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Post by outremer01 on Jun 10, 2021 9:55:53 GMT
Guernsey 10th June 2021 Postcrossing designed - Two Degrees North printed - bpost
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darkormex
Member
Swinging through Switzerland and getting tied up in Thailand
Posts: 2,145
What I collect: The World...just printing and mounting as I go...call me crazy!
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Post by darkormex on Jul 21, 2021 2:36:33 GMT
It has been a while since I received a Postcrossing postcard and it is not because I haven't been sending them out. It seems like slow arrival of international mail is still a thing. I know of a couple of stamp trades that I have going on with gentlemen in Nigeria and in India that are slow to arrive and both sent envelopes well more than a month ago. I should have received at least 3 postcards from other postcrossers by now so this is the first in a while. I have one postcard still on it's way to Russia and 3 expired postcards, one each to Belarus, PRC and India. I have my doubts that they will ever make to the intended recipients. Anyway, it is good to see this one from Germany, sent on July 5 from Duisberg. There is a large blue cancel with the Red Cross symbol where one of the cross bars is completed with the words, "kinder not hlife" which means Child Emergency Aid and there is a website address also noted in the cancel that brings you to a charitable organization. The postcard is an ocean view and is from a restaurant called Ocean Eleven in Laboe, Germany near Kiel. I can also add more on cover usages of the flower definitives with this cover as there are new and different ones on this card including Mi3431, Mi3432 and stamp from a series called Germany from Above, depicting a housing estate in Lubeck. This is Mi3584.
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darkormex
Member
Swinging through Switzerland and getting tied up in Thailand
Posts: 2,145
What I collect: The World...just printing and mounting as I go...call me crazy!
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Post by darkormex on Jul 25, 2021 15:35:13 GMT
Another postcrossing postcard arrived yesterday, this time from Mexico, which is the first time I have received a postcard from our southern neighbor. I think it also tells an interesting story that the postcard from Germany above, was mailed on July 8 and received on July 20 whereas this postcard, from a country bordering the US was mailed on June 12 and received on July 25. Why would it have taken this long? It is just hard to understand unless it has to do with covid. No stamp this time. Instead it looks like either a meter sticker or atm label. I could not find any identifying information on Colnect, Stampworld or Correos de Mexico, the Mexican postal authority. It turns out the sender, Adriana, is an Environmental Engineer working in the area of wind power and lives in Guadalajara. As much as I like the receipt of postcards from other countries and the stamps associated with them, I also like meeting the people behind the postcards.
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darkormex
Member
Swinging through Switzerland and getting tied up in Thailand
Posts: 2,145
What I collect: The World...just printing and mounting as I go...call me crazy!
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Post by darkormex on Jul 25, 2021 15:44:34 GMT
So here are some stats. I thought this was interesting after having received postcards from a couple of new countries (for me) this year. Russia and Germany are the top two countries by far, with China (PRC), Finland and Taiwan all in 2nd place with 6% of postcards. While not shown here, I have corresponded with 31 different countries since becoming a postcrossing member in 2013.
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darkormex
Member
Swinging through Switzerland and getting tied up in Thailand
Posts: 2,145
What I collect: The World...just printing and mounting as I go...call me crazy!
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Post by darkormex on Jul 28, 2021 23:07:06 GMT
I always prefer postcards that have been sent through the mail rather than enclosed in an envelope. I have started to realize, however, that when I do get an envelope with a postcard enclosed it usually contains extra goodies for me which I am always happy to receive. Below is an example: Starting from the outside, the cover is from Russia and was mailed on July 9! That is a speedy arrival given our current state of postal decline due to the pandemic. The postcrossers name is Ann, which is what she states on her message, but her profile states her name is Anna. The stamps this time are a 2005 joint issue depicting fauna with DPRK (that's North Korea for those unfamiliar with the acronym) and the Sc. no. is 6911a which makes me think it came in a mini-sheet. The other is a 2021 issue depicting blueberries which has the following no. on Colnect, RU2021-20b. It seems to be too new to have other catalog numbers. Moving inside, her message to me on a card which depicts a bundle of old letters has an additional stamp, uncancelled, depicting the 50p stamp from the Treasures of Russia, Jewels of Gokhran issue of 2020. Note also Ann's message. I thought it was interesting that she works for the Ministry of Emergency Situations. And then she was very kind in having included this nice CTO mini-sheet issued in 2005, Sc. no. 6924 depicting Earth-Light-Blue Planet. Finally, she used this sticky memo paper to act as a sort of protective layer over the mini-sheet. It looks like some sort of Chocolate Sundae or a Starbuck's Mocha Cookie Crumble. I imagine a pad of these on her desk at the Ministry of Emergency Situations!
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darkormex
Member
Swinging through Switzerland and getting tied up in Thailand
Posts: 2,145
What I collect: The World...just printing and mounting as I go...call me crazy!
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Post by darkormex on Aug 21, 2021 14:12:24 GMT
This postcard was received way back on August 11 and I have not been actively posting on social media because my job is sucking up my life right now. It arrived from Taiwan after 36 days and the sender used an ATM label rather than a stamp. Taiwan ATM labels are listed on Colnect up to 2019. While this label is not specifically listed, it looks as if there is an annual atm label issue for the Chinese New Year/Zodiac and with this year being the year of the Ox this is the 2021 label. The sender notes that she is a stamp collector and whenever I meet a fellow postcrosser and stamp collector I always ask if she/he is interested in swapping stamps, however, there was no reply to my offer after I thanked her for the postcard. The image side depicts a beetle encased in a ring and called Weevil Ring, Tetrabothynus regalis. I did some internet sleuthing and apparently this is a traveling exhibition which is currently on display in a Taiwan museum and the ring is 200 years old.
