 2-3 years and an International every 4-5 years. For a vast country like India, an International exhibition every 5 years is not a big diet or deal. Specialized shows like One Frame Shows, Thematic Shows, Literature Competitions and Seminars etc can also be added to the schedule to promote special aspects of the hobby, simultaneously.
7. Why the Postal Department is so un-successful in promoting philately in India in spite of so much power, man-power & finances at their disposal? Why all their efforts are drained without any significant outcome?
In fact the department does all its philatelic activities in bureaucratic manner; they do it as a part of their official duty and not for the love of the hobby. They lack the tenderness to carry such a job. Somehow, if anyone of them grows love for the hobby and start working on the right track, he or she is transferred to other section in the name of official norms and so. Same is the case with finances; budgets are for spending, no matter how, and nobody bothers about any unmindful spending of the public money. These result in grave irregularities and shameful failures, in spite of big money and large man power.
India Post should establish an independent philatelic cadre among their work force to overcome this problem. This cadre should be capable, devoted, well trained, & periodically updated and all the philatelic work should be entrusted to it. In case of transfers and other official shifting, they should not be deployed out of the philatelic spectrum they are trained for. They should also be responsible for the optimum output from the budgets allocated to them for different promotional philatelic activities. Regular interactions between this cadre and the philatelists in the field should also be arranged to keep them abreast with the contemporary trends and happenings in the philatelic universe.
8. What about the private / non-governmental efforts to promote philately in India? How far do you think the seniors & private stakeholders are honest for, and have a genuine willingness for, the promotion of the hobby?
I am not appreciative towards the genuineness of promotional efforts of the non-governmental stakeholders of the hobby, be it philatelic organizations, the policy makers, stamps dealers community or senior & highly placed philatelists. To me, they all owe the decline of the hobby in India onto them. I cite two examples, first of the PCI matters ; can these not be settled amicably? Is this job difficult then reaching the moon, where Indians have been since the beginning of this matter? Just, people among us, who are capable of getting the job done, are not interested in getting the job done.
The second citation is from the Indipex 2011. Everyone knows that the Antiquity Act is posing great problems for Philately and sort of a protest march was also organized at the Indipex for this, plans were aired to approach the concerned authorities and act further; but what then? Have you heard anything about this since then? Same is the case of stillborn Philatelic Journalists Association which was planned at Indipex in a meeting of Reputed and High Profile International Editors from India. They did not bother even, to reply the letters to them for a detailed reportage on the matters, for the year book edition. This indicates the state of affairs. Whom to and why to blame, we ourselves are not serious on the real issues.
9.We have seen some good philatelic shows of All India Level in the recent past, organized by some private entities. What do you say about them & the future of private philatelic exhibitions?
Private philatelic shows of all India level are not new to Indian Philately. SIPA at Chennai & some Mumbai societies are pioneers for this. These shows are welcome. Some ways are needed to be devised to make them complimentary rather than competition. The department should encourage, assist, and help them to ease its own task. Similarly the organizers should also avoid the collision course for the real interest of philately, the Hobby.
I do not doubt the good intention, but the only thing which pains about these shows is the greater importance and highlighted activities of commercial philately. Sometimes these look like a large gathering of the stamp dealers. This impression should be corrected.
10. What are the basic reasons behind the decline of Philately as an entertaining hobby, as a mature pastime and an activity of repute in this part of the world?
Good question to ponder upon. We have failed to establish Philately as a mature activity and it is still considered as a hobby fit for the children only. We had and still have a large number of philatelists of international repute but they are not recognized in their social circles, outside philately, as persons with some commendable achievements. There are a number of valid reasons for this but I treat the “cocoon living” of the achievers, prime reason for this. It is unfortunate but true.
We can overcome this by enhancing the awareness of the people about Philately. Achievers should come out in the open with pride of being a matured stamp collector. We have to promote shows & exhibitions in a professional manner, highlight new issues with their thematic contents and contemporary connections, highlight philatelists’ achievements / accomplishments, write about the hobby and its benefits in the press and electronic media, frequently, for the people outside our universe.
A collective effort is also needed. Some kind of centralized news service, like “Philatelic News Service”, can be established to spread the word about the hobby on a regular basis in the press. News about the philatelists, their achievements and activities can be sent for publications in the press all over and frequently. Local media can be approached as an initial step for this. This is a job fit for the apex bodies for the hobbies, but when the doctor himself is severely ill, what can be done. Hence I suggest the re-creation of the Apex body for Philately in India.
11.Gwalior has a rich philatelic history. It has produced many philatelists. Kindly tell us about them? Who inspired you the most in your philatelic pursuits?
You are right; we have a rich philatelic history and had a good number of world fame philatelists like Sh G.M.Pujari and philatelic dealers like m/s R.M.Bhagwat & Sons. Why this is not so now is a debatable question. As a born Gwaliorite, I can see a lately developed, wide spread non-co-operative attitude of the cultural climate as one of the main reason to this. But then it is all over and singling out my city is not fair, I say. Tell me which place is enjoying the past glory, selfishness has prevailed everywhere?
Jal Cooper inspired me the most. He was a true gentleman, a great philatelist, an ethical & honest stamp dealer, a true guide and mentor, an unparalleled philatelic laureate, a visionary, a philosopher and a delight to talk with. We are groomed in philatelic world of the likes of Jal Cooper. Contemporary selfish atmosphere in philately hurts us at heart. Today nobody has time or willingness to guide or help juniors. They feel it downgrading to send replies for the letters from young stamp collectors. They do not wish to share their knowledge in a fear of their importance being decreased by doing so. Any question asked hurts them as a defamatory statement to their status. Then they do talk about diminishing interest of the younger generations towards the hobby. Less talking about them is less frustrating, hence nothing more on it.
12. With the introduction and wide usage of latest communication technology, how do you look at the future of philately in India and abroad?
You are correct when you refer to the affects of the latest communication technologies, they have reduced the physical communication drastically – but has any nation stopped issuing stamps / postal stationery so far? Agree, the use of stamps has also been reduced drastically for this reason, resulting in reduced supplies of genuinely used philatelic materials. This, in turn, has increased the importance and value of the philatelic materials, collections and of the hobby as a return package.
Further, modern technology has facilitated the mutual interaction between the philatelists the world over, expanding the horizon of the hobby from local to regional to national to Global, at the punch of a single key on the keyboard.
Technology has also added newer perspectives to the hobby ; Virtual Philately, Virtual Exhibitions, Electronic Bulletins, Philatelic Web-sites & Instant News Spread are some of the modern aspects, the technology has made possible ; making philately more exciting, more attractive, more acceptable.
13.You have been instrumental in publishing one philatelic journal named “Philatelic Dak” in Gwalior. Why was its publication stopped? Why the established publications stop being published, all of the sudden, at all?
Not only “Phiatelic Dawk” but I was associated with a number of Philatelic journals ; “Top Phil”, “Helper’s Bulletin”, “Bulletin of the Postal Stationery Club” & “Journal of Modern Indian Philately” to name a few more, besides contributing to some of the most reputed ones of their time, like “Philatelic Journal of India” & “Ind Dak”. There were a large number of philatelic bulletins / journals for the philatelists in the past. Every one of them has slipped in to the history for one reason or another; lack of support & shortage of literary / financial resources being foremost of them. One more thing which can be stated as a strong reason, is that all of them were individual based, carried on by an individual and not by a team. Once the individual is not available for any reasons what so ever, the work is off the track and then extinct. This prevails in the present situations too. We still see no “team” with any of the contemporary Indian philatelic publications. They are also leading to the ways of their earlier counterparts. Let us learn from the past & save ourselves for the future.
14. Recently we have seen a huge hike in frame charges and other incidentals for International exhibitions. This has created heavy burden and has discouraged a number of eligible participants. What do you suggest to overcome this?
Yes, it is a major setback for the advancement of philately. Organizers should discover ways to reduce the unnecessary expenditure and unproductive spending. Corporate sector should be roped in to help. Professional management teams are required to be involved in every aspect of the exhibitions to make them sleek, effective and thrifty. Alternate resources should be tapped. National bodies should upgrade and organize a reasonable number of National & Regional exhibitions to satisfy competitive instinct of the philatelists at home. All out efforts are needed to find the way out.
15. Philatelic societies in India emerge, stay for some time and then die. Only a few have successfully survived for longer period. This has caused a major setback to the development of philately. How do you look at it and what should be done for longer life and smooth functioning of the societies?
The same reasons my friend, resource split & personal egos. Everyone who is not able to get his plans passed at his organization’s meetings, feels wounded and breaks away with some of his followers to form a new society, only to repeat this process after a couple of years. Everyone who is at the helm of any such organization thinks that he carries the entire burden like “Sheshnag” carries the globe, and will carry it forever again like “Sheshnag”. They do not want to trouble fellow members and friends with responsibilities; they will let the organizations die but not trouble their beloved colleagues for sheer love of theirs. We are a blooming democracy and have every right to kill the things, which do not go our ways. This is why it happens.
Second thing which is very peculiar to the Indian organizations is the Anti-synergic effect which is just opposite to the defined synergic effect. Here every person who otherwise is a great doer and achiever starts acting as a dumb when he sits with equally efficient and otherwise successful people !!! We can understand it this way too, when ten people sit together, there are fifteen thoughts and twenty “NETAS” in the gathering on our soil. This is why it happens.
Societies which have survived longer periods have an individual or two, who are fully involved in philately for some reason or another, but they are also on the same lines as far their organizational ambitions go ; simply their juniors are not that fierce. These are mostly one, two or three men shows. No philatelic organization is professionally managed in India, like it is in the US or elsewhere. Independent Professional Management, which is separate from the Office Bearers of the organization, is needed for a virtual survival of any organization. Policy making and day-to-day working of the organization be separated for smooth functioning. It is possible.
16. It is felt that the PCI, the apex body of philatelists in India is not delivering properly. There have been voices to restructure it in better interests of the philatelists and philately. What do you suggest?
The PCI is not delivering at all. It is involved in a number of court cases and until they are settled, it just can not do anything significant. I decline to comment further on its functioning for the same reasons.
