SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2014 Issue # 423

The Baltic Chain 25th Anniversary.

From Eesti Post comes the an- nouncement of a very timely re- minder of the need for con- stant vigilance in this time of Sovi- et-style expan- sionism. This year’s joint issue souvenir sheets from ESTONIA LATVIA LITHUANIA are described as follows: “The Baltic Chain demonstrated to the world the will of freedom of the “23 August 1989 saw a giant people of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the non-violent character of demonstration initiated to influ- their aspiration for freedom and their decision to win back their inde- ence Soviet authorities and to ex- pendence. WHAT'S IN THIS ISSUE press the will of freedom of the This aroused much atten- ARTICLES people of the three Baltic nations – tion throughout the world Baltic Chain …………………………….. 1 a human chain of nearly seven hun- and contributed to their EuroMed, new collecting area? 5 dred kilometers (435 miles) from just and peaceful cause. “ EUROPA 1957 (cont'd) …………….. 12-14 Tallinn to Vilnius. The number of EuropAfrique (cont'd)...…………. 7-11 people standing along the route DEPARTMENTS has been assessed at up to one mil- lion. The demonstration was sched- Editor's Page...…..…...…………..… 15 uled to coincide with the 50th anni- New Issues: EUROPA 2014……….…. 3-4 versary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop New Issues: sepac 2014…..……….. 5,16 Pact, which unlawfully changed the New Issues: General……………….. 1-3 UKRAINE national status of the Baltic coun- New Issues: with Scott #s…..……. 6 tries and robbed them of their in- FEATURES dependence. ESU Auction #129 Insert SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2014 423-2 v = value(s) ms= mini-sheet New Issues ss = souvenir sheet

FRANCE 1v FRANCE ss Issue date 7 May 2014 Issue date 1 May 2014 20th anniversary of the opening of A continuation of the the Channel Tunnel (“Chunnel”) Capital cities of Eu- linking France with Great Britain. rope series, this issue honors Vienna. The design is a departure from the open motif followed in prior years.

At 100 meters below sea level, it is still the longest underwater tunnel in the world: 51 km in total. Opera- tional 24/7, last year saw 2.5 million cars carried on board the Shuttle and another 1.5 million trucks. GREECE 4v —-from Issue date January 2014 AUSTRIA 1v Greece presidency of the EU Issue date 12 June 2014 The stamps were also released as a pair of miniature sheets, (shown below from the website and now listed as sold out).

20th Anniversary of the Referen- dum on Austria's Accession to the EU. The referendum, held on 12 June 1994, passed by a 2/3 majority.

AUSTRIA 1v Issue date 4 April 2014 60th anniversary of the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN)

See Switzerland issue ref. EN 422-2 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2014 423-3 v = value(s) ms= mini-sheet New Issues ss = souvenir sheet

ITALY 1v RUSSIA 2v Europa 2014 Issue date 12 June 2014 SWITZERLAND 2v National Music Instruments Semester of Italian Presidency of Issue date 21 May 2014 the Council of the European Union GREAT BRITAIN 1v from a set of 6 Issue date 18 September 2014

The design features the logo of the Semester: a stylized swallow on a white background with the colors of The Eastbourne Bandstand, on Europe and Italy. the seafront of the East Sussex Tower Clocks Joint Issue coastal town, plays about 150 con- SAN MARINO 1v Scott #1911 The Zytglogge tower (stamp on the certs each year. Issue date 5 June 2014 left) is a landmark medieval tower in There is a commemorative plaque 59th Plenary Assembly of Bern, Switzerland. Built in the early at the rear of the current band- PostEurop in San Marino (to be 13th century, it has served the city stand in memory of Eastbourne held 23-25 September 2014) as guard tower, prison, clock tower, bandsman John Wesley Wood- center of urban life and civic memo- ward, who was one of those play- rial. ing on the Titanic when it sank on The Kazansky tower depicted on 15 April 1912. — from Wikipedia the right-hand stamp may be rec- ognizable from afar but it isn’t the From Iceland Post comes the fol- tower itself that is famous … In fact, lowing regarding the 2014 Europa the tower is the most imposing fea- issue: ture of Kazansky station, one of Two mistakes were made during the Moscow’s eight largest stations. GEORGIA 1v printing process, which they say is — from Stamp News International.com LATVIA 1v Scott #871 highly unusual.

