july issue # 422 - europa study unit · venir sheet of 1 stamp, and a sheetlet of 4 stamps in a...

JULY-AUGUST 2014 Issue # 422

Cooperation on the Moselle River

The Moselle Commission is a public

intergovernmental institution

based in Trier. Its legal basis is the

Convention on the Canalisation of

the Moselle (Moselle Convention),

signed in 1956 by Germany, France

and Luxembourg.

26 May 2014 marks the 50th anni-

versary of the opening of the Mo-

selle as a large-vessel waterway.

For this special occasion, the Mo-

selle Commission organized cele-

brations in June 2014 in the three

countries through which the Mo-

selle flows.

The Moselle Commission’s general

remit is to promote the interests of

shipping and ensure that it oper-

ates profitably. In 2013, more than

14 million tons of goods were regis-

tered at the Koblenz lock. — from Post Luxembourg

LUXEMBOURG 1v

Issue date 8 May 2014 50 years of large-vessel shipping on the Moselle River

WHAT'S IN THIS ISSUEARTICLES DEPARTMENTS

Cooperation on the Moselle River 1 Editor's Page...…..…...…………..… 19

EUROPA 1957 (cont'd) …………….. 14-17 New Issues: EUROPA 2014……….…. 4-7

Europafrique …………………………. 9-13 New Issues: sepac 2014…..……….. 3

Report from NTSS………………….. 18 New Issues: General……………….. 1-3,20

FEATURES New Issues: with Scott #s…..…. 8

mini-Auction #422 Insert

JULY-AUGUST 2014 422-2

ITALY 1v

SAN MARINO 1v

Joint Issue date 5 June 2014 75th anniversary of the Conven-

tion of Friendship and Good

Neighborhood between Italy and

San Marino

The design shows a porcupine and

two ivy branches, symbols of peace

and friendship. Porcupines will de-

fend themselves, but don't go into

wars of aggression.

POLAND 1v issued in ms of 9

Issue date 1 May 2014

10th anniversary of Poland's ac-

cession to the European Union

LITHUANIA 1v

Issue date 26 April 2014

10th anniversary of Lithuania’s

accession to the European Union

LITHUANIA 1v

Issue date 29 March 2014

10th anniversary of Lithuania’s

accession to NATO

PORTUGAL 2v issued as self-

adhesive strips called “franking la-

bels”; i.e., “framas” to which a spe-

cific value can be added.


European Parliamentary Elections

SPAIN 1v Scott #3949

Issue date 3 January 2014

60th anniversary of the European

Organization for Nuclear Research

(CERN)

CERN was founded in 1954 on the

initiative of 12 countries in Europe.

Headquartered in Geneva, Switzer-

land, CERN is the world's most im-

portant research centre into parti-

cle physics. Its laboratories and

facilities cover an area of 600 hec-

tares on the border between

France and Switzerland. The stamp

design shows the underground tun-

nel at CERN where the particle col-

lider is located. It is surrounded by

the flags of the member states and

the CERN logo. — Correos Espana

New Issues

v = value(s) ms= mini-sheet

MALTA 1v


10th anniversary of Malta’s acces-

sion to the European Union

Visit the website www.posteurop.org/europa2014 to vote. Votes will be accepted thru 31 August 2014.

LUXEMBOURG 1v issued as

sheets of 10 stamps w/selvage


European Parliamentary Elections

See last page for more information

r2

http://www.posteurop.org/europa2014

http://www.posteurop.org/europa2014


KAZAKHSTAN ss

Issue date 2013 History of Communication—

Regional Communications Cooper-

ation

ROMANIA ss

TURKEY ss

Issue date 10 October 2013 135th anniversary of diplomatic relationship and 100th anniversary of Carol I Mosque in Istanbul. Joint Issue

Pictures of the Mosque (outside and inside) and town of Istanbul.

ROMANIA ss (shown) + 2v

UKRAINE 2v with center label

Issue date 21 December 2013

UNESCO World Heritage

The Church of the Savior at

Berestovo, near Kiev (Ukraine),

The Church of the Sucevita Mon-

astery (Romania).

