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Tuesday 3 October 2023

3020) Nothosaurus, Woolly Rhinoceros and Aurochs, Netherlands: "Prehistoric Animals Stamp Series": Post NL (Netherlands Post) has issued the second three Stamp Sheets in a series of 12 Stamp Sheets featuring extinct animal species, fossils of which were found in the Netherlands: Date of Stamp Sheets issue: 26.09.2022:

3020) Nothosaurus, Woolly Rhinoceros and Aurochs, Netherlands: "Prehistoric Animals Stamp Series": Post NL (Netherlands Post) has issued the second three Stamp Sheets in a series of 12 Stamp Sheets featuring extinct animal species, fossils of which were found in the Netherlands: Date of Stamp Sheets issue: 26.09.2022:

About "Prehistoric Animals Stamp Series" - Set II:

On 26.09.2023, in the new "Prehistoric Animals Stamp Series", Post NL (Netherlands Post) has issued the second set of three stamp sheets featuring the Nothosaurus, the Woolly Rhinoceros and the Aurochs.

Each stamp sheet consisted of five stamps featuring the animals and their fossils. 

The Prehistoric Animals Stamp Series comprises 12 stamp sheets in all

Every quarter, PostNL will issue three stamp sheets at a time

The next issue dates are 14.11.2023 (Blunt-snouted Dolphin, Mastodon and Great Auk) and 19.03.2024 (Large Baleen Whale, Giant Beaver and Steppe Bison). 

The denomination on these stamps is ‘1’, the denomination for items weighing up to 20g with destinations in the Netherlands. The design of the stamps was created by studio026 in Velp. 

The prehistoric Stamp Series - will represent animals from various geological epochs:

The Prehistoric Animals stamps will depict animals from various geological epochs, such as the Nothosaurus from the Triassic (245 million years ago), the Large Baleen Whale from the Miocene (8.7-8.1 million years ago), the Blunt-snouted Dolphin from the Pliocene (3 million years ago), the Woolly Mammoth from the Pleistocene (2 million years ago) and the Great Auk from the Holocene (approximately 5,000 years ago). 

All 12 prehistoric animals featured on the stamps inhabited the area that is now The Netherlands

Their presence has been inferred from fossils found in Dutch soil, including in the North Sea, in the Eastern and Western Scheldt, along rivers and in quarries. The fossils predominantly comprise bones, skulls, jaws, teeth, molars and horns. Based on the shape of the fossils, paleontologists can deduce how large the animals were and their other external features. 

Comparison with surviving related species also provides useful information.

Each stamp sheet in the Prehistoric Animals Stamp Series includes five personal stamps in five different designs.

Three stamps feature various images of the prehistoric animal in its natural habitat

The other two stamps feature fossils of the same animal, surrounded by drawn earth layers in which that fossil was found

The sheet edge features one of the animal photos in large. This photo runs underneath the stamps. 

Each stamp sheet has a base colour referring to the geological epoch in which the prehistoric animal existed

The timeline of all these epochs is shown vertically on the left-hand side of the stamp sheet, above the series title. The name of the prehistoric animal appears on each stamp and in the top right-hand corner of the sheet. 

The bottom right-hand corner features a short text about the species and its fossils.

The font used for the denomination 1 and Nederland was designed in 2018 by type designer Martin Majoor from Arnhem. 

The Square 721 (a version of Eurostile by Turin-based type designer Aldo Novarese, 1962, published by Bitstream) was used for the title and the Akzidenz Grotesk (H. Berthold AG from Berlin, 1896) was used for the body text. 

Fraunces (Phaedra Charles for Undercase Type from New York, 2020) was used as the serif font.

All of the animals featured on the Prehistoric animals stamps have become extinct – some of them millions of years ago. However, science can still deduce from the fossils what the animals roughly looked like. 

After Velp-based studio026 was commissioned to design 12 stamp sheets about prehistoric animals exhibited at the Natural History Museum Rotterdam.

Life-like models and drawings were combined with fossils from the Natural History Museum Rotterdam. From those combinations, 12 prehistoric animals were selected, all of which lived on Dutch soil at one stage.

