POSTEN ÅLAND AB
FRIMÄRKEN
PB 1100
AX-22111 MARIEHAMN
ÅLAND, Finland
Phone. +358 (0)18 636641
Fax. +358 (0)18 636608
E-mail: frimarken@posten.ax
In August, Åland Post will be issuing a miniature sheet as well as a stamp on the theme church windows. The Macau Post presents the Macau interpretation of the same theme in this joint issue.
Two nearly identical miniature sheets will be issued on 30 August, however, in two entirely different parts of the world. The miniature sheet motifs will be identical, but the perforations will differ. On the Åland sheet, the Åland stamp motif will be perforated, whereas the Macau motif will be perforated on the Macau issue.
Despite certain similarities between Åland and Macau, the culture and history differ completely. The differences become evident in the miniature sheets when the two postal administrations each present a church window. The Åland part of the miniature sheet (Church window I) shows a stained-glass window from the church of Jomala, created by the artist Ture Bengtz.
Apart from the miniature sheet, the Åland post issues a stamp on the same theme (Church window II) presenting a different section of the same stained-glass window. Only one first day cancel will be used for the two first day covers also appearing on the day of issue.
Date of issue 30 August 2010
Artist Ture Bengtz
Design Cecilia Mattsson
Photographer Robert Jansson
Editions I,Miniature sheet: 100,000
II, Stamp: 180,000
Denominations €1.60 (I, miniature sheet)
€0.80 (II, stamp)
Price FDC €2.15 (I, miniature sheet)
€1.35 (II, stamp)
Size of I, miniature sheet 105 x 70 mm
Size of II, stamp 30 x 40 mm
Size of sheet (II) 2 x 12 stamps
Perforation 13/per 2 cm
Paper 105 g/m²
Printing method 4-colour offset
Printing house LM Group
This year’s My Stamp issue offers a piece of news – a gummed sheet holding eight stamps. The stamp is an action-packed photo of a boy sailing a Laser Radial.
Several yacht clubs are registered in Åland, two of which are Mariehamns seglarförening r.f. (sailing club MSF) and Ålands segelsällskap r.f. (yachting club ÅSS). Both clubs are located in Mariehamn and have a long history: MSF was founded in 1917 and ÅSS in 1897.
In the stamp by photographer Daniel Eriksson we see a Laser Radial. The Laser boats come in three variants: 4.7, Radial and Standard. A Radial has the same hull as a Standard but a smaller mast and sail, and it is therefore better suited for young sailors. The Laser Radial is a small singlehanded dinghy with a mainsail area of 5.76 m².
As of this year, the My Stamps issue will be changed from a self-adhesive booklet to a gummed sheet of eight stamps. You can still order your own self-designed stamps at www.posten.ax. Just like before, your photography will be placed within the official frame of the Post.
The stamp is sold solely in complete sheets of 8 stamps. A complete sheet will also be included in the Year Set.
Date of issue 12 June 2010
Photographer Daniel Eriksson
Denomination Europa (€0.85)
Price sheet €6.80 (8 stamps)
Price FDC €1.40
Size of stamp 28.8 x 43.2 mm
Size of sheet 144 x 105 mm, 8 x 1 stamp
Perforation 13 per 2 cm
Paper 135 g/m2
Printing method 4-colour offset + UV print
Åland Post continues its series of postal stationery cards created by Åland designers. Minna Rundberg has designed the cards this year.
Artist and designer Minna Rundberg from Jomala, Åland, started her career as a graphic designer in the advertising business. She has also worked in marketing and at a daily paper. Having completed her training in wood and metal crafts, she did smithwork for a while, before starting her own company Minna Rundberg ARTDESIGN in 2002. She now designs patterns to be printed on textiles, trays, jugs, glasses and tablecloths. In 2009, her company invited several new partners, and Minna now concentrates on exporting her products to Finland and Sweden. Other parts of Europe will follow next.
Minna found designing the three postal stationery cards enriching.
“I took out all my various patterns since 2002 and began to reflect until I suddenly had an overall picture.”
Minna has named the series Signum (signature).
“It’s all about the description of me. I have always signed my designs, and I find it important that the customer knows that he or she bought an original. My signature has become a distinctive mark as well, and is today part of my trademark. The postal stationery cards are designed as a collage, reflecting my distinctive character during this time period.”
Among all the patterns included in the card designs, we also find one which Minna has not yet launched.
“It’s the coil on the blue card. I was inspired by smithwork and plan to launch the new pattern sometime this summer.”
Date of issue 10 May 2010
Artist Minna Rundberg
Edition 3 x 13000
Price Postal stationery card €1.85
Series of postal stationery €5.55
Sizes 150 x 150 mm
Paper Silk 300 g
Printing method 4-colour offset + partial UV lacquer
Printing house Waasa Graphics
Model van no. 22, a Ford Escort Van from the early 1970s, will be released in May. The 1:43 scale model van has a limited edition of 5500 vans. The van is decorated with the stamp ‘MS Prinsessan’. Model van no. 22 costs €15.20.
In connection with the issue of the 2010 passenger ferry stamps, the Post presents a new collector’s product, an album holding ferry pre-sentation sheets with old photos and extra information about the ferries, and with the stamps cancelled with the first day cancel. The ferry series will be issued 2009–2014. If you start a subscription for the presentation sheets, your first delivery will include the sheets presenting the passenger ferries Newbuilding and Viking (2009 issues), Prinsessan and Skandia (2010 issues) as well as an album adapted for the presentation sheets.
