2018

Official stamps related to Paleontology and Paleoanthropology

14.12.2018 Armenia	03.09.2018 Hungary	28.08.2018 Israel
27.08.2018 Belgium	10.07.2018 Serbia [2]	15.06.2018 Colombia [3]
11.05.2018 Korea North	23.03.2018 Slovenia	05.01.2018 France [1]

Paleontology related stamps of countries who issue too many stamps per year, stamps with prehistoric animals or their fossils without any relation to the issuing country or stamps with inaccurate reconstruction of prehistoric animals. These stamps are not recommended for serious collectors and are Undesired at serious philatelic exhibits.
Angola [4]	Central African Republic	Djibouti
Guinea	Guinea Bissau	Maldives
Mozambique	Niger	Sao Tome and Principe
Sierra Leone	Togo

Notes:

Helminthoides Flysch on stamp of France 2018, MiNr.: 6935, Scott: 5365

[1] Booklet of 12 self-adhesive stamps "Works of Nature". One of the stamps "'Helminthoides Flysch".
"Helminthoides Flysch" or "Helminthoid Flysch" is a term for flysch deposits that contain a specific assemblage of deep water trace fossils.
For more details, please go here.

[2] Mini-Sheet with 4 stamps of some famous scientists of Serbia.

• Antal/Anton Koch (Sombor, 7.1.1843 – Budapest, 8.2.1927), who worked as Professor of Geology and Paleontology at the Geological Institute in Budapest.
• Vladimir D. Laskare (Biryuch, Russian Empire, June 26, 1868 – Belgrade, April 10, 1954) who held lectures in paleontology at the University of Belgrade.

For more details, please go here.


[3] On June 15 2018, Post Authority of Colombia issued a stamp to commemorate - "1^st International Festival of History R-evolutions (I Festival Internacional de Historia R-evoluciones)" that take place between 14 and 16 September 2018 in Villa de Leyva, Colombia.
The stamp shows an ammonite that was selected as symbol of the Festival.
For more details, please go here.

[4] At the end of 2018, Angola became a client of Stamperija. Stamperija quickly issued many colorful stamps of every possible topic on behalf of Angola.

Some personalized stamps: dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, flint tools, contributor to the fields of Paleoanthropology

xx.08.2018 Gibraltar [SP3]	xx.06.2018 Australia [SP2]	13.02.2018 Australia [SP2]
02.02.2018 France [SP1]

Notes:
[SP1] The sheet with four personalized stamps "150^th anniversary since death of Jacques Boucher de Crèvecœur de Perthes" and commemorative postmark were issued by the association of Friends of the "Boucher-de-Perthes" Museum.

Poster of NEANDERTHAL: THE CONFERENCE

[SP2] Two Souvenir sheets with 10 stamps and some Dinosaurs on tabs in between, were issued by Australian Post to celebrate one of the biggest movie franchises in motion picture history with the Jurassic Park .
For more details, please go here.

[SP3] 2018 marks the 170^th anniversary of the discovery of the first Neanderthal skull dubbed Gibraltar 1, which was unearthed at Forbes' Quarry in Gibraltar in 1848.
The Gibraltar Museum celebrated the occasion with a special Calpe Conference on Neanderthals entitled "NEANDERTHAL: The Conference".
For more details, please go here.
The conference logo attached to "Greetings from Gibraltar" stamp from 2007.
Unfortunately there are no official stamps or other philatelic materials issued to commemorate this event.
For more details, please go here.

Stamps of associated topics: Natural History Museums, fossil sites

xx.xx.2018 Argentina [A11]		18.10.2018 Bulgaria [A9]
10.10.2018 Czech [A8]	18.09.2018 Sao Tome and Principe [A10]	31.07.2018 Gibraltar [A4]
12.06.2018 Australia [A7]	11.06.2018 Belgium [A5]	18.05.2018 Gibraltar [A4]
02.05.2018 Austria [A6]	24.04.2018 Iceland [A3]	04.04.2018 Czech Republic
13.03.2018 Sao Tome and Principe [A2]	01.01.2018 Hong Kong [A1]

Notes:
[A1] These new definitive stamps are defined by the original designs of the 2014 Definitive Stamps that feature unique geo-attractions of the Hong Kong UNESCO Global Geopark, and portray Ma Shi Chau, Yan Chau and Fa Shan.
At least one of these stamps shows a place where fossils have been found.
The rock formation at Ma Shi Chau contains a variety of fossils such as crinoids, brachiopods, pteropods and corals.
For more details, please go here.

