MAY-JUNE 2016 Issue # 433

On 3 March 2016 Luxembourg

issued the stamp shown at right

to mark the 10th anniversary of

the CET —Centre for Equal Treatment. Its purpose is “to

promote, analyze and monitor

equal treatment between all

people, without discrimination

on the basis of race or ethnic

origin, gender, sexual orienta-

tion, religion or beliefs, disability

or age. It lends assistance to people who feel they have been

the victims of discrimination by

providing them with an advice

and guidance service.”

The CET is part of a larger Euro-

pean initiative called the Euro-

pean Network of Equality Bod-ies -- Equinet. Their website is

equineteurope.org.

Equinet brings together 45

organizations from 33 Euro-

pean countries, which are

empowered to counteract discrimination . It “promotes

equality in Europe through

supporting and enabling the

work of national equality

bodies. It supports equality

bodies to be independent

and effective as valuable cat-

alysts for more equal socie-ties.” ▬

WHAT'S IN THIS ISSUE

ARTICLES"The Drexler Affair" ……………………. 10-13

EUROPA 1958 (The Luster Chronicles) 16-18

"Toilers of the Sea" …………………….. 20

Where is Sanda Island? ………………. 14

DEPARTMENTSEditor's Page...…..…...….………...……. 19

Catch-Up ……………….…………………….. 12

New Issues: EUROPA 2016 ………....…. 2-4

New Issues: EuroMed 2015 ………….……5

New Issues: norden 2016 ………….…… 4

New Issues: sepac 2016 ………...……… 5

New Issues: Genera l ……………..…….. 1,5-

9,20

New Issues: with Scott #s ………..……. 15

FEATURES

Auction #134 Insert

Handbook Update: sepac 2015 Insert

MAY-JUNE 2016 433-2

New Issues

Europa 2016 "Ecology in Europe - Think Green"

v = value(s) ms= mini-sheet ss = souvenir sheet

The Europa Blogspot reports that the following countries will not be issuing Europa stamps this year: Great Britain, Greenland, Russia

FRANCE 1v Issue date 9 May 2016

CZECH REPUBLIC 1v Issue date 4 May 2016

NETHERLANDS 2v se-tenant in ms of 10 stamps each, as shown Issue date 25 April 2016

LUXEMBOURG 1v Issue date 10 May 2016

MONACO 1v Issue date 9 May 2016

SPAIN 1v self adhesive Spanish ANDORRA 1v Issue date 22 April 2016 Issue date 22 April 2016

AUSTRIA1v Issue date 14 May 2016

SWITZERLAND 2v Issue date 12 May 2016

We do not have a valid email address on file for these members:

Michael Lamothe

Tom Ledford

Patricia Perrella Please send a valid email address to me at droper729@gmail.com so that I can notify you when the EN has been posted to the website. Thanks!

MAY-JUNE 2016 433-3

GIBRALTAR 2v in ms of 8 stamps Issue date 30 March 2016

New Issues

Europa 2016 "Ecology in Europe - Think Green"

v = value(s) ms= mini-sheet ss = souvenir sheet

JERSEY 2v in ms of 10 stamps each, part of a set of 4 stamps Issue date 3 May 2016

BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA (Croat) 1v issued in ms of 8 w/2 labels, and in a ss of 2v (shown below) Issue date 5 April 2016

Best guess is that Lighthouse will provide a space for a single stamp and for the souvenir sheet

SERBIA 2v Issue date 5 May 2016 The evolved man knows to recy-cle

IRELAND 2v Issue date 12 May 2016

Where is it greener than the Emerald Isle?

GUERNSEY 1v Issue date 6 May 2016

Printed in a ms of 10 stamps:

The next EN is expected to be a blockbuster issue, when we should see a lot more of the yearly EUROPAs announced. In addition, we will publish the Handbook update for Europa 2015. In the meantime, Alex has posted what we have as of now on the website, but there are still missing catalog num-bers. Scott has been very slow in getting all of these listed. Hopefully we’ll be complete by next issue, and of course the website will be kept current.

MAY-JUNE 2016 433-4

New Issues

Europa 2016 "Ecology in Europe - Think Green"

v = value(s) ms= mini-sheet ss = souvenir sheet

SLOVAKIA 1v issued as a reg-ular stamp, and also self-adhesive in a booklet of 6., both shown below.

Issue date 5 May 2016

Best guess is that these are listed as two separate stamps, and that album makers provide a space for each.

MOLDOVA 2v issued in a ms of 3 sets printed se-tenant as shown below: Issue date 5 April 2016

Best guess is that album makers include a space for the complete sheet of 3 sets, treating it as a souvenir sheet.

