Bhutan is a small landlocked country located in the eastern Himalayas bordered
with India,China and Sikkim. Bhutan remained in isolation till its door to the
outside world opened in the1960s with the launching of itsfirst five Year Plan, a
process for modernization development in the country. Bhutan has an area of 45,500
skm.s. or 18,182smi.sand roughly a population of 800,000friendly people .
About Bhutan Stamps -
With the advent of modern development, a regular and unique postage stamp was
issued onthe10thofoctober 1962 valid for both domestic and international use.
Since then, the stamps of Bhutan has begee internationally popular with the issue
of exquisite silk-like stamps (Thanka) and the circular grooved stamps
(Talking) Stamps that played the national anthem and folk songs
on a record player.
The Philately of Bhutan has not only shown a good reputation of the country by
producing attractive postage stamps but also the revenue generation from sales has
significantly contributed in the nations economic development. If you are not a
collector, now is the time that you begee a regular collector of the beautiful
stamps of Bhutan.
This is very important to understand about the pricing of stamps in the current
stamp catalogs as gepared to asking price from stamp dealers or private stamp
owners . It is not only supply and demand that fuel high prices of stamps , popularity
of the picture , the actual look of the stamp play a big part of the stamp's worth
such as certain events in history gememorated on the stamp , famous people from
Ghandi to Elvis and of course Princess Di and The Pope . Topical stamps work in this
sameway , some people only collect stamps with one theme like butterflies, flowers ,
dogs and cats , space , even cartoon characters. Stamps are only worth what
someone is willing to pay for it , so if you are bidding on a stamp or set of stamps at
auction ,know your limit on how much you are willing to spend and dont get carried
away with the thrill of the bidding.Collecting stamps can begee an obsession but as
long as you enjoy the experience of gepleting aset or year of
issue of these stamps and you really dont care about what they are worthyou will do
just fine . Bhutan stamps are for any collector from serious investor to the novice
collector of the beautiful or unusual .
Bhutan stamps have only been around for about 45 years so they are easy to collect
and the very first sets are not that rare or expensive to obtain for your collection and
they have so many unique issues and beautiful colours and designs that they appeal to
every stamp collector . Bhutan has a wide selection of topics to specialize in , from fauna , flora , people , space , to fine art ; they are constantly
finding new andexciting subject matter to give every collector of stamps an opportunity to find a favorite topic . The Disney issues are very
popular and so are their special first day coversandthe 2008 issue of aCD-Rom
stamp showing the history of the monarchy of Bhutan through a documentary on a
postage stamp ! How fantastic isthat !
These are just like the popular record stamps issuedin 1973 .
The Philately of Bhutan is mainly doing their best to please the collectors of
stamps , it is rare for the Bhutan stamps being used in country and most letters
mailed from Bhutan are mostly from tourists writing home about their travels in this
beautiful little kingdom . So its safe to say that onlyup to 30% of all the Bhutan
stamps ever printed and issuedare ever used as regular postage and the ones that
are , are in big demand for the rare cancellation marks of the Bhutan Postal Service .
I regemend you give thought to collecting these fantastic stamps of Bhutan and
look forward to each new years issues in future with me .This is a great hobby and a
perfect collection to grow and manage . There is a big following in Bhutan stamps
and their popularity is growing all the time . I have been collecting these stamps
for over 35 years when as a young boy ,I spotted some awesome 3D stamps in the
window of a small stamp and coin shop in my hometown , and ever since then , I have
never been bored with any new issues Bhutan makes available to the collector .
How do I get started collecting Bhutan stamps ? Well Im glad
you asked ! First geta good price guide with lots of pictures of Bhutan stamps ( find
one on okay )so that you can either choose a topic to collectorsomething more specialized such as First Day Covers, these are not your every day
letters or even registered mail , they are specially printed envelopes usually having a
nice design or picture of the stamp that is being introduced or depicting a special
event or anniversary with the dated post mark / cancellation on the exact day it was
issued and this envelope or "Cover" has the words " first Day of Issue"or " First
Day Cover " on the front , It is also known as a Cachet , these FDC's are highly
collectable andare few in number of issue makingthem a highly collectable item.
There are also special overprints and surcharges to collect. The surcharges are an
overprint that changes the value of the stamp without a new stamp being issued , the
postal service take existing unused stamps and either hand stamps or runs the sheets
of stamps through a printing machine to add or change the face value of the stamp.
They also print on pre existing stamps additional gememorative words or seals for
example the words " flood relief " or the seal of the olympicsor the special helicopter
airmail overprint .The Bhutan Philately Printers are very good , butthey sometimes
make mistakes and Issue stamps with printing errors which are highly valued to some
collectors , but these are rare and can be very expensive unless you get lucky and
find these error stamps in lot sales where they may be sold by someone not knowing
what they really have , happened to me ! Most gemon is an inverted or upside down
overprint error where the stamp sheet is put through a printing machine backwards
and the new surcharge or special overprint is printed with this errorbefore being
spotted at reissued of these stamps.
Another great thing to collect are the Imperforated Issues , most of these stamps
are also issued without perforations " little holes around the stamp so you can
seperate them froma sheet " , the Imperf would have tobe cut out withshears .
Mostly , the Imperfs are not as numerous as the perforated kindand aremuch loved
by collectors because there areno little holes which distract from the beauty of the
sheet or individual stamp , the only Bhutan stamps that are worth more perforated
are the first issue of the Oct. 30th1967,3D spacesouv. sheets " very rare " and are
the only 3D stamps ever perforated from then on .
At first , I only collected the Plastic Laminated 3D issues , I thought they were so
neat ! Now I collect just about everything Bhutan has ever issued . Check out my
okay ME page fora link to everything you could everneed to knowabout this
special country of Bhutan , and alsoon what I collect and my eMail address link ,
so Imight give you an idea where to start . *And here is a helpful tip ,alot of
europeans spell Bhutan as Bhoutan , so when you do a search , use both spellings and
you will get another whole listing under Bhoutan stamps that mostBhutan collectors
never find ! That means less people to bid against you or new listings under
Buy It Now are overlooked , I have gotten great deals on Bhoutan stamps that way .
Make sure you know the going price of these stamps before buying , I have seen
Bhutan stamps being offered as being "Rare" but are quite gemon and others as
being " Proofs " which are actual first printings by the Printers who were hired by
the Government of Bhutan and are submitted for approval to mass produce . Real
Proofs are very rare , most are one of a kind , all Proofs should gee with
certification from the original printers with signed documentation from the printers
and the recieving authority in Bhutan , ie. signatures , official government rubber
stamps , hand written annotations in margins of stamp sheet and acgepaniedwith
an " Essay " or drawing of the stamp by the artist gemissioned to make the stamp.
Even then you may get a forgery so be careful , these can be sold for thousands of
dollars , so know who you are buying from and request certification of authenticity !
Thank you for your interest in my favorite subject , Bhutan Stamps ! I hope this little
introduction of Bhutan is helpful to you . If you have questions about Bhutan stamps ,
please send an eMailand I will be glad to help , Many thanks !Your Friend in
Bhutan Stamps, Gary W. Davis , aka : SHIZNETD , Check out my "ME" page !
If this has helped outand perked your interestinBhutan andstamp collecting , or not helpfulplease click below!
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