Portugal 2000 - 2001 "Dinosaurs of Portugal"
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| Issue Date | 21.02.2000 - AMIEL 13.03.2000 - SMD 20.12.2000 - NewVision |
| ID |
Michel: 29.1-32.1 (SMD: MSPost VE 50),
29.2-32.2 (AMIEL: SIMA 1020),
29.2-32.2 (NewVision: Epost 2000); Scott: N/A; Stanley Gibbons: ?; Yvert et Tellier: ?; Category: pR |
| Design | artwork: Jose Projecto, stamps design: Mariana Santos |
| Stamps in set | 4 self-adhesive ATM labels |
| Value |
Esc 50 / €0.25 : Esc 350 / € 1.75 - Sauropod with footprints Esc 50 / €0.25 : Esc 350 / € 1.75 - Lourinhasaurus Esc 50 / €0.25 : Esc 350 / € 1.75 - Dacentrurus Esc 50 / €0.25 : Esc 350 / € 1.75 - Allosaurus |
| Emission/Type | ATM |
| Places of issue | Lisbon. Porto, Coimbra, Evora e Faro, Lourinha |
| Size (width x height) | 55 mm x 30 mm |
| Layout | strip of 4 self-adhesive labels |
| Products | Any FDC or additional philatelic product was produced by Portuguese Post. |
| Paper | Esmalte, fluorescent |
| Perforation | imperforate, self-adhesive |
| Print Technique | Offset lithography |
| Printed by | Amiel and SMD vending machines |
| Quantity | N/A |
| Issuing Authority | CTT - Correios de Portugal |
In 2000 Portugal as well as another 15 European countries started preparation to use a common currency - EURO. As part of the preparations all prices on every thing were written in both local and EURO currencies till the EURO currency replace local currencies in January 2002. The same changes were made for the dinosaur ATM stamps too.
Since November 1999 till March 2002 the Post Authority of Portugal were issued 3-5 various sets of vending machine stamps (ATM) per year. "Dinosaurs of Portugal" stamps are one of them. Four different designs of dinosaurs and their footprints, were created by Portuguese artist Jose Projecto, then transformed to stamp-templates (self-adhesive labels) by the graphic-designer Mariana Santos. Fossils of all dinosaurs depicted on the stamps as well as their footprints were discovered in Portugal.
Description of the dinosaurs depicted on these stamps are available in the article about the ATM stamps from 1999.
The first dinosaurs ATM stamps with the double currency were issued on February 21st, 2000 by AMIEL SIMA 1020 machines and on March 13th, 2000 by SMD MSPost VE 50 machines.
In December 2000, the third type of vending machine was installed in some post offices of Portugal - NewVision Epost 2000.
The first dinosaur stamps were printed by NewVision vending machine on December 20th, 2000. NewVision vending machine was not available at the philatelic desk, therefore the stamps produced by this machine are very rare.
| Change of postal rates on dinosaur ATM stamps of Portugal between 1999 and 2003 | ||||||||
| Year of issue | Without additional label (regular mail) |
"Correio Azul" (priority mail) |
Vending machines used in Portugal in 2000 and 2001, from left to right:
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| Domestic [1] | Spain | Europe, except Spain | Rest of the world | Domestic | International | |||
| up to 20g. | up to 100g. | up to 20g. | up to 20g. | up to 20g. | up to 20g. | up to 20g. | ||
| 1999 | *50.00* | *85.00* | *95.00* | *100.00* | *140.00* | *80.00* | *350.00* | |
| 2000 | *50.00$ | *85.00$ | *90.00$ | *100.00$ | *140.00$ | *85.00$ | *350.00$ | |
| *50.00$ / €0.25 | *85.00$ / €0.42 | *90.00$ / €0.45 | *100.00$ / €0.50 | *140.00$ / €0.70 | *85.00$ / €0.42 | *350.00$ / €1.75 | ||
| 2001 | *50.00$ / €0.25 | *85.00$ / €0.42 | *95.00$ / €0.45 | *105.00$ / €0.50 | *140.00$ / €0.70 | *80.00$ / €0.42 | *350.00$ / €1.75 | |
| 2002 | €0.27 | €0.45 | €0.46 | €0.54 | €0.70 | €0.43 | €1.75 | |
Notes:
[1] In 2000, the rate of Domestic 20g. letter was Escudo 52 and in 2001 Escudo 53, but the vending machines were programmed for Escudo 50 to prevent the Escudo 1 coins from constantly being emptied in the change compartment. The letters with vending machine stamps of "Escudo 50 / €0.25" were accepted by the Post, without any extra charge.
[2] Distinguished from year 1999, in 2000 Escudo 85 stamps were available at vending machines in both philatelic desk and at the post offices.