Norden 2016 “Nordic Food Culture”

SWEDEN 1v from a set of 5, issued in booklets of 10 stamps (2 sets)

Issue date 17 March 2016

NORWAY 2v +ss (shown) that incorpo-rates those 2 stamps

Issue date 15 April 2016

Kr 14,00: Lan-goustine on spruce Kr 14,00: Atlan-tic cod on beet-root barley ri-sotto

MAY-JUNE 2016 433-5

New Issues

GERMANY 1v Issue date 11 February 2016 25 years European emergency number 112

112 is the toll-free emergency num-ber widely used throughout Europe. It is similar to 911 in the USA. Feb-ruary 11 (11.2) was declared Europa Emergency Number Day by the Council of Europe in 2007.

HUNGARY 1v Issue date 7 September 2015 Albert Einstein

One hundred years ago Albert Einstein presented his new rela-tivistic gravitational field equa-tions to the Prussian Academy of Sciences at its meeting on 25 November 1915, and thus his general theory of relativity was born.

Einstein was an advocate of the Pan-European movement start-ed in 1922 by Austrian Count Coudenhove-Kalergi .

POLAND 2v printed in minia-ture sheets of 6v (shown) Issue date 15 January 2016 European Handball Federation (EHF) Men's Handball Champi-onship

The European Men's Handball Championship is the official competition for senior men's national handball teams of Eu-rope, and takes place every two years. In addition to crowning the European champions, the tournament also serves as a qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games and World Championship.

The 2016 EHF Europe-an Men's Handball Championship was the twelfth edition and was held for the first time in Poland from 15–31 January 2016. Ger-many won their second title by beating Spain 24–17 in the final.

Poland calls this 2 stamps, be-cause they are counting only the circular portion of the designs. If the entire squares are consid-ered, the designs are slightly dif-ferent based on the position of the hands. Recommendation: collect the full sheets.

Forward Calendar 8 November ESTONIA 25th Anniversary of the Baltic Assembly (joint issue)

BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA (Serbian) 2v Issue date 23 September 2015 European Nature Protection (ECY)

Water Lilly Swamp Nettle

EuroMed 2015 “Boats”

GREECE 1v 9 July 2015 Scott #2692

Sepac 2016 “Seasons”

GUERNSEY 1v from a set of 4v depicting all 4 seasons Issue date 25 May 2016

Obviously, the sepac stamp de-picts autumn. Guernsey claims to be one of the sunniest places in the British Isles.

MAY-JUNE 2016 433-6

New Issues

v = value(s) ms= mini-sheet ss = souvenir sheet

RUSSIA 1v issued in sheets of 12 Issue date 2 February 2016 20th anniversary of Russia’s accession to the Council of Europe

From the Russia Post website: “The Council of Europe, founded in 1949, is the conti-nent’s largest human rights organization comprising 47 states, 28 of which are European Union members. Its headquarters is in Strasbourg, France.

“The Council of Europe was created to protect human rights, build parliamentary democracy, ensure the rule of law, achieve pan-European understanding aimed at harmonizing social and judicial practice in member-states, assist nations in recognizing European origi-nality and unity based on common cultural values and involving preservation and promoting culture diversity.

“The Russian Federation became a member of the Council of Europe on 28 February 1996.”

Given Vladimir Putin’s actions in recent years, it’s hard to square these against the stated objectives.

ISLE OF MAN 1v issued as part of a set of 8 stamps (shown) commemorating the 150th anni-versary of the Royal Aeronautical Society Issue date 12 January 2016

Concorde SuperSonic Aircraft From the Isle of Man Post Office website: “A specially commissioned set of eight stamps cap-turing mankind's exploration to the skies and be-yond in high definition depict the evolution of aer-onautics and great aeronautical achievements from the first hydrogen balloon flight in 1784 to the fourth generation of the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 tur-bofan engine. The stamps incorporate an ingenious selective varnish and metallic over-layered print technique, adding shine and lustre to the set.”

On the same date, the Isle of Man Post Office issued a special commemorative envelope, described as follows: “A stunning limited edition cover to mark the 40th anniversary of the first ever commercial Concorde flight. This special envelope, which is in a limited edition of 500, features images of Concorde’s first commercial flight taking off on 21st January 1976 and the very last touchdown on 23rd November 2003. - See more at: https://www.iompost.com/stamps-coins/collection/”

KYRGYZSTAN 1v issued in ms of 4 with border scene (shown) Issue date 2 September 2015 750th Anniversary of the Birth of Dante Alighieri

A world-famous poet with political ambitions, Dan-te strongly held that “A Universal Monarchy or Em-pire, distinctly separated from the Church, was nec-essary for the proper government of mankind.” However, as a practical politician, Dante was a fail-ure. Still, he is often included in Europa collections as an advocate of European unity.

