25 postcards from Swat Valley in Pakistan

I have received registered cover from Pakistan with 25 beautiful postcards from Swat Valley and one banknote. Swat Valley has a rich history that dates back over two thousand years. Swat is thought to be the probable birthplace of Vajrayana Buddhism. There are many archaeological sites in the district and Buddhist relics are common testimony to their skills as sculptors and architects. It is said that Swat was once filled with fourteen hundred imposing and beautiful stupas and monasteries, which housed as many as 6,000 gold images of the Buddhist pantheon for worship and education.

 

This rock carving is now damaged by Talibans, as you can see on picture bellow.

There were more than 400 Buddhist sites covering an area of 160 km in Swat Valley before the Taliban's rise to power, but these historical heritages are being systematically targeted by the Taliban and it is feared that their intolerance will not allow for the survival of any traces of Buddhism in Swat.

 I have also received one banknote. It's a one rupee banknote, printed in 1983.

A lot of stamps are used for this registered cover:
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, issued on 11.09.1994.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, issued on 14.08.1998.


Thank you Asim!

Glass stamp from Austria - Pietà and Cross

I got 3 nice stamps from Austria. One of them is first world stamp made of glass!

With this glass stamp Austrian Post is presenting a very special, exclusive stamp and once again showing a great deal of innovative spirit when it comes to stamp design – to date no stamp valid for franking has ever been made out of glass anywhere in the world. The glass stamp shows one of the famous “Sandlbilder”: a reverse glass painted Pietà from the Upper Austrian municipality of Sandl.

 There is a long tradition of reverse glass painting in Sandl. This is because there were many glass works in the nearby Bohemian forests, from which sheets of glass could be acquired easily and cheaply. Glass painting provided peasant families with a welcome additional source of income; during the winter the whole family worked together to produce the mostly religious designs step by step, each member of the family having his or her own particular task e.g. painting in the outlines or filling in the coloured areas. The traditional design of the Pietà dates back to the 14th century.

This stamp comes in a protective box. Glass is really thick, so you can't put this stamp in your stamp album. Print run is 140.000. Release date is 10.06.2016.

Other two stamps are:

Gentian stamp is embroidered commemorative product of the Austrian embroiderers Hämmerle & Vogel. The threads and the colour follow the natural shape of the Clusius gentian (gentiana clusii), discovered around 100 BC by King Gentius of Illyria. Release date is 19.09.2008.

And last stamp is Postcrossing, dedicated to biggest website for random postcard exchange. Release date is 21.05.2016.

Serbia: 75 Years Since the Establishment of the Republic of Užice

The Republic of Užice was a short-lived liberated Yugoslav territory and the first liberated territory in World War II Europe, organized as a military mini-state that existed in the autumn of 1941 in occupied Yugoslavia, more specifically the western part of the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia. The Republic was established by the Partisan resistance movement and its administrative center was in the town of Užice.

The government was made of "people's councils", and the Communists opened schools and published a newspaper, Borba ("Struggle"). They even managed to run a postal system and around 145 km of railway and operated an ammunition factory from the vaults beneath the bank in Užice.

In November 1941, in the First anti-Partisan offensive, the German troops occupied this territory again, while the majority of Partisan forces escaped towards Bosnia, Sandžak and Montenegro, re-grouping at Foča in Bosnia.

The 1974 Yugoslav partisan feature film The Republic of Užice covers the events surrounding the existence of the Republic of Užice. Stamp is realesed on 23.09.2016.

Cover from Italy with new Italian stamps

My friend Giuseppe has sent me again beautiful new Italian stamps!