To overcome this stalemate I suggest the formation of a new apex body on corporate lines, which should have its regional chapters and local units, all affiliated with the central body under centralized, disciplined & strict administrative setup. Power should flow from bottom to the top. All local units should also be linked with a common communication vehicle, the journal of the federation, a must for every individual member to subscribe. Annual national convention should be mandatory with biannual elections for the executive. Day-to-day administrative setup should be independent and consist of paid executives from management cadres, loyal to the Federation’s aims and not to any individual. FIP affiliation can be sought for this federation, once the formation is in place. The federation should also have an independent, sufficiently staffed office unlike now, when it is run from here and there with the changes in the executive composition. It will be on lines of the international organizations like Rotary & Lions, which operate on global basis. I realize all this sounds too idealistic, but why effort for the less or incomplete. Let us start once, it will have its realization one day, for definite.
Once in the beginning I proposed for the postal ballot for the PCI elections, but was overpowered by the big guns for the reasons I still fail to understand ; I would love to see this materialized in the new federation to make it truly democratic. If appealed for, we can have a large number of practical & effective suggestions and assistance from the philatelists from all over for such a formation for the development of our beloved hobby.
17. Publishing the year book containing huge statistical data and information relating to philately in India is a laborious, time consuming and expensive work. Being a businessman, how do you manage this?
I do not do it by myself ; love for philately gets it done. I use my spare time, usually late nights, after my business hours, or on my weekly business holidays. Moreover Computers and Internet have made it greatly easy to get the work done. Typing, correcting, editing, communicating, approvals, re-writing, formatting and other editorial tasks have become really easy with the technologies. Keen philatelists from all over and the Internet are great source for literary inputs and finances are looked after by friends like advertisers and book buyers. Any shortcoming is made good of, by the grace of the almighty. Luckily my printer with his team is also very co-operative & helpful, takes a lot of burden of the task himself and bothers me the least. All it happens like this only. Let us hope, this goes on. Let us hope for the better even.
WHAT’s WRONG WITH INDIA POST STAMP ISSUE POLICY AND PROGRAMME
Philatelists collecting Indian stamps are always eager to know about the issuance of new stamps as they love to get the stamp and other related material to be issued on the first day like FDC, Cancellation etc..on the same day. India post gets whole credit to inculcate such interest amongst the philatelists who truly struggle for getting the stuffs they require. Otherwise also, India post deserves all appreciation for its deeds of the past as they had very clear cut stamp issue policy and very firm, well planned and stamp issue program declared well in advance which always gave appropriate opportunity to the true aspirants of Indian materials to get the material well on the same day.
But of late , it is seen that something has gone wrong with India Post as it has the most befuddled, unscheduled and non-uniform stamp issue policy and program. Voices of resentment are being heard from all corners of India regarding this. What’s the matter? What’s wrong with it? This needs to be considered seriously and rectified. Let’s look in to the matter and try to find out.
1. For last three- four years , it has been observed that India Post has never declared its stamp issue
program at appropriate / suitable time
2. It has failed to stick to its declared program rigorously.
3. Lots of stamps were issued after the declared date and also a few even well, before
4. A few stamps were withdrawn too.
5. First day cancellations were not provided at some places though stamps were made
Available.
6. It is said that there has been an imbalance among the stamps issued i.e. selection of issues and events has an imbalance. Even some events deserving importance have been found neglected / overlooked.
7. Philately is now an important wing of India Post which earns deptt. a good amount of money through issuance of stamps and other material. But philatelists for whom the wing exists and operates appears to have been neglected. They are not served well.
8. Number of stamps issued is not uniform and their denomination too has been found improper.
9. Non- availability of stamps or cancellations or covers at some of the bureaus on the date of issue lead to disappointment as it prohibits the aspirants to get commercial FDC which has philatelic value than a plane FDC with FD cancellation or commercial usage of stamp on its first day of release.
10.Functioning of the philatelic bureaus is not well. Leaving aside a few, rest of the bureaus seemed to have failed in their functioning and rendering services to the philatelists. The reasons may be lack of staff, lack of trained staff, lack of supply of material, lack of supply of material in time, shuffling of dealing staff, lack of maintenance of records, lack of training etc etc..But who is responsible???
Looking in to the above points, it is felt that India Post needs to be very serious about its stamp issue policy. And program which should be well thought off well in advance. Philatelic advisory committee does not seem to work to its potential giving appropriate advice at appropriate time.
It is understood that serious consideration is required before a stamp is finalized for its issuance as India is a democratic country but no philatelist says that there should be huge number of stamps but it should be sufficient with proper denomination, good quality, sufficient in number and above all whatever be the plan it should be declared well in advance as other countries do.
Regarding supplies, these should be made well in advance. Under all circumstances the material should reach counters and bureaus before the issuance date with cancellations and covers and should be available at counter or bureau on the date of release.
We still remember the update on Notice Board a few days before issuance of stamp outside the bureaus and counters and also outside GPO/HPO on the date of issue of a postage stamp to inform the stamp lovers. But where has that tradition gone.? Now even local news paper and electronic media are not informed which are available at door steps. This shows stamp issue program and issuance of stamp is given least importance.
This is really surprising that a wing which is meant for philatelists and to serve philatelists in all the ways and which earns a good lot of money to the India Post is so badly neglected. No this not fair. We see even India Post is silent on issuance of stamps on OLYMPIC GAMES when whole world is enthusiastic about it and most of the postal administrations of the world are commemorating this big event of global stature.