MAY-JUNE 2016 433-7

New Issues

CENTRAL AFRICA 2ss CA-15312a/b Issue date 21 September 2015 European Football (Soccer) Championships 2016 and 2018 World Cup

UEFA Soccer Championships: EURO 2016

FRANCE 11v self-adhesive, issued in souvenir booklets and miniature sheets, as shown below Issue date 2 April 2016 (trophy) Issue date 3 March 2016 (cities)

In addition to the trophy stamp, ten stamps were issued in a common format, celebrating each of the cities that will be hosting the games. Shown be-low is one of these, for the host town of Toulouse:

The 53 matches will be held in 10 cities: Paris, Saint Denis (Stade de France), Marseille, Nice, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lyon, Saint-Etienne, Lille and Lens.

CYPRUS (Turkish Post) 2v Issue date 25 February 2016

From La Poste:

“This stamp … brings together

three symbols of the competi-

tion; the trophy, the ball and the

official logo of the competition,

and has 4 innovations:

1) A round format, for the first

time, 24 stars in the perfora-

tion (24, as the 24 competing

teams)

2) A silver ink which gives a me-

tallic look to the trophy

3) An embossing gives a round-ed appearance and embossed

ball

4) The smell of freshly cut grass.

“The final phase of the European

Football Championship, hosted

in France from 10 June to 10 July

2016, brings together the 24

best European teams, including

the team of France.”

The trophy stamp is issued in sheets of 5 stamps, as shown

below:

MAY-JUNE 2016 433-8

SIERRA LEONE 2ss SL-15720a/b Issue date 21 December 2015 Tour de ’France

The 2015 race began in Utrecht (Netherlands), then went through Belgium into France. The 2015 winner was Chris Froome of Great Britain.

TOGO 2ss TG-15509a/b Issue date 18 December 2015 25th Anniversary of German Unification

MOZAMBIQUE 2ss MZ-15419a/b Issue date 15 October 2015 25th Anniversary of German Unification

New Issues

MALDIVE IS ss MV-16007a Issue date 18 January 2016 British Trains

The Eurostar is peeking out be-tween the two large locos at the top.

DJIBOUTI 2ss DJ-16213a/b Issue date 15 March 2016 European Football (Soccer) Championships, France

MAY-JUNE 2016 433-9

Catch Up

v = value(s) ms= mini-sheet ss = souvenir sheet

GREECE 3v + ss Issue date 29 May 2015 European Maritime Day

The ss was included in the program book for the European Sea Ports Conference (ESPO) held 29-31 May 2015 European Maritime Day is celebrated annually in Europe around 20 May. The EMD Conference welcomes Europe's growing maritime community to discuss, debate and exchange best practices. The seas and oceans, and the opportunities they offer, are at the heart of the discus-sions. The 2015 Conference was held in Piraeus, Greece. The 2016 conference will be held in an old locomotive hall called Logomo in Turku, Finland, on 18 and 19 May 2016.

The souvenir program book is shown to the right. ————>

AUSTRIA 1v Issue date 18 September 2015 20 Years Alps/Adriatic Sea Phi-lately

The idea behind this collabora-tion is to foster contacts be-tween philatelists in different countries and to exchange ideas and experiences as well as to support each other in philatelic projects. Another common goal is to attract young people to this fascinating subject. — from the Austria Post website

I was not sure if this was Europa-related, but on second reading decided that it is. Philatelic Exhi-bitions are held annually throughout central Europe. The venue for 2015 was Poellau, Austria. The 2016 exhibition will be in Szombathely, Hungary. Previous exhibitions were held in Switzerland (2014), Italy (2013) and Slovenia (2012). The Slove-nia exhibit was held in conjunc-tion with that years celebration of Maribor as a European Capital of Culture (see EN# 411-16).

Above is the first day cancel, which also shows the group’s logo. See their web-site at www.alpeadria.eu/.

MAY-JUNE 2016 433-10

“It was a dark and stormy night.”

Well, actually it wasn’t. But it was

late. BALPEX had finished for the

day. Don Smith and I were hav-

ing dinner in the hotel restau-

rant when Don passed me a folder. The tab was marked “The

Drexler Affair”. Sounded omi-

nous, like a script for The Man

from U.N.C.L.E., that long ago TV

show.

Let’s see:

Robin Crowley as Napoleon Solo

Donald Smith as Illya Kuryakin

Paul Drexler as the Agent from

THRUSH

Henri Langlois as ….

OK, let’s not get carried away.

Would I be interested in perus-

ing the contents and perhaps

writing an article, Don won-

dered? Well, of course. Anything

for an article. So, I perused. And learned a lot about some of the

early happenings with the ESU.

Fascinating stuff, which I hope

you will find of interest as well.

First, a bit of backstory. Europa

as a topic was gaining rapidly in

popularity by 1959, when the

ESU was formed by Robin Crow-

ley. 1960 was the breakthrough

year.

