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Sweden 1973 "Explorers"


Issue Date 22.09.1973
ID Michel: 810-814, Scott: 1ß005-1009, Stanley Gibbons: 745-749, Yvert & Tellier: 789-793, Category: Ot.
Designer Svenolov Ehren, Jan Magnusson. Engraver: Czeslav Slania
Stamps in set 4
Value 1kr - Carl Peter Thunberg (1743-1828)
1kr - Anders Sparrman (1748-1820)
1kr - Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (1832-1901), Expedition ship "Vega"
1kr - Salomon August Andree (1854-1897)
1kr - Sven Hedin (1865-1952)
Type commemorative
Size (width x height) 44mm x 27mm
Layout Booklet of 5, sheets of 40
Products FDC x1, Booklet of 5 x1
Paper
Perforation 12¾ Horizontal
Print Technique Recess
Printed by
Quantity 1.588.200 sets
Issuing Authority
Sven Hedin among other Swedish explorers on stamps of Sweden 1973


On September 22nd 1973, Postal Authority of Sweden issued the set of 5 stamps "Explorers" - show 5 prominent Swedish explorers. These stamps were engraved by famous Czechoslovakians Engraver Czeslav Slania.
One of these stamps shows a portrait of Dr. Sven Heiden.

Sven Hedin, (February 19, 1865 - November 26, 1952), was Swedish geographer, topographer, explorer, photographer who led through Central Asia a series of expeditions.
His expeditions to Asia resulted in collections of material of the most varied kinds, today housed with a number of museums and institutions primarily, in Sweden, but also in other parts of the world. The collections span a range of materials; ethnographic (in a wide sense) and archaeological objects, botanical and zoological specimens, paleontological and paleobotanical fossils, geological samples, collections of manuscripts, block-prints and books in Central and East Asian languages.
Sven Hedin on stamp of Sweden 1973
Sven Hedin on stamp of Sweden 1973, MiNr.: 814, Scott: 1009

One of the expedition led by Hedin was the Sino-Swedish Expedition, a bilateral Chinese-Swedish expedition, which carried out scientific research in north and northwest China, 1927–1935. The Expedition looked in particular at the meteorology, topography and prehistory in Mongolia, the Gobi Desert and Xinjiang.
The expedition was split by two parts:
  • 1927–32 – from Beijing – via Baotou, Mongolia, the Gobi Desert, Xinjiang – to Urumqi
  • 1933–34 – from Beijing to Kashgar, with a view to constructing two roads suitable for cars
The expedition team included almost 50 scientists and researchers mostly from Sweden, Germany, and China. The expedition yielded a wealth of scientific results - some of which are still being worked on and published today! For example, the discovery of specific deposits of iron, manganese, oil, coal, and gold reserves was of great economic relevance for China.
Among many other discoveries, the expedition found many fossils of prehistoric plants and animals, including dinosaur bones and eggs. According to the agreement with the Chinese authorities some fossils were repatriated in the early 1950s, and allegedly also during the period of the Cultural Revolution, and today at least the early consignments are found in the Museum of Paleontology in Beijing.
Parts of this collection are still found in Sweden today - with many specimens in the collections of the Museum of Natural History, Stockholm.
The following specimens of prehistoric animals were named in honour of Sven Hedin: Tsaidamotherium hedini - a fossil hoofed mammal, Lystrosaurus hedini - a fossil Therapsid (a "mammal-like reptile").



Products and associated philatelic items
FDC Used cover
Prominent Swedish explorers on FDC of 1973 Prominent Swedish explorers on cover of 1973 Stamp of Sven Hedin on cover of Sweden 1973


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