Issue date 28 March 2014 RUSSIA ss The first mistake was made during 20th Anniversary of Diplomatic BELARUS ss the printing of stamp 603A – the Relations between Georgia and Issue date 18 April 2014 Stoneharp stamp. The Europa logo Latvia 70th anniversary of the liberation and the year 2014 were left out dur- from Nazi troops Joint Issue ing the printing process. The mis- Joint take was caught and the errors were Issue (hopefully) all destroyed. Still, it nev-

er hurts to check.

The second mistake was on the Elec- tromagnetic harp stamp 603B, where insoluble glue was inadvert- The design shows the Freedom ently used, making soaking the Monument in Riga, Latvia, and the According to Russia Post, Ukraine is stamp virtually impossible. The Mother of Georgia Statue in Tbilisi, also issuing a stamp or sheet, but stamps are out there and will not be Georgia Ukraine has withdrawn due to the re-issued, so be careful if you collect current conflict in the area. used stamps. ■ SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2014 423-4

v = value(s) New Issues ms= mini-sheet ss = souvenir sheet Europa 2014 — National Music Instruments

BULGARIA 2v + ss with same designs but no white borders. Issue date 29 April 2014

The stamps, depicting fife and drum folk music, are issued in ms of 6 each, with 2 stamps printed tête-bêche. Also issued in booklet form as 3 different sheets of 3 sets each printed se-tenant.

Also (what, there’s more?) postal stationery shown below

Correction to last issue UKRAINE 2v the 3,30 value (Kobza) has been issued as 5,70 UAH Also issued in booklets of 2 souvenir sheets Issue date 25 July 2014 Given current events, it is rather amazing that this is the only impact that we have seen SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2014 423-5

New Issues EUROMED — Another collecting area (?) sepac 2014 — Flowers First we have the Northern Coun- tries (NC, or Norden) issues, then Souvenir came sepac. Now we have another folder for aggregation of countries that pre- sepac 2014 sents a potential collecting topic.

From the website of Greek Post comes the following:

“The Postal Union of the countries MALTA 1v from a set of 3 around the Mediterranean, ‘The “The creation of PUMed marks the Issue date 27 June 2014 Mediterranean Postal Un- Mediterranean region as a political, The Wavyleaf ion’ (MPU) was founded on 15 economic and social area. Having a Mulleis is March 2011, and includes the structured and organized body ena- widely dis- members of two unions, PostEurop bles a high level of multilateral co- tributed in and the Arab Permanent Postal operation. the Mediter- Commission. “Faced with an ever-changing post- ranean area. “On 2012, at the suggestion of the al industry, members within Its large MPU, the issue of a common stamp PUMed have come together so as leaves, which In 2014 was decided, on the occa- to develop projects that will help are carried sion of the 3rd anniversary of its each postal operator keep up with mainly at foundation. The first EUROMED the challenges of the market. The ground level. stamp, as it is called, has a common joint stamp issue therefore symbol-