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darkormex
Member
Swinging through Switzerland and getting tied up in Thailand
Posts: 2,145
What I collect: The World...just printing and mounting as I go...call me crazy!
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Post by darkormex on Sept 3, 2021 1:19:52 GMT
Postcrossing cards are coming slowly to say the least. I still have one more sent than received, though, so I expect at least one more at some point. I really need to send more myself. The below card from Finland was sent from Oulu which is according to Sari, the sender, the largest city in northern Finland. I am sure it is a beautiful place. I almost hesitated to show this card to my spouse as I worried she might think I have a girlfriend in Finland! The stamps were both issued in 2017. The top stamp, on Colnect, is called Sound of Silence - Seasons of Finnish Nature and is Sc. no. 1536b. There also seems to be a priority label that seems to have been part of the sheet/booklet/coil of these stamps. Also from 2017 is the Arctic Birds stamps, Sc. 1538a.
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darkormex
Member
Swinging through Switzerland and getting tied up in Thailand
Posts: 2,145
What I collect: The World...just printing and mounting as I go...call me crazy!
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Post by darkormex on Sept 16, 2021 12:16:36 GMT
An attractive postcard from China (PRC) arrived in my mailbox the other day. The picture side shows a view of the Forbidden City and the message side has some really attractive stamps issued in 2016. The stamp series, called Fruits of China, includes 4 different fruits, 2 of the different designs are on this card, including 2 copies of the Watermelon, Sc. no. 4386 and one copy of the Litchi, Sc. no. 4387. The postmark reads Beijing, though I don't know enough Chinese characters to read the specific post office it was mailed from, and the date of the postmark is August 7...so it took a while to arrive in my mailbox.
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darkormex
Member
Swinging through Switzerland and getting tied up in Thailand
Posts: 2,145
What I collect: The World...just printing and mounting as I go...call me crazy!
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Post by darkormex on Oct 22, 2021 2:05:22 GMT
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darkormex
Member
Swinging through Switzerland and getting tied up in Thailand
Posts: 2,145
What I collect: The World...just printing and mounting as I go...call me crazy!
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Post by darkormex on Oct 22, 2021 11:37:16 GMT
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darkormex
Member
Swinging through Switzerland and getting tied up in Thailand
Posts: 2,145
What I collect: The World...just printing and mounting as I go...call me crazy!
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Post by darkormex on Oct 30, 2021 2:37:05 GMT
A postcrosser in Tatarstan mailed this card to me on October 15 and it appeared in my mailbox tonight when I got home from work. Her name is Dinara, she is Tatar, and she lives in a small town in the southeast of Tatarstan. The postmark has the town/city of Almetyevsk/Альметьевск as the origination point so perhaps that is where she lives or it is the nearest post office. The stamp celebrates the 250th birth anniversary of Adam Johann von Krusenstern with a large format 54r stamp that was issued in 2020. Colnect has a Sc. no. of 8211. I googled Krusenstern and it turns out he is a pretty interesting man. More can be found here in this short wikipedia bio: Adam Johann von Krusenstern
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darkormex
Member
Swinging through Switzerland and getting tied up in Thailand
Posts: 2,145
What I collect: The World...just printing and mounting as I go...call me crazy!
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Post by darkormex on Apr 17, 2022 15:17:41 GMT
Two evenings ago, I received a couple of postcrossing covers/postcards from fellow postcrossers in Germany and France. This first one, from Reinhold, in Germany is a postcard enclosed in an envelope. I like the town and city postcards from Europe and this one depicts the historic city of Lübeck. Reinhold also enclosed a selection of European stamps for me including France, Germany, Spain and other. The cover, however, with the large format commemorative stamp celebrating Heinrich Schliemann, is really attractive. Issued in 2022, the Michel no. is 3659 and includes a bar code as well as a portion of the selvedge. Schliemann famously discovered the, at that time, mythological city of Troy.
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darkormex
Member
Swinging through Switzerland and getting tied up in Thailand
Posts: 2,145
What I collect: The World...just printing and mounting as I go...call me crazy!
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Post by darkormex on Apr 17, 2022 15:38:55 GMT
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Post by carabop on Apr 24, 2022 3:31:47 GMT
Some very nice postcards. I think I will look into this. I will certainly tell my sister about this. Her and her grand children would love to get postcards in the mail. Getting the mail is one of my favorite things to do. I just love to see what is there. Just wish the bills had there on box to go in.
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darkormex
Member
Swinging through Switzerland and getting tied up in Thailand
Posts: 2,145
What I collect: The World...just printing and mounting as I go...call me crazy!
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Post by darkormex on May 13, 2022 11:35:49 GMT
Last week I received this postcard from Russia. I have blanked out the address of the sender as well as my address for privacy's sake. My biggest concern, however, is the sender. Is that an incorrectly drawn peace symbol at lower left? I wouldn't want the Russian authorities catching up with her if she is advocating for peace. The picture on the front of the card is the All-Russian Research Institute of Gardening according to Google translate. There are 3 different stamps from the 7th definitive issue of the Russian Federation on the card; two copies of the 1 ruble, Sc. no. 8044, one copy of the 6 ruble, Mi 6082 (no SN in Colnect yet apparently) and two copies of the 25 ruble denomination, Sc. no. 8052.
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Post by carabop on May 16, 2022 15:28:12 GMT
I hope you don't mind if I add my postcards to the thread also. My first post card. I think it is awesome. The picture is of a lynx with a matching stamp to mail the post card.
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Post by carabop on Jun 24, 2022 16:40:45 GMT
Another postcard with a matching stamp.
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Post by carabop on Jul 26, 2022 2:18:15 GMT
Postcards with matching stamps my favorite kind of postcard other than maxi cards.
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