Lesotho
Dinosaurs and its footprints, prehistoric animals on stamps and postmarks of Lesotho
Contents:
Lesotho, officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, formerly known as Basutoland, is an
enclaved, landlocked country in southern Africa completely surrounded by
South Africa.
It is just over 30,000 km2 in size and has a population slightly over two million.
Its capital and largest city is Maseru.
The name Lesotho roughly translates to "land of the Sotho".
Lesotho was previously the British Crown Colony of Basutoland, but it declared independence from
the
United Kingdom on 4 October 1966.
About 40% of the population lives below the international poverty line of US $1.25 a day.
[R1]
The first stamps of independent Lesotho were issued on 4 October 1966.
On 1 November of that year, the 1961-1963 set of Basutoland was overprinted "LESOTHO".
In 1979, the currency was changed from South African rand to lisente (s) and maloti (m).
In 1980-1981 the then current 1976-1978 definitives were overprinted with the new currency,
and this created a wide range of errors (such as double surcharge,
albino surcharges, inverted surcharges, etc.) and stamps with second
and third different surcharges.
[R2]
Official stamps of Lesotho related to Paleontology: dinosaurs and its footprints, prehistoric animals
05.01.1970 "Footprints of prehistoric reptiles" |
02.07.1984 "Footprints of prehistoric reptiles" |
09.06.1992 "Prehistoric animals" |
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10.08.1998 "Prehistoric animals" |
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Commemorative postmarks of Lesotho related to Paleontology: dinosaurs and their footprints, prehistoric animals
Legend is here
02.07.1984 "Footprints of prehistoric reptiles" [FDC] |
09.06.1992 "Prehistoric animals" [FDC] |
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References:
- [R1] Lesotho:
Wikipedia,
WikiTravel,
FlagCounter.
- [R2] Postal History and Philately of Lesotho:
Wikipedia,
Links to official website of the Post Authority, stamp catalog and a list of new stamps of Lesotho
are here.
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.