theme and illustration for all the izes PUMed's intention to - co

countries that make up the MPU operate and work together for the

and it is released on 9 July 2014.” benefit of each individual country.” GIBRALTAR 1v from a set of 7 Issue date 15 July 2014 The Greece stamp is shown at the PUMed was officially established top of the next column. on 15 March 2011 and its head- quarters are stationed in Malta. Malta Post provides additional de- Member countries are listed below; tail, as follows: those who are issuing stamps are “[This stamp issue marks] the co- shown in blue: operation between members of the Postal Union for the Mediterra- Croatia Malta Cyprus Monaco nean (PUMed) through a joint Egypt Morocco Gibraltar candytuft, common from stamp issue entitled 'The Mediter- France Palestine the North Face all round to Europa ranean Sea'. A number of postal Greece Portugal Point. operators within PUMed, also Italy Slovenia 1v known as EUROMED, are issuing Jordan Spain Issue date 16 July 2014 stamps bearing 'The Mediterrane- Lebanon Syria an Sea' as a common theme. The Libya Turkey stamp features the Mediterranean Sea and its surrounding countries. Almost every non-European coun-

“Amany Ahmed Ali of Egypt Post try on that list is experiencing seri- Postal Printing House designed the ous turmoil at the moment. How all stamp. Her stamp was chosen in a this will shake out in the future is contest among six member coun- anyone’s guess, but it certainly will tries including Cyprus, Egypt, Leba- be worth watching. ■ Manx hellebore see last page non, Malta, Morocco and Slovenia.

SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2014 423-6 NEW ISSUES WITH SCOTT CATALOG NUMBERS - Don Smith From Linn’s July & August Special Editions * = position in proposed new HB outline (ref. EN# 404-12) COUNTRY SCOTT # DATE OF ISSUE DESCRIPTION *

Albania 2943-4 6-Nov-13 Mediterranean Games (ss + se-tenant pair) EN 419-2 3c Andorra (French) 723 5-Oct-13 Presidency of CTP (Pyrenees) 420-4 3b Armenia 962 25-Nov-13 Chairmanship of 2013 Council of Europe 421-6 2a Austria 2493 4-Apr-14 60th Anniversary of CERN 423-2 2a Austria 2499 9-May-14 Europa 2014 1 Azerbaijan 1042 12-Dec-13 Mehdi Huseynzade, joint issue w/Slovenia 1022 3b Azerbaijan 1045 16-Jan-14 European Chess Championships victory 421-6 3c Azerbaijan 1047-8 17-Feb-14 Europa 2014 1 Croatia 911-2 9-May-14 Europa 2014 1 Cyprus 1205-6 2-May-14 Europa 2014 (1206a, booklet of 4 each) 1 Cyprus (Turkish) 741-2 6-May-13 Europa 2013 (Thick lettering, name, inscription) 1 Cyprus (Turkish) 743-4 6-May-13 Europa 2013 (Thin lettering, name, inscription) 1 Estonia 760-1 8-May-14 Europa 2014 1 Gibraltar 1453-4 2-May-14 Europa 2014 1 Kazakhstan 719 15-Jan-14 RCC history ss 422-3 3b Latvia 871 28-Mar-14 Diplomatic Relations w/Georgia, 20th Anniv. 423-3 3b Liechtenstein 1612 2-Jun-14 2014 Sepac 1c Lithuania 1021 29-Mar-14 10th Anniversary Admission to NATO 422-2 2b Lithuania 1024 26-Apr-14 10th Anniversary Accession to European Union 422-2 2a Lithuania 1025-6 3-May-14 Europa 2014 1 Luxembourg 1377 8-May-14 European Parliamentary Elections 422-20 2a Luxembourg 1380 8-May-14 Moselle River Commission, 50th Anniversary 422-1 3b Luxembourg 1381-2 8-May-14 Europa 2014 1 Malta 1512 30-Apr-14 10th Anniversary Accession to European Union 422-2 2a Malta 1513-4 9-May-14 Europa 2014 1 Monaco 2758 7-May-14 Europa 2014 1 San Marino 1903-4 17-Mar-14 Europa 2014 1 San Marino 1910 5-Jun-14 75th Anniversary Friendship with Italy 422-2 3b San Marino 1911 5-Jun-14 Plenary Session PostEurop 423-3 1a Serbia 634-5 2-Sep-13 Joy of Europe (in sheets of 8 + label) 3b Serbia 649 21-Jan-14 Negotiations to join the Europa Union 421-7 2a Serbia RA55 4-Dec-12 European Women’s Handball Championships 3c Serbia RA66 10-Mar-14 European Men’s Rowing Championships 3c Slovakia 688 5-May-14 Europa 2014 1 Slovenia 1041-2 30-May-14 Europa 2014 1 Sweden 2724 17-Mar-14 Norden 2014 (souvenir sheet of 2) 1b Sweden 2732 8-May-14 Europa 2014 1 Switzerland 1527 8-May-14 Europa 2014 1 Tajikistan 406 16-July-13 RCC history 419-5 3b Turkey 3344-5 9-May-13 Europa 2013 1 Turkey 3348 10-Jun-13 Mediterranean Games 418-8 3c Turkey 3365 10-Oct-13 Diplomatic relations with Romania (Romania 5492) 422-3 3b Ukraine 930 28-July-13 Christianization of Russia, joint issue with Belarus 870, 3b Russia 7466 Ukraine 952 21-Dec-13 World Heritage: Churches, joint issue w/Romania 422-3 3b Vatican City 1564-5 20-May-14 Europa 2014 1 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2014 423-7

