I can't resist showing you at least one more flower set. And we're going even further afield this time, but again to a country from which I would normally never buy stamps: Bhutan. Although I must admit that I once got a lovely booklet with loads of Bhutan stamps in, some of them, especially the more tradionally Bhutanese ones rather than just depicting Van Gogh or what have you, were really nice. I'll see if I can rescue them from under a pile and show them to you next. But today it's rhododendrons I'm showing you. It's funny how such an ordinary plant can have so many fascinatingly beautiful varieties!
Nothing much to say about the stamps, really, I just enjoy them. Makes me feel good to just look at them.
Hope the same goes for you!:-)
Adrian
and this is my favourite of the lot I have, by the Scot Walter Hood Fitch:
Beautiful aren't they?!
Completely useless but they turned out to be quite nice, so I'm not displeased!
My favourite two of the four are the 3b Canna xgeneralis (a type of lily),
and especially the 3b Eucrosia bicolor, which is a Peruvian lily.
Note how the background colour comes from a different corner on each stamp. Nice touch. Maybe they were issued as a block of four in the sheet stamps. But mine came as singles so I can't tell you.
The higher values of the pre-decimal period are a separate group, because they are larger and printed in intaglio. There are only four values, but do take care that you include the right £1 stamp, the one with the elaborate pound sign.
On 15 February 1971, Britain goes decimal, resulting in a whole lot of new stamps. From now on, the pence values are indicated with a p.
The first group of decimal stamps runs to 1983 and includes a great deal of values, as this was a period of rampant inflation.
Seeing that so many new values are added and various types of stamps are being used (light head on gradated background, dark head on light background and light head on dark background)
A final major development is the reintroduction of the high values. In the 1980s, the 1977 set was replaced by stamps in a different design, but in 1999, high values revert to the Machin design. The stamps are still recess-printed (engraved by Czeslaw Slania) but are now issued in small format. In 2003, the high values were printed in gravure (with shiny Iriodin ink), but nowadays they are only available via Royal Mail’s philatelic bureau.
Is that it? No way, there is so much more! For starters, we have the Machin stamps from the regions: the Isle of Man, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. 
And once we’ve done the regions, we can go abroad, to Somaliland for example, where Machin stamps were overprinted for use there. When in 1990s Somaliland’s postal arrangements were put in place, the idea was to use British stamps with an overprint. This idea was abandoned however, for fear of Islamic lack of understanding. Therefore, new stamps were designed and printed by Harrison. These new stamps were not finished on time. An urgent need for stamps meant that the overprinted Machin stamps, which had already been printed, had to be used after all. They were withdrawn after a couple of days, after it emerged that reactions to them were indeed rather negative. Postally used stamps are now very scarce. 
and Hong Kong. The Hong Kong set is especially interesting, because the stamps are available in sheets, 
miniature sheets, 
booklets and coils. 
It is a letter card with a 35 heller stamp imprinted. As you can see from the close up, it is the portrait of the emperor as he looked then.
The ordinary sheet stamp does show the emperor too, but an earlier portrait was used, from 1878 rather than 1908. Interesting!
By the way, note that the 35 heller sheet stamp has a variety, which changed the emperor's name from Franciscus to 
It is the black "IPL in frame" overprint, used on Sumatra in the province of Palembang. I've tried for a few minutes to find out what IPL stands for, but no luck. Maybe something like Imperial Palembang? Answers on a postcard please! Anyway, this here is the small version. There's also a larger version but that was never used on Wilhelmina stamps, so that's one I do not have to collect! Phew! I do need to get the violet version though! Oh well...
A problem arose in that Elizabeth was far too busy to pose again, so the original photos had to be retouched. This proved rather hard to do, but in the end it proved possible to fiddle slightly with the frontal cross (remember?!), by making it stand more upright, thereby optically deluding the human mind into thinking the whole diadem was more upright. Everybody pleased.
Here, you have the two crosses side by side, for comparison.
Oh alright then, did you know there are two types of the 2.5d? No? Well, they're quite easy to distinguish. The ones in this pane are type II, and what you do to find out is look at the frontal cross of the diadem.
Now take a look at that same cross from type I.
As you can see, the top line on the cross only goes halfway on type I and goes all the way on type II.
I'm now working on the first one to go up, which is about Admiral de Ruyter. I hope to finish it tomorrow!
This issue is a mirror image of the 1957 issue, which marked the 350th anniversary of De Ruyter’s birth. That set was designed by Lou Strik (10c) and E. Thorn Leeson (30c). In those days, recess-printing would sometimes still be used by the Dutch and the set, printed by Enschedé, is a fine example of what can be achieved with that process. This holds especially true for the 30c value depicting the flagship. The detail on that stamp is very fine.
That same flagship was also included in a set of charity stamps issued in 1973. This set, designed by Sjoerd de Vries and Ab Gratama, is based on a shipping theme and has no further links to De Ruyter.
If we just stick to the watery theme for a little bit longer, we should also include the 5c of the 1944 Dutch definitives. The set has become known as the “London” set, as it was ordered by the Dutch government in exile in London. The stamps are recess-printed in England by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. Ltd. The 5c depicts the cruiser De Ruyter, obviously named after the Dutch naval hero. The stamp is designed by J.B. Romein and engraved by A. B. Hill.
The second commemorative item is the official FDC logo for this year. Very cleverly, the designs for the official Dutch FDCs, produced by the NVPH, the Dutch Association of Stamp Dealers, are based upon a central theme. Thus, in 2005, when Queen Beatrix celebrated her Silver Jubilee, all designs took the shape of her silhouette, and in 2006, when the 400th anniversary of Rembrandt’s birth was commemorated, the designs were in the shape of paint brush strokes. This year, to mark De Ruyter’s 400th birth anniversary, the official FDCs are based on a ship and even include a banner marking the event.
