G-SRWZ79NMVZ

Polar Stamps 2018

New Issue - TAAF, “Exhibition GAMMA 8th November 2018

The souvenir sheet face value 2.20€ containing a round stamp of value 1.00€ was issued at the “Salon d’autumne à Paris, Port de Champerret”. 20,000 sheets were printed. The Exhibition, the first in Antarctica, took place at the Base Dumont D’Urville, Terre-Adélie from January 2017.

New Issue - British Antarctic Territory, “Centenary of the end of WW1 - Shackleton's  Men” 4th November 2018

The British Antarctic Territory and South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands marked the centenary of the end of WWI. The issue honours members of Ernest Shackleton’s 1914-16 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition who served in the war.

The stamps are in se-tenant (side-by-side) pairs with the stamp on the left depicting the man and the stamp on the right showing his military honors.

The 76p stamp features Alexander Macklin, the surgeon aboard the expedition’s ship Endurance and later a major in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He was awarded the Military Cross for bravery in tending the wounded.

The 80p pair recognizes Thomas Orde-Lees, who received the Air Force Cross for his pioneering work in parachuting.

The £1.22 stamp honours Joseph Stenhouse, who was awarded the DSC for his role in the sinking of a U-boat and the DSO for his command of a flotilla of boats on Russia’s Lake Onega.

Frank Worsley, the captain of Endurance, also was recognized for the sinking of a U-boat is featured on the £1.25 stamp.

New Issue - British Antarctic Territory, “Penguins and Chicks” 1st November 2018
Penguins are the most common birds in the Antarctic. Living in colonies with populations larger than some cities, and surviving in the harshest of conditions. There are 17 different species of penguin but only six reside in the Antarctic on a permanent basis. Of these six, two can claim the continent of Antarctica as their homeland – emperors and Adélies. Three others breed in the Antarctic Peninsula – chinstrap,
macaronis and gentoos. King penguins breed on the warmer more northerly subantarctic islands.

12 value issue 1p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, 66p, 76p, £1, £1.20, £2, £3.50, £5

New Issue - British Antarctic Territory, “Migratory Species 1st November 2018
Animals often require different habitats and environmental conditions for mating, breeding and feeding and so migrate between areas in order to find the resources they need. Some migration routes are relatively short, perhaps just between one side of a mountain range to another, but some species will travel for thousands of miles.

New Issue - British Antarctic Territory, “Landscapes1st November 2018
The vistas in Antarctica are some of the most stunning landscapes humans have set eyes on. The wild, dramatic skylines have been inspiring art, science and exploration for the last two hundred years and many parts still remain mysterious and untouched. The untamed natural environment and unique light quality create an almost dream-like impact that imprints itself on to the imagination.

New Issue - British Antarctic Territory, “Construction of the RSS Sir David Attenborough 1st November 2018
This stamp issue celebrates the construction of the Royal Research Ship Sir David Attenborough, the United Kingdom’s state-of-the-art polar research ship that will provide a new, modern platform for Antarctic and Arctic research.

New Issue - TAAF, “Subtropical Rockhopper Penguin of the Island of Saint Paul 26th October 2018

The stamps were issued at the “Salon Timbres Passion at Périgueux, Filature de I’Isle”. 40,000 pairs with central label were issued and there was an illustrated First Day Postmark at Martin De Viviès, Sain- Paul & Amsterdam.

New Issue - Australian Antarctic Territory, “RSV Aurora Australis 25th September 2018

This year marks the 30th year of service of Australia’s icebreaker RSV Aurora Australis. Launched in 1989, the distinctive bright orange vessel was built by P&O Polar, in Newcastle, New South Wales, specifically for the Australian Antarctic program. The 94.9-metre-long, 3,911-tonne ship provides the principal link between Australia and its one sub-Antarctic and three Antarctic research stations.

The stamps highlight various aspects of the ship and her surrounds.

New Issue - British Antarctic Territory, “Royal Wedding” 23rd July 2018
These issues are part of a complimentary suite of stamps presented by six of the British Overseas Territories and Bahamas -  including Ascension Island, Bahamas, Falkland Islands, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, Tristan da Cunha (all due for release in August), and British Virgin Islands.