The Stamp Sheets:

The Nothosaurus, Nothosaurus ("false lizard", from the Ancient Greek nothos (νόθος), "illegitimate", and sauros (σαῦρος), "lizard") is an extinct genus of sauropterygian reptile from the Triassic period, approximately 240–210 million years ago, with fossils being distributed from North Africa and Europe to Asia.

It is the best known member of the nothosaur order.

Nothosaurus was a semi-oceanic animal which probably had a lifestyle similar to that of today's seals.

It was about 4 metres (13 ft), with long, webbed toes and possibly a fin on its tail. However, some species such as N. zhangi and N. giganteus were larger, up to 5–7 metres (16–23 ft). When swimming, Nothosaurus would use its tail, legs, and webbed feet to propel and steer it through the water. 

The skull was broad and flat, with long jaws, lined with needle teeth, it probably caught fish and other marine creatures. 

Trackways attributed, partly by process of elimination, to a nothosaur, that were reported from Yunnan, China in June 2014, were interpreted as the paddle impressions left as the animals dug into soft seabed with rowing motions of their paddles, churning up hidden benthic creatures that they snapped up. 

Once caught, few animals would be able to shake themselves free from the mouth of Nothosaurus.

In many respects its body structure resembled that of the much later plesiosaurs, but it was not as well adapted to an aquatic environment.

Woolly Rhinoceros:

The Woolly Rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) is an extinct species of rhinoceros that inhabited northern Eurasia during the Pleistocene epoch. The woolly rhinoceros was a member of the Pleistocene megafauna. 

The woolly rhinoceros was covered with long, thick hair that allowed it to survive in the extremely cold, harsh mammoth steppe. 

It had a massive hump reaching from its shoulder and fed mainly on herbaceous plants that grew in the steppe. 

Mummified carcasses preserved in permafrost and many bone remains of woolly rhinoceroses have been found. 

Images of woolly rhinoceroses are found among cave paintings in Europe and Asia. 

The species range contracted towards Siberia beginning around 17,000 years ago, with the youngest known records being around 14,000 years old in northeast Siberia, coinciding with the Bølling–Allerød warming, which likely disrupted its habitat.

Aurochs:

The Aurochs (Bos primigenius) is an extinct cattle species, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. 

With a shoulder height of up to 180 cm (71 in) in bulls and 155 cm (61 in) in cows, it was one of the largest herbivores in the Holocene. It had massive elongated and broad horns that reached 80 cm (31 in) in length.
The Aurochs was part of the Pleistocene megafauna. 

It evolved in Asia and migrated West and North during warm interglacial periods. The oldest known aurochs fossils found in India and North Africa date to the Middle Pleistocene and in Europe to the Holstein interglacial.
 
As indicated by fossil remains in Northern Europe, it reached Denmark, Netherlands and Southern Sweden during the Holocene. 

The Aurochs declined during the late Holocene due to habitat loss and hunting and became extinct when the last individual died in 1627 in Jaktorów forest in Poland.

The Aurochs is depicted in Paleolithic cave paintings, Neolithic petroglyphs, Ancient Egyptian reliefs and Bronze Age figurines. It symbolised power, sexual potency and prowess in religions of the ancient Near East. Its horns were used in votive offerings, as trophies and drinking horns.

Two aurochs domestication events occurred during the Neolithic Revolution. One gave rise to the domestic cattle (Bos taurus) in the Fertile Crescent in the Near East that was introduced to Europe via the Balkans and the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. 

Hybridisation between aurochs and early domestic cattle occurred during the early Holocene. Domestication of the Indian Aurochs led to the Zebu cattle (Bos indicus) that hybridised with early taurine cattle in the Near East about 4,000 years ago. 

Some modern cattle breeds even today exhibit features reminiscent of the aurochs, such as the dark colour and light eel stripe along the back of bulls, the lighter colour of cows, or an aurochs-like horn shape.

About the Natural History Museum, Rotterdam:

The Natural History Museum Rotterdam has its origins in collecting animals, shells, fossils and other naturalia from the collection of Dr A. B. van Deinse. 

The museum was founded in 1927

Since 1987, it has been based in Villa Dijkzigt on Westzeedijk in Museumpark (an urban park in Rotterdam). 

