Flowers, Bosnia and Herzegovina

First of all, Happy Easter to all of you folks celebrating it today! Here in Macedonia according to the Orthodox Calendar, we shall celebrate it at the end of the month... whether it is gonna be like last year in a total lockdown or not, we shall yet see...

On today's topic of Easter, flowers, spring (even though the weather outside is more like an autumn on its way to winter), I have chosen these two sets of stamps from Bosnia and Herzegovina, issued in 2012 and 2013, respectively. 

      

The 2012 issue (7th of June) is dedicated to the so-called spring flowers, the same flower represented in both the top and the bottom stamp in its column.

First is the Viola odorata, that is more commonly known as wood violet or sweet violet or garden violet (a small stamp-salute to our dear host of Sunday stamps 😉).  When I was a child we had plenty of pots in the garden with violets. I loved them! The colours were just so distinct, yet the petals felt so fragile.  

Next to it are two examples of Primula veris, better known as cowslip, followed by the Helleborus niger, that bears the names of winter rose or Christmas rose (even though it does not belong to the rose family). In Macedonian, we call this plant "kukurek" and it is often used in the context when someone is ill... usually we say that when you wake up in the morning, you will feel as 'kukurek' (meaning you will get better and healthy).  I never really thought about the etymology of the saying, until just now... There are some references to some old myths, but still not quite sure which one is to blame :)

The fourth column of stamps features the lovely Galanthus, or better known as snowdrop. We've been having these in our garden ever since I could remember, and they've always brought joy since they would be the first thing blooming during winter days, and were always like the herald of better days coming :) I just have the impression that each year they blossom earlier and earlier... or it might be just my impression...

The last in this set is the Crocus sativus, or much better known as saffron. I haven't used it in the cuisine yet, though I come across it in some recipes. Recently I spotted it in the supermarket and wanted to buy it and give it a try... but boy is this fella expensive 😀  And now I read it is considered to be the most valuable spice by weight...so it shall wait for some better days... till then my food can certainly survive without it 😊

       

The 2013, issued on 25th September,  set features the so-called nectariferous plants (producing nectar). Again there are two stamps dedicated to each of the flowers, though the order is a bit mixed up here :)

First is the "black locust" (also known as 'false acacia). second is the sage, whose tea I sometimes drink when I have dental issues - it has proven really effective. In the middle, that little yellow flower with the bee is the dandelion, of which we have plenty in the front part of our garden, and with the daffodils in the mix, it is really a beautiful sight! 

The fourth stamp features the 'common heather', while  the last one is dedicated to the linden, which is also kind of a symbol of my city, famous for the smell of linden overwhelming the streets in spring (not so fun for the ones with allergies tho').

So, if you haven't gotten tired of flowers and springy themes, head over to Sunday stamps for some more beauties :)

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Visit Bosnia and Herzegovina

Well, hello there! After missing last week's food theme (even though you are talking to a real foodie here), here I am back again this week with stamps featuring things made of wood...

Not an easy, but a challenging theme, for which I decided to present these two FDCs featuring EUROPA stamps from Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2012, when EUROPA's subject was "Visit..." and of course, places in the country shown that are worth visiting" 

There are plenty of reasons of why you should visit Bosnia and Herzegovina, so whether you are into nature or history or food or cityscapes, there is definitely something for everyone.

Do you have a favourite type of trip? I am up for anything, as long as it is a chance to travel, esp. to a place I've never been before...

I guess it was a tough choice of what to choose for these stamps... and I won't argue whether it was the right one or not, but I so much love the design of these, that they would be like enough to tickle my curiosity and make me wanna go and see it myself

The first FDC features the two single stamps, while the second one the miniature sheet.

While it may not be obvious at first, on the left stamp you can see probably the most prominent spot in the Old Town of Sarajevo, that is the Sebilj,  a pseudo-Ottoman-style wooden fountain (sebil) built first by Mehmed Pasha Kukavica in 1753. According to the sources, it had unfortunately burnt down in a fire in 1852, and years later was relocated at this spot according to a scheme of the Austrian-Hungarian Architect Alexnander Wittek, who worked in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.
'
And here is me in front of the Sebilj, on a rare occasion of empty stairs, so one can take a decent picture without a crowd of people around... and you can make a relation to the actual stamp above...

 

And while we are at it, the other stamp in the set shows the beautiful waterfall of Kravica, so I'll just use the opportunity to add an additional personal touch to this post, that is, of course, me with the waterfalls behind (my vanity is at a high level today 😇)

Too add more wooden items to the theme, you have the small wooden boat and the wooden wine barrel, as well as the wooden window frames...


If you are curious about some other things made of wood that are featured on stamps, pop over to Sunday Stamps 

Coffee

This warm day of March may fool you that spring has arrived, being it is 22 C right now, but the following days shall prove me wrong cos it's gonna be all cold and rain again... meh. I don't mind the rain as long as I don't have to go outside and do stuff....but since that's not the case, I can just say I'm really not looking forward to next week :P

Anyways, we are already in the third episode of the new A-Z Sunday Stamps season, and I almost went with cats, again, but then I told myself, Ana, just get out of that comfort zone and post something else... so I decided to go into another comfort zone of mine, and that is Coffee :D


I was actually surprised to see that there aren't that many coffee related stamps out there, and out of those not-that-many, seems like I only have these...didn't do a thorough check though..