New Issues

v = value(s) ms= mini-sheet ss = souvenir sheet

LIECHTENSTEIN 1v from a set

of 3 Issue date 2 June 2014

Siberian Iris, which is also found in

central Europe and even Turkey.

JERSEY 1v from a set of 8

Issue date 30 June 2014

The set of 8 is part of a larger se-

ries featuring coastal photographs

depicting the seasons. The sepac

stamp is part of the “summer”

group.

MONACO 1v


The protea, or sugrabush, an exotic

plant that originated in the super-

continent of Gondwana and is now

native to South Africa. It is grown

worldwide for its beauty.

Sepac 2014 — Flowers BULGARIA 1v issued in ms of 6

Issue date 7 March 2014

135th anniversary of diplomatic

relations with Romania


ARMENIA 2v issued in mini-

sheets of 6 stamps each


The Pku, alternatively spelled pzuk,

is an Armenian musical instrument,

similar to a clarinet. It has been

called the national instrument of

Armenia.

The Zurna, like the duduk and Ka-

val, is a woodwind instrument used

to play Anatolian, Middle Eastern

and Central Asian folk music. See

also Turkish Cyprus .

New Issues

Europa 2014 — National Music Instruments


ITALY 2v self-adhesive


The Zampogna is an Italian double

chantered

pipe. Long

associated

with Christ-

mas, it is now

popular in folk

music festi-

vals.

The Launeddas (also called triple

clarinet or tri-

plepipe) is a

typical South-

ern Sardinian

woodwind in-

strument

made of three

pipes.

MONTENEGRO 1v issued in

ms of 8+label


The gusle is a

single-stringed

musical instru-

ment (and

musical style)

traditionally

used in the

Dinarides re-

gion of south-

eastern Eu-

rope. It is always accompanied by

singing, usually epic poetry.

Turkish CYPRUS 2v issued in

ms of 10 each and as a ss (shown)


Top stamp: The Tef (or Daf) is a

large Persian frame drum used in

popular and classical music. When

equipped with small cymbals it is

analogous to a large tambourine.

Bottom stamp: The zurna is a multi-

national outdoor wind instrument,

usually accompanied by a davul

(bass drum) in Anatolian folk music.

See also Armenia.

VATICAN 2v


The Biagi

organ in the

Basilica of St.

John Lateran

Pipe organ

at St. Peter’s

Basilica

French ANDORRA 1v


“La Buna”, or Catalonian bagpipe.


The Celtic (Irish) Harp, long

associated with the Gaelic

ruling class, requires great

skill to play.

New Issues



MALTA 2v


The stamps portray details from the oil painting of the renowned Italian artist Girolamo Gianni who was active in Malta in the latter part of the 19th century. The stamps portray bagpipe and drum musicians performing at Valletta's Porta Reale. — from Malta Post

IRELAND 2v issued in ms of 10 each


The bodhrán, is an Irish frame drum.

The crossbars are increasingly rare on

modern versions.

Correction to last

issue

SWEDEN ss of 2v


Both stamps feature a

Nyckelharpa, a tradi-

tional and recently popu-

lar stringed instrument

with keys.

GREECE 2v


The Cretan lyra is considered the most popular surviving form of the me-dieval Byzantine lyra, an ancestor of most European bowed instruments.

PORTUGAL — AZORES — MADEIRA

For each country: ss of 2v, plus a single stamp of the leftmost stamp in the sheet; Issue date 9 May 2014


ESTONIA 2v


Väike kannel, a small harp

Lõõtspill, or small accordian

LITHUANIA 2v


Ožragis, a Lithuanian folk musi-cal instrument from a goat's horn with holes and a wooden mouthpiece Skrabalai is a Lithuanian folk tuned percussion instrument consisting of wooden bells, played with wooden sticks.

Birbynė, an aerophone that can be either single or double-reeded and may or may not have a mouthpiece Kanklės is a Lithuanian plucked string musical instrument (chordophone), of the zither family.

Armenian post

of Nagorno-

KARABAKH

2v Issue date June 2014

New Issues



TURKEY 2v


Kabak (Pumpkin) kemane, a widely used stringed folk in-strument

Ud (or Oud), a Turkish lute, readily distinguished from a traditional lute by its lack of frets and smaller neck. As with the lute, it is considered an an-cestor of the guitar.

