1339) "Ancient Postal Routes, through Rheinhausen - Basel - Zurich," Switzerland: EUROPA theme for 2020: A set of two Postage stamps of 100 Swiss Francs each issued by Swiss Post: Date of Stamp set issue: 07.05.2020:

1339) "Ancient Postal Routes, through Rheinhausen - Basel - Zurich," Switzerland: EUROPA theme for 2020: A set of two Postage stamps of 100 Swiss Francs each issued by Swiss Post: Date of Stamp set issue: 07.05.2020:

The Stamp design produced by Switzerland in cooperation with Germany depicts a postal route from 1627, printed in a vertically corelated form.

The Postal Route ran from Rheinhausen in Germany, passing through Basel and Zurich, before reaching Milan and Mantua.

It was operated by the House of Thurn and Taxis - a noble family from Lombardy who set up a courier service for the Republic of Venice in the 14th Century.

The brothers Janetto and Francesco de Tassis (the Germanised form of Taxis) founded the postal service spanning Europe in 1490 on behalf of the later Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. Their descendants ran the Imperial Post Service from Brussels. The post riders were adventure seekers who encountered many dangers along the way.

In the beginning, the postal charge was indicated as a figure on the envelope on the front if it  had to be paid by the recipient and on the back if it had already been settled by the sender. Later, postmarks were introduced, even before the emergence of the Stamp in the 19th Century.

The Stamps:

The First Day Cover (FDC) is titled "Ancient Postal Routes" (in four languages). The FDC bears the two stamps issued in the set on top right.

The Special Cancellation Post Mark/Handstamp bears the "EUROPA" mark  and a post horn and is cancelled at Bern. The cancellation date is "07.05.2020".

Two First Day Cover (FDC) bearing single cancelled stamps.

A First Day Cover (FDC) bearing a cancelled Block (set of four stamps).

                 A First Day Envelope (FDE)

The two Stamps issued in the set

A Block (Set of four Stamps), two of each variant.

A Block - CTO (Cancelled To Order)

A Full Sheet (FS) of 16 Stamps.

A Full Sheet (FS) of 16 Stamps CTO (Cancelled To Order)



Technical Details:

Stamp issue date: 07.05.2020

Designer: Jurg Glauser, Berne

Printer: Joh Enschede, Haarlem, Netherlands

Process: Offset

Colours: 4 Colours

Stamp Size: 40.0 mm x 32.5 mm

Sheet Size: 190.0 mm x 162.0 mm

Links to posts on "Ancient Postal Routes" on this Blog, the theme of PostEurop for 2020:

1) Ancient Postal Routes - Mail Ships, Guernsey. a British Crown Dependency (BCD): A EUROPA set od six stamps brought out by Guernsey Post depicting six Mail Ships that sailed between Guernsey and the United Kingdom: Date of Stamp set issue: 01.04.2020

2) "Ancient Postal Routes, Romanian Principalities XIX Century", Romania: A set of two Postage Stamps of Lei 20.50 and Lei 1.90 issued by "Romfilatelia" (Romanian Post) depicting Ancient Postal Routes and modes of postal transport: Date of Stamp Set issue: 09.04.2020

 3) "Ancient Postal Routes, Biga", Bosnia & Herzgovina: Two EUROPA stamps of 3.00 Euro each depicting a Wagon and the two faces of a Silver Coin issued on 05.04.2020

4) Ancient Postal Routes - the Postal Boat Race - between Aland and Sweden", Aland, Finland: A EUROPA Postage Stamp of 2.00 Euro issued by Aland Post: Date of Stamp issue: 08.05.2020

 5) "Ancient Postal Routes - Mail Ships", Jersey, A British Crown Dependency (BCD): A set of six stamps depicting the Mail Ships - Rover, the Atalanta, the Cygnus, the Lydia and Isle of Jersey and The Caesarea III, issued by Jersey Post: Date of Stamp set issue: 07.04.2020

6) "Ancient Postal Routes - The Postal Route from Christiania to Bergen", Norway: A Europa Stamp of 20g issued by Posten Norge (or Norwegian Post)depicting the difficult mountain route/stretch at Vindhellvegen & Kongevegen: Date od Stamp issue: 17.04.2020

7) "Ancient Postal Routes through blizzards, snow covered mountain routes and straits", Faroe Islands: Two Stamps of 17KR and 20KR issued by Posta (Faroe Islands Post) under the Europa theme for 2020: Date of stamp set issue: 27.04.2020

8) "Ancient Postal Routes during the time of Louis the Great - 14th century", Hungary: A set of two postage stamps issued by Magyar Posta of 650 HUF each: Date of Stamp set issue: 04.05.2020

