German

Icelandic Stamps

The Icelandic stamp collection can conveniently be divided into two main categories: The Kingdom (Iceland under the Danish Crown) and the Republic. Iceland started issuing its own stamps as early as 1873 while the country was still a part of the Danish Commonwealth. It gained independence and became a republic in 1944. While early "Kingdom" postage stamps may be hard to come by, the Republic - a stamp collection starting with the Jubileum stamps on June 17th 1944 - can be obtained with relative ease and does not cost a fortune.

In the Republic Era motives on Icelandic stamps have focussed mainly on Icelandic cultural heritage and the country's nature, richly diverse in its multiple aspects of frost and fire. The amazing variety of the country's flora and fauna, thriving in an arctic climate tempered by the Gulf Stream, has been the main theme of Icelandic stamps during the last two decades. Some of these stamps have won international acclaim and awards. They are usually printed with the finest techniques available and the collector will find a wide variety of engraved, heliogravured or offsett-printed stamps in the Republic collection.

The issuing policy of the Icelandic postal authorities has always been moderate and comparable to that of the other Nordic countries which have some of the strictest stamp issuing policies in the world. The collector will be able to subscribe to full and complete years of Icelandic stamps, containing series, mini-sheets and booklets, for only about 35 US dollars per annum.Information on forthcoming issues are sent regularly to all customers and they can opt to receive the stamps around the date of issue, 6-7 times a year, or get the whole and complete year collection in November, including the increasingly popular Christmas stamps, all the year's souvenir sheets and special booklets, combining to make a colorful and fascinating stamp collection.