New Issue - TAAF, “Penguin Panorama” 7th June 2018
The issue comprises three low value self-adhesive stamps (26 x 20 mm) printed in sheets of 50. The penguins shown are 0.10€, Rockhopper Penguin, 0.20€ King Penguin and 0.30€ Gentoo Penguin. The stamps were printed in sheets of 50 and 40,000 stamps were printed of each value.
The Souvenir Sheet (142 x 105 mm) includes 4 stamps of value 0.85€ each. The designs of the self-adhesive stamps are repeated and the fourth round stamp depicts an Emperor Penguin. 40,000 sheets were printed.
All the stamps were designed by Sylvie Patte and Tanguy Besset. There were 4 diff erent First Day cancellations for the issue.

New Issue - TAAF, “Symphonie australe” 20th April 2018
The souvenir sheet “Symphonie australe” was issued on the occasion of the fi rst performance of the work by the Symphony Orchestra of Brittany in Rennes on 20th April 2018. The work was created during a visit of the composer Julien Gauthier to the Island of Kerguelen from December 2015 to April 2016.

TAAFjpg

New Issue - Falkland Islands, Macaroni Penguins, Predators and Prey 18th April 2018

Penguins, Predators and Prey is a series of stamp issues depicting each of the familiar Falkland penguins, together with some of their respective predators and prey. This issue features the Macaroni Penguin.

Macaroni Peguinsjpg

New Issue - Australian Antarctic Territory, Crabeater Seal 27th March 2018
This stamp issue focuses on the Crabeater Seal (Lobodon carcinophaga). The Crabeater Seal is thought to be the most numerous of all seal species, with its population numbering in the millions. It has a circumpolar distribution and is largely restricted to the pack-ice zone, which fluctuates in area as the pack-ice expands and contracts around Antarctica with the seasons.
The four stamps, designed by Sonia Young of the Australia Post Design Studio, indicate some of the defining physical and behavioural attributes of the Crabeater Seal.
AAT Crab SealSjpg

New Issue - Italy, Italia Airship Expedition to the North Pole 23rd March 2018

Released to commemorate the departure of the Italia to the North Pole under General Umberto Nobile.

Italiajpg

New Issue - South Georgia, Fur Seals 15th March 2018

It is thought that nearly five million fur seals now live on South Georgia, which equates to 95% of the global population. In the summer months they are a common sight on beaches along the north coast and the air is filled with the sound of their calls.

Fur Sealsjpg

New Issue - Falkland Islands, Wrecks part two 2nd March 2018

This issue, the second in the Shipwrecks series, depicts some of those vessels which finished their days beached along the Falklands’ shorelines. They remain an integral part of the Islands’ history and a reminder of the salty men who sailed in them.

Wrecksjpg

 New Issue – Norway, Bouvet Island 16th February 2018

Bouvet Island,  the Norwegian volcanic island in the South Sea, is regarded as the most isolated island in the world.

The 50 square kilometer island is easy to see covered with ice. It was discovered in 1739 by the French explorer J.B.C. Bouvet de Lozier. The first Norwegian expedition led by Captain H. Horntvedt made a landing on the island on December 1, 1927, and annexed  it to Norway. By the Royal Decree of 23 January 1928 Bouvetøya came under Norwegian sovereignty, and in 1930 the island became a dependency.

Bouvetøya is the top of a basalt volcano that rises from the South Atlantic, in a part of the sea often referred to as the South Sea. The island measures about 9.5 kilometers from east to west and about seven kilometers from south to north. The last volcanic eruption on Bouvetøya occurred a long time ago, but in recent times, volcanic gases have been detected. Thousands of penguins nest on Bouvetøya in the summer. The island is a nature reserve in 1971. Bouvetøya is part of an international environmental monitoring network, and the Norwegian Polar Institute travels on expeditions there.

NK 1977-1978
Issue date: February 16, 2018
Values ​​and motifs: Kr 24,00: Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella)
                            Kr 38,00: Ring penguin (Pygoscelis antarcticus)
Design: Magnus Rakeng
Photo: © Norsk Polarinstitutt
Printing method: Offset
Printing: Joh. Enschedé Security Print

Bouvet ya 2jpgBouvet ya 1jpg