Tips on Stamp Collecting

New postage stamps from Finland

Raspberries, butterflies and Olympic Committee

On 24 August 2007 eight new postage stamps in five different issues came on sale in Finland. The themes of the stamps are raspberries, butterflies, the Finnish Olympic Committee, architecture and design styles. All the new stamps bear a value equal to 1st class domestic postage.
Launched at the same time as the new stamps is a new silver frame for the range of personalized stamp frames.

Raspberries

The series of commercially important berries will be augmented with a raspberry stamp. Designer Katriina Viljamaa-Rissanen has drawn for it a raspberry muffin with raspberries and leaves in the background. The illustration shows how sweet raspberries are delicious both fresh and in jam and juice. Raspberry leaves can be used to make herbal infusions, for instance.
The previous stamps in the series featured lingonberries, cloudberries and blueberries.

Butterflies

A purple emperor, checkered blue and moorland clouded yellow butterflies have fluttered onto new self-adhesive coil stamps. These beautiful creatures are diurnal butterfly species. Finland has more than a hundred species of butterfly. In all, Finland has just over 2,500 species of butterflies and moths. Every year, new species are discovered here and old ones return. For example, the purple emperor has resettled Southern Finland as a result of climate change. Changes in the habitat of these and many other butterfly species have left them in jeopardy.
Timo Berry designed the postage stamp. Nature photographer and butterfly enthusiast Jussi Murtosaari photographed the butterflies. The stamps were issued in coils of one hundred. The Butterfly stamps are in consecutive sets on the same coil.

Finnish Olympic Committee Centenary

The Finnish Olympic Committee is celebrating its centenary this year and a special stamp is being issued in honor of this. The picture theme of the stamp is an Olympic flame forming a fluttering Finnish flag. Five other flags in the colors of the Olympic rings border the Finnish flag. The upper left corner of the postage stamp bears a small Finnish flag and Olympic rings. The postage stamp has a silver background. The color symbolizes purity, peace and serenity. Heikki Nuutinen designed the stamp.

Personalized postage stamps

The range of frames for personalized stamps will be augmented in August 2007 with a new silver-tone frame. In the future, customers will be able to choose from seven different frames for their personalized stamps. Personalized postage stamps, which are made from customers' own pictures, are ordered on-line at www.posti.fi/postimerkki. Pekka Piippo designed the new frame.