Costumes ~ Ava Era

The second set of costume series is issued on 8 Dec 2021.  The set includes two stamps depicting man and woman in Ava era costumes.  

Technical Details of Stamps

Date of Issue : 8 Dec 2021
Printer : Security Printing Works (Myanmar)
Printing Process : Offset
Stamp Size and Format : 42 mm x 30 mm (Horizontal)
Color : 4
Perforation : 14
Denomination : K200
Sheet Composition :  50 Stamps per Sheet
Quantity : 300,000 pc per design
Stamp Designers :

Two official FDCs were produced.

<More photos of FDCs to be posted>

Costumes ~ Pyu Era

The first set of costume series is issued on 27 Sep 2021.  The set includes two stamps depicting man and woman in Pyu era costumes.  At Yangon GPO, Mandalay GPO and Naypyitaw CPO, the envelope with cachet are sold at 200 Kyats each.  In addition to the envelopes, the folding card with the design facts is also sold at 200 Kyats each.

Pyu Era Costume Stamps Design

Newspaper Appearance

Technical Details of Stamps

Date of Issue : 27 September 2021
Printer : Security Printing Works (Myanmar)
Printing Process : Offset
Stamp Size and Format : 30 mm x 42 mm (Horizontal)
Color : 4
Perforation : 14
Denomination : K200 two designs
Sheet Composition :  50 Stamps per Sheet
Quantity : 300,000 pc per design
Stamp Designers :

Two official FDCs were produced.

Maxicards

Maxicard set made by Ko Thein Tun Kyaw

Received in Damaged Condition Instructional Marking, 1978

Recent find on eBay attracts my eyes.  The cover is not in good condition, but the front shows some texts in rectangular box.  It is found on the inland ordinary letter sent from Toungoo on 26 Jun 1978 to Rangoon.  The marking and its translation is shown below.

 The envelope is displayed below.

Stamp depicting a Mural from Bagan

One stamp issued in 2011 is missing from my list of Burmanica stamps.  That is the Mozambique stamp featuring the religious arts of the world.  The set includes two souvenir sheets; one with 6 stamps and the other with a single stamp.  

Out of six stamps, one features Buddhist arts.  Face value is 16.00 MT.  Two souvenir sheets in this set are displayed below.

Naigamwala's letterheads printed on Air Letters

Mr N.K.D. Naigamwala used to print the letterheads for his personal usage or for his stamp business.  In this post, I want to record two such letterheads printed on air letters of Burma.  The type I is printed on the 1946 King George VI Air Letter sheet.  Together with this letterhead, he pre-printed the message for his stamp business.  At this time, he noted himself as Proprietor of Burma Stamp Agency.  It is displayed below.

 

Type I

The type II is found printed on 1950 Flying Hintha Air Letter sheet.  The message is not printed on this type.  He titled himself as Philatelist in this letterhead and he became the member of PTS London.  His stated mailing address on both types is P.O. Box No 400, 155, 40th Street (Top Floor), Rangoon, Burma. 

Type II

The stamp he designed and his photo are printed.  He also introduced himself in the letterhead as follows.  

"Mr. N.K.D. NAIGAMWALA [spelt as NAIGAMWALLA in second type], the Indian Parsee Pioneer of Organized Philately in Burma, and his design of the Eight Annas Postage Stamp, depicting a Burma Sailing Vessel on the Irrawaddy, for which he was awarded a prize in the 1938 Government of Burma Pictorial Stamps Design Competition and which has been deemed by members of the Royal Philatelic Society of London to be the best of the new Pictorial Series of stamps, practically all of which bear the impress of the appropriate suggestions made by Mr. Naigamwalla for imitating and improvement by other competitors with a view to producing the best possible stamps for Burma, the land of his adoption.  

Mr. Naigamwalla has written a book of English verse, entitled "Reflections at Random" and has fostered constitutional Professional Boxing in Burma by founding the Burma Boxing Board of Control."

Extract from "SWARNA BHOOMI", RANGOON, Issue October 1939.

PHILANIPPON 2021 37th Asian International Stamp Exhibition

PHILANIPPON 2021 was originally planned as FIP World Stamp Championship.  Due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation, the exhibition was changed to 37th Asian International Stamp Exhibition.  It was successfully held at Pacifico Yokohama Hall B/C from 25th Aug to 30th Aug 2021.  Total of 186 exhibits participated and 100 are literature exhibits.

I served as a Myanmar Commissioner for PHILANIPPON 2021.  For and on behalf of Myanmar Philatelic Society, the special prize was donated to PHILANIPPON.

Special Prize donated by Myanmar

 

My own exhibit was withdrawn due to some logistics issues.  Myanmar submitted one entry in literature class.  The book "Postage Stamps of Myanmar" by U Kyaw Myint Maung (Reggie) has scroed 78 points and won Large Silver medal award.  My congratulations to Reggie.

This book is the complete compilation or survey of Burma and Myanmar stamps. Every stamp has its own reason of issues and historical background on the topic matters. Based on author’s lifetime study and familiarity with all the many necessary sources, the most thorough and comprehensive book to date can now be published.

In this book, every stamp issues of Myanmar are discussed and illustrated in color, from the 1937 overprints to the Htamanè Festival stamp of 2019 February. For every stamp issues of Myanmar, the detail design study in terms of historical background and design elements are discussed. The motives that make the issue possible are also researched and discussed. Most importantly, the printing methods, printers, and other technical aspects are also studied in this book. The extremely complex BIA peacock overprints characterizations and Showa surcharges of the Occupation period are sensibly summarized.

As well as the philatelic details, much of the text is devoted to the historical context and subject matter of each issue, making the book accessible to the interested beginner, as well as a detailed reference.
A brief introduction provides a historical overview, and then eight colour coded sections cover each era of stamp issues, set by set. Each era shows depicts different administration, historical artifacts, and most interestingly political instability through the stamps. The era covered in this book are

• British Burma Era (1937-1947)
• Japanese Occupation Era (1942-1944)
• Parliament Democracy Era (1948-1961)
• Revolutionary Government Era (1962-1973)
• Burma Socialist Party Era (1974-1985)
• State Law and Order Restoration Council Era (1990-1997)
• State Peace and Development Council Era (1998-2010)
• Republic Myanmar (2010-2019)

Finally, there are some technical details, and useful tables and charts, covering aspects such as designs with flags, national titles, etc. This section includes the analytical study of stamp issues in different era, quantitative study of Myanmar stamps related to United Nations, Sports, Buddhism, Capital City, etc. It’s a measure of the regard with which the book has been received that a number of forewords are included by interested personalities, including U Htin Kyaw, ex-President of Myanmar.

U Khin Tun passed away

It is sad to learn that U Khin Thun, one of the Burmese well-known philatelist, passed away on 27 July 2021 at 7 PM in Meiktila.  U Khin Tun, we called him Par Par Gyi, is the patron of the Myanmar Philatelic Society.  When MPS was established, U Khin Tun was elected as the Vice President of the society.  We personally met several times at his flat, had lunch together and talk about stamps.  I am grateful for the literature of Burmese philately he shared with me, so I can started my study. 

Par Par Gyi contributed many research works and articles in Burma Peacock and Burma Fantail philatelic journals.  It is a great loss to Burmese Philatelic communities.My deepest condolences are with his family.  May his soul rest in peace.

U Wint Khine, Ko Toe, U Bo Bo, Late U Khin Tun, Late U Kyaw Han <from left to right>