StampWorld Nieuws - Het begint veel op Kerstmis te lijken

December 2016

Dear Member,

It is truly beginning to look a lot like Christmas, as we get closer to the holidays. For that reason, we are focusing on Christmas stamps, as we look at both the old and the new, along with some of the popular themes within the theme.

We hope you will enjoy it, and we wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

WHAT'S GOING ON?

Christmas is here!

Christmas is closing in, and in that occasion, we have decided to check out a wide range of Christmas themed stamps. We will be looking at everything from the very first, to the most recent.

Stamps are issued all year, but one of the most consistently used themes, is Christmas. Many postal authorities issue Christmas stamps sometime during Fall, so customers can send their Christmas cards with the right spirit.

Early Christmas stamps

The first actual Christmas stamp was issued December 6th, 1904 in Denmark, and was introduced by the Post Master Einar Holboell. The Christmas stamps were more expensive than regular stamps, and the thought was, that the public would be inclined to pay a little extra to a charity for their Christmas mail. All the proceeds from the sale of the Christmas stamps, went to a foundation, which helped children with problems.

The stamp depicts the sitting queen of Denmark at the time - Queen Louise, along with the Danish coat of arms and the royal crown.

The Danish stamp was not the first to feature Christmas on it though. In 1898, a Canadian stamp was issued with the text "XMAS 1898". This was originally meant to be a celebration of the inauguration of the Imperial Penny Postage rate.

The stamp shows a map, highlighting the British Empire, and carries a text at the bottom saying "We hold a vaster empire than has been", which is a reference to the wide ranging British Empire.

Modern Christmas Stamps

As with most things, a development has happened in stamp design during the more than 100 years since the first Christmas stamp. Looking at more recent issues, we see a few popular themes within the theme. This years issue from Norway, is designed around the elf as he is often seen in the North. The particular elf in question here could in fact be Santa Claus, as we see him riding a sleigh filled with presents.

Another popular Christmas theme is the Mother & Son, as seen here, from Monaco. It is a very popular theme, and is seen in many different forms from various postal services throughout the world.

Here we see Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus, after giving birth on Christmas Eve. Many stamps are issued around this theme, where some focus on the Mother and Son, while others look at the broader story, and include Josef, the Three Kings, and everything else we know from the stories.

Lastly, a favored theme revolves around the traditions we have around Christmas. It might be the decorations, the food, or the surroundings which we think of, when we think about Christmas. For instance we have this issue from Liechtenstein, where the traditions are shown on 4 different stamps, each made as traditional Christmas cards.

This particular stamp shows a town at Christmas time, when roofs were covered in snow, and the streets were filled with happy people, getting ready for Christmas, while children are playing in the snow.

As mentioned, Christmas is a popular theme, and because of that, a lot of stamps are issued. If you want to dive deeper into the theme, you can find more than 17,000 Christmas stamps here.

Nordfrim A/S - Stamps Worldwide

Nordfrim A/S is one of the leading philatelic companies in the world, and they truly live up to their saying - Stamps Worldwide. They are situated in Denmark, but have subsidiaries and sister companies in all corners of the world. This allows them to provide a world-class service, no matter where in the world the customer lives. Apart from the fast and reliable worldwide shipping they provide, they also carry content from all four corners of the world at all times. They always have more than 13,000 items in stock, and they update this regularly. So if you need something to keep you busy during the Christmas days, you should check them out.

Nordfrim updates their stock often, and their offers are worth checking out. We suggest that you check out Nordfrim's large online store, which can be done by clicking the button below.

In need of a Specialized Catalogue?

MICHEL catalogues are the gold standard, when it comes to paper catalogues, and have been around for a very long time. They have all kinds of specialized catalogues, but they are not only for hardcore philatelists. For instance, they have a youth catalogue, available for less than 10 Euros. It can be found here.

MICHEL Catalogues have been around for many years, and have built up a great reputation, when it comes to specialized catalogues. They are used as a clear point of reference for many European collectors, who have historically based their collections on the MICHEL numbering system.
MICHEL carry a wide range of specialized catalogues, both on country and thematic levels, and is recommended if you need to go deeper than what we can currently offer at Stampworld.

Status at Stampworld

Every day several thousand new items are added for sale on Stampworld, where we are already at more than 1.25 million stamps for sale. If you would like to know more about selling on Stampworld, you can find information about subscriptions here. You can also see some of the most frequent questions in the FAQ.

We do our best to serve you the content that we believe you would appreciate the most. The best way for us to do that, is by knowing your specific areas of interests in relation to stamp collection. When we know what countries you are primarily interested in and what themes you prefer, we can provide you with content, news and great offers that relate to these areas. If you wish to fill in your interests, you can do it right here, or by going to your profile at Stampworld.com.

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