[A2] Charles Darwin depicted on a stamp of the Souvenir Sheet from set "Famous Universities and Alumni".

[A3] On April 24th post of Iceland issued a stamp "Eggert Olafsson 250th Anniversary".
Eggert studied natural sciences and various other subjects at the University of Copenhagen.
He reported fossilized leaves of “birch, rowan, and willow ... and many most similar to oaks” from the Surtarbrandsgil locality in north-western Iceland.
One illustration from the book is depicted on the top-right corner of the stamp and shows three minerals: a- left) Gypsum, b-right) Zeolite.
The third one c-middle top is Filegrans - steen (not clear on this moment, what kind of stone it is), perhaps with some fossils of marine shells on it. For more details, please go here.

[A4] On 1 April 2018, the Royal Air Force celebrated its 100^th Anniversary.
On 31 July 2018, Post Authority of Gibraltar issued a set of stamps "Views of the Rock".   Both stamps show the Rock of Gibraltar, a famous site for the discovery of Neanderthal fossils.
For more details, please go here.

[A5] The Africa Museum is recognized worldwide for its rich, varied and scientifically valuable collections. The collection is very diverse in terms of types of specimens (from the remains of large reptiles to microscopic skeletons of unicellular organisms) and in terms of age (approximately 650 million years to a few thousand years old).
Large collections include: stromatolites from the Neoproterozoic (Lower Congo, Katanga, Kasaï); plant fossils from the Carboniferous-Permian (Katanga); fish fossils from the Jurassic-Cretaceous of the Congo Basin.
For more details, please go here.

Klagenfurt Lindwurm on stamp of Austria 2018 MiNr.:, Scott:	The Art of Nature stamps of Australia 2018 include a stamp showing Shark Bay, Western Australia. This location is one of the few places today where modern stromatolites are growing. MiNr: 4817, Scott: 4818.

[A6] One of the stamps shows "Lindwurmbrunnen von Klagenfurt".
Although it represents a dragon, it can be regarded as the first palaeontological reconstruction. The head of the statue is modelled on the skull of woolly rhinoceros. For more details, please go here.

[A7] "The Art in Nature stamp issue illustrates the exquisite beauty found in our country's natural landforms, akin to art," Australia Post Philatelic Manager Michael Zsolt said. One of the stamps shows a landscape of Shark Bay.
Shark Bay is one of the few places where scientists can study modern stromatolites – a bacterial-sediment structure.
Stromatolites make-up the majority of fossils from the Precambrian. For more details, please go here.

[A8] On October 10^th 2018 Post authority of Czech Republic issued a stamp "200 years of the National Museum in Prague". The stamp depicts the building and expositions of the National Museum. The National Museum is the largest Czech museum.

The aurochs (Bos primigenius) on extinct animal stamps of Bulgaria 2018.
Homo neanderthalensis on stamp of Sao Tome and Principe 2018	Homo neanderthalensis on stamp of Burundi 2003

Museum started with donations of large private collections, dedicated mostly to natural science, by a group of local aristocrats led by Count Kaspar Maria Sternberg, who also led an effort to set up the museum.
For more details, please go here.

[A9] One of the stamps from the "Extinct animals" set shows The aurochs (Bos primigenius) the ancestor of domestic cattle.
Due the fact that the aurochs appears on many prehistoric cave paintings it can be consider by PaleoPhilately collectors.
For more details, please go here.

[A10] On September 18^th, 2018 Stamperija on behalf Sao Tome and Principe issued two stamp sets "Stamps on stamps".
Both sets have the same design but different face values.
Burundi's stamps from 2013 with "Homo neanderthalensis", was also issued by Stamperija, shown on stamp of the Blocks.