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| "*105.00$ / €0.50" ATM stamp of AMIEL vending machine from 2001. |
Another rate, the letter to "Europe except Spain" with weight up to 20g. was updated on January 1st, 2001, from "*100.00$ / €0.50" to "*105.00$ / €0.50". The dinosaurs ATM stamps with this rate are more common on circulated letters, but very rare in the mint condition.
Similar to 1999, these stamps were on sale by philatelic desk in two different ATM machines: AMIEL and SMD. AMIEL machines printed the text in bold and big font, while SMD machines used smaller and thin text, as on examples below.
As more text was needed to print on the stamps, the text size on stamps printed by AMIEL vending machines became a bit smaller, but still bigger as by SMD, compare to 1999. ".00" after the Escudo value were omitted by both machines to save the place. The text on stamps of NewVision machines was the smallest.
Moreover, the Euro symbol ("€") was printed differently by all three vending machines: it is more round on the stamps printed by SMD machines. The horizontal lines of the Euro symbol on NewVision's stamps were the shortest.
| Amiel SIMA 1020 text | SMD MSPost VE 50 text | Newvision Epost 2000 text |
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In 2000 and 2001, vending machines at as philatelic desk and at the post offices were programmed differently.
Stamps printed at philatelic used used a dot (".") as Euro value separator (€0.25 for example), while at the post offices a coma (",") was used as Euro value separator (€0,25 for example). Mint stamps with coma are more difficult to get and are more expensive, but they appears often on the circulated letters.
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| SMD stamp: thin and small face value | AMIEL stamp: bold and large face value. The stamp on the right used coma separator and has currency conversion error (€0.40 instead of €0.42) | |
Products and associated philatelic items
| Full sets (28 stamps) | CTO | |
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| AMIEL stamps with all 2000 rates | SMD stamps with all 2000 rates | Cancelled to Order stamps of AMIEL machine. Cancelled on the first day of issue: 21.02.2000. |
| Test values of AMIEL machine | ||
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| Violet ink (most common) | Black ink (less common) | Red ink (error of ink mix in the machine) |
| Production Errors | ||
| Currency Conversion errors | ||
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The stamps on the left: "*50$ / €0.52" instead of "*50$ / €0.25" The stamps on the right: "*85$ / €0.40" instead of "*85$ / €0.42" In theory, such an error could happen by programming the vending machine to the new currency, but it should be recognized by the maintained staff, who needed to print some test value stamps to check themself. These stamps have very clear text with strong colors, in comparison to other stamps with correct values. Probably, the error was created on demand by the staff for some fellow collectors or dealers. |
"*140$ / €0;zo" or probably "*140$ / €0:20" was printed instead of correct face value of "*140$ / €0:70". This kind of typo is unique and the ink looks the same as by most of the stamps with correct values. Perhaps, it was indeed printed by a machine unintentionally, without any manipulation. |
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| Inverted text | ||
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| Most likely, it is a manipulation made by the machine service staff, who inserted some stripes in the opposite direction on fellow-collectors or dealers demand. | ||
| Ink variations | ||
| Most of the machines used blue ink, but some used red or black ink | ||
| Red ink | Black ink | |
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| Black inks and currency conversion errors: "*90$ / €0.40" instead of "*90$ / €0.45" | ||
| FDC | ||
| The FDC below were created by collectors or dealers by using commemorative covers from 1999 or regular covers with date postmarks of the first-day-of-issue of the ATM stamps with double face values. | ||
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| FDC with SMD stamps. | Additional stamp of Escudo 30 was added on the reverse side of each cover. | |
| Example of circulated covers | ||
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| The stamps on the covers have the stamps with coma separator at Euro separator. | The cover posted in 2001. One of the stamps have an error stamp: "*85$/€0.40" | The cover posted in 2004. Two of the stamps have an error stamp: "*85$/€0.82" |
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References
- Technical details and short description:
- colnect
- MICHEL Automatenmarken-Speziel (Vending Machines Special) 2013/2014, 7. Auflage (7th Edition), ISBN: 978-3-95402-951-4
- AFINSA (National Portuguese stamps catalogue) 2009, ISBN: 978-972-9468-15-5
- Stamp designers
- ATM stamps and vending machines of Portugal
Acknowledgments
- Many thanks to fellow stamp collector Mr. Vitor Vieira, who run a blog about ATM stamps of Portugal from Portugal, for his help to finding some information about these stamps and for sharing scans of some stamps and covers from his collection.
- Many thanks to fellow stamp collector Mr. Jose Lalanda Jorge from Sintra, Portugal for sharing scan of some stamps and covers from his collection.
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