MACEDONIA 6v + ss

issued as two sin-

gle stamps, a sou-

venir sheet of 1

stamp, and a

sheetlet of 4

stamps in a block,

issued as a book-

let pane

Issue date 4 June

2014

On 2 June, Estonia’s postal ad-

ministration changed its interna-

tional name to Omniva. The

name Eesti Post will be retained

for post offices and mail delivery.


New Issues



BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA (Serb

Post) 2v issued in ms of 8 each + label.

Issue date 25 April 2014 Also in booklets of 3 sets arranged se-tenant; the perforations and stamp size are different than the regular stamps (see illustration)

UKRAINE 2v


The Kobza is a Ukrainian folk music instru-ment of the lute family, a relative of the Central Euro-pean mandora.

Kozak-Mamai, the most popu-lar figure in Ukrainian folk painting of the 17th–20th cen-turies, playing a bandura.

KOSOVO 2v + ss


Kosovo is not a mem-ber of PostEurop or the UPU, and the stamps do not have the EUROPA logo, but album makers have been including them.

POLAND 1v


The stamp design is a detail from a fascinating musical instrument depicted

more fully on the official fdc shown below


NEW ISSUES WITH SCOTT CATALOG NUMBERS - Don Smith

From Linn’s May & June Special Editions

* = position in proposed new HB outline (ref. EN# 404-12)

COUNTRY SCOTT # DATE OF ISSUE DESCRIPTION *

Ascension 1110-3 28-Apr-14 Napoleon I 4c

Azores 528a, 529b Nov-10 Europa 2010 booklets 1

Azores 552-3 9-May-13 Europa 2013 (553 a s/s of 2) 1

Kyrgyzstan 440 17-Aug-13 RCC, Airbus EN 419-5 3b

Madeira 290a, 291b Nov-10 Europa 2010 booklets 1

Madeira 308-9 9-May-13 Europa 2013 (309 a s/s of 2) 1

Montenegro 339 19-Apr-13 Europa 2013 1

Montenegro 344-5 7-Jun-13 Euro Basketball Tournament, (345a: s/s of 2) 3c

Mozambique 2960a 25-Mar-13 Winston Churchill 4a

Netherlands 1441 22-Apr 13 Europa 2013 (se-tenant pair; 1441e bklt 3 pairs) 1

Netherlands 1449 12-Aug-13 Netherlands/Belgium Connection, s/s of 6 3b

Poland 4088 31-Jul-13 BRITE Constellation EN 421-6 3b

Poland 4092 11-Sep-13 Traditional Costumes joint w/Romania 5483 3b

Poland 4095 11-Oct-13 Landmarks in European Capitals: Zagreb, Croatia 3b

Portugal 3513-4 9-May-13 Europa 2013 (3514 a s/s of 2) 1

Romania 5444-5 30-Apr-13 Europa 2013 (5444a sheet 6, 5445a sheet 6, 5445b 1

s/s of 2 each)

Romania 5464 9-Jul-13 Cooperative Treaty w/Russia (5464 sheet 6 + 2 labels, 3b

5464b s/s of 1)

Romania 5483 11-Sep-13 Traditional Costumes joint w/Poland (5483a sheet 10, 3b

5483b s/s

Romania 5492 10-Oct-13 King Carol I Mosque, joint w/Turkey (5492a sheet 6, 3b

5492b s/s)

Spain 3939 28-Oct-13 150th

Anniv. Red Cross, joint issue with Belgium 3b

Spain 3949 3-Jan-14 60th

Anniversary of CERN EN 422-2 2a

Spain 3968 24-Mar-14 Euro coin on UNESCO s/s 3a

Vatican City 1557 21-Mar-14 Pope John XXIII, joint issue with Italy 3b

Vatican City 1558 21-Mar-14 Popes John Paul II & John XXIII, joint w/Poland, s/s of 2 3b

Vatican City 1559-61 21-Mar-14 Pope John Paul II, joint issue with Poland 3b

Note: the following are evidently part of a multi-country omnibus issue.

E.g., see similar issues described in EN 421-6. Caveat Emptor.