First is an FDC issued by HP Mostar, one of the three postal entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

International Coffee Day was celebrated on October 1st 2015 in Milan  for the first time, and it was organized by the International Coffee Organization – ICO through emphasizing coffee's journey from the manufacturer to coffee lovers. Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) is a tropical plant whose colour and scent partially depend on the time used for baking its beans, and the quality of this drink depends on the manner of grinding the beans.
The two most popular sorts are: Coffea arabica (typica and bourbon) and Coffeacanephora (robusta). It comes from Ethiopia, from the Kaffa region by which it got its name. The legend says that the drink was discovered by a shepherd named Kaldi that noticed that his goats were more energetic after having nibbled on the red berries. After tasting the coffee berries for himself he concluded that they gave him additional energy, so he shared his discovery with the Coptic priests in a nearby monastery. Through them, coffee expanded to the Arabic peninsula where the process of preparation, serving and drinking coffee was developed. In Europe coffee appeared in 1570 when the Venetian traders transported it to Venice along with tobacco.

There were two stamps issued on this occasion on October 1st 2018, i.e last year.

The other set comes from Sweden, showcasing 4 different stamps of hot coffee, where, my guess is, the preparation of coffee in a coffee shop is presented, starting from the washing of cups, choosing your coffee and finally preparing it. Very cute.
These were issued on 29th March 2006.

Are you a coffee lover or do you prefer tea? I'm a coffee person myself, but not that I cannot live without it, just that I kinda don't want to - having a cup of coffee in the morning has more of a psychological effect on me than that it actually helps me wake up or whatever.

Btw, if you are ever (like me) not so sure what you are about to order, here are some simple guidelines :D

cheers to this magic liquid!

For the rest of the C-entires, take a look at here 

Hedgehogs

The first two words that crossed my mind for today were Horse and Halloween.Until while browsing through my stamps I came across the Hedgehogs. And I knew that this was it!
I love horses, but I am a real die-hard fan of hedgehogs, so there was no doubt what the choice would be between those two.


First is this FDC from Hungary, issued by Magyar Post on 9th April 2013.
Magyar Posta periodically presents the breeds and species of animal indigenous to Hungary and on this occasion the protected predatory and insectivorous mammals the stoat, pygmy shrew, European lynx and greater mouse-eared bat feature on the stamps in the series, the the northern white-breasted hedgehog is shown on the numbered stamp block.

Well, except in Hungary, the hedgehog is also widespread in Poland, Austria, the former Yugoslavia (as we will see below), Greece and the Adriatic Islands, including populations on Crete, Corfu and Rhodes. It is found eastwards through Russia and Ukraine, as far east as the Ob River in Siberia. There are no signs of a significant population decline, fortunately.

The second FDC comes from Bosnia and Herzegovina, issued on 17th April 2018, and presenting as well the White-breasted Hedgehog! I wonder if hedgehog stamps are kinda naturally issued in April for some reason :D

Every summer, there are hedgehogs passing through my backyard (though not that frequently this summer), and sometimes I have the chance to pet them. I wish I could squeeze them and hug them and all but they were just not meant to be for that :) But if I could keep a hedgehog as a pet, I definitely would! They are just beyond beyond adorable! ❤❤❤❤❤❤

Well, enough about hedgehogs. For more H-related posts, visit today's edition of Sunday Stamps... and have a great Sunday! 

The 100th Anniversary of the Titanic disaster

Letter T is very tempting for Trains lets say, but trying to be not so transparent and predictable, I will go with some Titanic stamps today, all issued in 2012, commemorating the 100th Anniversary of its sinking.

First is a cover from Canada, showing two of the four stamps that are part of the block showing the bow of the ship, as well as an international stamp, showing its side-view. These stamps were issued on 4th of April.

Even though many countries commemorated this anniversary on stamps, Canadians were among those personally involved with the world's most famous ocean disaster. In addition to a number of Canadians aboard, and the tireless efforts of the people of Halifax, it was a team of employees working at the Canadian Marconi company's wireless station on Cape Race, Newfoundland, who heard the early distress call.

Next we have the FDC issued by the BH post, on 29th of May.
No extra information regarding this stamp, but anyway, it is not like any extra info is necessary on this world-wide known tragedy.

then we have this FDC from Alderney, issued on 22 February, featuring 6 striking stamps. During its journey, Titanic had sailed past Alderney as well.
The story behind the six stamps is:

36p. - Leaving Southampton
47p. - Sailing past Alderney
48p. - The Grand Staircase
52p. - Orchestra plays the final rune
61p. - Captain Edward J. Smith
65p. - Lifeboats leave the ship

And just as it had caught me by surprise that I had never posted Titanic stamps before here, I was also surprised to see I have this FDC in my collection, issued by Macedonia Post on 17th April. The reason is cos I simply don't know why I would have bought this for myself, taking into account it is a bit pricey, and not as part of my collectibles. But I guess this was during the times I was just splurging on stamps (un)necessarily. Oh well :D

I have this gut feeling that I may be overlooking some other Titanic related FDCs or covers from my collection, but I guess these four will do for now.

