Antigua and Barbuda
Dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, Charles Darwin, Natural History Museum on stamps and postmarks of Antigua and Barbuda
Contents:
Antigua and Barbuda
is a twin-island country lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
It consists of two major inhabited islands,
Antigua and
Barbuda, and a number of smaller islands.
The permanent population numbers about 81,800 (2011) and the capital and largest port and city is St. John's, on Antigua.
Separated by a few nautical miles, Antigua and Barbuda are in the middle of the Leeward Islands, part of the Lesser
Antilles, roughly at 17°N of the equator.
The country is nicknamed "Land of 365 Beaches" due to the many beaches surrounding the islands.
Its governance, language, and culture have all been strongly influenced by the British Empire, of which the country was formerly a part.
The English settled on Antigua in 1632; Sir Christopher Codrington settled on Barbuda in 1684.
Slavery, established to run sugar plantations around 1684, was abolished in 1834.
The British ruled from 1632 to 1981, with a brief French interlude in 1666.
The islands became an independent state within the Commonwealth of Nations on 1 November 1981, with Elizabeth II as the first Queen of Antigua and Barbuda.
[R1]
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Regular letter from Antigua and Barbuda, with stamps of dinosaurs from 1992, sent to Germany.
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Since its establishment, this tiny country started issuing large numbers of stamps of various themes.
Most of the themes were unrelated to the country.
Over 4.600 stamps were issued between 1981 and 2015 - 135 (!) per year on average.
Just to compare with some other small countries:
the
Aland islands issue 15 stamps per year
and
Andorra issues about 30 stamps per year (15 each from the French and Spanish Administrations).
Moreover
Barbuda
island with a population of less than 1700 persons (2011),
has issued its own stamps since 1968 and overprinted Antigua stamps with “
Barbuda Mail” from 1973 on.
(
BARBUDA MAIL) from 1973 onwards.
Stamps issued by this country often show prehistoric animals in unrealistic environments
and mix prehistoric animals from different periods of geologic time together.
For example:
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1992: The Stegosaurus and Triceratops are shown living in grasslands.
Grass evolved long after the Mesozoic ended.
Stegosaurus is found in Jurassic and Early Cretaceous rocks,
while Triceratops lived near the end of the Cretaceous!
(Stampedout)
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1995: Protoceratops and Pteranodon lived at different times on different continents.
The reconstruction of Pteranodon is too small.
Like the 1992 issue, the Centrosaurus is shown living in a grassland.
(Stampedout)
All of the above, makes these stamps
undesirable for the serous collector!
Official stamps of Antigua and Barbuda related to Paleontology: dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, Charles Darwin
28.06.1982 "Centenary of death of Charles Darwin" |
06.04.1992 "Dinosaurs" [1] |
15.05.1995 "Dinosaurs" [2] |
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26.05.1999 "Dinosaurs and prehistoric Mammals" |
23.05.2005 "Prehistoric animals" |
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Other stamps of Antigua and Barbuda to consider: Natural History Museum
17.11.1989 "Smithsonian Institution" [A1] |
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Notes:
[A1] This block was issued for World Stamp Expo'89" International Stamp Exhibition in Washington DC.
The stamp shows the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
The Smithsonian Institution appeared on a postage stamp for the
first time on an American stamp issued in
USA in 1946.
Smithsonian Institution has a very large Paleobiology Department.
Official stamps of Antigua and Barbuda related to Paleontology: dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals of
BARBUDA island: overprinted with "BARBUDA MAIL" label.
08.12.1992 "Dinosaurs" |
13.06.1996 "Dinosaurs" |
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Postmarks of Antigua and Barbuda related to Paleontology: dinosaurs
Legend is here
08.12.1992 "Dinosaurs" [FDC] |
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References:
Acknowledgements:
Many thanks to
Dr.
Peter Voice from Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Western Michigan University,
for reviewing the draft page and his valuable comments.