A British Guiana one cent magenta stamp that sold for more than US$8 million is to be displayed at the Taipei Asia International Stamp Exhibition, which opens at the Taipei World Trade Center’s Hall 1 on Friday.
It is the first time that the world’s rarest stamp would be publicly exhibited in Asia, Chunghwa Post Co secretary-general Yang Su-chu (楊素珠) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
The stamp, which was sold in June 2021 for US$8.3 million to rare stamp dealer Stanley Gibbons Group PLC, is the only survivor of a small batch printed by the former British colony — now Guyana — in 1856.
Photo: Ting Yi, Taipei Times
“There was a shortage of stamps in British Guiana due to a delayed shipment of stamps from London,” Yang said.
The postmaster in the former British colony then authorized the publishers of a local newspaper, the Official Gazette, to print an emergency issue of stamps, Yang said.
The newspaper printed three different stamps for temporary use — the one cent magenta stamp, a four cent magenta stamp and a four cent blue stamp.
The one cent magenta stamp was intended for sending local newspapers, while the other two were for posting letters. All were supposed to be taken out of circulation once British stamps arrived.
The one cent stamp, which was printed in black on magenta paper, features a sailing ship and the colony’s motto Damus petimus que vicissim, which means “We give and expect in return.”
The exhibition is also to feature some other rarely seen stamp collections and postal items, including a Chinese envelope bearing Large Dragon stamps that were printed during the Qing Dynasty, which is the earliest known envelope bearing stamps printed by Chinese Imperial Post.
Only four envelopes bearing Large Dragon stamps were used in 1878, Chunghwa Post said.
The exhibition also includes an 1888 envelope bearing a Taiwan Commercial Postage Stamp, a 1890 government envelope franked with “Taiwan Stamps” and stamps issued by Chinese Imperial Post featuring a London print of coiling dragons, jumping carps and flying geese, the company said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS