2003 Stamp Issues
Not all of the stamp variants issued in 2003 are still available for purchase. As the order number is often used for catalogisation purposes, all variants are listed with their respective order number, but only items where a CW price is displayed can still be ordered while supply lasts. Unissued stamps are marked with an "X" in the order number, stamps not for sale are marked with (RARE).
Printing runs are not known, but even for rare variants, at least one full sheet (15 pcs for fixed, about 40 for standard size line perforation) has been printed. Stamps were used both on shipments and as yourstamps marketing samples, sent out to potential customers. This means that even stamp variants known only in one sample might be found on the market, e.g on ebay.
Definitive Issue "Australija 2003 I"
Similar to the Australija 2002 series, this definitive series was produced using images taken on the Great Australija Expedition in the first half of 2002, using a then modern digital camera, Casio QV3000. This series was the very first series to be perforated with a genuine perforation machine made by the German company Foellmer, and also the first series to be printed using the "MStamp" software developed in Musograd to support the new perforation equipment. Both the perforation machine and the software in its most current version are still being used by yourstamps today.
The values have the following motives: M$ 0.10 - eroded landscape in the Kings Canyon National Park; M$ 0.25 - cliffs of the 12 Apostles coast in Victoria; M$ 0.50 - Mount Warning during sunset at Murwillumbah, NSW (photo from the 1993 "First Landing" Expedition); M$ 1.00 - Uluru (Ayers Rock), South Australia; M$ 1.50 - Valley in the Blue Mountains near Blackheath, NSW; M$ 2.00 - Cradle Mountain, Tasmania; M$ 2.50 - Wilpena Pound in the Flinders Ranges National Park, South Australia; M$ 4.00 - Kata Tjuta in the Uluru National Park, South Australia. The M$ 2.50 stamp exists in two design versions, with white text and with black text. Both are included in the stamp set offered below.
Also, a version of the M$ 0.10 stamp was printed using an Epson Deskjet ink jet printer as access to color laser printing technology was not permanently guaranteed at the time. As this technology did not work well with the gummed paper used and as it was water soluble, it was only used one other time, with issue FM200302.
- Date of Issue: 2003.02.05 (sheet date of the IBM Infoprint version 2003-05-02 due to a SW issue)
- Valid until 2008.08.01
- Printed with IBM Infoprint Color laser printer (M$ 0.10 also with Epson Deskjet ink jet printer)
- Fixed perforation, matt paper
- Value: M$ 0.10 / 0.25 / 0.50 / 1.00 / 1.50 / 2.00 / 2.50 / 2.50 / 4.00
- Order No.: FM200301 - Set of 9 values including both versions of the M$ 2.50 value (CW 25.00)
- Order No: FM200301IJ.010 - M$ 0.10 value printed with inkjet technology (CW 5.00)
Commemorative Issue "Valentine's Day 2004"
The postmaster of PtM slightly overstepped his rights by printing a Valentine's Day commemorative issue based on an odd motive - a victim of a Tasmanian hairdresser standing next to a Mitsubishi Magna on an outback road in Tasmania. Luckily (for the hairdresser and the victim), details are obscured by the printing quality.
Similar to FM200301/2.50, this issue was printed with IBM Infoprint laser and with inkjet technology, which has a lower colour quality than the laser version. These versions do not have an information line below the stamps. Another version was printed with Minolta Magicolor 2350 later in 2003 (exact date unknown) and exists in "yourstamps.com" (rare) and "yourstamps.de" versions.
- Date of Issue: 2003.02.12 (sheet date of the IBM Infoprint version 2003-12-02 due to a SW issue)
- Valid until 2008.08.01
- Printed with IBM Infoprint Color laser printer, with Minolta Magicolor laser printer and with Epson Deskjet ink jet printer
- Fixed perforation, matt paper
- Value: M$ 1.00
- Order No.: FM200302 - version printed with IBM Infoprint laser printer (CW 5.00)
- Order No.: FM200302IJ - version printed with inkjet technology (CW 5.00)
- Order No.: FM200302C - ".com" version printed with Minolta Magicolor laser printer (RARE)
- Order No.: FM200302D - ".de" version printed with Minolta Magicolor laser printer (CW 5.00)
Definitive Issue "Australia 2003 II"
In March 2003, the Yourstamps company was founded, as a supplier of stamps to Posta tal Musograd and to worldwide customers. A state of the art laser printer, Minolta Magicolor 2350, was purchased for this purpose. The first set of stamps printed with this technology was a reprint of the "Australia 2003" series, As a result, the printing quality is much better than for the Australia 2003 I series. All further Musogradian stamps were printed with this printer and its follow on models.