Mozambique 2840d 25-Mar-13 Eurostar train 3b

Mozambique 2843 25-Mar-13 Concorde jet, sheet of 6 different 3b

Mozambique 2872 25-Mar-13 Concorde jet 3b

Niger 1230a 1-Jul-13 Concorde jet 3b

St. Vincent 3876-7 26-Aug-13 Concorde jet (3877 a s/s) EN 419-5 3b

2014 marks the 20th anniversary of the Channel Tun-

nel (“Chunnel”) between England and France. There

should be some philatelic recognition before year end.


“That, to put it mildly, would not

be good for the free world. We are,

therefore, disposed to feel that

these trade pacts are very worthy

of support, and we hope that the

EUROPAFRIQUE stamps will even-

tually prove completely acceptable

EUROPA material.

“Of course, things are not going to

be easy, and there will be lots of

disappointments and worries. Eve-

ry now and again, even the Com-

mon Market itself seems to be ra-

ther wobbly, and we must always

be ready for shocks and harrowed

nerves.

“However, we can equally hope

that, as time goes on, the EUROPA

concept will continue to develop,

and even extend to embracing oth-

er parts of Europe and of the

world, including the new African

republics.”

It is hard to believe that Robin was

writing this over 50 years ago!

Background

The subject of EuropAfrique was

first mentioned in Europa News in

the November 1963 issue (EN#51-

3) by editor Robin Crowley. He was

somewhat apprehensive about the

stamps, and in the February 1964

issue he wrote more extensively

on the subject. After repeating his

earlier misgivings, however, he

went on to say the following:

“These stamps do indeed com-

memorate real trade pacts be-

tween the EEC and the republics

concerned, and it is most greatly to

be hoped that they will serve a use-

ful purpose. The ERP [European

Recovery Plan, aka the Marshall

Plan — ed.] was an incredible and

world—saving success, but it is

difficult to deny that subsequent

handouts of foreign aid to other

parts of the world have very fre-

quently been dismally disap-

pointing.

“The ERP aid was given to educated

established countries with

shattered economies but posses-

sors of all the skills and sense of

responsibility required to rebuild

them - with help from the U.S.

“On the other hand, it is hardly an

exaggeration to say that what, sub-

stantially, has usually happened

with these new African republics

has been that they immediately

applied for membership in the

United Nations, and then proceed-

ed to blackmail the U.S. and other

free countries by voting against

their interests unless they came

out with plenty of ‘foreign aid’.

“The EEC seems to prefer to try out

another technique. Instead of dish-

ing out wads of cash, steel mills,

etc etc etc, they have, under these

recent trade pacts, provided these

new republics with a better oppor-

tunity to work their own way up in

the world, by their own efforts, and

using their own natural resources.

“Perhaps the EEC hopes that these

trade pacts will help to build up

sound commercial communities

which will have a strong vested

interest in keeping their countries

respectable and, above all, free. lt

is incredible that handouts of for-

eign aid can go on forever, and un-

less these new republics can

achieve a reasonably prosperous

economy of their own, the only

obvious al-

ternative

seems to be

that com-

munism will

spread all

over Africa.

EuropAfrique — Emile Bayle, et al.

Figure 1. The first meeting between delegates of both continents. From the collec-tion of Don Smith.


EuropAfrique — cont’d

Two decades later, the concept of

EuropAfrique was well established,

and a number of stamps had been

issued to note various anniver-

saries, much as Robin had predict-

ed. The number has arguably been

manageable, however, and in EU-

ROPA NEWS #256 and 257, Sep-Oct

and Nov-Dec 1986, ESU member

and monograph contributor Emile

Bayle provided a detailed discus-

sion of the subject, in an article

titled “The European Community

and Aid to Developing Countries”.

What follows is his article, with

many of the original illustrations,

augmented with additional materi-

al provided by ESU member Bill

Armstrong and myself.

Introduction

An association between the Euro-

pean Economic Community and

‘Lands in the Course of Develop-

ment’ was foreseen in the Treaty of

Rome. It was set up after a gradual

accession to sovereignty by these

countries between 1958 and 1962

from their former colonial status.