EuropAfrique, cont’d. — Emile Bayle, et al.

Lasting five years, the Yaounde These stamps, bearing the same Agreement, which rests on the per- design of the four countries that fect equality of the contracting simultaneously issued stamps on states, grants each participant the 30 September 1963, and bearing a right of decision and gives it the different design for the other option to terminate the Agreement three, were issued in sheets of 10. on six months notice. The designs are shown in Figure 2 Recap as they appeared in the original This cooperation between sover- The term EuropAfrique was coined monograph. eign states is seen in the equal to reference economic activity be- structure of its institutions. From The complete set in full color was tween the European Economic an economic viewpoint, aid favor- reproduced in the first installment Community (EEC) and the emerging ing diversification of its production of this series (EN 421-11). Each independent republics of Africa. and industrialization of the African stamp was issued in sheets of 10. Early philatelic recognition of this states is foreseen. Mail from On the upper margin is the phrase activity began with special cancels Yaounde from 16-20 July 1963 car- "Convention d'Association noting meetings between the in- ried an imprint evoking the signa- Economique Europe Afrique" and volved parties at the Council of Eu- ture of the Agreement (Figure 1.) on the lower margin is "Yaounde rope and other venues. These were 20 Juillet 1961." The first day Ca- documented in EN 422 as the First The birth of this free economic as- chets, all of the same design, also Period (1958-1962). The first stamp sociation between European and mention the Association. issues publicized specific develop- African countries was philatelically ment projects: Iron ore develop- commemorated by seven signatory In 1964, a “1st anniversary” set was ment in Mauritania, and infrastruc- African countries, using stamps for issued, honoring the actual putting ture development in the former this occasion in late 1963 or early in effect of the agreement (see Fig- Belgian Congo. 1964: Chad (Scott C11), Central Af- ure 3 on next page). rican Republic (C12); Congo Repub- This installment resumes with the In subsequent years, various signa- lic (C16); Gabon (C19); Niger (C43); emergence of EuropAfrique during tory countries issued stamps for Mauritania (C28); and Upper Volta the second period, and the omni- the Europe-Africa Economic Associ- (C11). Cameroun (401-402) and bus stamp issues that appeared ation anniversaries, but most re- Ivory Coast (217) also issued during that time. leases did not observe any particu- stamps in the series, collectively lar anniversary dates. Examples of First Yaounde Convention, 1964- known as the EuropAfrique issue, these are shown in Figure 4 on 1970 listed by Scott as common design page 9. The negotiations carried on by the 16. EEC in the name of the Six and by the 18 African states and Malagasy led to a new Agree- ment which was signed on 20 July 1963 but did not become effective Figure 1 (left), Figure 2 (above). until 1 July 1964. SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2014 423-8

