ABOVE: The 1989 “Second Definitive” set, printed on white paper by the KDPN, and with each stamp in two harmonious colors. Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, after whom the Maria Theresa Reef on which our country is built is named, is depicted within the ornate frame. This stamp issue also features clever usage of three ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs (picture-writing) so that the pictures almost appear as integral parts of the stamp design. The hieroglyphs are the owl (= letter M, for Maria) under the word POSTAGE in the top left corner, the drill (= symbol for “art” or “craft” above RE of REPUBLIC), and the deity Ra, the sun-god, above RIA of MARIA. The design of the stamp isssue is by Bruce Grenville.
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ABOVE: The 5th anniversary of the founding of the International Council of Independent States (ICIS), the Fifth World's “United Nations”, was marked by this single stamp on 1st June 1989, five years to the day since the ICIS founding convention. Port Maria was a founding member.
ABOVE:
The ICIS voted the year 1989 as the Year of the General Postal Treaty Organisation
(GPTO), the postal union of the Fifth World. The GPTO was formed in 1972. The
1 tano and 85 tanos stamps were surcharged to celebrate the event. Please note
the GPTO logo and commemorative inscription on the left margin of the 17 tanos
stamp. Both stamps can be found with this marginal tab, and are worth a premium
with it still intact.
Please don't
tear it off if you come upon such a tab – they are not plentiful today!
ABOVE: The 1989 “First Definitive” series comprised just two values, and was in the nature of an “emergency issue” after the KDPN was given the production contract for Port Maria stamps. The Port Maria Post Office reported that these two values were the most used, and that their supplies were virtually exhausted. Please note that the double-lined frame that surrounds the crest on the “Second Definitive” is omitted on these stamps, making them easy to distinguish. The colours also differ. These stamps are printed on pale grey security paper with watermarks on some stamps. This set was printed in a very limited edition, of which the bulk was used on commercial mail from the republic. As a consequence, mint copies are exceptionally rare.
ABOVE:
The highlight of the year 1989 for the
Fifth World was the World Starcross Championships,
held in Baleksetung on 14th November. Port Maria sent a team, and nearly made
it to the finals, but sadly was unable to bring home the coveted Gold Cup. Starcross
is a curious strategy game with similarities to the Chinese game of “Go”,
and is played on a card with the pentagons pre-printed in red.
The stamp
shows a small version of the Starcross game, and
is something of a landmark in philately, as it is the first time that a stamp
has been specifically designed to be used TWICE
– once to pay the mail with, and a second time when the recipient of the
letter can use the old envelope to play Starcross
with a friend! Similar stamps were issued by some of the other
lands competing in the World Starcross Championships.
HOW TO PLAY THE GAME: Two
players have alternate turns to put a circle or cross in any pentagon, provided
it is adjacent to one of their previous marks. You MUST be adjacent to the
face of a pentagon you have previously marked,
and cannot be connected merely by an apex. For convenience,
players usually use different colored pens to show their moves. The object of
the game is to surround the solid shapes, each of which is won by the player who
puts the final mark beside a face of a shape. That player then puts their initial
inside the shape. Scores are Stars = 5
points, Thingoes (half-stars) = 3
points, and Diamonds = 2
points. Any player who uses up every possible move and is cut off from further
moves may “hyperspace” = jump to a new location where ever s/he chooses
on the game.
To play, we suggest you make some enlarged color copies of the Port Maria Starcross
Championships stamp, and practice on those with your friends. Before long, you
too may join your country's team for next year's World Starcross Championships!
Some people have tried photo-copying
the games in black, but this has the disadvantage
that when you put your initials in the centre of the shapes, they cannot be seen
on the black. Hence red is the preferred colour.
History: Starcross was invented by Martin Neurath, currently the Foreign Minister of Sedang, and rapidly became very popular throughout the Fifth World. In the interest of encouraging widespread playing of the game, Mr Neurath has kindly declined to claim copyright, and has placed the game in the public domain. You may therefore freely make multiple copies and encourage your friends to do likewise.
ABOVE: The Bicentenary of the discovery of homoeopathy by Dr Samuel Hahnemann in 1790 was honored with this stamp showing the great man, and quoting his remark on how he came to find the cure for many illnesses. This was the first Port Maria stamp to be printed on paper with invisible gum. Homoeopathy is a revolutionary healing art based on these cardinal principles: like cures like, single remedy, minimal dose, and potentized remedy.
ABOVE: The ICIS voted 1990 to be the Year of Plankton, and as Port Maria is a nautical country, we felt this subject was of vital importance. This stamp was the first photogravure-printed stamp for Port Maria, and also the first time that we had a stamp in full-color plus metallic gold, and with shiny gum.