For more T-related stamps, simply visit the Sunday Stamps blog.

It is an M day!

Good afternoon folks, it is a Sunday and a day for new post here at myphilatelicpassion.blogspot.ba. First of all want to say thx to Ana for letting me use her blog and (ab)use her faithful followers.

It is an M day and I would like to introduce you to my unusual stamps collecting topic. There are a lot of people collecting stamps on topics like birds, cats, dogs, art, religion, lighthouses, Olympics etc. You could try to guess and say I collect motors and would be still wrong.

They say stamps are like small ambassadors of their countries but there is one thing older and even more ambassador of one’s country.  As the song says Money, money, money must be funny and for me if money is on stamp it is double funny 😀

Collecting coins and banknotes often goes hand in a hand with collecting stamps and I have been collecting both for quite a while when I came upon idea of collecting this particular topic. Will give it a try display few items and who knows maybe someone finds it interesting enough to start collection of their own.

 

This is oldest stamp in my “Money on stamps” collection Cyprus ¾ Cypriot piastre stamp issued on February 1^st 1928. This stamp is lowest face value and part of set of 10 stamps. Usually I go for mint stamps but average sale value of this set is bit on a high side so for now I have to put up with this nice used example 😁

As mentioned stamp is a part of 10 stamps set issued to commemorate 50 years of British rule of Cyprus, recess printed on watermarked paper, perforation 12. It depicts silver Coin of Amathus. Amathus was one of ancient royal cities of Cyprus and coin has a head of roaring lion, which was city emblem, both sides (it was common practice for this type of coins)

Now something bit more modern and to pay my respects for blog owner 😉 

On April 26^th 2012 Macedonia issued stamp to commemorate 20 years of monetary independence. Stamp has a face value of 50 Macedonian denars and features 1 denar coin and an ancient Byzantine M type coin (picture is not sharp enough to try to attribute it properly and showing only avers so it will remain partial mystery).   

Macedonia declared its independence from Yugoslavia on 8 September 1991, shortly after, on 26th April 1992 the national bank was established and the denar was declared as official currency, few days after first issue of emergency banknotes was put into circulation (these were more like money coupons), in 1993 Macedonia issued first permanent banknotes.

We are all pretty aware of money importance in our daily life, and while it is true you can’t buy happiness but one can’t deny influence money has on every single person living in modern society. 

Changes in monetary system of any country are kind of very important events but forming of monetary union among multiple countries is epic event with tremendous impact on every country involved. 

Everyone would agree that forming European Monetary Union and common Euro currency was event of century. All countries involved recognized importance and many of them issued stamps commemorating Euro currency.

One of my favorite sets was definitive stamps set issued by Vatican in 2004 consisting of whooping 15 stamps. Each of stamps features one European Monetary Union country flag in background and Euro coin design from corresponding country.

Those stamps remind me of UN series issue that has been issued for a quite few years now, so called flags and coins series. It would be too much to display all of it here but just two pics to show off 😃

Even some non EU countries issued stamps featuring Euro currency, like my country (Bosnia and Herzegovina). 

Speaking of my country I decided to share two more issues also money related ofc.

First, there is this set of three definitive stamps issued in  2002 featuring coins of Bosnian medieval rulers king Tvrtko (0.20 face value), Stjepan Tomaš (0.30 face value) and Stjepan Tomašević (0.50 face value), Stjepan Tomašević was also last sovereign ruler of Bosnia before Otoman empire invaded and occupied country in 1463.

And for the end MS issued by Bosnia And Herzegovina but this time Croat Administration (yes, we have three different and independent postal administrations, each one with its own territory and stamps of each are valid for postage only at corresponding post offices)

MS consists of four stamps with two different designs (two stamps of each design), I personally like design of stamps and a fact they are embossed gives them some luxury appearance, and a price of 20 Bosnian marks for a MS is quite luxury if I can notice (equivalent of 10 euro)😒

Stamps feature ancient Daorson coins. Daorson was a capitol of Daorsi tribe. Daorsi were Hellenised  Illyrian tribe. They adopted Greek language and a lot of their culture. They were quite influential tribe in area of river Neretva valley, possessed their own money (as shown on stamps) and quite powerful navy for that period. They left lot of archeological traces throughout Neretva  valley.

So that was all for today, bet you are exhausted now and I’ll let you go and enjoy rest of this Sunday. Maybe I’ll write sometimes again if Ana finds this was up to her strict standards.

And not to forget for some more interesting M-posts, well you know the drill, click on the following link - Sunday Stamps
 
Sincarely,
 
Danijel