It is hoped that India Post will seriously look in to their drawbacks in this field and take necessary actions and make suitable changes so that better and satisfactory service could be provided to the philatelists.
- Naresh Agarwal - email : nareshkumar1992@yahoo.co.in
Olympics Special….
London 1908 & London 1948 Olympics
Games of IV Olympiad- 1908 London
- Dinesh Sharma
The Games of 4th Olympiad should have been held in Rome as P de Coubertin was very interested to see Rome hosting the Olympics because of its classical culture and his paternal origin. Rome was not financially ready for such a big event and in 1907 London was granted the rights to host the Olympics in 1908. In the Olympic Programme 104 events in 21 sports were included. For the first time only nations not individuals were allowed to participate and athletes of participating nations paraded behind their national flags during the opening ceremony.
Once again the Olympic Games were organized within the frame work of big Anglo-French exhibition. No philatelic souvenirs were issued. Two special postmarks issued for the exhibition may be used for 1908 Olympics.
Postcard with One of the two postmarks issued to commemorate the exhibition
Games of XIV Olympiad- 1948 London
The Olympic Games were revived after a gap of 12 years and London was granted the privilege of holding the Games of 14th Olympiad in 1948. There were many problems for Britishers to organize such big event due to the post World War II economic crisis. Another constraint was the reluctance of the Anglicans to agree to competitions on a day of rest.
The organizing Committee could resolve most of the problems and the Games were formally opened by King George VI on 29th July, 1948. These Games were not only well run but also devoid of any unpleasant incidents. USA won the highest number of medals and surprisingly no British athlete succeeded ascending the highest podium.
Cover with 4 stamps issued for London 1948 Olympics & Special postmark used during the Olympic Games
A set of 4 stamps was issued in commemoration of 1948 London Olympics. These 4 stamps were also used by British Agencies of Bahrain, Muscat, Dubai, and Tangiers by overprinting the appropriate names. A commemorative postmark was used at the Wembley post office throughout the duration of Olympic Games. A commemorative aerogramme with the 6d lilac stamp was also issued. This was the first ever aerogramme issued on Olympics.
A few other nations including Korea, Finland, Monaco, Peru, Poland etc. also issued stamps to commemorate the London Olympic Games. The Korean set of 2 stamps is quite rare as they were issued in small quantity of only 50,000 each.
Art Competitions
The Olympic arts competitions were held from 15th July to 14 August, 1948 at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The Austrian artist, Alfred Chmielowski, participated in the arts competitions with his Olympic stamp design showing the Olympic Flame in Cauldron.
The stamp designed by Chmielowski was issued on 16-1-1948 by Austria.
The design on Chmielowski’s stamp was reproduced once again on the First day of Issue postmark for 1948 Korean Olympic stamps on 1st June, 1948.
The stamp issued by San Marino shows the Emilio Greco’s bronze sculpture, in the 1948 Arts competitions he was awarded an honourable mention with Diploma.
Memories of Olympex 2008
There was no information about OLYMPHILEX – 2008 until mid-February, 2008. Through some sources I came to know that there will be an Olympic expo, which may include an Olympic Philately exhibition. One fine day, information came from Mr. Maurizio Tecardi that OLYMPEX instead of OLYMPHILEX will be held. Replying to keen philatelist, Mr. Jagannath Mani’s email, Mr. Tecardi advised him that a national commissioner for India needs to be appointed. Mr. Tecardi considered that I was still in Nauru. In March, when I informed him that I have returned to India, he sent me a confirmation by email that I had been appointed as the National commissioner. It was great honour as this appointment came from the International Olympic Committee
Exterior of the exhibition One of the several Exhibition Halls
The time was very short as the deadline for submitting the applications was just two weeks away. I contacted as many as Olympic philatelists possible by phone or email. I am thankful to Mr. Mani as he acted almost like representative of all the possible participants from Bangalore. I received more than ten applications most of them from Bangalore, out of which four or five had eligibility. While I contacted my old friend Mr. U.V Shenoi, I received sad news of his demise and I lost one philatelist who could have provided at least two exhibits excluding literature exhibits.
To get the entitlement of National Commissioner it was needed to have seven qualified exhibits excluding literature class exhibits. According to my observation, only six exhibits seemed to be qualifying. To cover the seventh exhibit, I asked my wife to prepare an exhibit in open class as she and I had material related to Olympics. When I received the confirmation about Indian participants, it confirmed ten exhibits including two exhibits of literature class. All the qualifying exhibits for OLYMPEX were from two cities – Lucknow and Bangalore.
National Commissioners of OLYMPEX - 2008
My work was tough as I wanted all the exhibitors to prepare their exhibits as best as possible. I was in touch with all of them by email and by mail regularly. Not only they were provided with advice and suggestions but certain philatelic materials were also arranged directly or indirectly. Again Mr. Mani worked as a bridge between me and the other exhibitors from Bangalore. He really helped me in coordinating with Mr. Prahalad Rao who at the age of 84 was very enthusiastic but needed assistance in communicating.
All the exhibits won the medals from Bronze to Vermeil. This was the best ever performance by Indian philatelists at International Exhibition of Olympic and Sports Philately at Olympics. Mr. Varun a participant in Junior class from Banglore went to China with his parents and had a nice experience of attending such a wonderful event.