It was 1960 when the European

Conference of Postal and Tele-

communications Administrations

(CEPT) was formed. With that,

the number of countries issuing

Europa stamps went from six to

19, and the topic took off. With that came the inevitable Philatel-

ic Exhibitions devoted to the

topic.

Arguably the most publicized

and remembered of these was

the London Exhibition STAMPEX

1961 held in March of that year.

A special souvenir sheet (shown below) was produced for the

show showing some of the re-

jected designs for the 1960 an-

nual issue, and the accepted de-

sign – the famous “Wheel with

19 spokes” by Pentti Rahikainen

of Finland.

The sheet had no postal value,

being purely philatelic, but most

Europa collectors wanted it for

their collections.

Next in prominence would be

EUROPA 61, held in Naples, Italy, in September. A non-postal sou-

venir sheet (shown below) was

prepared for that show as well,

and “EUROPA ××” has become

an annual event, with a philatelic

souvenir sheet produced for

each show.

It is in this atmosphere that our

story begins.

The first document in the Drexler

folder is undated, sent from

Robin to the directors, most

likely in early 1961. It is quite

lengthy and marked PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL, but I will take

responsibility for de-classifying

the substance and redacting

some of the particulars. (Note:

since this predates email, none

of this would have been on Hil-

lary’s private server.)

Robin said in the memo that he was approached by Mr. Paul

Drexler and that they had sever-

al conversations, culminating in

the plan to host a show.

The Early Years: The Drexler Affair — Dana Roper

Naples EUROPA 61 Exhibition Souvenir Sheet London STAMPEX 1961 Exhibition Souvenir Sheet

D.R.E.X.L.E.R

MAY-JUNE 2016 433-11

“Mr. Drexler proposes to organ-

ize a EUROPA exhibition in New

York in the spring of 1962, … to

be called EUROPEX. Mr. Drexler is one of the early members of

the ESU, a part-time dealer spe-

cializing in higher class and unu-

sual material.

An incorporated company, un-

der the presidency of Mr.

Drexler, will pay all costs.” Robin

was adamant that neither the

ESU or its officers would bear

any legal or financial responsibil-

ity for the show, and asked Paul

why he wanted the ESU specifi-cally. Paul candidly replied that

he needed a respectable ‘front’

which the ESU would provide.

As Robin laid out the plan he got to the issue of the souvenir

sheet. He said that Paul Drexler

“will produce a EUROPEX souve-

nir sheet, like the London

Stampex sheet and the recent

Italian sheet. The Council of Eu-

rope has welcomed this idea most warmly, and has offered to

supply a large choice of suitable

subjects (emphasis mine).”

Mr. Drexler promised to print

enough sheets so that specula-

tion would not be a problem,

and that a special post office would be set up. There was even

talk of a special EUROPA flight,

but I cannot verify whether that

ever occurred. Robin then went

on to praise Paul Drexler’s initia-

tive, and recommended that the

ESU bless the venture. That obvi-

ously happened, and the souve-nir sheet depicted below was

produced. A couple of copies of

this sheet, including an elusive

“specimen” copy, are offered

in the current auction.

In EN 31-4, Robin reported that

EUROPEX was held in the Crystal

Room of the Sheraton Atlantic

Hotel in New York City on 3-4

March, and was “an extremely

high class and successful exhibi-

tion”. The Council of Europe supplied many non-competitive

exhibits, and 43 ESU members

exhibited. A special gold award

went to Mr. Jacques Rogers, au-

thor of one of the first compre-

hensive Europa catalogs (the

other being D’Urso).

So, everything went swimmingly,

and that’s that. Well, not exactly.

First off, another version of the

sheet emerged, overprinted

“September 17, 1962”. I have no

documentation whatever for

this, and Don couldn’t remem-

ber anything about it. This ver-sion is also shown below. Robin

does not reference it in any

communication I have found, so

its origin is a mystery. Was there

another exhibition? If so, I have

no record of it.

The next exhibit approved, if

that’s the word, by the ESU was

the 1963 INTERPEX show, also

held in New York in the spring.

This time the EUROPA exhibits

were a subset of the overall show.

The INTERPEX group issued two

special commemorative sheets for the ESU’s participation in the

show, shown on the next page.

The sheets show the common

designs up to that point, with

the red showing low values and

the blue showing high values.

The Early Years: The Drexler Affair — cont’d

The first EUROPEX sheets. The origin of the overprinted sheet is a mystery.

MAY-JUNE 2016 433-12

Your humble editor was a Euro-

pa collector at this point, and if

memory serves there were a

number of other INTERPEX sou-

venirs printed at the time as

well. The quality is not quite up to that of other shows, but they

were tacitly endorsed by the ESU

since there was active participa-

tion.

At this point Robin and the oth-

er directors were making it clear

that no more non-postal materi-

al should be produced or en-

dorsed by the ESU, as they felt

(rightfully so) that there was get-

ting to be a glut of such stuff.