The first period of negotiation was

governed by the "Convention of

Yaounde (Cameroon) 1 (1961/

1970)" and "Yaounde 2 (1971 /

1974)" between the EEC and the

African States and Malagasy Associ-

ates (EAMA). In 1975 this associa-

tion was replaced by the African,

Caribbean, and Pacific States (ACP)

and its agreements with the EEC

were governed by the Lome (Togo)

Convention 1 (1975-1980), Lome

Convention 2 (1981), and Lome

Convention 3 (1985).

First period, 1958-1962

According to the proposals of the

Treaty of Rome, there was formed

at the beginning of 1958 an associ-

ation of the European Economic

Community with the Overseas Land

and Territories (PTOM) having in

common a dependence on some

states of the Community. From its

first session in March 1958, the

Parliamentary Assembly estab-

lished a commission for the PTOM,

with the presiding officer being the

future president of the Republic of

Niger, then a member of the

French National Assembly. The As-

sociation was to have a life of five

years.

The first "Eurafricaine" meeting,

with the representatives of 16

member states, took place in Rome

in January 1961, at the initiative of

the European Parliamentary As-

sembly. A special handstamp was

applied to mail from this meeting

(Figure 2). The meeting in Rome

made way for a conference that

took place in Strasbourg June 19-

24, 1961 (see Figure 1 on the pre-

ceding page). Under the name

"Conference of the European Par-

liamentary Assembly with the Par-

liaments of the African States and

Malagasy Associates" the meeting

gathered together for the first time

delegates from two continents to

discuss the ties between their

countries.

They especially examined the prob-

lems posed by the approaching

renewal of the Association in a new

form. The Council of Europe

opened the temporary post office

for the meeting and used a special

slogan cancel with the date stamp

and five wavy lines (Figure 3).

The resolutions adopted at the

Strasbourg meeting were approved

by the Parliamentary Assembly dur-

ing its session of June 26 to July 1,

1961, which immediately followed

the Eurafricaine meeting (Figure 4).

Figure 2. Eurafricaine Meeting #1

Figure 3. Figure 4.



It was also approved in part by the

heads of the African States and

Malagasy Associates at a meeting

in Tananarive, Madagascar

(Malagasy) on September 9, 1961

(Figure 5).

There was a new meeting in Stras-

bourg from 14 to 16 May 1962,

between representatives of the

Parliamentary Assembly and the

Parliaments of the 18 African states

and Malagasy, which had become

independent. During this meeting

the delegates foresaw changes to

be made to the Agreement expiring

at the end of the year.

The first Europe-Africa stamps

Plans to exploit the high-grade iron

ore deposits at Kedia, near Zouîrât,

began in 1952 with the formation

of the privately owned Mauritanian

Iron Mines Company (Société

Anonyme des Mines de Fer de

Mauritanie--MIFERMA). With sup-

port from the World Bank, the

French government, and the Mau-

ritanian government, MIFERMA

(owned by French, British, Italian,

and West German steel interests)

began operations in 1963.

By 1966 MIFERMA had invested the

equivalent of some US$200 million

in mining facilities at Kedia, port

facilities at Nouadhibou, and a rail

line to carry the ore to port for ex-

port.

In 1962 Maurita-

nia overprinted

one of its previ-

ous airmail

stamps (Scott

#C16) to publi-

cize the approval

of the EEC-

MIFERMA pro-

ject. The design

used the word

Europa joining

the six links of the EEC which in

turn joined up with the words MIF-

ERMA. The overprint came in two

varieties, where the Type II version

has a box around the word MIFER-

MA, and a double border around

the word Europa. (see Figure 6 on

page 12). Neither of these over-

prints is given a number in Scott

although they are mentioned. The

first variety is the more common of

the two.

In 1963 Mauritania issued two

more airmail stamps, Scott #C20-

21, depicting the beginning of min-

ing operations and commemo-

rating the third anniversary of the

agreement to proceed. These are

also shown in Figure 6 on page 12.

On 1 July 1963, the Republic of

Congo (formerly the Belgian Congo)

issued a series of seven stamps of

three designs evoking aid of the

EEC to the Congo. (Scott #455-61)

The issue had two printings: the

first in sheets of 100; the second in

sheets of 12 with the inscription

"Republique du Congo" in relief on

the border of each stamp. The set

of stamps is shown in Figure 7 on

page 13.

