2018-11-19 Mon

UNPA will be issuing two souvenir sheets later this month to celebrate stamp shows in Italy and Thailand. Both the sheets would be released on the first day of the event. The 131st Veronafil stamp show will take place from 23rd to 25th November in Verona, Italy. The commemorative souvenir sheet for this event contains three se-tenant stamps. The $1.15 is for the U.N. post office in New York City; the 2fr stamp is for Palais des Nations in Geneva and the €1.80 stamp is for Vienna International Center.

Designed by Christopher Thornock of the United States, the three stamps together feature a continuous design of Verona Arena. It’s a Roman amphitheatre that was built in the first century which hosted gladiator games initially. Today the venue hosts the popular annual summer open-air opera festival. The selvage depicts scenes from a four-act opera set in ancient Egypt called Aida by Giuseppe Verdi. The first opera festival at this historic venue was organised in 1913 and it was launched with a performance of Aida. The same set has been performed over 670 times since then. U.N. and Veronafil logos, date of the stamp show, names of the opera and designer name are featured on the selvage as well. A total of 18,000 sheets have been printed.

The Thailand 2018 world stamp exhibition will take place from 28th November to 3rd December in Bangkok. The Selvage on the right side of UNPA’s 2016 International Dance Day souvenir sheet of six $1.15 stamps featuring Thai dancers has been overprinted with name and dates of the exhibition. Designed by Marcos Chin of Canada, the overprinted sheets will be released on the first day of the event.

Image Courtesy: UNPA