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.
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