Immediately following the devastating news reports and pictures, countries from around the world pledged billions of dollars in humanitarian aid.  The countries that suffered the worst damage and loss of life were Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India and Thailand.

One of the ways that Belgium decided to help pitch in with humanitarian efforts was to release the Tsunami Aid Semi-postal postage stamps.  Postal authorities issue semi-postal postage stamps in an effort to help raise funds for a specific cause.  Each semi-postal postage stamp has a surcharge above the purchase price of the actual stamp. Sometimes the additional purchase price is printed on the stamp, sometimes it is charged when you buy the stamp.  Any funds that are collected by the sales of the stamps are donated to the cause or charity for which it is intended.  Most of the time, the picture on the stamp coincides with the charity or cause.

It’s hard to believe that it has been 5 years since the life altering Tsunami hit.  A few days ago, many memorial services were held for the victims around the world to mark the day.  If you would like to add the Belgium Tsunami Aid Semi-postal postage stamp to your collection, please contact Stamp Center today.

The underwater post office is in a marine sanctuary in about 9 feet underwater.  So doesn’t matter if you are a scuba diver or a snorkler, just about anyone can go there.  According to the Vanuatu post office website, http://www.underwaterpost.com, hundreds of people have posted the special waterproof postcards from the post office there.
 
The cards are collected on a regular basis by one of Vanuatu’s four scuba postal carriers. They not only collect the postcards, but they also cancel them while underwater, using an embossing cachet. 

If getting something stamped underwater is not your cup of tea, the Vanuatu post office also has something called “Volcano post”.  This consists of a postbox on the rim of one of the world’s most active volcanoes.  Check out the link at http://www.volcanopost.com.  This is the second of Vanuatu’s “xtreme” postal facilities.  Mail gets picked up daily!

Stop by Stamp Center today to see our amazing selection of Christmas themed postage stamps.  We have over 1100 Christmas stamps, some older, some newer, from locations from around the world.  Stamp Center offers free shipping to our US customers and $4.50 flat rate shipping to our international customers. You won’t be disappointed!

In May of 2004, the United States Postal Service also released a postage stamp to honor the men and women who served in the armed forces during WWII.  The postage stamp featured a computer generated image rather than an artist’s rendering.  The stamp showcases one of the two 43 foot memorial arches and shows a portion of the pillars that line the outer edge of the monument.  Although this stamp is nice, those of us who have seen the monument in person might agree that the digital image does not quite show the beauty of this amazing structure with its enormous pillars, memorial plaza and Rainbow Pool.

Stamp Center has a huge variety of postage stamps from all around the world that pay tribute to WWII.  Stop by and check out the WWII postage stamps from New Zealand, Solomon Islands, China, Isle of Man, Moldavia, Belgium, Nevis, Liberia, and St. Vincent to just name a few.

Stamp Dealers are a great resource for purchasing postage stamps.  They have extensive knowledge about their products and often times have entire collections available to purchase.

Stamp Center is a stamp collecting dealer that provides stamp collection values, stamp collection appraisals and also sells new issue foreign stamps from countries around the world.  Stamp Center is also able to locate those hard to find rare postage stamps for you that will make your collection complete.

Not only does Stamp Center strive to find some fantastic stamps to add to your collection, we also love to save our customers money.  Effective October 13, 2009, all orders shipped out to our customers in the United States and Canada will be sent out for free!  Our foreign customers will also enjoy our reduced flat rate shipping which is only $4.50!

Be sure to check out all of the amazing postage stamps that are available from countries near and far which are listed at Stamp Center.

Now I must admit that I don’t know exactly why France issued these adorable postage stamps with sweet little naked babies on them; but affixing them to birth announcements does seem like a logical option.  Perhaps they just knew that the public would have a difficult time refusing to buy such sweet little bundles of sleeping cherubs.

Whatever the reasoning for their creation, they are bright and colorful and would make a wonderful addition to any stamp collection. This stamp sheetlet is called the “Birth of Boy & Girl”.  It was released in December of 2005.  If you would like to add these cuties to your collection, Stamp Center has them in stock and ready to ship out to you.

One of my favorite sets of Queen Elizabeth postage stamps were issued by the Royal Mail.  These special stamps were a beautiful way to pay tribute to the Queen’s 80 years of life.  The eight stamps show the Queen’s smiling face through eight decades of her life, except the decade of her birth and the 90’s.  Reportedly there were no good images for the two missing decades that met the criteria for this collection of photographs.  None-the-less, they are a fantastic collection of photographs.

What makes these stamps special is that they are pictures of an informal and relaxed Queen, which most people rarely are able to witness.  The Royal Mail also issued these postage stamps for the first time ever as a limited edition Silver Stamps set.

Stamp Center has this Queen Elizabeth 80th birthday commemorative postage stamp set from Great Britain, and many others issued from around the world in stock and ready to add to your collection today.