EuropAfrique — cont’d

Figure 3. The EuropAfrique “1st Anniversary” issues. Album page from the editor’s collection. The page was created using Power- Point, on a Lighthouse blank page. The page title is a reproduction of the one used by Lighthouse prior to 1977. SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2014 423-9

EuropAfrique — cont’d

Figure 4: The next four “anniversary” issues. From this point forward, one or more countries issued anniversary stamps almost every year. The album pages are from the editor’s collection: the first was created with PowerPoint; the remainder were done the old-fashioned way—with a T-square and a 1965-vintage IBM Selectric® typewriter on Lighthouse pre-printed blank pages. SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2014 423-10

EuropAfrique — cont’d

The structure of the Association Figure 5 illustrates a cover created by the Yaounde Conven- from the Parliamentary Con- tion, implemented during 1964, ference of the Association. comprised: The first session of the Associ-

Association Council is the highest ation’s Parliamentary Confer- authority, made up in part of mem- ence took place in Dakar from bers of the Council and Commis- December 7 to 10, 1964. Dur- ing this meeting, the Confer- sion of the EEC, and the other part Figure 5. by members of the governments of ence set up its regulations and each of the member countries. It established the Commission Pari- meets at least once a year, presid- taire. The second session was held ed over alternatively by a member in Rome in the E. U. R. Hall from of the EEC Council and by a repre- December 6 to 11, 1965. Subse- quent meetings were as follows: sentative of one of the member states. Third Parliamentary Conference, Association Committee is the per- Abidjan, Ivory Coast, 10-14 Decem- manent organization, entrusted ber 1966 with assisting the Council to insure Fourth Conference, Strasbourg in the continuity of cooperation. the Palace of Europe, 4-8 Decem- Figure 6. Parliamentary Conference pro- ber 1967. vides democratic control of the Fifth Parliamentary Conference, Association. It meets every year, of independence to former French alternatively in a country of the EEC Tananarive, Malagasy, 10-15 Janu- ary 1969. On occasion of this colonies in sub-Saharan Africa from and in an African country. It has 1960 onwards. 108 members -- 54 from the Euro- meeting the Malagasy Post Office pean Parliament and 54 from the used a mechanical cancellation as In a speech given on 20 December parliaments of the African and Mal- shown in Figure 13. 1960, General deGaulle said agasy nations at the rate of three Sixth session, Hamburg, 12-14 Jan- “France [is changing] from the out- delegates per country. dated colonial system to a system uary 1970, during the interim peri- Comission Paritaire (a commission od between the first and Second of fruitful and friendly co- composed equally of employers Conventions of Yaounde. For the operation.” Says historian Gérard and employees) which meets, in first time a special cachet was used, Bossuat, deGaulle had the originali- principle, biennially, and prepares shown in Figure 6. ty to accept the consequences of the work of the Parliamentary Con- independence and develop a policy French Involvement ference. of co-operation on the basis of No history of the period can be equality. This approach was echoed Association Arbitration Court is considered complete without by president Georges Pompidou in charged with settling differences in noting the significant involvement 1964, and famously depicted in an the interpretation or application of of the French during this time. omnibus set of stamps issued that the Convention which cannot be French aid was part of the general year (see Figure 7 on the next settled by the Council. process of decolonization by France page). Association Secretariat is located and other powers in the 1950s. It in Luxembourg at the headquarters was during the period of Charles de In the next installment, we con- of the European Parliament, as is Gaulle’s presidency that the pro- clude the series with the history of the Secretariat of the Parliamen- cess was completed, with the crea- EuropAfrique from the 1970s on- tary Conference. Both use the mail tion of the Communauté Franco- ward. The original monograph by service of the headquarters. Africaine in 1959 and the granting Emile Bayle is available now in the Members section of our website. ■ SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2014 423-11