[A11] Surcharged edition of landscape stamps from 2002 and 2003.
These surcharged stamps were not sold in post offices or at the online store or the Argentinian Post, but by the private post operator, “Postal Unit”.
These stamps were used by Postal Unit on their letters for business and private purposes.
One of the stamps from 2002 shows landscape of Talampaya Natural Park, when one of the stamps from 2003 shows a landscape of Ischigualasto Natural Park. Both parks contain very important fossil sites.
For more details, please go here.
Left stamp: Landscape of Talampaya Natural Park on surcharged stamp of Argentina 2018.
Right stamp: Landscape of Ischigualasto Natural Park on surcharged stamp of Argentina 2018.

Attention: Fake!

An illegal stamp is defined by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) as a stamp that carries the name of a legitimate country or territory but was not produced or printed by the postal administration of that country and is not valid for postage anywhere in the world.

xx.xx.2018 Mexico [F1]	xx.xx.2018 Madagascar [F2]

Notes:
[F1] Tlacolula de Matamoros is a city and municipality in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, about 30 km from the center of the city of Oaxaca on Federal Highway 190 with population of 16,000 about, located in the south of Mexico and uses Mexican stamps only.
These stamps look real but are fake. They were issued by a private person or stamp dealer and are not valid for postage.

[F2] These stamps and associated FDC offered on internet, but on closer look the following differences versus official stamp can be seen:

• Official stamps have "Paositra" label (name of Madagascar's post authority) and year number on the left on bottom side.
• Currency name is misspelled. Ariairy” instead of “Ariary

Commemorative Postmarks directly related to Paleontology and Paleoanthropology: dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, fossils, human ancestors, paleontologists

Legend is here

14.12.2018 Armenia [FDC]	03.09.2018 Hungary [FDC] [C1]	01.09.2018 Japan [Sp] [C3]
28.08.2018 Israel [FDC]		09.06.2018 China [Sp]
27.08.2018 Belgium [Sp]	27.08.2018 Belgium [FDC]
09.06.2018 China [Sp]	07.06.2018 Germany [Sp]	19.04.2018 Romania [Sp]
12.04.2018 Romania [Sp]	04.04.2018 Czech Republic [FDC]	23.03.2018 Slovenia [FDC]
28.02.2018 South Korea [PM] [C2]	02.02.2018 France [Sp] [SP1]

Notes:
[C1] The special postmark on the FDC of "THE WORLD OF THE BAKONY DINOSAURS" stamp set, shows the beak of the 1.5 metre long, herbivorous Ajkaceratops kozmai with a small horn and characteristic parrot-like bill.
The reconstruction of the dinosaur shown on top-right stamp of the mini-sheet.

[C2] New permanent postmark of South Korea, replaces an older postmark with a Pteranodon from 2010.

[C3] 01.09.2018 - 15.10.2018 - postmark "National Sports Festival 2015 " in Fukui Prefecture, with a Dinosaur fossil from "Dinosaur Museum, of Fukui at the top side.

Commemorative postmarks of associated topics: fossil sites

Legend is here

09.06.2018 Germany "150th anniversary of discovery of Dechen cave" [CA1]	25.05.2018 Germany "International Philatelic Exhibit ÖVEBRIA 2018" [A6]

Notes:
[CA1] Fossils of a cave bear found in the cave.
In May 2018, German Post issued a postal stationery and on June 7^th another postmark which depicts a fossil of the cave bear.

Post stationary and special covers: fossils of prehistoric animals and humans

03.05.2018 Germany [P1]	09.06.2018 China

Notes:
[P1] Postal stationery of Germany with imprinted stamp "Bicentenary of Museum fuer Naturkunde in Berlin" from 2010.

Notes

• If you are aware of any other philatelic items related to Paleontology or Paleoanthropology issued in 2018 that are not listed on this page, please inform the author of the website.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Dr. Peter Voice from Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Western Michigan University, for reviewing the draft page and his very valuable comments.