So enter Paul Drexler once

again. This time around Paul

simply took it on himself to ar-

range a second Europa exhibi-

tion in 1964, complete with sou-venirs. This totally blindsided

Robin Crowley, who went pre-

dictably ballistic.

Regardless, Paul went ahead and printed two new souvenir sheets,

one in blue and another in

green, promoting a NATO-like

Atlantic Alliance and citing the

ESU as sponsor. These new

sheets are shown below. Ads for

them appeared in European

stamp papers and in Linns.

Robin indicated in an internal

memo that this was the first he’d

learned of it. Consequently, he

exhorted the directors to cen-sure Mr. Drexler and reject his

latest application for member-

ship. They concurred and Paul

Drexler became the first (and to

this day, only) member to be

expelled from the Unit. In subse-

quent memos, Robin also lob-

bied to have him declared per-sona non grata from the ATA and

APS as well.

Furthermore, Robin had Don

Smith, who was now Executive Secretary, notify producers of

Europa catalogs (notably D’Urso)

that these sheets were spurious

and should not be listed. They

agreed.

The upshot is that these sheets

do show up here and there, but

they have nothing whatever to

do with the ESU. That said, I do

think that they provide an inter-

esting bit of history, and might be included in a collection with

that proviso.

The Early Years: The Drexler Affair — cont’d

The 1963 INTERPEX Souvenir Sheets

The bogus EUROPA Exhibition Souvenir Sheets

MAY-JUNE 2016 433-13

Whether the exhibit actually oc-

curred is not clear, but Don had

a cover cancelled in April 1964

that would indicate that some-thing happened (the evidence is

shown at right).

Quite a few letters were ex-

changed between Robin Crowley

and Paul Drexler after this action

was taken, and I found my hair

singing as I read them. Robin

was not one to mince words,

and the language got quite col-orful. Needless to say, Robin was

unmoved by any argument

Drexler put forth and his expul-

sion stood.

* * * *

No tale such as this can go with-

out an epilogue. Another letter

appeared in Don’s folder, dated 31 December 1976, by Paul

Drexler asking for re-

instatement to the Unit. Put

simply, the answer was no.

So that’s that? Well, almost. One

more letter was in the folder,

this one dated 28 July 2002.

(That’s right. A quarter century

later!) The letter is from Don

Smith to Hank Klos, executive

secretary at the time. Don’s ea-gle eye noticed that a Paul E.

Drexler was applying for mem-

bership in the APS.

Don wrote “I highly suspect that

this may be the Paul E. Drexler

that the ESU expelled in the ear-

ly ‘60s. At that time our Paul Drexler was a young man in col-

lege and I later learned that he

had gone to The Hague to study

International Law.

“The APS reports that their Paul

Drexler is 61 and a lawyer so the

time and occupation fit.”

Don was concerned that Hank

Klos may not recall the circum-

stances of 40 years ago and

might solicit Paul Drexler for

membership in the ESU. Don’s message: don’t do that.

From Don’s last note it is appar-

ent that Paul Drexler was (is?)

quite an accomplished and tal-ented individual.

My own purely personal per-

spective is that it’s a real shame

that he and Robin couldn’t come

to terms back in 1962. He tried a

couple of times to get back into

the Unit, but Robin was having none of it. So, “the moving fin-

ger writes, and having writ,

moves on …. “ ▬

The Early Years: The Drexler Affair — cont’d

A cover purportedly cancelled at the non-sanctioned EUROPA Exhibit. Note the European-style date and British spelling of the NATO cachet in the lower left.

Footnote: Illustrated on the left is a parody sheet making fun of the number of unofficial Europa items floating around at the time. The inscription says that this sheet is so speculative that it sold out before it was even announced. The sheet was also printed in red. This kind of thing shows up on eBay now and then.

MAY-JUNE 2016 433-14

Besides EUROPEX (see related

article), Don mentioned that he

had some items from “Sanda

Island, wherever that is” for the current auction. I can answer

that, but first, let me explain

what these are.

Back in the 60s, the Commodore

Shipping Company produced a

few carriage labels, which cov-

ered the cost of delivering par-

cels from some of the islands

around Britain (e.g., Guernsey,

Alderney, Sark) to the mainland. An enterprising fellow named

Gerald Rosen saw the potential

in these, and started issuing

them as “Local postage stamps”.

Royal Mail insisted that these be

placed on the backs of enve-

lopes, as they were not real

postage, but no matter, they be-

came popular and were collect-

ed in their own right. Conse-quently, these started showing

up with the names of almost

every little parcel of land in the

British Isles. Entrepreneur that he

was, Rosen was quick to get on

the Europa bandwagon, and so

these labels soon appeared with

“Europa” overprinted on them.