ABOVE: The big event of 1990 was a major celebration to note ten years of independence for the small country. This souvenir sheet was issued for the occasion, containing three values of the 1989 Second Definitive united in a row. The sheets were sold at Rs. 2.65, with the extra 45 tanos going to the Port Maria Philatelic Society.
ABOVE: An exciting event in 1990 was the round-the-globe journey of the zeppelin “Malatesta” from the Occussi-Ambeno airline Swiftair. Port Maria was one of the ports of call on the epic flight, and to note the event, the Rs.1.35 stamp of the 1989 “Second Definitive” was overprinted and surcharged to make it a 50 tanos stamp.
ABOVE: The first new issue in nine years was this stamp, celebrating the Re-discovery of a Lost Episode of the epic movie series Doctor Who, a time-traveller from the planet Gallifrey. Click here for more information about the finding of the lost episode. Click here for more information on the Doctor Who adventures. This stamp shows a dalek, sworn enemy of the Doctor. The alien daleks, whose battlecry was “Exterminate!”, terrified countless youngsters viewing the series on television.
ABOVE: The first stamp of the new century was this 35 tanos, pushing the theme of Safety on the Sea. Despite the number of times the message is repeated, we remain distressed that large numbers of humans perish on the sea needlessly every year. The stamp shows two significant vessels: the luxury liner “Queen Elizabeth II” and the racing catamaran “Steinlager”, photographed tied up at the international terminal at Auckland in New Zealand.
ABOVE: Not a victory label, but the sticker for insured mail, used in the Port Maria Post Office for attaching to valuable letters for which the extra insurance premium is paid. Registered letters have a similar label, but blue with a large R replacing the V. The numbered stickers are supplied by the General Postal Treaty Organisation, the ICIS' postal union.
ABOVE: One of the more unusual agricultural crops in Port Maria is the cultivation of beneficial mushrooms. This set of three stamps, issued on July 11th, 2000, shows Psilocybin aucklandii, a type of mushroom used for medicinal purposes in much of the globe. (17 tanos stamp.) On the 70 tanos is Psilocybin aeroginosa, a large blue mushroom, and on the Rs.1.35 stamp is Psilocybin azurescens, a beautiful gold mushroom. Large areas of the darkened lower decks of Port Maria are given over to fungi cultivation. The prolific crops are then dried, packed into 50 gram bags, and most are then exported.
Click here
to view the booklet cover a bit larger and clearer. Click here
to peep at the back cover.
ABOVE: On the occasion of the issue of the Mushroom stamps, a stamp booklet was issued, the first ever by the Port Maria Post Office. The booklet contains four copies (in blocks of four) of the 70 tanos and Rs. 1.35 stamps, and eight of the 17 tanos, and sells for Rs.9.56.
ABOVE: Among the more interesting pastimes available for the isolated reef dwellers in Port Maria is movie viewing. Not having a neighborhoood video library like the big overseas urban centres is a worry, but the republic owns several 16 mm movie projectors, and shows screen every night. Admission is free. This 35 tanos stamp, issued on Monday 7th August 2000, shows the screening set-up, Port Maria's cinema projection room. Two projectors both point at the screen, so one can take over when the other finishes its reel. The "old technology" of movie film works wonderfully, though films are hard to locate these days. We borrow most of ours from Sedang Cinema in New Zealand whose movie catalogue is on-line. Click here to view the Film Library at Sedang Cinema.
ABOVE: The most important event in Port Maria in the millennium year 2000 is the celebration of our 20th birthday. To honour the event philatelically, the Port Maria Post Offiice chose a painting of nude sunbathers by the New Zealand artist John Winton Burke. The Rs. 1.35 stamp was issued in sheet format, and also appears as a souvenir sheet containing two of the stamp along with details about the artist. Date of issue is 2nd August 2000.
ABOVE: In 2004, Port Maria issued an attractive set of three stamps to honour the notable author A. A. Milne, famous for his creation of the characters Winnie the Pooh and Piglet. Piglet and Pooh feature on the series: the 35 tanos shows Piglet, a tiny pink pig, running with a red balloon, which soon bursts, and on the 50 tanos, Piglet shows what is left of the balloon to the gloomy donkey Eeyore. The 70 tanos shows Pooh and Piglet departing. Date of issue is 4th March 2004.
ABOVE: The time-traveller Doctor Who has featured on Port Maria stamps before, and this 2005 stamp features a scene from his adventure, "The Celestial Toymaker." Steven, a companion of the Doctor, and the Toymaker, debate the issues of the day. Date of issue is 9th February 2005.