The last in the row of this year’s De Ruyter anniversary products is the issue of postage 
This cast iron statue, overlooking the sea, can be found in Vlissingen (Flushing), the town where Michiel de Ruyter was born in 1607. It is no coincidence that the statue can also be found on the Vlissingen sheetlet of the “Mooi Nederland” series, issued earlier this year. 
This miniature sheet is part of an ongoing series portraying scenic towns of the Netherlands. Another sheet from that series, based on The Hague, also has a deliberate reference to De Ruyter’s birth anniversary by incorporating the street sign “De Ruyterstraat”. 
The first time the Flushing statue was depicted on a stamp was in 1976. A single stamp was issued to mark the 300th anniversary of his death. The design by Walter Nikkels very successfully conveys the overpowering impression De Ruyter had on others by showing the statue from below.
One of De Ruyter’s earliest naval feats was to try and regain Dutch territory from the English in the 1660s. After the First Anglo-Dutch War, further conflicts of interest between the two maritime powers were battled out in North America. In 1664, the English had conquered Dutch territories, including Curaçao and New Amsterdam. Michiel de Ruyter, who was to work his way up from sailor to Lieutenant-Admiral-General (a rank created specially for him), was sent to the area to fight them. In 1666, he captured various English vessels and delivered supplies to the Dutch colony at St Eustatius. The conflict would later spill over into the Second Anglo-Dutch War, which, as mentioned in the beginning, would end with the Treaty of Breda, with various territories changing hands.
and the obelisk 
In Surinam, a set of stamps was issued in 1967 to mark the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Breda. The set depicts the castle where the treaty was negotiated and signed, as well as the territories involved in the exchange. 
All the Anglo-Dutch Wars and the Boer War centuries later could well have had a detrimental effect on how the Dutch regarded the English and this was a notion the Germans eagerly tried to exploit when occupying the Netherlands during World War II. In 1943 they ordered the issue of a set of definitives in the Netherlands, depicting various Dutch naval heroes who had fought against the English, thereby hoping to stir up any anti-British sentiment. However, it completely backfired, for all it did was evoke stronger patriotic feelings among the Dutch! Michiel de Ruyter was, of course, also included in that definitive set. That particular stamp, the 7½c, was designed and engraved by the well-known Dutch stamp designer Sem Hartz. It is printed in photogravure by Enschedé. There are two versions of the stamp. Type I has thick value and letters, with the word “NEDERLAND” touching the outer side frames of the design. 
There are a number of small plate flaws to collect, which mainly consist of extra dots on various parts of the design, e.g. just above the first “R” of “DE RUYTER”.
Michiel de Ruyter made his philatelic debut one century ago, in 1907. 
The design depicts De Ruyter and a naval fleet in action. The stamps, designed by W.A. Mouton and engraved by J. Walter, were printed in typography by Enschedé. This was only the second commemorative set issued in the Netherlands. 
Inadvertently, the portrait of Queen Wilhelmina was not incorporated in the design for that TB set. As laid down by law, all Dutch stamps with a value of three cents or higher had to bear the monarch’s portrait, and the set was made up of a 1c, 3c, and 5c! As no time was left to come up with new designs, a special Royal Decree had to be prepared to allow the issue to go ahead. In 1907, the Dutch postal authorities did not want to make the same mistake again and made sure that the De Ruyter set was made up of low values only. Consequently, the stamps were only valid for inland use.
On the 2½c a little line can be found between the two frame lines below the M. A second variety on that value is a white spot at the left end of the scroll bearing the word 1907.
A total of thirteen different postage due values were thus produced, ranging from ½c to 1g. The stamps were issued on 1 November 1907.
The flaw on the 2½c (the extra little line below the M) exists on the postage due versions as well, and that may well be the case for the other flaws too. 
There is also a constant variety of the overprint, consisting of a colon between the E and N of CENT on the 5c and 25c values. 
And with this set we’ve “battled through” a century of Michiel de Ruyter issues. With such a variety of stamps to be had, it is clear that there are many ways to set up a nice collection, from collecting the cheap and cheerful modern issues, easy to get and great to look at, to the more traditional way of collecting the 1907 issue, with the more challenging items to hunt down!
The empty stamp-size field was prone to be used for the forgery of stamps, so the Swiss PTT had to do something with those field. That's why they decided to punch a hole through them. Now, the thing with these holes is, that they exist in circular form, and in not really circular form. This one here, like the first image, is of the not circular type.
And here is a more carefully produced hole, lovely and circular.
I wonder whether more than one perforator was used, with either a circular or not circular pin, or whether the not circular hole was just a matter of deteriorating material. The latter could well be the case for later, a smaller hole was punched through the paper.
Countess Marthilda of Tuscany had only recently been widowed when she inadvertently dropped her wedding band in a well. Being the devout woman she was, she immediately started praying, and lo and behold, up came a trout from the well who gave her back her ring. "Well," exclaimed the lucky lass, "truly this place is a golden valley!" And so she decided to found an abbey on that very spot in the Val d'Or, which of course was morphed into Orval through the ages. The Orval coat of arms shows the trout rising upards, returning the ring, and that very same well can still be found in the grounds of the abbey.
depicts a 6th century BC vessel, and the 5d depicts
Argo, which I think is a wonderful ship! And thanks to Argo (named after its builder Argos) I came across 