Rosen produced his own catalog

of these issues, which is availa-ble from the APS Library. It is

long out of print, and most likely

now in the public domain. A few

years ago I checked it out, and

prepared a checklist of just

those labels having to do with

Europa. That list, with the Rosen numbers, is available off the

Members website. Simply go to

the Members area, scroll down

to Checklists, and you’ll see it.

If you’re reading online, just click here: www.europastudyunit.org/member/checklists/Channel%20Islands%20Locals%20-%20by%20name.pdf

Now, back to Don’s question.

The cover of the Rosen catalog

is reproduced here, and it shows

the locations of all the islands for which he produced labels.

Sanda is west of the Scottish

mainland, northeast of Northern

Ireland. Just a small dot of land,

it is now privately owned and

actually for rent.

A related article on this topic

appeared in EN# 356 (Jul-Aug

2003) and an expanded version

can be found on our website.

Click on this link www.europastudyunit.org/Cinderellas.htm

or bring up our website, scroll

down to the bottom of the main

page (i.e., the first page, not the

members area) and click on

“Europa-related cinderella is-sues”.

I have a number of these items

in my own collection, so I could

be bidding as well. Don doesn’t

play favorites. ▬

Where In the World is Sanda Island? — Dana Roper

MAY-JUNE 2016 433-15

NEW ISSUES

WITH

Scott CATALOG NUMBERS - Don Smith

From Linn’s <— March & April —>

Special Editions

= position in proposed new HB outline (ref. EN# 404-12)

COUNTRY SCOTT # DATE OF ISSUE DESCRIPTION * Aland 371-2 3-Sep-15 Jewelry. joint issue w/Switzerland 1568-9 EN 430-5 3b Croatia 971 4-Sep-15 European Men’s Basketball Championships EN 430-6 3c Cyprus 1239 9-Jul-15 EuroMed EN 429-5 3b Denmark 1732-4 4-Jan-16 Norden 2016 (1732 se-ten. pair; 1723-4 self-adhesive 1b EN 430-4 Great Britain 3409-15 18-Jun-15 Napoleon (Battle of Waterloo) 4c Greece 2684 11-May-15 Europa 2015 (se-tenant pair, 2684f a booklet) 1 Greece 2685-6 20-May-15 European Seaports Organization Conference EN 433-9 3a Greece 2687 20-May-15 European Maritime Day EN 433-9 3a Greece 2692 9-Jul-15 EuroMed (2692b booklet of 2) EN 433-5 3b Greenland 700 13-May-15 Sepac EN 428-3 1c Greenland 701-4 13-May-15 Europa 2015 (703-4 self-adhesives, 704a booklet) 1 Hungary 4365 7-Sep-15 Einstein (proponent of Pan-Europe) 4a Ireland 2071-2 14-May-15 Europa 2015 1 Italy 3302-3 9-May-15 Europa 2015 1 Jersey 1835, 1837 24-Mar-15 Europa 2015 1 Jersey 1882 10-Jul-15 Winston Churchill (ss) 4a Isle of Man 1765b 12-Jan-16 Concorde EN 433-6 3b Kosovo 279-81 4-May-15 Europa 2015 (281 ss) 1 Liechtenstein 1672-3 7-Mar-16 Europa 2016 (1673 self-adhesive) 1 Switzerland 1568-9 3-Sep-15 Jewelry, joint issue w/Aland 371-2 EN 430-5 3b

The following issues have earned our (not-so-) coveted “cinderella” designation:

Cent. Afr. Rep. 1584a 27-Dec-11 Charles de Gaulle 4a Gambia 3640-1 1-Apr-15 Winston Churchill (3640 sheet of 6, 3641 ss) 4a Gambia 3644-5 13-Apr-15 Europhilex Stamp Exhibition (3644 sheet of 4, 3645 ss) 3b Grenada 4045 28-May-15 Europhilex Stamp Exhibition, London 3b Grenada 4051 5-Aug-15 Winston Churchill EN 431-10 4a Grenada 4052 5-Aug-15 Charles de Gaulle 4a-Guyana 4403a-d 20-Jun-15 Winston Churchill, in sheet 4a Guyana 4404 20-Jun-15 Winston Churchill ss 4a

MAY-JUNE 2016 433-16

The 1958 EUROPA Stamps — a Monograph by Steve Luster (Part 6)

ITALY

Italy issued two Europa stamps with the same design in 1958. They were denominated 25 L and 60 L. The 25 L stamp was printed in red with a blue line inside the dove and the letter “E”. The 60 L stamp was printed in blue with a red line inside the dove and the letter “E”.

The stamps were designed by André van der Vossen. The stamps were rotogravure printed on star watermarked paper, perforated 14 x 14 by the Institute Poligrafico Stato Off. Carte Valore, Rome in sheets of 50 stamps. 50,000,000 of the 25 L stamp and 15,000,000 of the 60 L stamp were printed.