On June 20-21, 1963, the repre-

sentatives of the Parliamentary

Assembly and of the 18 African

states and Malagasy met once

more in Strasbourg to prepare the

methods of payment in the Associ-

ation's new Agreement. As during

the preceding meetings, the tem-

porary post office was especially

opened for this occasion (Figure 8).

Figure 8.

Figure 5.

In the next issue the article resumes with a discussion of the omnibus issues, which have appeared on an occasional basis almost every year since 1963.

r1



Figure 6. The Mauritania MIFERMA issues. Album page from the author’s collection.



Figure 7. The Congo PRC Economic Aid issue. AYAL Album page from the collection of Bill Armstrong.

AYAL specialized in topical issues, and produced pages for EUROPA, NATO, UN Worldwide, Space, etc. Unlike White Ace,

their EUROPA pages went well beyond the annual issues, but the spotty quality of execution led to their eventual demise.


the Netherlands., whose postal practices allowed the appearance of an oddity or two.

The unabridged monograph will be posted on our website when this series concludes.

Steve Luster’s monograph on the EUROPA issues of 1957 continues with a discussion of the stamps of

The 1957 EUROPA Stamps — a Monograph by Steve Luster (Part 6)

NETHERLANDS 1957

Netherlands issued a set of two Europa stamps with the same design in 1957. They were de-nominated 10 C and 30 C. The 10 C stamp was printed in dark grey and blue and the 30 C stamp was printed in dark green and blue. The stamps were designed by Dick Elffers. They depict a six-pointed star with letters spelling out the word “EUROPA” at each point of the star. The letter “E” is shared with the word Netherland” and is in a darker color. The denomination in a square to the left and a stylized food or industry repre-sentation is in a circle to the right, complete the design.

The stamps were rotogravure printed, on un-watermarked paper, perforated 12¾ x 14, and were printed by Joseph Enschedé en Zonen, Haarlem, in sheets of 100 stamps. 32,542,250 stamps of the 10 C denomination and 3,743,800 of the 30 C denomination were printed. The D’Urso Catalogue assigned the number 26 to the 10 C stamp and the number 27 to the 30 C stamp. In addition to the complete set of 2 stamps, the D’Urso Catalogue lists blocks of 4 stamps. No varieties are listed for the stamps. D’Urso also lists official first day covers with an ‘s-Gravenhage can-cel (26/27A) and with an ’s-Gravenhage Philatelistische Dienst cancel (26/27B). This latter cancel comes with “check” numbers “1”, “2”, “3” and “4”. D’Urso also lists maximum cards (26/27C).


The 1957 EUROPA Stamps — a Monograph by Steve Luster (cont’d)

The Netherlands issued a publicity folder for its 1957 Europa stamps.



The following are some examples of cacheted philatelic first day covers for this issue.

The D’Urso Catalogue did not depict the listed maximum cards; therefore, I do not know if the one shown below is the one meant, or if there are others designs on these cards. Here is the one I know about.



Here is an example of Netherlands 1957 Europa stamps used on cover.

End of Part 6. Next installment (Part 7) continues 1957 issues with a discussion of the stamps of the Saar.

The Netherlands allows cities to receive and deliver their own mail. Some cities charge for the service and use designs similar to Europa stamps, but on city labels. Figure 41 is an ex-ample of a full sheet of 10, city post “stamps” with design similar to the Netherlands 1957 Europa stamps.


The 2014 National Topical Stamp

Show was held in St.Louis, MO

from 27-29 June. NTSS is the annu-

al show hosted by the American

Topical Association, the ESU’s

“mother organization” if you will. It

is the one show that we all try to

attend. Unfortunately, we were

snake-bit, as Tonny Van Loij had to

cancel at the last minute. Don

Smith also couldn’t make it. Bum-

mer. Tonny had reserved a table,

which we had to reluctantly give

back because without Tonny we

were missing our Energizer Bunny

(not to mention goodies for our

table).

What we lacked in number was

more than made up for in enthusi-

asm, however. ATA Director Jeff

Hayward opened the meeting by

talking about the ATA and its bene-

fits - once again speaking to the

converted as all present belong to

the ATA.