Stamps:

National Women's Health & Fitness Day, issued on 22.04.2016.
Pandas - The 50th Anniversary of the WWF, issued on 22.04.2016.
The 70th Anniversary of Totocalcio - Italian Football Betting System, issued on 05.05.2016.
The 100th Anniversary of the Targa Florio Race, issued on 07.05.2016.
EUROPA Stamps - Think Green (whole set, 2 stamps), issued on 09.05.2016.
Red Coral of Alghero, issued on 14.05.2016.
The 150th Anniversary of The Military Corps of the Italian Red Cross, issued on 01.06.2016.
The 70th Anniversary of the Italian Republic, issued on 02.06.2016.
The 30th Anniversary of the Slow Food Italy Organization, issued on 22.04.2016.

And stamp on cover is Italian Artistic and Cultural Heritage - Luchino Visconti, 1906-1976, issued on 31.08.2016.


Thank you very much Giuseppe!

Cool cover from USA

I have received another cool cover from USA, with a lot of various things: stamps, postcards, stickers, pencils, helium balloon, etc.

This is complete set Pickup Trucks, issued on 15.07.2016. Trucks are: International Harvester D-2, 1938, Chevrolet, 1953, Ford F-1, 1948 and Ford F-100, 1965. They are all real American icons.

 This six stamps are from set of ten stamps Colorful Celebrations, issued on 03.06.2016.

Cool sticker :)

Even more cool balloon :D

 

  Nice combination: classic car and pin up girl.

And various cool stuff :)

Registered cover

Thank you very much Charlotte!

New Serbian stamp: 100th anniversary of the Battle of Kaymakchalan

Here is an new Serbian stamp, dedicated to famous Battle of Kaymakchalan in World War I. The Battle of Kaymakchalan was a battle that was fought between Serbian and Bulgarian troops on the Macedonian Front during World War I. The battle was fought between 12 and 30 September 1916, when the Serbian army managed to capture the peak of Prophet Ilia while pushing the Bulgarians towards the town of Mariovo, where the latter formed new defensive lines. Between 26 and 30 September, the peak changed hands several times until it was decisively captured by the Serbian army on the latter date.
 

The battle proved to be very costly for both sides. Serbian losses had reached around 10,000 killed and wounded by 23 September. The Bulgarian companies had been reduced to 90 men each and one regiment, the 11th Sliven Regiment, had 73 officers and 3,000 men hors de combat.

By strategic aspect, the battle was not a huge success for the Allies due to the upcoming winter that rendered further military engagements almost impossible.

Today, there is a small church on the peak of Prophet Ilia where the skulls of dead Serbian soldiers are stored. Release date for stamps and FDC is 12.09.2016.

Jordan: Treasury in Petra

This beautiful postcard of Treasury in Petra is my first from Jordan. The Treasury (Al Khazneh) is one of the most elaborate temples in the ancient Arab Nabatean Kingdom city of Petra. As with most of the other buildings in this ancient town, including the Monastery, this structure was carved out of a sandstone rock face. The treasury was built by the Arab Nabateans, coinciding with the time of the Hellenistic and Roman Empires and so has classical Greek-influenced architecture.

There is a 3 big nice stamps on this postcard:

Salt Traditional Clothes, issued on 16.07.2007.
Tourism - Aqaba, issued on 16.07.2007.
Fruits - Grapes, issued on 16.07.2007.


Thank you Abdulrahman!

Cover from Ukraine

I have received cover with beautiful stamps from Ukraine. First stamp is Frigate Hetman Sahaydachniy, issued on 02.07.2016. Hetman Sahaydachniy is a frigate of the Ukrainian Navy that was originally built as a patrol ship of Nerei / Menzhinskiy-class. Homeported at Odessa (since March 2014), she is the flagship of the Ukrainian Navy.

Other two stamps are from set National Minorities in Ukraine - Jews, issued on 27.08.2016.Jewish communities have existed in the territory of Ukraine from the time of Kievan Rus' (one of Kiev city gates was called Judaic) and developed many of the most distinctive modern Jewish theological and cultural traditions such as Hasidism. According to the World Jewish Congress, the Jewish community in Ukraine constitute the third biggest Jewish community in Europe and the fifth biggest in the world. Over a million Jews are killed in various occasions in Ukraine, but most of them during World War Two.


Thank You Roman!