With Varun and his parents at Beijing & with the Coordinator of OLYMPEX -2008
Let me share with you my once in a lifetime experience of attending such an extraordinary world class event. From I.G. airport, New Delhi, the Archery and Judo tams of India travelled with me in the same flight. They had few officials with few participants and none of them seemed to be interested in interacting with me or between the members of two teams, while there were a few teams from Ethiopia & other African countries and all of them were interacting well among themselves. Our athletes were posing as they will be winning gold medals only (none of them won any). One of the attendants of air crew surprised me by asking whether I am the boss for all the Indian athletes travelling. I humbly denied and informed my purpose of travelling.
Reaching Beijing airport I was amazed to see the new huge beautiful airport (In 1999 when I travelled to Beijing for UPU Congress, the airport was very small). As soon as I entered the airport I was picked up by the officials and all the required formalities were done so efficiently under VVIP treatment. Very soon I was out of the airport and I was transferred to big Black Audi Limousine, which drove me to the office of OLYMPEX – 2008. I received a warm welcome by the coordinator Ms. Lily and her team. I was requested to relax after handing over the exhibits to them. They prepared invoices of all the exhibits (I had never seen such an arrangement before), while I was served with Chinese tea. After one & half hour when the handing over work was finished, the same Limousine took me to the official hotel ‘China People’s Palace’.
Beijing was under the Olympic fever and the decoration and lighting was fabulous. On 8th August, 2008 the OLYMPEX -2008 was opened (the day of opening ceremony for Beijing Olympics). The exhibition was so huge and well organized. The Olympic museum section was wonderful and it was for the first time that such great size exhibition was organized. It was huge in all respect.
The postal services operated outside the exhibition hall in a temporary structure. Every day there used to be long well-disciplined queues (unlike India) of more than 500 meters and it was not possible to buy stamps and philatelic items without being in queue even for the national Commissioners and Jury members. Since Commissioners were allowed to enter before the opening time we could be among the first ones in the queue and had the only privilege to buy material without waiting much. A large variety of philatelic materials including stamps, postcards special books etc. were on sale. The stamps were sold out very first day and they were available in specially designed books only, which were quite expensive and bulky.
The result of Indian exhibits was outstanding in comparison to all previous exhibition held at Olympics. One Vermeil, 4 Silver and 5 Bronze medals were awarded to the Indian exhibits. I have attended several World and International exhibitions but the palmares of OLYMPEX -2008 was outstanding. As an exhibitor as well as a National Commissioner this exhibition stand out the best for me in many respect.
At Palmares - OLYMPEX –2008
Mr Dinesh Sharma may be contacted at email : olymp_sharma@rediffmail.com
Masterpieces from the Olympics
Megha Shenoy, July 9, 2012
The 2008 Olympic stamps of India
When one thinks of starting a hobby, the first items that come to mind are invariably stamps and coins. This is exactly what happened to Jagannath Mani when he was a young boy. A childhood friend once gifted him a stamp book, which was the perfect start to his collection. What really got him going, however, was a visit to a philatelic exhibition in 1997 — it triggered his passion for collecting solely Olympic-themed stamps from all over the world. With the help of his friends, family and mentors, Jagannath got deeply involved with his collection and today, he has managed to collect over 10,000 stamps, dated from 1886 to 2012.
Ask him why he zeroed in on Olympic-themed stamps, and he says, “I have always been keenly interested in sports, especially athletics. Though I couldn’t take it up as a career, I felt I could channelize this passion into collecting stamps that revolve around sports. An exhibition I had gone to in ‘97 really inspired me and I knew it would be difficult to start something like this — but definitely not impossible.”
His collection includes some of the very first stamps of the Olympic Games, dated 1886 and with a picture of ancient gods and goddesses, athletic training and ancient runes. Interestingly, there are only 12 of those stamps available in India and Jagannath has eight of them with him. “These are my most prized and some of my favourites as well. Someday, I do wish to complete the collection by getting all 12 of those stamps,” he gushes.
Read More… in Deccan Herald
They win medals without sweating !
The scintillating designs on the Olympic stamps are inspiration enough for philatelists to choose the Games as a theme. Here’s how their fervour grows faster, higher and stronger .
Athens, Paris, St Louis, Stockholm, Antwerp, Paris, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, Berlin, London, Helsinki, Melbourne, Rome, Tokyo, Mexico, Munich, Montreal, Moscow, Seoul, Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney, Beijing, London.
What do these cities have in common? The Olympics. Yes, these are the cities associated with the modern Olympic Games, which began in 1896.The world’s first adhesive postage stamp used in a public postal system — the Penny Black — was issued in Great Britain on May 6, 1840. Since then, many countries have issued postage stamps, featuring the ruling monarch.
However, some countries became imaginative and released postage stamps bearing themes.
The first thematic stamp was released by Canada in 1856, featuring a beaver, a popular animal in that country. Till the turn of the century, thematic stamps were far and few, and stamp collectors generally adopted collections of stamps issued by a particular country. Such collectors are called traditional philatelists.
The opportunity to collect thematic stamps came by way of a set of stamps on Columbus, the man who is believed to have discovered America. The stamps were released during the New York Fair in 1893. During the first modern Olympic Games, at Athens in 1896, 12 stamps were issued by the host country. These stamps are considered to be the first stamps on the theme of sport.
http://rainbowstampclub.blogspot.in/2012/07/olympic-philately-special.html
Specialized Section
"Philatelic Elelments That Could upgrade your exhibit ....."
Exhibit that reached the level of vermeil or gold award contains a broad range of philatelic elements (postal stationery, covers, cancellations, postmarks, meter stamps, booklets, etc.).One may add following less known elements also to upgrade his collection if available for their themes.
1. Postogram of Belgium
When telegrams lost the popularity in Belgium, with the public, they got abolished in 1984 and as a replacement the Post Office designed an illustrated post card: named “Postogram”, distributed for the first time on 1 April 1984.
Postogram
The intention of the Postogram is that the user fills in the date when the Postogram had to be delivered to the addressee on the front lower left side of the envelope. It was priced 50 BEF. and no postage on the envelope. The illustration cannot be sent without the envelope.
Postogram cannot be sent without this envelope.
Looking at its popularity, a new extra edition came out, the Youth Postogram introduced on 2 October 1989 .Motifs chosen were from popular comic strips including Disney and between-page dozens of preprinted texts for Happy Birthdays, Valentine Day etc. may be found.
Comic Strips including Disney can be found
Happy Birthdays, Valentine Day etc.pre-printed massages
2. Astrogram of Belgium
A type of Postogram devoted to Astrology signs: Aries, Gemini, Leo, Taurus, Cancer, Sagittarius, Virgo, Scorpio, Aquarius, Capricorn, and Pisces with 12 special between-pages for these signs called Astrogram.
Astrogram with pre-printed Zodiac details
3. Souvenir Leaf of Israel
The Israel Philatelic Service introduced a new Philatelic element ‘Souvenir Leafs’ in 1988 which gained popularity from its beginning and few became rarer too, especially those issued by the Defense Ministry being almost impossible to acquire.
Souvenir Leafs
They are divided into two categories; those that are produced and sold directly by the Israel Philatelic Services, generally in quantities ranging up to 50,000, and those commissioned by official bodies, and institutions in limited quantities ranging up to 1000 with few exceptions.
Few even released in small quantity of 1000 only
4. New Year Lottery Postal Card of China
China Post started issuing beautiful Pre-stamped New Year Greeting postcard in 1981 for the Year of 1982 but not lottery cards.
The First Postcard with lottery number issued in 1991and it was a set of 12 prepaid postal cards for the year 1992, ‘The Year of Monkey’. Imprinted 15 Fen stamps these cards were sold for 38 Fen with special cancellation in red colour, by hand, with city name.
‘The Year of Monkey’, Lottery Postal Card, 1992
It continued and for Year of “Rooster” (1993), postage was 15 Fen but sold for 50 Fen. Though the set of cards issued for the Yea of “OX”(1997) were imprinted with 15 Fen stamp but due to increase in domestic postage rate, each postcard were cancelled in blue by hands including information of sold price 1 Yuan and postage 40 Fen, instead 15 Fen.
15 Fen card sold for 50 Fen (Year of Rooster) and of (Year of Ox) sold for 1 Yuan
Till 1999, these postcards were issued by China Post & Telecommunications (PTT), but for the ‘Year of Dragon’ (2000), State of Postal Bureau issued this set of cards.
Year of Dragon card
One more change was reported in 2010-(Year of Tiger), this set of Lottery Greeting Cards was issued with CHINA POST logo. In all previous years issues indicum depicted Zodiac animals.
From 2010 cards were printed with CHINA POST Logo instead of Zodiac sign
The specialty of these cards is their thematic appeal. It is rare that you imagine a topic and do not find imprinted on such cards.
In recent years, a lot of personalized cards or local editions are also available which is distinguishable by absent of Nos., printed price and bar code appearing on National editions.
These Lottery cards give opportunity to win 5000 Yuan cash as 1st prize if luck favours.
5. PAP Stationery Envelope of France
In 1994, France introduced nationally, an entirely new type of postal stationery that complicates things tremendously both in terms of number of issues and lack of information about them. These are called "PAP = PRET-A-POSTER = Ready to Mail" (i.e. pre-stamped, post-paid) envelopes.
PAP Stationery Envelope
From 1996 they were also issued with locally-chosen added designs, and these can be bought only in the Post Office of the town of issue. It works much like meters: any town administration or tourist office can ask the Post Office to add their design to some prepaid covers, and can be purchased inside that post office in packets of 10 until they are sold out.
Locally chosen added design PAP
Usually these envelopes cost a few cents more than buying stamp + cover individually. Some are reprinted when they are sold out, and one can find different versions (same illustration but different stamp). French Post also announced that this PAP will replace the local pictorial postmarks .They are gaining popularity within Topical philatelist due to their variety in illustrated themes.
PAP may replace local pictorial postmarks
6. Meghdoot Card of India
Meghdoot, meaning the cloud-messenger is the title of a Sanskrit play written by Kalidasa a few millenniums earlier and also the name of an award given annually to postal employees for their meritorious services by India Post.
To make cheaper communication, India Post introduced a Post Card in the year 2002 priced 25 paisa that is half the cost of the regular post card, named Meghdoot Post Card.
