Bagan stamp from Canouan island

I recently found out that Canouan issued one stamp with Bagan scenary in 2013.  It was issued as the souvenir sheet of 6 stamps featuring sites and scences of the world.  Canouan is a small island in the Caribbean archipelago nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.  The issue date is 7 July 2013 and the perforation is at 20.  It will be added to the list of Bagan stamp described at this post.

Single Stamp

Souvenir Sheet

The month of Tabaung

The third stamp of the festivals series is for the month of Tabaung and it was issued on 6 Mar. It is the 1st Waxing of Tabaung, first day of the month of Tobodwe.

The stamp for the month of Tabaung featured its seasonal flower Tharaphi [Calophyllum inophyllum] as depicted on stamp and sand pagodas (stupa) festival.  Sand stupa festival is held in Tabaung (March) which is the last month on traditional Burmese calendar.  Sand stupas are built by piling up the clean and white sand, shaped using bamboo frames, decorated with umbrella crown and paper banners to be look like with an actual stupa. 

Stamp design

Newspaper announcement

One unintentional mistake on this stamp design is the scientific name of the Tharaphi flower.  The actual name for Tharaphi is Calophyllum amoenum.  But it was mistakenly labeled as Calophyllum inophyllum which is actually Ponenyat flower.  For this reason, the flower's scientific name on the stamp for the month of Waso was replaced with its common name "Alexandrian laurel" which is noticeably not italicized.

Technical Details of Stamps

Date of Issue : 6 March 2019

Printer : Security Printing Works (Myanmar)

Printing Process : Offset

Stamp Size and Format : 84 mm x 30 mm (Horizontal)

Color : 4

Perforation : 14

Denomination : K200

Sheet Composition :  30 Stamps per Sheet
Quantity : 150,000 pcs each design
Stamp Designers : Wai Zin Paing (MPS)

Maxicard

 Grab your copies at my eBay store.

First Day Covers

Official FDC by Myanmar Post (cancelled at Mandalay)

FDC by Myanmar Philatelic Society (1000 Covers) [MPS-FDC-027]

U Mya Thaung

Pazundaung Post Office

Pazundaung PO is located at No 133, Upper Pazundaung Road, Pazundaung township.  It is grade 3 post office and its postal code is 11171.  Please click the link for the location on the map.  Some landmarks near to this post office are Pazundaung train station and Chantha plaza.

Pazundaung PO

I managed to get the new set of postmarks which were introduced in Oct 2018.

The month of Tabodwe

The second stamp of the festivals series is for the month of Tabodwe and it was issued on 5 Feb. It is the 1st Waxing of Tabodwe, first day of the month of Tobodwe.

The stamp for the month of Tabodwe featured its seasonal flower Pauk Pan [Butea monosperma] and htamane making festival.  Htamane making festival is held in Tobodwe (Jan-Feb).  Htamane is a seasonal festive delicacy of Myanmar which is a glutinous rice-based snack mixed with toasted sesame seeds, peanut, fried ginger, fried coconut shavings and ground nut oil.  Htamane making competitions are also held around the country.

Stamp design

Newspaper announcements

Technical Details of Stamps

Date of Issue : 5 February 2019

Printer : Security Printing Works (Myanmar)

Printing Process : Offset

Stamp Size and Format : 84 mm x 30 mm (Horizontal)

Color : 4

Perforation : 14

Denomination : K200

Sheet Composition :  30 Stamps per Sheet
Quantity : 150,000 pcs each design
Stamp Designers : Wai Zin Paing (MPS)

Maxicard

 Grab your copies at my eBay store.

First Day Covers

Official FDC by Myanmar Post cancelled at Mandalay

FDC produced by Myanmar Philatelic Society (1000 Covers) [MPS-FDC-026]

U Mya Thaung

The 1955 and 1960 globe and hintha type aerogrammes: some discoveries

1. A 1955 watermark error
 

The very first globe and hintha type aerogramme (RW-5) was issued in 1955. It was printed on the “IMPERIAL AIR MAIL” watermark paper produced by Wiggins Teape. In the production of paper, an English alphabet was inserted in the watermark to identify the year of production. Starting from 1948, the letter “A” was inserted in the watermark. At the beginning of every year, the letter was replaced with the new one while some letters are skipped. Burma’s 1955 globe and hintha type aerogramme is found printed on the paper with letters “A”, “B”, “I”, “K”, “L”.

Some copies of the “B” watermark are defective. The “B” instead becomes “5” due to missing lines. It is caused by a defect in the letter part of the dandy roll.

2. A 1960 watermark variety

In late 1960, the simulated perforation was added to the stamp imprint (RW-8). These are found printed on the paper with letters “M”, “O”, “P”, “V” and “Y”.  Watermark “P” has two versions. The normal height of the “IMPERIAL AIR MAIL” watermark with all letters is 48 mm, but some copies of watermark “P” are 55 mm in height.

3. Same design but different plate

After printing the sheets on type “P” watermark paper, the printing plates are recreated. The tablet and indicium are visibly different from previous types. The white folding line in the tablet is thinner compared to others. And level of fine details in the indicium is also more noticeable and some lines are longer in “V” and “Y” types. The differences are compared in the following figure:  

“V” and “Y” watermark papers were produced in 1964 and 1965. The earliest used copy of a “V” watermark aerogramme in my collection is 27 April 1966, commercially used to India. For the “Y” watermark aerogramme, I have an unsent copy, counter cancelled on 31 August 66. But the earliest commercial usage I have is 13 May 1967 to Honduras. The succeeding tractor and oxen aerogramme, “Y” watermarked, was issued on 2 Mar 1967. So we can say that these two varieties were probably issued in early 1966. 

Citation

Toe Kyaw Kyar, "The 1955 and 1960 globe and hintha type aerogrammes: some discoveries", The Burma Fantail, Vol. 16, No. 1, Whole Number 59, pp. 14-15, January 2019.