|
World's first embroidered stamp
The exhibit shows a genuine used embroidered stamp on a registered cover sent from Switzerland to The Netherlands. The letter, uprated with a machine vending label of CHF 0,10, was mailed at The National Stamp Exhibition St Gallen "Naba 2000". The exhibition took placefrom June 21st to June 26th this year .
The letter is provided with the special postmark and registration label which were both only used at the temporary exhibition post office.
The letter is correctly franked with CHF. 5,10. The foreign letter rate at that moment was CHF 1,10, the registration fee CHF. 4,00, together CHF 5,10.
The letter also bears the bar-code label which is put on incoming mail by the Dutch sorting office. The bar-code sticker allows the postal service to follow registered mail digitally from their income to their destination.
The world's first embroidered stamp, with a face value of CHF 5.00, had its first public appearance on 21th June 2000, the opening day of the Exhibition. Nobody was allowed to see it right to the very last minute.
Embroidery has a long, rich tradition in Switzerland, experiencing its first heyday over two centuries ago. Originally, all embroidery was done by hand, today it is a regional industry in eastern Switzerland.
The "St. Gallen Embroidery Stamp" was produced by Bischoff AG, St.Gallen. To produce the stamp many difficulties had to be overcome. The embroidery processes had to be optimized for the production of this innovative stamp and even the self-adhesive backing had to be specially developed for this stamp. But the result is an exclusive philatelic rarity, especially for a thematic collection "textile".
|