Meghdoot Card 2002
To cover the actual postage, writing space available on the address side of the regular post card is made available for advertising in multicolor @ Rs.2 per card with a minimum order for print of 100,000 cards. It is printed by Security Printing Press at Hyderabad but its area of distribution is determined by the advertiser, as its design and copy. In addition to the post offices in the area of its distribution the Meghdoot card is also made available in limited quantity of 2000 cards at select 8 philatelic bureaus within India.
From 2003 its printing is decentralized enabling India Post’s 23 postal circles to directly place their order on the press.
Meghdoot Card 2003
7. Publibel of Belgium
These are Postal Cards with single or multicoloured advertisement (products or touristic), printed on the left hand side of the front. The advertisement is printed by the Belgium Agency of Post advertisement: "Publibel", exclusive concessionaire, on the cardboard sheets delivered by the Stamp workroom of Mechelen. Later the stamp and the head were printed in the workroom. At first the profit from the publicity was for the unemployed employees and later for the Social Service of the Postal Service. There are more than 3000 different publibels in existence which all have a specific advertisement.
Advertising Publibel
8. Echo Card of Japan
Also known as "Eko hagaki" is similar to “Publibel” of Belgium and “Meghdoot “cards of India. All three are Postal cards with imprinted advertisements. The only difference is that “Publibel” is sold at normal rate of potage and income from advertisements is used for social services whereas ,for “Mehdoot” and “Echo” cards it is used to sell them at subsidized rate.
Echo Card
9. Moving Card of Belgium
They are also known as Change of address cards, more recently ‘Muta postal cards’, introduced for the first time in 1937. When house number or street name changes taken place due to administrative alteration, they can be obtained at the Post Office, free of charge otherwise can be purchased on the printing tariff to inform such changes by other means.
These cards are pre-printed on the back and one can fill in his name, the old address and the new address to inform his correspondent.
Change of Address Card
10. Postal Savings Card of Japan
In Japan, Postal savings cards with their small fixed maximum amount and lots of pictures/slogans and the like were intended to encourage general public even to poorer to save. When the client wanted to cash the cards value, he did this at the counter of a local Post Office where the card was cancelled by circular date stamps and the amount duly paid. It all started in 1900 and with imprinted postage stamp in 1901. It was temporarily suspended after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1st September 1923.
The dependencies outside the Japanese mainland (Taiwan, Korea etc.) continued the usage of postal savings cards with stamps affixed though until at least the 1930s.
In 1941, the mentioned card 10s red normal postage stamps was issued in Japan, but the service again terminated by 7 September1943. The imprint was admitted as postage stamp on ordinary mails if cut out.
Postal Savings Card
The topical interest boarders of this card prove its importance in thematic collections.
Postal Savings Card depicting Roses
Dr Satyendra Kumar Agarwal may be contacted at email : rosephila@hotmail.com
New Issues from other countries
New stamps on London Olympis 2012
Australia
17 July 2012
Croatia
27 July 2012 London Olympics 2012
Latvia
14 July 2012
Sri Lanka
27 July 2012 London Olympics 2012
Tonga
NUMISMATIC & PHILATELIC AssociatioN of Vellore FORT -
http://numismaticphilavellore.site40.net/index.htm - This Numismatic & Philatelic Association is a non profit and non trade motive association that aims to promote the hobbies – Philately (Stamp Collection) and Numismatics (Coin Collection) among children, students, interested individuals among the general public and especially for the budding philatelists and numismatists.
How to Collect Stamps - http://www.howtocollectstamps.com/ The Complete Guide To Stamp Collecting
GANDHI Stamps & Philately Study Circle : http://gandhistampsclub.blogspot.in/ - A new Blog by Ketan Patel .…. Saving Gandhi Philately by trying to bring awareness and exposing illegal activities in Gandhi Stamps and Philately.
Europa Stamps : http://europa-stamps.blogspot.in/ : A blog on Europa, cept, norden & sepac stamps
Phla Mirror : http://philamirror.info/ : The Indian Philately Journal
Se- tenant Stamps of India - http://setenantsofindia.blogspot.com/ It is a specialized Blog on se-tenant stamps.
Flags & Stamps - http://flagstamps.blogspot.com/ - It is a specialized blog on Flag Theme .
Glimpses of Modern Indian Philately : http://modernindianphilately.blogspot.com/
Join Mobile Philately & Stay Updated - http://mobilephilately.blogspot.com/ Mobile Philately is a mobile technology based philatelic community with short messaging service (SMS) that allows the community members to get latest updates related to Indian philately directly into mobile message box.
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Stamps-Philately-1610/indexExp_69442.htm - It is a site based on Question & Answers on Philately. Mr Prashant Pandya replies to queries.
Literature on Indian Philately
View : List of Books 1
Philatelic Clubs & Societies
Baroda Philatelic Society - http://www.vadophil.org/
Deccan Philatelic Society – Pune, Maharashtra
Eastern India Philatelists’ Association - http://www.filacapsule.blogspot.com/
India Study Circle - http://www.indiastudycircle.org/
Indian Stamp Ghar - http://www.indianstampghar.com/
Indian Thematic Society, Ludhiana - http://indianthematicstamps.webs.com/
Ludhiana Philatelic Club
Mobile Philately - http://www.mobilephilately.webs.com/
Numismatic & Philatelic Association of Vellore Fort : http://numismaticphilavellore.site40.net/index.htm
Philatelic Society of Rajasthan, Jaipur
Rainbow Stamp Club - http://rainbowstampclub.blogspot.com/
Rajkot Philatelic Society – Rajkot, Gujarat
Gujarat Philatelic Association - Ahmedabad
South India Philatelists Association - http://www.sipa.org.in/
Stamps of India - http://www.stampsofindia.com/
The Army Philatelic Society, Pune
The Lighter Side
Stamp investment: The facts
The facts
In the midst of the economic downturn, investment- grade stamps continue to go from strength to strength
- The values of the finest rare stamps - the investment-grade specimens - have historically performed superbly: Up 9.5% pa in the past 50 years.
