1997

Europe

Issue n° 42 - 1997

"Tales and legends"

Number of countries : 54
Debuting countries : Armenia, Ukraine
Returning countries : none
Withdrawing countries : none

Note : Gibraltar was the only country not to use the official logo that year.

Moldova used that year the official logo but with a different R letter. I already wrote about that in an earlier message.

more here in the Europa stamps History - Part IV

Eurovision Song Contest 1997
Dublin (Ireland)
Winner: Katrina & The Waves "Love Shine a Light" (United Kingdom)

my personal favorite that year: Jalisse "Fiumi di parole" (Italy)

1996

Europe

Issue n° 41 - 1996

"Famous European women"

Number of countries : 52
Debuting countries : Macedonia
Returning countries : Azores, Madeira
Withdrawing countries : none

Note : Gibraltar was the only country not to use the official logo that year.

Moldova used that year the official logo but with a different R letter. I already wrote about that in an earlier message.

more here in the Europa stamps History - Part IV

Eurovision Song Contest 1996
Oslo (Norway)
Winner: Eimear Quinn "The Voice" (Ireland)

my personal favorite that year: Marcel Palonder "Kým nás máš" (Slovakia)

1995

Europe

Issue n° 40 - 1995

"Peace and freedom"

Number of countries : 49
Debuting countries : Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia
Returning countries : none
Withdrawing countries : Azores, Madeira

Note : the Faroe Is. and Gibraltar didn't use the official logo that year.

Since that year most countries issue sets of maximum 2 stamps only. Some countries issue larger sets but with only two stamps bearing the Europa logo, it's still the case those years.

Moldova used that year the official logo but with a different R letter. I already wrote about that in an earlier message.

more here in the Europa stamps History - Part IV

Eurovision Song Contest 1995
Dublin (Ireland)
Winner: Secret Garden "Nocturne" (Norway)

my personal favorite that year: Aud Wilken "Fra Mols til Skagen" (Denmark)

Bogus stamps

Europe

New year, new Europa stamps but also new fake Europa stamps !

You can already buy on the internet non official Europa stamps from unrecognized countries as Abkhazia, South Ossetia or Transnistira.

In my opinion those labels are made by one single company and aren't even used in those republics. They are just made to mislead Europa stamps collectors


We can't even call those pieces of paper "stamps" as they are cinderellas or bogus stamps nothing more !

Be careful and don't spend your money unconsciously ! For example a imperforate stamps set of of South Ossetia is sold 40€ !! They aren't even worth the paper they are printed on !

Check on the internet or in official stamp catalogues (Michel for example) to know which stamps are official and which aren't or just ask !

This blog depicts only the Europa stamps you should collect ! ;o)

folder poll

Europe

Some weeks ago I've posted a poll on this blog which closed yesterday.

The question was:

if PostEurop produce each year a folder as the Sepac and Norden stamps folders, will you buy it ?

here are the results :

• YES 43%
• NO 39%
• I don't know 16%

43% of positive answers it's less than the half.

As 16% of of the answers are "I don't know", I guess many of you wait to see a product proposal of PostEurop before saying if yes they're going to buy it. In my opinion they want to produce a folder as the ones you can get with the Norden or Sepac issues (images can also be found on this blog) or the one produced by some countries for the International Polar Year stamps.

I will transmit these results to PostEurop and I'll keep you informed about their answer !

thanks to all who voted ! ;o)

Sweden 2011

Sweden

Date of Issue: 24th March 2011

two stamps (2x 12.- SEK) issued in rolls (stamps alternating)