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Sunday 28 February 2016

Oddities - Sunday Stamps II

Recently I was given an old album in which were two stamps (both the same) from a country whose stamps I had never seen before.

The odd shape would catch anyone's attention and the fact that Sierra Leone is the 'Land of Iron and Diamonds' was also new to me.

Sierra Leone -17 December 1965
The stamp is in the shape of the kola nut. The nut from the kola tree is a source of caffeine used in beverages and is the source of the word 'cola'.

I thought that my second 'oddity' had been over printed; it appears to show part of Italy too despite the stamp being from - 

Switzerland - 12 September 1968
It comes from a 'Celebrations' theme and the event concerned appears to be the 25th anniversary of land planning (Landesplanung). I'm guessing there was cooperation between the two countries even although WWII was still in progress in 1943 - Italy surrendered to the Allies on October 13 that year.

For other oddities cross over to Sunday-Stamps-II-63.

7 comments:

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Bob - the Sierra Leone stamp is interesting to see and sent me over to briefly look at the info re SL ... but the Helvetia stamp is really interesting .. with the land planning ... a fascinating and no doubt important snippet of history.

Cheers Hilary

Joy said...

I like the novelty of a stamp mimicking a fruit sticker although in this case a nut. The Swiss one is strange, were they involved in the reconstruction of Italy.

FinnBadger said...

Great stuff.

That Sierra Leone stamp reminds me of a fruit label!

Ana said...

that SL stamp looks as if made of plush - really cool :)

21 Wits said...

What a lovely gift to receive! I enjoy odd things and these are great.

VioletSky said...

The Sierra Leone stamp is the most un-stamp looking stamp I've ever seen. And to think it is from 1965!!

Author R. Mac Wheeler said...

:)