You will continue to receive future presentation sheets as the ferry stamps are issued. All sheets may be easily inserted in your album.
After the three-part theme of Nordic Mythology, the time has now come for a new exciting theme for the joint Nordic stamp issues – the North by the Sea. The sub-theme for the 2010 Nordic miniature sheet is Life at the Coast, and, together with Juha Pykäläinen, the Åland Post has chosen to picture a beautiful summer’s day at Kobba Klintar. Like in previous years, a joint presentation pack holding all eight miniature sheets issued by the Nordic postal administrations will also be issued. You can order the miniature sheet as well as the Nordic Set in
the Post’s web shop
A new motif for the Åland FRAMA labels will be published in March. Allan Palmer is the artist for the new as well as for the previous motif on the theme spar buoys.
In 2009, the labels depicted the old system of spar buoys, or seamarks as they are also called. In 2010, the internationally used system A will be featured. A system B, in which certain details are reversed compared to buoyage system A, also exists and is used by the USA and Australia, among others.
The postal label shows cardinal buoys (painted in horizontal yellow and black stripes) as well as lateral buoys indicating starboard hand (green) and port hand (red).
“The buoys illustrated on the labels have top marks. In reality, top marks are optional and not commonly used this far north, since the ice is likely to destroy them. Instead, the top marks are removed, a fact which sometimes makes it difficult to distinguish the buoys in hard weather or difficult light conditions”, the artist Allan Palmer explains.
Date of issue: 1 March 2010
Artist: Allan Palmer
Denominations Tariffs: 0,75 0,80 0,85 0,90
Price of series Tariffs: €3,30
Price FDC: €3,85
Size: 40.00 x 30.34 mm
Paper: Fluorescens, 105 g/m²
Printing methods: 5-colour offset
Printing house: Post Danmark
On 4 January 2010, 150 years have passed since the artist Victor Westerholm was born. As the founder of an artist colony in Önningeby, Åland, he became quite a significant artist and is now commemorated by the issue of a stamp featuring one of his works.
Having initially studied at the drawing school of the Turku Art Society, Finno-Swedish Victor Westerholm moved to Düsseldorf at the end of the 1870s to study at the Academy of Art. Through his acquaintance with an Åland painter in Düsseldorf, Westerholm became interested in Åland and, in 1884, he bought a small house close to the Lemström Canal in Lemland. Two years later, Westerholm invited his artist friends Fredrik Ahlstedt, Hanna Rönnberg, Elin Danielson, JAG Acke and Alexander Federley to stay with him and this was the start of the Önningeby Artist Colony.
The first six years, 1886–1892, were the most intensive years in the history of the Önningeby Artist Colony. During these years, Elin Danielson and JAG Acke, among others, painted on a continuous basis in Önningeby, and more and more artists joined the colony in the following years.
The stamp shows Westerholm’s painting ‘Mail Jetty at Eckerö’ from 1883. On the first day cover and on the stamp sheet, Victor Westerholm’s drawing in Indian ink ‘From Mariehamn, Eastern harbour’ from 1891.
Date of issue: 4 January 2010
Artist: Victor Westerholm
Edition: 200 000
Denomination: Europa (€0.80)
Price FDC: €1.35
Size of stamp: 40 x 26 mm
Size of sheet: 2 x 16 stamps
Perforation: 13 per 2 cm
Paper: 110 g/m²
Printing method: 4-colour offset
Printing house: Cartor Security Printing
Åland stamps celebrate their 25th anniversary in 2009. We focus on the anniversary by issuing a jubilee book.
In the book, you can read about the historical background leading up to the issue of the first stamps in 1984, about the making of a new Åland stamp and printing methods as well as about particularly popular stamps. Some of the most considerable stamp artists are also presented in the book, which has a total of 36 pages.
The jubilee book even holds the following 13 older stamps mounted in pockets: Åland flag (1984), von Willebrand’s disease (1994), Heparin (1994), Åland autonomy 75 years (1997), Wire-haired Dachshund (2001), My Åland – Lill Lindfors (2002), ‘Tovis’ the cat (2003), My Åland – Björn Borg (2005), Seven-spot ladybird (2006), Lighthouse Marhällan (2008), Lighthouse Bogskär (2008), Lighthouse Gustaf Dalén (2008) and Lighthouse Kökarsören (2008).
The book is authored by Linda Wiktorsson, and the texts in Swedish and English are interspersed with photos from our archives as well as newer stamp photos and illustrations. A separate translation will be available in German and Finnish. The limited edition is 1500, all of which are individually numbered by hand. The book will be out in November and costs €32.00.
Every other year, the Post publishes a book holding all the stamps issued during the previous two years and a number of interesting articles illuminating the Åland nature, culture, history and society. In October, it’s time again!
Even this year, the Åland Post cooperates with the Åland advertising agency April, which is responsible for text as well as layout. The texts are mainly in Swedish with a résumé in Finnish, English and German. A French résumé will be enclosed for our French customers.
'Ålands frimärken berättar 2008–2009' is one hundred pages crammed with information and beautifully illustrated with lovely colour pictures. The book contains all the stamps and postal labels issued during 2008 and 2009. The face value totals €51.40 and the price of the book is €55.
In the book, you can this year read about the introduction of electricity in Åland, about everyday life of a sailor’s wife and about the traditional peasant wedding. Many of the artists, who designed the stamps of the latest two years, are also presented in the book.
The book will be issued in October and can be obtained from Åland Post!
Customer Service, French
"I find it inspiring to cooperate with collectors from around the world"
Production Unit
"We do our best to comply with the special requests of our customers"
