On July 2nd, 2015 KEP puts into circulation two new stamp issues, each consisting of a souvenir sheet dedicated to significant historical events.
In 1965 the first “spacewalks” (EVA’s) were performed. The first ever heroes to perform this activity were the Soviet pilot-cosmonaut Alexey Leonov and the American astronaut Edward White. KEP is dedicating the issue of a souvenir sheet to the 50th anniversary of the feats performed by these outstanding men. The souvenir sheet consists of two stamps. The 50.00 KGS stamp depicts the spacewalk of the Soviet cosmonaut, accompanied by the phrase, in Russian: “Алексей Леонов, 18 марта 1965 г.” (“Alexey Leonov, March 18, 1965”). The 150.00 KGS stamp depicts the American astronaut in outer space, accompanied by the phrase: “Edward White, June 3, 1965”. On the sheet background, a classic space scene is depicted as well as the Soviet and American spacecrafts that were used for the trips and to perform the extravehicular activities.
The second souvenir sheet our company is issuing on July 2nd, is dedicated to the 175th anniversary of the world's first postage stamp. The souvenir sheet consists of one 250.00 KGS stamp. It depicts the world's first postage stamp, known in philately as the “Penny Black” (because of the miniature's colour and face value). This stamp was put into circulation on May 6th, 1840 in Great Britain. A commemorative ribbon with the dates “1840-2015” can be found on the sheet background, as well as a picture of KEP’s first stamp issue, and a quote, in French, from Prince Rainier III of Monaco, saying that a stamp is the best ambassador of a country. There is also a commemorative phrase, written in English, on the sheet background and there are logos of the biggest philatelic exhibitions, dedicated to the anniversary of the world's first postage stamp. The exhibitions took place in May 2015 in Essen, Germany and London, UK.
For the two new souvenir sheet issues, KEP also offers respective first day postmarks and specially designed first day covers that will be cancelled using the postmarks.
It is worth mentioning that both souvenir sheets were printed by one of the best specialised printing houses - “Cartor” in France.
We hope that philatelists from Kyrgyzstan and all over the world will truly estimate the design and the printing execution of the new KEP issues.
You can check the newsletter for the new KEP issues here
You can order the souvenir sheets here