The Natural History Museum Rotterdam has a special place in the Rotterdam cultural sector and plays a pioneering role among Dutch Natural History museums across the region. The museum attracts over 40,000 visitors each year.

Technical details:

Issue Date: 26.09.2023

Designer: studio026, Velp

Process: Offset

Colours: Cyan, magenta, yellow, black (CMYK)

Size:

Stamp size: 30.00 mm x 40.00 mm (w x h), 

Sheet size: 170.00 mm x 122.00 mm (w x h)

Values: Denomination "1" for post weighing up to 20g with destinations within the Netherlands.




For other interesting posts from the Faroe Islands:





8) "Organic Art", Faroe Islands: Posta/Postverk Foroya (Postal Works of the Faroes Islands) has issued a set of six stamps of 29.00 DKK (x 3 Stamps) and 19.00 DKK (x 3 Stamps) depicting Organic art by three artists in the Faroes: Date of Stamp set issue: 16.05.2022

9) Faroese Minerals, Faroe Islands: Posta (Faroe Islands Post) has issued a Miniature Sheet (MS) of stamps depicting Calcite and Copper: Date of Stamps issue: 24.10.2022

10) Faroe Islands Banknotes New Series - 2012: An updated version of Faroese Banknote Series with new security features was introduced into circulation: Banknotes were printed by Danmarks Nationalbank

11) Cairn, Faroe Islands: Posta (Faroese Post) has issued a postage stamp of 100.00 DKK (Danish Kroners) celebrating the significance of Cairns all over the Foroe Islands: Date of Stamp issue: 10.08.2023

Posts on Aruba on this blog:

 1) A New 2019 Fourth Series of Banknotes, Aruba, issued by the Central Bank of Aruba (Centrale Bank van Aruba) on 04.06.2019 comprising five denominations with the theme of "Endangered Flora and Fauna of Aruba" and historic monuments and landmarks












Prehistoric Animals Stamp Series, Netherlands (PostNL):


Dutch Castles Coin Series:









10) Poptaslot Castle, The Netherlands: The Tenth and second last Coin to be released in the "Dutch Castles Coin Series": A Silver Ducat Trade Coin with a history spanning over 350 years, minted by the Royal Dutch Mint (RDM): Year of Coin issue: 2023 

11) Kuinderburcht Bridge, The Netherlands: The Eleventh and last Coin to be released in the "Dutch Castles Coin Series": A Silver Ducat Trade Coin with a history spanning over 350 years, minted by the Royal Dutch Mint: Year of Coin issue: 2023

For other interesting posts on Belgium & Luxembourg Coins and Stamps:


5) City of Bruges (or Brugge), Belgium: 20 Years as UNENCO World Heritage Site: A 20 Euro Silver Proof Coin issued by the Royakl Dutch Mint under licencing of the Royal Belgian Mint, on behalf of the National Bank of Belgium: Coin issue date: 26.02.2020

6) 100 Years of Nature & Environment Protection, Luxembourg: Commemorating the Centenary Anniversary of the "Letzebuerger Natur a Vulleschutsliga a.s.b.l. (Luxembourg Nature and Bird Protection Society):A 0.80 Euro Stamp issued by Luxembourg Postes (Post): Date of stamp issue: 10.03.2020

7) Celebrating 25 Years of listing on UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Luxembourg: A Commemorative Stamp of 0.80 Euro issued by Luxembourg Postes (Post): Stamp issue date: 10.03.2020













23) Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations), Belgium: Bpost (Belgian Post) has issued a Stamp Sheetlet which showcases a fingerprint in which a face is hidden as a symbolic representation of the theme - "identity": Date of Stamps issue: 20.03.2023

24) Asteroid Day (or "International Asteroid Day), Luxembourg: POST Luxembourg (formerly known as Entreprise des Postes et Telecommunications) has issued a postage stamp of L50g (the rate for a standard letter domestic postage): Date of Stamp issue: 16.05.2023

25) SABENA (National Airline Carries), Belgium: Centenary Celebrations - 1923-2023): The Royal Dutch Mint (RDM) in association with the Royal Belgian Mint (RBM) has minted a 20 Euro Silver Crown Coin which marks the centenary of the founding of the country's first airline carrier: Date/Year of Coin issue: 2023