EuropAfrique — cont’d

Figure 7: The “Cooperation” Omnibus issue, issued to demonstrate solidarity between France and the newly emerging — former- ly French — independent republics in Africa. Album page from the editor’s collection, created using PowerPoint. Note the faint outlines of France and Africa in the background. SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2014 423-12

The 1957 EUROPA Stamps — a Monograph by Steve Luster (Part 7) Steve Luster’s monograph on the the Saar, which issued its own post- The unabridged monograph will EUROPA issues of 1957 continues age stamps after WWII (from 1947 be posted on our website when with a discussion of the stamps of thru 1959). After a plebiscite, it re- this series concludes. joined West Germany in 1960.

SAAR

Saar issued a set of two “Europa” stamps with the same design as the one used by Germany, but in different colors and the word “Saarland” added. At the time, the Saar was not a member of the European Coal and Steel Community. The Saar stamps were denominated 20 F and 35 F. The 20 F stamp was printed in orange/yellow-lemon and the 35 F stamp was printed in dark violet and rose.

The stamps were both designed by Richard Blank. Both have the same design… a tree. The stamps were printed by typography, on un-watermarked paper, perforated 14 x 14 and were printed by the Bundesdruckerei, Berlin in sheets of 50 stamps. 1,830,000 of the 20 F stamp and 1,517,000 of the 35 F stamp were printed.

The D’Urso Catalogue assigned the number 28 to the 20 F stamp and the number 29 to the 35 F stamp.

In addition to the complete set of 2 stamps, the D’Urso Catalogue lists blocks of 4 stamps and a variety on the 35 F stamp which has the pink color missing (29A). The stamps also exist on horizontal- ly coated paper with smooth gum, but without separate D’Urso numbers.

The set of Europa stamps issued on September 16, 1957 bear a special cancel from Saarbrücken 2. This cancel is known with the lower case letters “a” “b” “c” “d” “e” “f” and “g” at the bottom of the lower, inner circle of the date stamp, and occasionally on the top, D’Urso (28/29B). A maximum card is also listed in the D’Urso Catalogue (28/29C).

Example of the Saarbrücken 2 official first day cancel.. This example has the check letter “e” in the lower half of the inner circle. SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2014 423-13

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

The Saar’s 1957 Eu- ropa stamps were issued, as were Ger- many’s, in sheets of 50 stamps.

Below are examples of cacheted first day covers. The top two covers are examples of a regis- tered cover and an un-addressed cover. These covers bear the check letter “g’ in the left cancel and no check letter in the cancel on the right. The bottom two cancels bears the check letters “g” and “e” respectively, D’Urso 28/29B. SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2014 423-14

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

Examples of uncacheted first day covers. The upper two covers bear the official “Saarbrücken 2 cancel. The cancel on the left cover bears check number “e” in the lower part of the cancel while the cancel on the right has check number “a” in the upper part of the cancel. The cover to the left bears an illegible special cancel commemorat- ing the 400th year of the city whose name I can- not read, D’Urso 28/29B.

What follows are three examples of maximum cards franked with the Saar’s 1957 Europa stamps. While the designs on the cards are quite similar, their orientation is vertical on the first two cards, and horizontal on the other.

End of Part 7. Next issue (Part 8) concludes with a discussion of the stamps of Switzerland. SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2014 423-15

Editor’s Page

BULLETIN OF THE EN gets a silver award Of course, different judges have EUROPA STUDY UNIT, This is the first AN ASSOCIATION OF PHILATELISTS different priorities, and sometimes DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF PHILATELIC year that the their comments conflict. I cite as an MATERIALS COVERING THE IDEA OF A ATA has included example the fact that Tonny sub- UNITED EUROPE... UNITED IN A POLITICAL, a literature com- ECONOMIC, AND SOCIAL SENSE. mitted our website for judging by petition during the APS once again, and this time www.europastudyunit.org NTSS, and this is a step up from the we were judged as Bronze, down

