Eighth set issued in U.N. Coin and Flag series

The United Nations Postal Administration has temporarily ended its Coin and Flag series. The eighth set of 24 stamps was issued Feb. 6, and according to UNPA, it may be the last set for a while.

Edward Hynes, the officer-in-charge for the UNPA, said in the most recent issue of the philatelic bulletin Fascination, “ … This will be the last issue with 24 stamps. For future issues, when there are 8 new member states [of the United Nations], a new sheet will be released.”

The Coin and Flag series started Oct. 5, 2006. Other sets were issued May 3, 2007; May 8, 2008; Feb. 5, 2010; March 3, 2011; Feb. 3, 2012; and Nov. 6, 2013.

Each stamp in the series pictures the flag and a coin of one of the 193 U.N. member nations.

The stamps are in panes of eight, divided into two blocks of four with se-tenant, or side-by-side, designs.

In the new set, the eight 49¢ stamps for use from the post office at U.N. headquarters in New York City show flags and coins of Kiribati, Tonga, Zimbabwe and Angola in one block, and Costa Rica, Bhutan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Liberia in the other.

Vanuatu, Nauru, Mozambique and Burundi are represented on one of the blocks of four 90-centime stamps for use from the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. The other block features the flags and coins of Eritrea, El Salvador, Turkmenistan and Guinea.

The €0.80 stamps for use from Vienna International Center in Vienna, Austria, picture flags and coins of Tuvalu, Malawi, Botswana and Uruguay on one block. The other block includes Iraq, St. Thomas and Prince Islands, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Somalia.

Profiles of two famous people are featured on coins shown in this set: Christopher Columbus on the 1-colon coin of El Salvador; and Jose Artigas, considered the father of

Uruguay’s independence, on a 5-peso coin from that South American country.

A dragon is shown on the flag of Bhutan, and a bird on the flag of Zimbabwe.

Among the animals found on the coins pictured on the stamps are a rhinoceros (Zimbabwe), a lion (Democratic Republic of Congo), kangaroos (Nauru), a giant kingfisher (Mozambique), a crab (Tuvalu), an eagle (Malawi), an oryx (Botswana), a falcon and parrot (St. Thomas and Prince Islands) and leopards (Somalia).

Rorie Katz of the United Nations designed the stamps. Jenny J. Karia, also of the United Nations, created the concept for the series.

The French security printer Cartor printed the stamps in the following quantities: 304,000 each of the 49¢; 320,000 of the 90c; and 360,000 of the 0.80.

The stamps measure 30 millimeters by 40mm each and are perforated
gauge 13.33.

Each vertical pane of eight includes eight marginal inscriptions: two in the left margin, two in the right and four in the center. This inscription shows the U.N. emblem with the text “United” above it and “Nations” below.

Also, small images of the flags of each pane are reproduced in the margins. Progressive face values (the combined face values of the stamps) are incorporated in the top and bottom margins, and one copyright symbol is in the lower left margin.

The website of the UNPA is http://unstamps.un.org. Ordering information also is available from UNPA, Box 5900, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163-5900; telephone 800-234-8672; e-mail unpanyinquiries@un.org; or fax 212-963-9854.

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