‘Planet Earth’ collectors’ stamps issued

THE POSTAL Services issued two new series’ of commemorative stamps this week.

The stamps, released on Monday, are called Europa and Planet Earth and are viewed as collectors’ items.

The Europa series was launched in line with the European Association of Public Postal Operators initiative to issue stamps with a common theme at post offices all over Europe. This year’s theme is astronomy.

The Europa 2009 series consists of two stamps valued at €0.51 and €0.68 and a booklet containing a strip of eight stamps (four sets of stamps) valued at €4.76.

The postal Services printed 70,000 of each stamp, as well as 20,000 booklets.

The Planet Earth series consists of a sentenant stamp depicting a map of the world. The stamp is perforated in the middle with a picture of North and South America on the left and Europe and Asia on the right. Each stamp is worth €0.51.

The Services printed 40,000 sets (80,000 stamps). The stamps were printed as part of three year celebrations which were sparked after last year was proclaimed Planet Earth year.

In addition to the stamps, the postal services also issued 8,500 First Day Covers for each series. These are envelopes with the commemorative stamps already affixed with an official stamp and are popular with collectors, a postal official said yesterday.

Commemorative stamps are issued seven or eight times a year. Three series of commemorative stamps were already released on March 12 and two more are scheduled for release on June 1. Next month’s series are dedicated to the 13th Games of the Small States of Europe and the 50 anniversary of the Cyprus Philatelic Society.

The period of sale is one year unless previously sold out.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.