silver-bronze award that we re- from our previous sil- EDITOR: Mr. Dana Roper, 7266 Prices ceived from the APS a year ago. As Cove Place, Gainesville, VA 20155; ver bronze. We sure email: [email protected]. of now, I have just one judge’s de- could use a webmas- EDITORS EMERITUS: Col. Stephen tailed comments, but they are ter. Any volunteers? Luster (d) & predecessors helpful. First, the positives: OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS: Our handbook is indeed a living  Nice array of articles, including PRESIDENT: Mr. Dana Roper thing, and Alex Cwiekalo stays up the continuing one by Steve Lus- EXECUTIVE SECRETARY: Mr. Tonny nights keeping it current. Updates VanLoij ter (Steve, I hope you’re smiling TREASURER: Tonny VanLoij up there!) are often made online, and this VICE PRESIDENT: Tonny Van Loij,  Use of regular columns for steady month Alex has provided a 1-page SECOND VICE PRESIDENT: open content is well done (I think that insert of new information. Also In- DIRECTORS: Mr. Alex Cwiekalo, Ms. serted with this issue is a nifty new Caroline Scannel, Mr. Dan Shilcrat means content, not layout. That’s always a challenge) auction from Don Smith. WEBMASTERS: Dana Roper, Mr. Jas- son Cwiekalo  Use of auction insert is a good And last, but not finally, it is with AUCTION MANAGER: Mr. Donald W. idea that other study units might great sadness that I report that Smith, P.O. Box 576, Johnstown, PA well consider emulating (which 15907. Sarah, Richard Dick’s loving wife of supports what you, our mem- EUROPA HANDBOOK: Alex Cwiekalo 67 years (that’s not a typo), passed bers, tell us every year. Attaboy, ANNUAL DUES: (Including one year away early August after a long of the EUROPA NEWS): Electronic Don, please don’t stop.) Membership $10/yr; Standard member-  Solid production standards are battle with cancer. She was 90 ship (hardcopy of EN mailed): $20/yr evident (Attaboy, Tonny!) years old and an amazing lady. USA; $25/yr outside USA.  “Best Europa stamp” is a great Richard is ESU member #10, will be Dues are payable as of January 1st idea. 96 in November, and is still an ac- each year*. Payments must be made in U.S. Dollars; cash, or a bank draft, or a But behind every silver lining is a tive stamp dealer who specializes money order (made payable to the cloud, and of course, there were in Europa new issues. There must Europa Study Unit). We also have a some negatives: be something about this hobby. ■ PayPal account (europastudyunit,  Quite a few illustrations seem email [email protected]) to which any payments can be transferred. muddy and/or too small to see Any of these methods is acceptable; clearly (I’ll do what I can but I am however, when using PayPal please limited by my source material) add 7% to cover PayPal costs.  Occasionally difficult to tell SERVICES TO MEMBERS: Periodic bulletin (EUROPA NEWS) to all mem- where one piece begins and an- bers; website with special “Members other ends Only” section; periodic auctions (~3/yr)  New issues seemed scattered of EUROPA-related material, EUROPA throughout, almost as filler. Handbook, monographs and specialty items available only to ESU members. Those last two gave me pause, and I’ll work on it. This issue is pretty Sarah, Steve Luster, myself and Richard * Dues must be received by 31 January much “in the can” as I write this, so at their shop in Ontario in 1999. Richard to ensure continued membership, in- and Sarah sold the shop and moved full cluding uninterrupted receipt of the EN. I’ll try to address those things in upcoming issues. time to Florida shortly thereafter. SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2014 423-16

sepac 2014 and Isle of Man Winter Flora

The Isle of Man sepac stamp also appeared, without the sepac logo, in the lower left corner of the Winter Flora souvenir sheet issued in Janu- ary 2014. Designed by Manx artist Catherine James, it is a nice adjunct to a sepac collection. — information from Isle of Man Post Office

EUROPA NEWS Bulletin of the Europa Study Unit

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