26) 130th Anniversary of the Art Nouveau Movement, Belgium: 130th Anniversary Celebrations (1893-2023): Commemorative 2 Euro Coins minted by the Royal Dutch Mint (RDM) at their facilities in Houten, Netherlands, in association with the Royal Belgian Mint (RBM) celebrating the milestone: Date/Year of Coin issue: 2023

Links:

For other interesting posts on issues from the Royal Dutch Mint, Netherlands and PostNL, please visit the following links:



10) First Atlases, Netherlands: Commemorating 450 Years of the first Atlas (1570-2020) & others: A Stamp Sheet of six stamps depicting the Atlases which were compiled in the Netherlands in the 16th & 17th Centuries AD: Stamp Set issued by POstNL: Date of Stamp Set issue: 23.03.2020






















34) "UN Crypto Stamps", United Nations: "New Technologies for the United Nations Stamp Series": Series II of United Nations Crypto Stamps issued by the United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) which run on Blockchain Technolgy: Date of Stamps issue:18.11.2022

35) 2022 NL Crypto Stamp - Duo Set Crypto The Netherlands (NL) + Oostenrijk (Austria) - Collectibles: Date of Joint Crypto Stamp issue: 22.09.2022

36) Tarzan of the Apes, Netherlands: A Medal/Coin issued by the Royal Dutch Mint (RDM) depicting the popular fictional legend of Tarzan of the Apes: Date/Year of Coin/Medal issued: 2022

37) "EpilepsieNL" (Epilepsy), Netherlands: 130th Annversary milestone (1893-2023): Two Coins/Medals in Coincard issued by the Royal Dutch Mint (RDM): Year of Coins issue: 2023

38) Sesame Street, Netherlands: 45 Years of Sesame Street Milestone (1968-2023): The Royal Dutch MInt has released the complete collection of Sesame Street Muppets: Date/Year of Coins issue: 2023

39) Holland America Lines, Netherlands: 150th Anniversary milestone (1873-2023): PostNL (Netherlands Post) has issued a 24-carat Gold Stamp with the denomination of "1" (for items weighing upto 20g for domestic/inland post): Date of Stamp issue: 18.04.2023


Links to Posts on Pieter Mondriaan (or "Piet Mondrian"):



Experience Nature Stamp Series:








9) Experience Nature - Skrok and Skrins Nature Reserves located n the province of Friesland: "Experience Nature 2021-2023 Perennial Series": A set of Stamps issued by PostNL (Netherlands Post) featurng the Flora and Fauna of the Nature Reserves: Date of Stamp Set issue: 13.02.2023

10) Experience Nature - De Weiden Nature Reserves located in the province of Overijssel: "Experience Nature 2021-2023 Perennial Series": A set of stamps issued by PostNL (Netherlands Post) featurng the Flora and Fauna of the Nature Reserves: Date of Stamp Set issue: 12.06.2023

11) Experience Nature - Oisterwijk Woods and Fens located in the province of Noord-Brabant: "Experience Nature 2021-2023 Perennial Series": A set of ten stamps issued by PostNL (Netherlands Post) featuring the Flora & Fauna of the Nature Reserves: Date of Stamp Set issue: 14.08.2023

For interesting posts from the Caribbean Netherlands on this blog:


Typically Dutch Postage Stamp Series "House Types & facades":





Typically Dutch Coin Series -2023:






Dutch World Heritage Series:

For other interesting posts from the Faroe Islands:





8) "Organic Art", Faroe Islands: Posta/Postverk Foroya (Postal Works of the Faroes Islands) has issued a set of six stamps of 29.00 DKK (x 3 Stamps) and 19.00 DKK (x 3 Stamps) depicting Organic art by three artists in the Faroes: Date of Stamp set issue: 16.05.2022

9) Faroese Minerals, Faroe Islands: Posta (Faroe Islands Post) has issued a Miniature Sheet (MS) of stamps depicting Calcite and Copper: Date of Stamps issue: 24.10.2022

