Åland stamps

A competition was held in the spring for the members of PostEurop to determine the year’s most beautiful European postage stamp. The Åland stamp, on the theme of “Visit Åland”, won a creditable third prize in the voting, a distinction that was noted at PostEurop’s meeting in Doha, Qatar, in October 2012.

The people of Åland have had a possibility to send letters by mail since the early 1600’s but the stamps used have been Russian and Finnish.

In July 2010, divers exploring an old shipwreck in the Åland archipelago made a most unlikely discovery. Several bottles of very old champagne we re found onboard. With a stamp issue, the Post now focuses on the spectacular find, which pro ved to be some of the oldest champagne in the world!

2011 marks 150 years since the foundation of Mariehamn. Åland Post celebrates the anniversary by issuing a miniature sheet featuring Empress Maria Alexandrovna as well as part of the first town plan for Mariehamn. The issue is a joint issue with the Russian Post.

In March, we issue the fifth stamp watch in our series, which has become quite a collectors’ hit. This time, the watch is decorated with the air craft Junkers F13, which is also the motif of one of the mail plane stamps. The protective box has been printed in 4-colour print this year, a new feature which makes it even prettier!

Two stamps issued by the Åland Post feature an older plane, a Junkers F13 from the 1930s, and a Saab 340, a plane which is in service today.

A new series of postal labels, FRAMA, featuring old garden plants started in 2006. The second issue of this series depicts cottage peonies.