Philately fans will be able to view some rare stamps this weekend, after the 30th Asian International Stamp Exhibition opened at the Taipei World Trade Center yesterday.
The five-day event, jointly organized by Chunghwa Post and the Chinese Taipei Philatelic Federation, features 1,000 frames of stamp collections from 24 members of the Inter-Asia Philatelic Federation (FIAP). The frames include 10 philatelic rarities contributed by Chunghwa Post and 20 from the FIAP Grand Prix Club, with the remainder from local and foreign stamp collectors.
A salvaged cover from the ill-fated zeppelin LZ 129 Hindenburg is part of a FIAP Grand Prix collection on display.
Photo: CNA
Carrying 36 passengers, 61 crew and 17,609 pieces of mail, the world’s largest airship burst into flames while attempting to land in Lakehurst, New Jersey, on May 6, 1937, killing 36 people.
While the explosion destroyed most of the mail, 358 pieces damaged to varying degrees were saved and sent to the foreign section at the then-United States Post Office for delivery sealed in wrappers with official seals. The one on display in the exhibition is a salvaged cover with Dutch franking.
Chunghwa Post’s two-dollar “Provisional Neutrality” issue was another rare stamp collection on display. It was produced after the temporary government led by Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙) was established in Nanjing, China, in the early 1900s.
The newly established government asked the Directorate of General Posts in Beijing to overprint stamps of the Dragon, Jumping Carp and Flying Goose issues with the four Chinese characters for “Republic of China” as a way of showing the change in the political regime.
However, the directorate’s inspector general, a Frenchman named T. Piry, asked the Customs Statistical Department in Shanghai to overprint four Chinese characters on the stamps meaning “provisional neutrality” instead.
The sale of these stamps was banned and they were recalled under strong protest from the temporary government in Nanjing.
Nevertheless, the post office in Fuzhou published and sold the stamps at the end of 1912.
Aside from allowing the public to appreciate these rare stamp collections close up, the event also has competition exhibits.
Chinese Taipei Philatelic Federation chairman Chen Yu-an (陳友安) said the competition exhibits would be evaluated on their significance and rarity.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
A NT$39 receipt for two bottles of tea at a FamilyMart was among the NT$10 million (US $312,969) special prize winners in the January-February uniform invoice lottery. FamilyMart said that two NT$10 million-winning receipts were issued at its stores, as well as two NT$2 million grand prizes and three NT$200,000 first prizes. The two NT$10 million receipts were issued at stores in Pingtung County and Yilan County’s Dongshan Township (冬山). One winner spent just NT$39 on two bottles of tea, while another spent NT$80 on water, tea and coffee, the company said. Meanwhile, 7-Eleven reported three NT$10 million winners — in New Taipei
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
RSS