10) Faroe Islands Banknotes New Series - 2012: An updated version of Faroese Banknote Series with new security features was introduced into circulation: Banknotes were printed by Danmarks Nationalbank

Posts on SEPAC issues on this blog:





Posts on Finland on this Blog:













Links to other Posts on Aland issues:


2) Wildflowers, Aland Islands: A new Series of Franking Labels issued by Aland Post: Date of issue: 03.02.2020






Links to some other posts on shipwrecks:




Links to Posts on Norway issues:

Links:

i) "The Rooswijk", an ill-fated Dutch East Indiaman, Netherlands which sank during her second trip on 09.01.1740: Mexican Silver Cobs, Silver reales, Klippes and Pillar Dollars etc were recovered from the ship-wreck

The undernoted two links will take you to our blog "Footloose" for two interesting posts written by me on the Dutch presence in Sadras in the 17th Century AD:

i) Reconnecting with India's historical heritage: A visit to Sadras Fort built by the Dutch in 1648: (Part 1): a) Commentary of the Dutch presence in India & b) The Dutch Cemetery

ii) Reconnecting with India's historical heritage: (Part ii): A visit to Sadras Fort built by the Dutch in 1648: The ruins tell the story of a flourishing Sea-trade

Links to Posts on Pieter Mondriaan (or "Piet Mondrian"):


For other interesting posts on Belgium & Luxembourg Coins and Stamps:


5) City of Bruges (or Brugge), Belgium: 20 Years as UNENCO World Heritage Site: A 20 Euro Silver Proof Coin issued by the Royakl Dutch Mint under licencing of the Royal Belgian Mint, on behalf of the National Bank of Belgium: Coin issue date: 26.02.2020

6) 100 Years of Nature & Environment Protection, Luxembourg: Commemorating the Centenary Anniversary of the "Letzebuerger Natur a Vulleschutsliga a.s.b.l. (Luxembourg Nature and Bird Protection Society):A 0.80 Euro Stamp issued by Luxembourg Postes (Post): Date of stamp issue: 10.03.2020

7) Celebrating 25 Years of listing on UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Luxembourg: A Commemorative Stamp of 0.80 Euro issued by Luxembourg Postes (Post): Stamp issue date: 10.03.2020

















Posts on SEPAC issues on this blog:






























Posts on SEPAC issues on this blog:




Links to Posts on Turks and Caicos Islands:

1) A Quarter Crown (1/4) Coin, Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), A British Overseas Territory (BOT): The Coin was only issued in 1981 and was since demonetised in 1986

2) A Half Crown (1/2) Coin, Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), A British Overseas Territory (BOT): The Coin was issued only in 1981 and was since demonetised in 1982

Links to Posts on Curacao on this Blog:

1) Festival di Tumba (Carnival of Curacao), Curacao: "50th Edition of the Curacao Carnival/Festival" held from 27-31.01.2020: A set of six Commemorative Postage Stamps brought out by Cpost (Curacao Post) on 20.02.2020

2) Trains of South America, Curacao: Cpost International (Curacao Post) has issued a set of stamps featuring Trains of South America: Date of Stamp set issue: 21.06.2021

3) Willemstad, Curacao: 25 Years of UNESCO World Heritage Site: Cpost International (Curacao Post) has issued a set of 16 postage stamps celebrating the milestone: Date of Stamps set issue: 18.08.2022

4) Willemstad, (Dutch, Caribbean Island, Curacao), Netherlands: "Dutch World Heritage Coin Series": Tenth Coin in the Series of 10 Euro (Gold) and 5 Euro (Silver) Collector Coins minted by the Royal Dutch Mint (RDM) feature this historic city: Date/Year of Coins issue: 02.02.2023

For some other interesting posts on Currencies of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, please visit the following links:








Links to some other interesting posts from South American countries & Mexico:

1) The Evolution of Mexican Coinage


24) Bolivar Soberano (or "Sovereign Bolivar"), Venezuela: (2018 Series of Banknotes) introduced by Banco de National, the Central Bank of Venezuela on 20.08.2018 


1) Trains of South America, Curacao: Cpost International (Curacao Post) has issued a set of stamps featuring Trains of South America: Date of Stamp set issue: 21.06.2021

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