Singapore
Fossils and reconstructions of dinosaurs on stamps, postmarks and commemorative covers of Singapore
Contents:
Singapore officially the Republic of Singapore, and often
referred to as the Lion City or the Little Red Dot, is a sovereign city-state in Southeast
Asia, and the world's only island city-state.
It lies one degree (137 km) north of the equator, south of the southernmost tip of continental
Asia and peninsular Malaysia, with
Indonesia's Riau Islands to the south.
Singapore's territory consists of a diamond-shaped main island along with 62 other islets.
The island rose in importance during the 14
th century and became an
important port until it was destroyed by Portuguese raiders in 1613.
Singapore was founded as a British trading colony in 1819.
Under
British colonial rule, Singapore grew in importance rapidly
becoming a major port city.
During World War II, Singapore was occupied by
Japan from 1942 to 1945.
After the war, Singapore reverted to British control, with increasing levels of self-government being
granted.
It joined the Malaysian Federation in 1963 but separated two years
later and became independent (9 August 1965).
[R1]
The first stamps of independent Singapore country were issued on 9 August 1966
to commemorate the first anniversary of independence labeled Republic of
Singapore but all later stamps to this day have been labeled just Singapore.
[R2]
Official stamps of Singapore related to Paleontology: fossils and reconstructions of dinosaurs
Notes:
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The front and reverse sides of the Mini Sheet with self-adhesive dinosaur stamps of Singapore 1998
MiNr.: 874-876, Scott: 831-833
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[1] This set of self-adhesive stamps, with "For the local address only" face value,
issued in a sheet of 15 and sold exclusively via OCBC (Oversea Chinese Banking Corporation)
ATMs for a limited period of time.
Within that period, two different designs of the backside were issued.
The sheet designed with exactly the same dimensions (156mmx74mm) as the currency note of SGD 50 and
very thin (less than 0.13mm ) so that they can be issued through the same aperture.
(New notes with a different dimensions were issued in 1999).
These stamps are very likely the thinnest Paleontology related stamps.
So far there were only two such ATM issues in Singapore.
The other was Palm Tree stamps issued in 1993.
They were issued through arrangement by the bank with Singapore Post.
[2] One of three Sauropod Dinosaurs on display in The Lee Kong Chian Natural
History Museum shown on
green stamp of the set
Commemorative postmarks of Singapore related to Paleontology: dinosaurs
Legend is here
Commemorative covers of Singapore
related to Paleontology: fossils and reconstructions of dinosaurs
1985 "The Evolution of Animal Exhibition" |
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References:
- [R1] Singapore:
Wikipedia,
WikiTravel,
Flag Counter
- [R2] Postal History and Philately of Singapore:
Wikipedia,
Links to official website of the Post Authority, stamp catalog and a list of new stamps of Singapore are here.
Acknowledgement:
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.