The D’Urso Catalogue assigned the number 39 to the 25 L stamp and the number 40 to the 60 L stamp.

In addition to the complete set of 2 stamps, the D’Urso Catalogue lists blocks of 4 for the stamps.

D’Urso lists a number of varieties for the stamps. The 25 L value is known imperforate at right (39A); on thick paper (39B); horizontal blue line (location not specified (39C); horizontal white line (location not specified (39D); line within the letter “O” in the word Poste (39E); white line between the dove and the letter “E” (39F); the second letter “A” in the word Italiane is damaged (39G); offset printing on the back of the stamp (39H); blue color misplaced to the right (39I); and, the blue color misplaced to the left (39L).

For the 60 L value the following varieties are listed. Thin paper (40A); horizontal white line (40B); white line to the right of the word “Europa” (40C); retouch under the letters “IA” in the word “Italiane” (40D); the letter “U” in the word Europa is damaged (40E); light spot under the letter “P” in the word Poste (40F); red color misplaced upwards (40G); red color misplaced downward (40H); red color misplaced to the left or right (40I); white spot to the left of the dove’s beak (40L); and, offset printing on the back (40M).

An official bulletin (press release) containing the stamps in their issued colors was officially pre-pared (39/40N). Both stamps come overprinted with the word “Annullato” which translates as “Specimen” (39/4OO). Both stamps are known on first day covers with the following three cancels. “Roma Europa” (39/40P); “Bruxelles Expo” (39/40Q) and “Ufficio Postale Mobile N. 1 Expositione Uni-versale Padiglione Italiano Bruxelles” (39/40R). The stamps are also listed as being on maximum cards (39/40S). This is a bit confusing as the 39/40P seems to be the Expo cancel and that would make the 39/40Q cancel irrelevant.

The Luster monographs continue this issue with the 1958 Europa stamps of Italy.

MAY-JUNE 2016 433-17

The 1958 EUROPA Stamps — a Monograph by Steve Luster (cont’d)

This item is an official postal bulletin, prepared by the postal administration. The stamps are in the issued colors and they were printed from the original plates. The purpose of the bulletin is publici-ty. It contains a lot of information, including some technical details about the release of the stamps.

MAY-JUNE 2016 433-18

The 1958 EUROPA Stamps — a Monograph by Steve Luster (cont’d)

The top item is also an official postal bulletin, as seen on the previous page, prepared by the Italian Postal Administration. So what makes this bulletin different than the previous one? It is the addition of the special “Padiglione” cancel. This cancel is listed in D’Urso as 39/40R. The card below also has both cancels.

This is the sixth excerpt from Steve’s monograph. The next installment will finish covering the stamps of Italy. ■

MAY-JUNE 2016 433-19

BULLETIN OF THE EUROPA STUDY UNIT,

AN ASSOCIATION OF PHILATELISTS DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF PHILATELIC MATERIALS COVERING THE IDEA OF A UNITED EUROPE... UNITED IN A POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, AND SOCIAL SENSE.

www.europastudyunit.org

EDITOR: Mr. Dana Roper, 7266 Prices

Cove Place, Gainesville, VA 20155;

email: droper555@comcast.net.

OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS:

PRESIDENT: Mr. Dana Roper

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY: Mr. Tonny

VanLoij

TREASURER: Tonny VanLoij

VICE PRESIDENT: Tonny Van Loij,

SECOND VICE PRESIDENT: open

DIRECTORS: Mr. Alex Cwiekalo, Ms.

Caroline Scannel, Mr. Dan Shilcrat

WEBMASTERS: Dana Roper, (acting)

AUCTION MANAGER: Mr. Donald W.

Smith, P.O. Box 576, Johnstown, PA

15907.

EUROPA HANDBOOK: Alex Cwiekalo

ANNUAL DUES: (Including one year

of the EUROPA NEWS): Electronic

Membership only $10/yr; Standard

membership (hardcopy of EN mailed):

$20/yr USA; $30/yr outside USA.

Dues are payable as of January 1st

each year*. Payments must be made in

U.S. Dollars; cash, or a bank draft, or a

money order (made payable to the

Europa Study Unit). We also have a

PayPal account (europastudyunit,

email eunity415.sl@gmail.com) to

which any payments can be transferred.

Any of these methods is acceptable;

however, when using PayPal please

add 7% to cover PayPal costs.

SERVICES TO MEMBERS: Periodic

bulletin (EUROPA NEWS) to all mem-

bers; website with special “Members

Only” section; periodic auctions (~3/yr)

of EUROPA-related material, EUROPA

Handbook, monographs and specialty

items available only to ESU members.