The Australia 2003 II series is also easily distinguishable via the information line, not present in the original series. The line contains the designer "J.Schwarz", the year 2003 and the company name "yourstamps.com".
The M$ 2.50 value was only printed in the white text version in this series.
- Date of Issue: 2003.03.15
- Valid until 2008.08.01
- Printed with Minolta Magicolor 2350
- Fixed perforation, matt paper
- Value: M$ 0.10 / 0.25 / 0.50 / 1.00 / 1.50 / 2.00 / 2.50 / 2.50 / 4.00
- Order No.: FM200303 - series of 8 values (CW 9.00)
Commemorative Issue "Douglas Adams"
On 2001.05.11, one of the most important Science Fiction authors, Douglas Noel Adams, died. His influence both on popular culture and modern thinking of the Musogradian people cannot be overrated, his early death being a shock from which it took a while to recover. This stamp was issued on the event of the 2nd anniversary of his death. The issue places his image in front of two dolphins, animals he deeply respected as the second most intelligent beings on planet Earth (the most intelligent beings not being humans, of course, but a certain type of multi-dimensional mice).
Due to the stamps also being used for international marketing purposes by yourstamps, they were printed in two versions, one with the information line yourstamps.com (for the non-german market) and the other with yourstamps.de (for the german speaking market). Both were used in parallel by Posta tal Musograd. The "yourstamps.com" variant is extremely rare.
- Date of Issue: 2003.04.30
- Valid until 2008.08.01
- Fixed perforation, glossy paper
- Value: M$ 1.00
- Order No.: FM200304C - "yourstamps.com" (RARE)
- Order No.: FM200304D - "yourstamps.de" (CW 2.00)
Commemorative Issue "William Golding"
This stamp was issued on the 10th anniversary of the death of the novelist William Golding. Novels like his "Lord of the Flies", "Free Fall" or "The Spire" fascinate Musogradian readers to this day. The stamp shows an eagle soaring to freedom, and the quote "For once, I was free" from the novel "Free Fall". The other stamp image inscriptions are in cyrillic letters.Two versions of the stamp exist, the first printing run with "yourstamps.com" and the second with "yourstamps.de" and in lighter colours. A vertically oriented, image distorted variant of the stamp based on the "yourstamps.com" version is a production test and was not sold or distributed to the public at the time. It is now made available, but included in year sets only.
- Date of Issue: 2003.05.19
- Valid until 2008.08.01
- Fixed perforation, glossy paper
- Value: M$ 1.00
- Order No.: FM200305C - "yourstamps.com" (CW 2.00)
- Order No.: FM200305D - "yourstamps.de" (CW 2.00)
- Order No.: FM200305VX - Unissued vertically oriented stamp (available via year set only)
Definitive Issue "Australija 2003 - Additional Value"
In July 2003, an additional value of M$ 0.75 was added to the Australija 2003 series. It shows a view of Kings Park in Perth, WA, covered with yellow flowers. It was the first value of the series printed on glossy paper and was issued in both "yourstamps.com" and "yourstamps.de" variants.
- Date of Issue: 2003.07.07
- Valid until 2008.08.01
- Fixed perforation, glossy paper
- Value: M$ 0.75
- Order No.: FM200306C - single stamp "yourstamps.com" (CW 2.00)
- Order No.: FM200306D - single stamp "yourstamps.de" (CW 2.00)
Definitive Issue "Australija 2003 - III"
The third run of the Australija 2003 series differs from the second one in the paper used - glossy paper was used here. Also, all stamps were printed as se-tenant sheets of 5 three stamp sets, the M$ 0.10 / 0.25 / 0.50 together, the M$ 0.75 / 1.00 / 1.50 together and the M$ 2.00 / 2.50 / 4.00 together.
