2021 Stamp Issues
Air Mail Issue 202101 - Airships
To cover changed postage fees, a new Air Mail series was issued in February 2021. Complementing the historic flying boats series of 2018, it was decided to display historic and modern airships, a technology which is fascinating many people even today although it does not practically play a role in air transport technology anymore.
Three double sheets with se tenant pairs were issued, combining the CW 0.70 / 0.90, the CW 1.20 / 2.50 and the CW 3.70 / 6.00 stamps. Due to the traditional double sheet format, gutter pairs with two different stamps linked by a bridge field are available at a 50% surcharge.
- CW 0.70: David Schwarz was one of the earliest pioneers of lighter-than-air powered flight. An Austrian-Hungarian, he built two airships, one for Russia, which most probably never started, and one for Prussia, which was destroyed after a partially successful flight on Tempelhof field in 1897. The technology was actually quite advanced, with an aluminium foil based body.
- CW 0.90: Parseval PL1. August von Parseval was a German airship designer who built 22 non-rigid and semi-rigid airships in the years around WW I. PL1 was his first airship, basically a test platform which was rebuilt several times and flew between 1906 and 1910. According to sources, the modern idea of using airships as an advertising platform was already piloted with PL1.
- CW 1.20: Schütte-Lanz SL1. Johann Schütte and Karl Lanz partnered in developing rigid airships which were based on a wooden frame. A number of airships were built before and during WW I, while several advanced designs after 1918 were not implemented. A street in southern Balangrad City is named after the two pioneers.
- CW2.50: Airships are often called "Zeppelins" because the rigid airships designed by Ferdinand von Zeppelin were the most successful ones. They were built until the mid 1930's and actually reactivated in the late 20th century. Displayed on this stamp is LZ4 , whose history is, by chance, deeply intertwined with major cities of the Federated Micronations. It was built near Kosnice and made its first flight on 1908.06.20. The stamp shows it in Kosnice, surrounded by thousands of spectators. Its last tragic flight started on 1908.08.04, planned as a return flight to Mohuc to demonstrate its long range abilities. But due to technical problems it had to make two emergency landings, the second in the vicinity of what is now Musograd City International Airport. There, it was completely destroyed by a storm.
- CW 3.70: On this stamp, the first Zeppelin built after WW I, LZ 120 , is shown. The airship had its maiden flight on 1919.08.20 and made about 100 successful flights across Germany before it was transferred to Italy as reparations payment. There it continued to fly until 1928.
- CW 6.00 In the late 1990's, Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik was re-founded and started to build new semi-rigid airships under the name "Zeppelin NT" . Shown on this stamp is D-LZZF "Baden-Württemberg" with "Vaude" advertising, the photo taken on 2006.07.28 in Kosnice by the Postmaster.
- Printed on matt paper with smooth invisible gum
- Kyocera printing system
- Line perforation
- Issued on 2021.02.02
- Valid indefinitely until further notice
- Order Number RC202101 - set of 6 stamps (CW 15.00)
- Order Number RC202101GP - set of 3 gutter pairs (CW 22.50)
Commemorative Issue 202102 - Xavier Herbert
To celebrate the 120th anniversary of the Australian writer Xavier Herbert (1901.05.15 - 1984.11.10), Capricornia Post has issued a commemorative stamp which shows the author and his debut novel "Capricornia". "Capricornia" is used as a metaphoric name for Northern Australia, based on the Tropic of Capricorn, which much later led to the name of the Republic of Capricornia for the country founded by former Australijan settlers on the not at all tropic northern coast of the Musanian Lands. The novel "Capricornia" is available in the state library of Capricornia.
Xavier Herbert was one of the early supporters of Aboriginal rights, a cause also supported by the Federated Micronations since its inception.
- Printed on matt paper
- Kyocera printing system
- Fixed perforation
- Issued on 2021.05.15
- Valid indefinitely until further notice
- Order Number RC202102 - single stamp (CW 1.20)
Commemorative Issue 202103 - South Pacific Connections
On 2021.12.02, Sandy Island, a small island with some even smaller reefs in the South Pacific located between Australia and Nouvelle Caledonia, became a Sovereign Overseas Territory of the Federal Micronations, in association with the Republic of Capricornia. This event caused the State Department of the Federated Micronations (SDFM) to have a closer look at the region. As a result, the SDFM decided on four Unilateral Recognitions of states in the region.
Nouvelle-Calédonie is the nearest neighbour of Sandy Island. Officially a French overseas territory, it held the third of three referendums on Indepence on 2021.12.12. The first two referendums ended with small majorities against independence. The third one could have ended with a pro-independence majority, but the pro-independence organisation of the original inhabitants (Kanaks), FLNKS, declared a boycott due to the high number of people who died of Corona. The SDFM believes that this invalidates the result and has decided that the F.M. unilaterally recognizes Nouvelle Calédonie as an independent state, which in the long term is inavoidable.
Bougainville , currently an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea, After an armed conflict and an independence referendum in 2019 with 98% for independence, the independence process has started, with a target date of end of 2027 for full independence. The F.M. have decided to be the first to recognize their independence in Januar 2021.
West Papua is in a quite different situation. A colony of the Netherlands, it was "decolonized" in 1962, put under UN administration, but in 1963 it became part of Indonesia after a manipulated referendum. In 2011, the Federal Republic of West Papua was declared and in 2020 a provisional government was set up by the more or less unified opposition groups, while the conflict with Indonesia continues. The core issue is that the U.N. accepts colonies as such only if they are ruled by "Western" countries, not by non-western ones, and does not support any de-colonisation process for the latter. The F.M. has recognized the independence of West Papua in January 2021.
Maluku Selatan , the Republic of South Maluku (South Moluccas), has been known to the F.M. authorities for a very long time - the Musogradian State Stamp Collection contains an excellent and almost complete collection of Maluku Selatan stamps, and the SDFM library contains the rare book "Republik Maluku Selatan" by Günter Decker. The history of Maluku Selatan is similar to that of West Papua, with a very short independence from the Dutch in 1950 ended by an Indonesian invasion and followed by a long guerilla war which ended with failure in 1963. The exile government of Maluku Selatan resides in the Netherlands.
The five stamps were printed in small sheets of 3 sets of the 5 CW 1 stamps, displaying the flag of the respective country / territory and a colourful rendering of a typical view.
- Printed on matt paper
- Line perforation
- Issued on 2021.12.12
- Valid indefinitely until further notice
- Order Number RC202103 - set of 5 se tenant stamps (CW 5.00)
|