BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA – Archaeological Treasure

Vitko’s stećak, a medieval tombstone, is the design on a single 1,10 stamp issued May 12 by Croatian Post Mostar in its Archaeological Treasures series. The postal service website states that it was “the most beautiful and richest stećak tombstone in the Barevište necropolis, located in the vicinity of Široki Brijeg (Mokro).” Since the 1960s it has stood in front of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo. HP Mostar postage stamps can be purchased here. 

CANADA – Endangered Whales

A souvenir sheet of five and a permanent domestic rate self-adhesive booklet of 10 was issued  May 20 featuring illustrations by David Miller of five species of whales assessed as endangered in Canadian waters. The mammals are shown “swimming past an unseen lens in their underwater environment” and include a blue whale, the world’s largest mammal; a beluga, well adapted for under ice swimming; a killer whale that lives in a familial pod; a northern bottlenose, of which an estimated 164 remain; and the North Atlantic right whale, one of the easiest to find and most profitable to hunters. The stamps are available from Canada Post here.

CANADA – Help for Ukraine

Canada Post customers who want to help provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine can purchase a booklet of 10 semipostal domestic rate self-adhesive stamps showing a yellow sunflower, the national flower of Ukraine, against a blue sky background. Yellow and blue are the colors of Ukraine’s flag. The Canada-Ukraine Foundation will receive a $1 donation from every semipostal booklet sold. A historic bond between Canada and Ukraine began in the 1890s with Ukrainian immigrants seeking a better life, expanding to some 4 percent of today’s Canadians being of Ukrainian descent. The booklet went on sale July 7 and is available from here.

GERMANY – Protection of the Environment

A €0.85 + €0.40 semipostal stamp from Germany was issued as part of a special environmental protection stamp series first launched in 1992. The projects funded from the stamps at home and abroad are intended to help raise ecological awareness, the postal service said. Issued in sheets of 10 on June 2, the stamps are suitable for domestic letters up to 20 grams and have an EAN code on all four edge pieces. Designed by Professor Ernst Jiinger and Lorli Jiinger, of Munich, the image features a map of Antarctica with latitude and longitude being overlooked by an emperor penguin. The stamps are available from here. 

GREAT BRITAIN – Unsung Heroes: Women of WW II 

Britain’s Royal Mail on May 5 issued a set of 10 stamps and a souvenir sheet commemorating Unsung Heroes: Women of World War II. The scenes on the stamps depict “women undertaking a range of roles in aid of the war effort.” Two horizontal strips of se-tenant First Class stamps featureduties such as protecting civilians, factory work and codebreaking. The stamps, souvenir sheet, presentation pack and other philatelic items are available online from here.

GREENLAND – SEPAC 2022: Local Beverages

The 12 member countries of the Small European Postal Administrations Corporations (SEPAC) issue an annual set of stamps with various themes. On May 31, Greenland released a 20.00 DKK with the local beverages theme. Created by Lisbeth Karline, the stamp features a bottle of drinking water from the Greenland ice sheet that is bottled and sold on the local and international market. The stamp is available as a single or in sheets of 10 from here.  

JERSEY – HM Queen Elizabeth II - Platinum Jubilee

Though only one of many stamps issued to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the single £10 stamp issued June 1 from Jersey in unique in that the four-color printing process includes “lithography plus special techniques, platinum suprametal, silver hot foil, spot gloss UV varnish and iridescent ink.” The 1952 portrait, taken by Dorothy Wilding, shows the queen in the year she ascended the throne. The stamps, available in sheets of four, are  supplied in glassine bags when ordered from here.

NETHERLANDS – Mail Trains

Post NL issued a souvenir sheet of five on May 16 featuring five trains on stamps to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the last postal train running in the Netherlands.The postal trains shown can be viewed at the Postal Train Expedition exhibition in the Spoorwegmuseum in Utrecht, where the exhibition provides an overview of postal transport by train from the mid-19th century to 1997. The trains shown (from left) are: stagecoach HIJSM 4, NS PEC 8502 (dent nose), postal carriage NS P 7920, NS mP 3031 and last stamp shows the Hbbkkss 043-5. Though the postal train was discontinued, a weekly trailer continues to run on the Coevorden-Oslo route. The souvenir sheet is available from here.

SWITZERLAND – 2022 Scouts Jamboree

The Swiss Guide and Scout Movement National Jamboree, known as BuLa, is only held an average of once every 14 years. Some 30,000 Scouts and Guides were expected to attend the two-week jamboree July 23 to August 6 and set up a gigantic campsite. A 1.10 CHF stamp was printed with a rub-off aroma smelling like a campfire and was the winner of a competition. The image shows “five young people sitting around a campfire – a place symbolizing a sense of togetherness.” The stamps were issued April 28 in sheets of 10 with a scouting theme border and can be purchased online from here.

SLOVENIA – Overlooked Occupations

Slovenia on May 27 issued five stamps recognizing Overlooked Occupations. The choice of subjects was to present occupations or groups of occupations that are frequently overlooked, Slovenia Post said. Occupations shown are those involving manual outdoor labor, the protection of life and health, delivery and personal drivers, music and performing arts and education. The stamps in five denominations and other products are available here.