Auction 133 netted the Unit a

cool $59.78. Details have been post-

ed on the website. Thanks to all

those who bid and to the indefati-

gable Don Smith, who has graced

us with another fine auction this

month. Be sure to check out the

EUROPEX sheets (lots 1 and 2);

these specimens don’t show up very

often.

Our Treasurer (Tonny VanLoij)

reports that the Unit is sound, with

just over $4,700 in the bank. Thank

you to all who have paid their dues,

and for those donations. That was

the good news. The bad news is

that we have about 14 members

who are not renewing. They all said

they enjoy the EN, but they are

leaving the hobby. There are also a

handful who simply haven’t paid,

even after we emailed and snail-

mailed reminders, so they are now

off the rolls. Attrition is plaguing

Europa as a topic, and the hobby in

general. I don’t let it get me down

though. I’m still having fun and it

keeps me off the streets.

That said, let’s get out of the house

for a few days and go to the World

Stamp Show NY2016 at the Javits

Center, 28 May—4 June.

See ny2016.org/

I am hoping to

get there for

the last few

days, if per-

sonal affairs

don’t intrude.

We don’t have

enough ESU

folks going to

warrant our

own table.

However, the

ATA will have a

booth, and

one of our

Directors, Caroline Scannell, will be

helping out there, so stop by if you

can. She emailed me that she has

been designated “Professional

Frame Screwer” & “Exhibit Mounter“

by the local Union, and that’s got-

ten her lots of attention. I’ll bet!

Speaking of stamp shows, Tonny

was planning to visit this year’s

WESTPEX in San Francisco at the

end of April. He was bringing some

ENs with him and scouting for po-

tential members.

Our handbook editor, Alex

Cwiekalo, reports that Scott has

been notoriously slow in catching

up with 2015 issues, and quite a few

are still lagging. What to do? We

decided to post what he has so far

on our website, but to hold off on

hardcopy until the next issue. We

will of course keep the website cur-

rent as well. In the meantime, we

can post the latest sepac update,

and include another super auction

from Don Smith.

Alex has also provided two new

checklists for us, that relate to his-

torical Europa. First off is a listing of

stamps pertaining to the start of

World War I, which could be ar-

gued to have started the chain of

events (e.g., the League of Nations)

that got us to where we are now.

Alex also did a checklist of issues

commemorating the 70th anniver-

sary of the end of World War II.

That of course prompted the Mar-

shall Plan which begat the present

Europa movement.

A new website has appeared

called StampOnTheWeb.com. to

which I’ve also provided a link on

our homepage. Put simply, it is a

portal containing links to hundreds

of stamp-related websites. It is

hosted by an Italian group called

aicpm that specializes in military

history, but the portal is universal. It

is very minimalist by design, es-

chewing a fancy graphic interface

for a simple list of links. The ESU is

there under “Societies”. It’s worth

checking out.

Of course, don’t forget the ATA’s

TopicalsOnLine.com website, which

also provides access to many topi-

cal dealers, all of whom are ATA

members and offer some nice pric-

es. ▬

Editor’s Page

*Dues must be received by

31 January to ensure con-tinued membership, includ-

ing uninterrupted receipt of

the EN and access to the Members Only website.

MAY-JUNE 2016 433-20

Europa Advocate: Victor Hugo “The Toilers of the Sea”

Victor Hugo (1802-1885) is one

of the few nineteenth century Eu-

ropean writers and intellectuals

who, during this very national-istic epoch, expressed a consistent

theory of European political and

economic unification. The idea of

the « United States of Europe »

is as far-reaching and, for most

people, utopian today as it was in

his time. Nonetheless, some of

Hugo’s ideas have materialized, such as monetary union, and the

disappearance of national bor-

ders within the Schengen heart-

land. —from EJOP, Europe’s Journal of

Psychology, Vol 1, No. 4 (2005)

In 1876, Hugo wrote presciently:

“What is going on in Serbia

shows the need for the United

States of Europe, the need for peoples united to replace disu-

nited governments.”

He is considered one of the

greatest and best-known French writers. When Louis Napoleon

(Napoleon III) seized complete

power in 1851, establishing an

anti-parliamentary constitution,

Hugo openly declared him a

traitor to France. He relocated

to Brussels, then Jersey , and fi-

nally to Guernsey, where he spent 15 years in exile.

Hugo loved Guernsey, however,

and wrote some of his most fa-

mous works there, including Les

Misérables and Toilers of the Sea. His home there, Hauteville

House, has been preserved ex-

actly as it was, including a

mighty oak tree that stood in

Hugo’s time, and he christened

the United Europe Oak. It is pic-

tured amongst a set of 3 stamps

issued in 2002 to commemorate Hugo’s birth.

On 6 May, GUERNSEY issued a

trio of 6 stamps to commemo-

rate the 150th anniversary of the publication of Toilers of the Sea.

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