Tonny reported in absentia that the

Unit treasury remains solid, due in

large part to reduced printing

costs.

The Europa Handbook

The main topic of discussion was

the state of the ESU Handbook, and

what we need to do going forward.

Alex has captured all annual issues,

and the complete contents of the

old hardcopy handbook, in comput-

er readable form.

Meanwhile, the ATA is compiling a

database, using MS Access as the

underlying engine. The plan is to

sell checklists on demand at 1c per

listed stamp. Alex pointed out, and

all concurred, that a handbook

should be more than just a check-

list, but a checklist might be gener-

ated from it. From this discussion,

it was RESOLVED at the meeting

that any Europa Handbook will be a

benefit to ESU members, and not

made generally available to the

ATA. Sue Rosenberg said that the

Penguins on Stamps Study Unit op-

erates the same way.

Alex said that printing just the an-

nual issues for all years would re-

quire ~250 double-sided pages, in

portrait format. At 10c per sheet,

this would be $25 plus postage.

(Note: the handbook on CD-ROM is

in MS-Excel, so listings of the annu-

al issues can be produced in either

portrait or landscape format). So

far, everyone who has requested

hardcopy has asked for portrait

format, so it was further RESOLVED

at the meeting that all hardcopy

will henceforth be produced in por-

trait format.

The discussion then centered on

how the new handbook is and

should be structured and what kind

of pricing might make sense. Alex

has wisely broken the handbook up

into manageable segments, some

of which follow the annual issue

MS-Excel structure, others are in

MS-Word. Some, like the annual

issues, are up-to-date or quite re-

cent; others could be decades old,

reflecting the original hardcopy

handbook. Left open was whether

the other sections could be

brought up to date. What is obvi-

ous is that the current price for a

hardcopy handbook is not realistic,

and many issues remain to be ad-

dressed. The officers hope to pre-

sent a forward plan to you, our

members, in the near future.

We had a hard stop at one

hour, otherwise the meeting could

easily have run over .

Europa News

For the first time in its history,

NTSS included a literature competi-

tion. Tonny entered the Europa

News and we won a Silver award.

At this writing I have not received

the judges critique, so I’ll post

more information in EN#423.

Thank you, Tonny, for taking the

trouble to enter us. ■

Pictured: Dana Roper (President & EN Editor), Alex Cwiekalo (Handbook Editor), Gary Lightbody (ESU member), Fred Skvara (ESU member & ATA Director), Sue Rosenberg (ESU member & Penguin Person), Steve Chun (ESU member) Not Pictured: Jeff Hayward (ATA Director of Study Units), Derek Litman -- Alex' grandson and budding philatelist who took our picture

Report from NTSS


BULLETIN OF THE EUROPA STUDY UNIT,

AN ASSOCIATION OF PHILATELISTS DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF PHILATELIC MATERIALS COVERING THE IDEA OF A UNITED EUROPE... UNITED IN A POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, AND SOCIAL SENSE.

www.europastudyunit.org

EDITOR: Mr. Dana Roper, 7266 Prices

Cove Place, Gainesville, VA 20155;

email: [email protected].

EDITORS EMERITUS: Col. Stephen

Luster (d) & predecessors

OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS:

PRESIDENT: Mr. Dana Roper

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY: Mr. Tonny

VanLoij

TREASURER: Tonny VanLoij

VICE PRESIDENT: Tonny Van Loij,

SECOND VICE PRESIDENT: open

DIRECTORS: Mr. Alex Cwiekalo, Ms.

Caroline Scannel, Mr. Dan Shilcrat

WEBMASTERS: Dana Roper, Mr. Jas-

son Cwiekalo

AUCTION MANAGER: Mr. Donald W.

Smith, P.O. Box 576, Johnstown, PA

15907.

EUROPA HANDBOOK: Alex Cwiekalo

ANNUAL DUES: (Including one year

of the EUROPA NEWS): Electronic

Membership $10/yr; Standard member-

ship (hardcopy of EN mailed): $20/yr

USA; $25/yr outside USA.

