Iraq 2010 "Prehistoric animals"
| Issue Date | 28.06.2010 |
| ID | Michel: 1796-1803, Bl. 123-124; Scott: 1786a-h, 1787-1788 ; Stanley Gibbons: 2288-2295, MS2296a, MS2296b ; Yvert et Tellier: 1608-1615, 111-112 ; Category: pR |
| Design | Faruq Hassan |
| Stamps in set | 10 |
| Value |
D 250, perforated stamps:
(stamps nummbered in bottom-left corner) 34/10-1: Tyrannosaurus, Pteranodon, Iguanodon, 34/10-2: Bird, Diatryma, prosauropod, 34/10-3: Pteranodon, pterodactyloid, bird (Ichthyornis?), 34/10-4: Pteranodon, Elasmosaurus(?). 34/10-5: Dimetrodon, 34/10-6: crocodile, theropod, 34/10-7: Stegosaurus, Apatosaurus, 34/10-8: Tyrannosaurus, Stegosaurus. D 500, imperforated stamps 34/10-9: Dimetrodon, theropod dinosaur, Archaeopteryx, 34/10-10: small theropod, ornithopod, ornithomimosaur, Pteranodon. |
| Size (width x height) | 50x40 mm (perforated stamps), 104x76 mm (imperforated stamps) |
| Layout | One sheet of 6 rows (3 sets per sheet), 4 stamps each of perforated stamps. |
| Products | FDC x2 |
| Paper | glossy white pre-gummed paper. Phosphor overprint showing the Iraqi post logo on each stamp |
| Perforation | 13.5 |
| Print Technique | Offset |
| Printed by | Green Glory Printing House Lebanon |
| Quantity | 500.000 sets |
| Issuing Authority | Post of Iraq |
At the end of June 2010 Post Authority of Iraq issued a set of 10 stamps depicting many prehistoric animals. There is a stripe of two rows with four stamps each and two large imperforated stamps in the set.
The very colorful stamps were printed in Lebanon and depict a very chaotic mix of animals who lived at different locations and in different geologic times.
The stamps were perforated very strangely with some animals cut in the middle by the perforations.
Most of the reconstructions of these prehistoric animals depicted are quite outdated, based on old illustrations of famous paleo-artists such as Zdenek Burian and Rudolph Zallinger.
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Zdenek Michael František Burian (February 11, 1905, Koprivnice, Moravia - July 1, 1981 Prague) was a Czech painter and book illustrator whose work played a central role in the development of palaeontological reconstructions during a remarkable career spanning five decades. Originally recognised only in his native Czechoslovakia, Burian's fame later spread to an international audience, and a number of artists later attempted to emulate his style. He is regarded by many as the most influential palaeo-artist of the modern era. |
Rudolph Franz Zallinger (November 12, 1919 - August 1, 1995) was an American-based artist notable for his mural The Age of Reptiles (1947) at Yale's Peabody Museum of Natural History. |
One row of these stamps is just a modification of the mural created by Rudolph Zallinger for Yale's Peabody Museum of Natural History in 1947.
Products and associated philatelic items
| FDC | ||
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| Stamps-Sheet | First-Day-of-Issue Postmarks | Color shift |
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| Example of circulated covers | ||
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References
- Technical details:
StampedOut, Colnect, http://shirwanistamps.webege.com/list9.htm (doesn't exist anymore).
Acknowledgements
- Many thanks to Dr. Peter Voice, PhD Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Western Michigan University, USA, for review of a draft of this article and his very valuable comments.
- Many thanks to fellow stamp collector Jon Noad, from Calgary Canada, who share some scan FDCs from his collection.