Finnish stamps celebrate anniversaries, Christmas

By Molly Goad

In the coming months, Finland’s postal administration, Posti, will issue six new stamp sets with 16 different designs.

Unless otherwise mentioned, the stamp pays the domestic rate (currently €2.30), indicated by a map of Finland in one of the corners.

100th Anniversary

On Sept. 6, Posti will release stamps that recognize the 100th anniversaries of Finnair and the Finnish Museums Association.

Founded in 1923, Finnair is one of the oldest operating airlines in the world. Today, it is a network airline with extensive flight connections to Europe, North America and Asia.

Posti has been a part of Finnair’s history, as the airline’s first flight transported mail from Helsinki, Finland, to Tallinn, Estonia.

The commemorative for the 100th anniversary was designed by Ilkka Karkkainen and will be sold in panes of 10.

The anniversary set for the Finnish Museums Association showcases 10 museums and objects from their collections.

Finland has more than 300 professionally run, year-round museums. The Finnish Museums Association 100th anniversary set features the Ski Museum; Finnish Music Hall of Fame; Automobile and Road Museum Mobilia, Leikki – the Museum of Play, Vapriikki Museum Centre, Police Museum, Turku Museum Centre, Finnish Glass Museum, Sami Museum Siida, and the National Museum.

Anssi Kahara designed the stamps, which will be printed in a pane with all 10 designs.

Posti’s 2023 Art Award Stamps

Posti granted its seventh stamp art promotion award to Aland-based photographer Christoffer Relander, known for his multiple-exposure photographs that combine human and nature. This annual award includes a monetary prize and stamps featuring a work or works by the artist.

Posti will issue two stamps in September showing Relander’s photographs titled Perfume (2013) and Butterfly Mind II (2023). Both images are from his We Are Nature series, which started in 2010.

Posti’s Art Award 2023 will be issued in a pane of 10 containing both stamp designs.

Christmas Stamps

Finland’s three Christmas stamps will arrive Nov. 8 starring cheerful furry friends illustrated by Minna Lehvaslaiho.

One new stamp for Christmas greetings shows two festive owls hanging out in an apple tree on a winter’s day. The symbolic snowflake in the lower left represents the special domestic rate for Christmas mail, currently €1.50. The stamp will be sold in booklets of 20.

A second Christmas design depicts energetic squirrels in a wreath. The stamp pays the basic domestic rate. Posti reports that this stamp will be available in a sheet of 10.

The international-rate stamp (€2.50), which has a symbolic globe in the lower right corner, features whimsical owls as they try skiing and ice skating. This design will be sold in a pane of 10.

All the aforementioned stamps include what Posti calls “a 2D barcode, which makes the mechanical sorting of items easier.”

Closer to the issue dates, visit Posti’s online shop for moredetails.

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