Six World Heritage Stamps Released by the UNPA

In August 3rd of 2017, the United Nations Postal Administration issued six new United Nations stamps depicting World Heritage sites at the American Philatelic Society’s StampShow’s 131st convention. The stamps were first unveiled during a ceremony on the 3rd at the the Greater Richmond Convention Center in Richmond, Virginia, scheduled for 2:00 PM.

What Do the United Nations Stamps Depict?

Designed by Sergio Baradat, the six stamps feature sites along the Silk Road, the once prosperous network of trade routes across Europe and Asia. Two stamps were issued in each of three different language to represent the different countries the United Nations Postal Administration is headquartered in.

The United States stamps are printed in English, depicting the Too Sacred Mountain in Kyrgyzstan and Longmen Grottoes in China. These sites are some of the world’s preeminent long-distance communication networks and stretch to about 4,660 miles.

The Austrian stamps are in German, with the Bazaar in Tabriz in Iran and the City of Safranbolu in Turkey.

The Swiss stamps were in French, depicting the Kunya-Urgench in Turkmenistan and the Historic Center of Bukhara in Uzbekistan.

Every stamp was priced at current market values for the time of release, the American stamps costing 34 and 49 cents each to match postcards and fire-class domestic mail values, respectively.

These new stamps are only available through direct market at StampShow 2017, available in two distinct formats. Collectors can buy each individual stamp in panes of 20 or in a prestige booklet. The booklet contained blocks of four for each of the six stamps along with additional photos of each World Heritage site and informative text explaining their significance.

How Did the United Nations Stamps Trend Start?

These six United Nations stamps were only the latest in a series of stamps depicting images of various United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage sites. Stamps like these were first issued in 1997, beginning with a depiction of the terracotta warriors of China. The trend has grown ever since to become a yearly event for the organization, much to the delight of collectors all over the world.

In addition to the United Nations stamps, the American Philatelic Society’s 2017 StampShow also featured many more great attractions over its three day length, open to the more than 30,000 APS members across the country. Rare stamps and dealers would be there to display the most valuable pieces in their collections. There was also a youth area for young children to play in while their parents explored the exhibits and attended presentations.

Conclusion

These United Nations stamps joined a long list of others in their series, depicting places of great cultural value around the world in an easy to obtain format as they debuted at StampShow 2017 on August 3rd to 6th. If you’d like to stay up to date on this and other stories, subscribe to our newsletter and always stay in the loop!