Dues are payable as of January 1st each year*. Payments must be made in U.S. Dollars; cash, or a bank draft, or a

money order (made payable to the Europa Study Unit). We also have a

PayPal account (europastudyunit,

email [email protected]) to

which any payments can be transferred. Any of these methods is acceptable; however, when using PayPal please

add 7% to cover PayPal costs.

SERVICES TO MEMBERS: Periodic

bulletin (EUROPA NEWS) to all mem-

bers; website with special “Members

Only” section; periodic auctions (~3/yr)

of EUROPA-related material, EUROPA

Handbook, monographs and specialty

items available only to ESU members.

* Dues must be received yearly by 31

January to ensure continued mem-

bership, including uninterrupted re-

ceipt of the EN.

Editor’s Page

Mile High Activities Although Tonny Van Loij couldn’t make it to NTSS, he was able to attend the Rocky Mountain Stamp Show, which was held the last weekend of May. He sent along this picture of the ATA table (that’s Tonny to the far left) and reported:

“We had the best show in about 6 or 7 years, great turnout, booming business for the dealers (27). As you can see I secured a table for ESU, ATA and MotivGruppe Musik, Germany (also an ATA Unit).

“We handed out ENs, member ap-plication forms and some goodies (some old souvenir sheets and stickers). We made many people happy and hope to get some new members. Two of our Colorado members stopped by the first day but I had forgotten my camera.”

Note the copies of EN on the table. Tonny gets all the leftovers (since he is the printer he’s entitled).

Penguins, Penguins Sharp-eyed readers who looked at the caption under the picture of NTSS attendees will note that ESU member Sue Rosenberg is identi-fied with penguins. More to the point, Sue is the indefatigable pub-licity person for POSSUMs (Penguins on Stamps Study Unit Members). Due to her efforts, pen-guins became an ubiquitous pres-ence at NTSS. Penguin posters, penguin cocktail napkins, penguins

everywhere. This carried over to an ATA Study Unit officers meeting where everyone seemed to be scrambling to align themselves somehow with penguins. It quickly became a running gag. Europa is a stretch, but let’s see: many EU countries have bases in Antarctica, and Antarctica has many penguins living there. Speaking of pen-guins….

Seriously, many of our members (including yours tru-ly) have other col-lecting interests be-sides Europa. If you are interested in our tuxedoed friends

down below, check out the Penguin People at http://www.penguinstamps.org/.

...and a nice NATO cover

Part of the fun of stamp shows is making new acquaintances, and it was my pleasure to strike up a con-versation with Fred Collins on the shuttle from the airport. Fred draws his own cachets, which are then individually hand water-colored. He is not a Europa collec-tor, but when he learned of my interests he went through his stock and found a few that caught my attention, such as the striking cover below for the USA 1999 NATO 50th anniversary issue.

Fred’s handiwork is on display at

collinsfirstdaycovers.net/. ■

http://www.penguinstamps.org/

http://www.collinsfirstdaycovers.net/


EUROPA NEWS Bulletin of the Europa Study Unit

Tonny VanLoij 3002 S Xanthia St. Denver, CO 80231-4237

Postmaster: Return postage guaranteed If not delivered.

“This Time It’s Different” - Post Luxembourg

From Post Luxembourg comes the following in-

formation, with tense changed to reflect the

time of issue:

“The 2014 European elections took place be-

tween 22 and 25 May. In the 28 member states,

751 representatives of the European Parliament

in Strasbourg were elected. The representatives

are assembled according to the different trans-

national political groups.

“There have been eight European elections since

1979. The EU-Parliament is elected by direct uni-

versal suffrage. For the first time, the European

Council must take the election results into ac-

count when choosing the next President of the

European Commission. The nominee has to be

confirmed by the new Parliament. In Luxem-

bourg, the elections for the 6 Luxembourgish

representatives took place on 25 May.”

The stamps also include an embedded web aug-

mented reality (AR) function which uses the

“Smartsy” app. See EN 420-5 for related infor-

mation on this interesting new development. ■

LUXEMBOURG 1v issued in a sheetlet of 10 (shown) Issue date 8 May 2014

july issue # 422 - europa study unit · venir sheet of 1 stamp, and a sheetlet of 4 stamps in a...

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