- Date of Issue: 2003.07.15 (est.).
- Valid until 2008.08.01
- Fixed perforation, glossy paper
- Values: M$ 0.10 / 0.25 / 0.50 / 0.75 // 1.00 / 1.50 / 2.00 // 2.50 / 2.50 / 4.00
Both "yourstamps.com" and "yourstamps.de" variants were printed. The ".com" variant is extremely rare, with the first set known only in one exemplary and the third one not known at all, but assumed to have been printed nevertheless. The second set is known in 3 exemplaries, 2 of which printed in miniature sheet format, but with different border texts "State of Musograd" and "Postal Service".
- Order No.: FM200307C1 - "yourstamps.com" set of M$ 0.10 / 0.25 / 0.50 (RARE)
- Order No.: FM200307C2 - "yourstamps.com" set of M$ 0.75 / 1.00 / 1.50 (RARE)
- Order No.: FM200307C3 - "yourstamps.com" set of M$ 2.00 / 2.50 / 4.00 (UNKNOWN)
- Order No.: FM200307C2M - "yourstamps.com" minisheet with M$ 0.75 / 1.00 / 1.50 (RARE)
The ".de" variant is still rare, but available in limited numbers in rows of 3 se-tenant stamps. A variant printed as miniature sheets with border text "yourstamps.de" in Comic Sans exists for all 3 sets, but only in one exemplary each for the first and second set. The same border text was used for the full sheet se-tenant issues. Top and bottom border pieces of the full sheet stamps are available on request with the order numbers below, with added "T" and "B" w/o additional surcharge.
- Order No.: FM200307D1 - "yourstamps.de" set of M$ 0.10 / 0.25 / 0.50 (CW 10.00)
- Order No.: FM200307D2 - "yourstamps.de" set of M$ 0.75 / 1.00 / 1.50 (CW 10.00)
- Order No.: FM200307D3 - "yourstamps.de" set of M$ 2.00 / 2.50 / 4.00 (CW 10.00)
- Order No.: FM200307D1M - "yourstamps.de" minisheet with M$ 0.10 / 0.25 / 0.50 (RARE)
- Order No.: FM200307D2M - "yourstamps.de" minisheet with M$ 0.75 / 1.00 / 1.50 (RARE)
- Order No.: FM200307D3M - "yourstamps.de" minisheet with M$ 2.00 / 2.50 / 4.00 (RARE)
Commemorative Issue "Blob Technologies"
In the years 2002-2004, Musogradian computer scientists developed a highly flexible system of storing binary data in a structured format which has some commonalities with the well known "xml" format, but binary, not text oriented, and with the file format description separated from the data. It was used in several hardware test tools ("DFT", "ITDT") to log test results and to manage program control information. The file format was called "BLOB", derived from the word for "binary large objects" stored e.g. in a database.
To celebrate the technology, comic drawings of "blobs" were created. These are shown on the two miniature sheets in this issue. The first miniature sheet contains 3 different stamps with values of M$ 1.00, 2.00 and 3.00, while the second one only contains 3 M$ 1.00 stamps.
The miniature sheets were printed in two runs which can be distinguished by the perforation of the left border. The first run has two holes left of the stamps, for both the top and the bottom perforation row, the second run only one.
Of the 3x M$ 1.00 sheetlet, only one exemplary from the first run is known to exist. All versions have the inscription "yourstamps.com".
- Date of Issue: 2003.07.21
- Valid until 2008.08.01
- Fixed perforation, glossy paper
- Value: M$ 1.00 / 2.00 / 3.00
- Order No.: FM200308AM - Mixed miniature sheet - first printing run (CW 20.00, limited availability)
- Order No.: FM200308BM - Mixed miniature sheet - second printing run (CW 5.00)
- Value: M$ 1.00 / 1.00 / 1.00
- Order No.: FM200308A3 - 3x M$1 sheetlet - first printing run (RARE)
- Order No.: FM200308B3 - 3x M$1 sheetlet - second printing run (CW 5.00)
Year Sets:
Year sets will be defined at a later point.
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