- The market has gathered pace in the past decade with more collectors and investors entering the market: The leading 30 Great Britain stamps are up 10.8% pa on average since 1998, according to the GB30 Rarities index.
- China is the fastest growing market: The world's fastest growing economy is producing vast numbers of high-net worth individuals keen to invest in stamps from their homeland. The China rare stamp index is up 51% pa since 2006.
- Stamps offer excellent portfolio diversification - vital in times of economic uncertainty: Stamps have a low correlation to stock markets, and indeed have comfortably outperformed the flat-lining FTSE and Dow Jones over the past decade.
- Stamps offer tax-free investing: Up to £10,100 a year in the UK,
- Stamps have better risk adjusted returns than more traditional investments: They comfortably beat the Dow Jones and gold, according to a recent comparison by Livemint.com - 50m serious collectors worldwide ensures volatility remains low.
Is stamp investment for you?
- It's a medium- to long-term investment but potentially an extremely lucrative one. We recommend a minimum hold of five years.
- The rare stamp market does not offer dividends or a yearly income. What it does offer you is the potential for significant capital appreciation when you decide to sell. It can play an important role in your overall investment strategy.
Philatelic Publications
E - Newsletter July 2012 Edition from Gujarat Philatelists' Association
Editor . Iliyas Patel Ph: 09925901585 e-mail: iap.patel@gmail.com
Current Philatelic Magazines – Newsletters
Stamp of India Collectors’ Companion - India’s first weekly e-newsletter edited by Madhukar and Savita Jhingan from Stamps of India, New Delhi. E-mail: mjhingan@yahoo.com Website: www.stampsofindia.com
India Post – Quarterly Journal of the India Study Circle publishes original articles submitted by members of ISC.
ITS Stamp News - Quarterly - Editor: Suraj Jaitly Publisher: Indian Thematic Society website - http://itsstampnews.blogspot.com/
Phila News, Editor Rajesh Pahariya and published by Philatelic Society of Rajasthan, Jaipur
VADOPHIL, Editor - Prashant Pandya and published by Baroda Philatelic Society, Vadodara. Website -http://www.vadophil.org/
e ZEP Newsletter http://www.ezep.de/zpj/zpj.html Editor : Dieter Leder email zpj@arcor.de website www.eZEP.de
SIPA Bulletin Editor - Mr G. Madan Mohan Das and published by South India Philatelists’ Association, Chennai website : http://www.sipa.org.in/
FILA Capsule – Editor : Ajit Dash and published by EIPA, Bhubaneshwar.
GPA News – Editor- Ilias Patel and published by Gujarat Philatelists’ Association, Ahemadabad.
Kar Phila News published by Karnataka Philatelic Society & edited by by Akshay Borad
e–mail : akshayborad@hotmail.com
RAINBOW STAMP CLUB
This is a blog of e-stamp Club www.rainbowstampclub.blogspot.com . The idea of this blog is to extend philatelic fraternity in all corners of the world. Readers may write about themselves with their collecting interests and share new ideas with other philatelists. New Post on recent issues, news on stamp activities and Contribution by members are published every day on this blog.
Readers may also express their views on any philatelic matter which will be published under Club News at Rainbow Stamp Cub Blog. Philatelic Clubs and Societies may also send brief write ups. News about new issues of India and abroad and other information related with Philately are regularly posted on this blog. Readers may send reports on new issues, special covers, cancellations & philatelic activities of their area for inclusion in this Blog. - Editor
Courtesy - News and Image Resource to this issue – Stamps of India, International Stamp News ; My Olympic Philately; Mansoor B.- Mangalore ; Jagammath Mani – Bangalore ; Stamp Collecting Roun Up.. ; Ashok Tiwary – Jamshedpur. Sahdeva Sahoo – Bhubaneshwar, Venkat Rao – Berhampur Orissa; Jatin Trivedi - Ahmedabad
All the images of this issue have not been included here. For detailed images related to this issue Please Visit: http://www.rainbowstampnews.blogspot.com/
Address for communication:
Jeevan Jyoti, c/o Mr. Ajay Srivastav , Chief Conservator of Forests
GHNP & Pin Valley National Park , SHAMSHI, Kullu -175126 (H.P.),India
E-mail – j.jyoti9@gmail.com or rainbowstamp2008@gmail.com
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A Request to Readers & Contributors-
Kindly specify your contribution such as article/News/ Reader’s Right / Beginners’ Section/ Lighter Side etc.
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…..Happy Collecting…………………………………………………………………
Rainbow Stamp News is edited and published monthly by Jeevan Jyoti, from Kullu (Himachal Pradesh) India.
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