9) "Ancient Postal Routes in the Ottoman Empire - 17th century" Serbia: A set of two Stamps issued by Serbian Post in the denominations of 74 ans 108 Dinaras (Dinars): Date of Stamp Set issue: 05.05.2020 

10) "Ancient Postal Routes, Santa Claus", Finland: A EUROPA Stamp released by "Posti" (Finland Post): Date of Stamp release: 06.05.2020

11) "Ancient Postal Routes, through Rheinhausen-Basel-Zurich", Switzerland: EUROPA theme for 2020: A set of two Postage stamps of 100 Swiss francs each issued by Swiss Post: Date of Stamp set issue: 07.05.2020

Some other interesting posts on Coins and Banknotes from Switzerland on this Blog:

1) Alpine Edelweiss: "Flora Alpina" Series: The first coin in the Series issued in January 2016

2) Alpine Gentian: "Flora Alpine" Series: The Second Coin in the Series issued in January 2017 

3) Alpine Carline Thistle: "Flora Alpine" Series: The Third and Final coin in the Series issued in January 2018 

4) A 10 Franc Banknote honouring Charles Edourd Jaenneret popularly known as Le Corbusier who designed the Modern Indian city of Chandigarh 

5) 10 Franc Banknote issued by the Swiss National Bank wins the prestigious IBNS Award 2017

6) St. Bernard "Barry" (1800-1812): A commemorative 50 Francs Gold Coin issued by the Swiss Federal Mint on 14.09.2017

7) The Legend of William Tell depicted on a Gold 50 Francs Swiss Coin issued on 26.04.2018

8) "La Suisse": Swiss Steamships Coin Series: A 20 Francs Silver Coin issued on 26.04.2018:

9) Swiss Army Knife - 100th Anniversary of Karl Elsener's passing away (inventor of the original Swiss Army knife): A Silver 20 Franc Coin from the Swiss Federal Mint, commemorates the globally popular Swiss Army Knife: Coin issue date: 10.09.2018

10) 200 Franc Banknote: issued by the Swiss National Bank, Switzerland on 22.08.2018: Fourth of the six Banknotes in the Ninth Banknote Series being released by the Bank in a phased manner

11) 50 Franc Banknote issued by the Swiss National Bank, Switzerland, winner of the prestigious 2016 "International Banknote Society Award (IBNS)

12) Federal Shooting Festival, Switzerland celebrated with the release of Silver 50 Franc and Gold 500 Franc "Talers" or Medals that are valid during the duration of the Festival (issue year - 2019)

13) 100 years of the Swiss National Circus - "Knie" celebrated with the issue os 20 Swiss francs coin from the Swiss Mint stable (2019): Issue date: 24.01.2019

14) The Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT): A Silver 20 Swiss Francs Coin issued by the Swiss Mint at their facility in Bern in 2016, commemorating the opening of the largest railway and deepest traffic tunnel in the world

15) "Crocodile" Locomotives, Switzerland: Centenary Celebration: Swiss Mint issues a 50 Francs Commemorative Gold Coin: Coin release date: 09.05.2019

16) "The Art of Brewing Beer" Stamp, Swiss Post: A set of two Stamps depicting two varieties of Beer, popular in Switzerland, issued by Swiss Post: Date of issue: 05.09.2019

17) Roger Federer, Switzerland: A 20 Francs Silver Coin issued by the Federal Swiss Mint commemorating the achievements of the legendary Tennis Player: Coin issue date: 23.01.2020

18) Edelweiss (Mountain Star), Swiss Alps, Mongolia: minted under the series titled "Numismatic Sculptures": Commemorative Gold Coins of 1000 Togrog and Silver Coins of 500 Togrog issued by Coin Invest Trust (CIT) and minted by B.H. Mayer's Kunstprageanstalt, Munich for Mongolia

19) Federal Shooting Festival, Switzerland celebrated with the release of Silver 50 Franc and Gold 500 Franc "Talers" (or Medals) that are valid during the duration of the Festival: Issue Year: 2020

20) 200 Franc Banknote issued by the Swiss National Bank, Switzerland on 12.09.2019: Sixth and last of the six Banknotes in the Ninth Banknote Series released by the Bank in a phased manner

21) International Year of Plant Health, Switzerland: A Postage Stamp of CHF 0.85 issued by Swiss Post depicting a Japanese beetle eating a healthy plant leaf: Date os stamp issue: 05.03.2020

22) "Social Diversity": Liechtenstein - Switzerland: A Joint Stamp Issue of two stamps by Liechteinische Post and Swiss Post of CHF 1.00 and CHF 0.85: Stamp issue Date: 14.11.2019

23) Orell Fussli (1519-2019), Switzerland: Celebrating the 500th Anniversary milestone of the Banknote and Security Paper printng major with the issue of a House Note