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Scandinavia: Tourist Issues: Stamps

These stamps were issued in cooperation with the Swedish and other Scandinavian post offices and are valid FROM other countries TO Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Åland. They are listed by the Facit catalog. There were five different stamp issues included in six different issues of booklets.

It all started in 1994 in the Canary Islands, off the coast of Spain. Many Scandinavians vacation in the Canary Islands during the dark Scandinavian winters. Unfortunately, sending an airmail letter from the Canary Islands back to friends in the Scandinavian countries used to take several weeks as it crawled through the Spanish mails. To solve this problem, Sweden Post, through a cooperative arrangement, issued special stamps, initially sold only in the Canary Islands. These stamps had international franking value for post cards (one stamp) and letters (two stamps) to Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Åland. The following year, the availability of stamps and service was expanded to other tourist destinations such as Cyprus and Crete. Eventually the stamps came to be used from a number of areas, including Florida! The letters and post cards are posted with the hotels and travel agents and are carried aboard charter airliners to Stockholm where they are placed in the regular mails for delivery within Sweden or to the other countries.

This mail service ceased in the fall of 1998. The stamps have already become quite hard to find; prices are already rising. However, most collectors are not yet aware of them; as they become more well known, we can expect prices to climb.

To my knowledge, this is a completely new type of stamp: Issued by one country for postage use on letters from a different country, back to the home country (or to a neighboring country). These special-purpose stamps are not local issues because they have international validity and they were authorized by a national postal service. They are stamps. The items below are listed by Facit numbers.

The Facit Catalog has already listed these stamps. European catalog and album publishers are likely to eventually include them as well. They are already being included in the Stender Albums. Obtain your stamps now before they are listed in all catalogs; before prices go up further! Though these stamps were printed in Sweden, they are valid for mail to Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Åland as well as Sweden. This means that collectors of all these countries are including them in their collections. You may wish to do so as well.

Stamps

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Item #

Quality & Description

IMAGES: Hover mouse pointer over image to determine if ACTUAL image of item OR a REPRESENTATIVE sample image of item.
Click for more information

Never
Hinged

US$

#TU1-4 were issued in a set of three booklets. Each booklet contains a pane of six Airplane stamps and one pane of six of one of the three other designs. The panes are line rouletted between and around all the stamps except that the right-most two stamps of a pane have a straight-edge at right, thus the right-most two stamps are in the set Facit #TU1B-4B and the other four stamps are in the set Facit #TU1C-4C. Both the B (scarcer, slightly higher price) and C types are usually available upon request.

203145

1994 Tourist Stamps Facit #TU 1-4 set. VF: Without "e" after "Post", thus "Post Suède".

28.50

235082

1994 Tourist Stamps Booklet Set of 3: Facit #HTU 1-3. VF: Without "e" after "Post", thus "Post Suède". Each of the three booklets contains an Airplane pane plus one of the other three panes.

180.00

235093

1994 Tourist Stamp Facit #TU 1 Airplane single. VF: Without "e" after "Post", thus "Post Suède".

1.50

235094

1994 Tourist Stamp Facit #TU 1 Airplane booklet pane. VF: Without "e" after "Post", thus "Post Suède".

7.00

#TU5-8 were issued in a set of three booklets. Each booklet contains a pane of six Airplane stamps and one pane of six of one of the three other designs. The panes are straight-line die-cut between and around all the stamps. Each of the three booklets exists with two types of the back cover, with differences in the text naming the travel organizations cooperating with the post office. Type A has text "Ving, Always, Saga, och Gulliver i samarbete med Posten Utrikes". Type B (scarcer) has text "Apollo i samarbete med Posten Utrikes".

203146

1995 Tourist Stamps Facit #TU 5-8 set. VF: With "e" after "Post", thus "Poste Suède".

26.00

235083

1995 Tourist Stamps Booklet Set of 3: Facit #HTU 4A-6A (on back "Ving, Always..."). VF: With "e" after "Post", thus "Poste Suède". Each of the three booklets contains an Airplane pane plus one of the other three panes.

175.00

235084

1995 Tourist Stamps Booklet Set of 3: Facit #HTU 4B-6B (on back "Apollo..."). VF: With "e" after "Post", thus "Poste Suède". Each of the three booklets contains an Airplane pane plus one of the other three panes.

165.00

#TU9-12 were issued in a set of three booklets. Each booklet contains a pane of six Airplane stamps and one pane of six of one of the three other designs. The panes are straight-line die-cut between and around all the stamps.

Stamps continued ...

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Item #

Quality & Description

IMAGES: Hover mouse pointer over image to determine if ACTUAL image of item OR a REPRESENTATIVE sample image of item.
Click for more information

Never
Hinged

US$

203147

1996 Tourist Stamps Facit #TU 9-12 set. VF: With "de" after "Poste", thus "Poste de Suède".

WANTED
Need one or several sets, and/or booklets. Please make offer.

235085

1996 Tourist Stamps Booklet Set of 3: Facit #HTU 7-9. VF: With "de" after "Poste", thus "Poste de Suède". Each of the three booklets contains an Airplane pane plus one of the other three panes.

WANTED
Needed. Please make offer.

235097

1996 Tourist Stamp Facit #TU 9 Airplane single. VF: With "de" after "Poste", thus "Poste de Suède".

3.50

#TU13-18 (Hotels) and TU19-24 (Maps) were issued in two different booklets. Each booklet contains a pane of 12 stamps, consisting of two identical six-blocks. The Hotels had two printings. The first Hotels printing has glossy gum, while the second has dull gum. The Maps only had one printing, with glossy gum. The glossy gum is quite variable and sometimes has "skips" in it. While Facit is unclear if the stated issue quantities are for stamps, 6-blocks, or whole booklets, Facit states that only 3200 of the Hotels first printing were issued (the rest were destroyed due to problems with the gum) -- this is very scarce! The stamps have vertical line-rouletting and much smaller, fainter, horizontal line/dot-rouletting. The Hotels first printing and the Maps do not have vertical rouletting between the two six blocks, but the Hotels second printing does have vertical rouletting between the 6-blocks. Both Hotel printings 6-blocks can be found with a vertical line of colored-black roulette cuts at the right side of the six blocks (the binding edge of the panes). All these variations may be available, please inquire.

235086

1997 Tourist Stamps Facit #TU 13-18 Hotels six-block, First Printing with Shiny Gum. VF: Facit is unclear about the "3200" surviving quantity from this printing; it could be stamps, 6-blocks, or booklets, however, at the most this would mean that 6400 6-blocks existed, some of which were used. Very scarce!

45.00

WANTED
More needed. Please make offer.

235087

1997 Tourist Stamps Booklet Facit #HTU 10A Hotels, First Printing with Shiny Gum. VF: Facit is unclear about the "3200" surviving quantity from this printing; it could be stamps, 6-blocks, or booklets, however, at the most this would mean that 3200 booklets existed, some of which were used. Very scarce!

95.00

WANTED
More needed. Please make offer.

235088

1997 Tourist Stamps Facit #TU 13-18 Hotels six-block, Second Printing with Dull Gum. VF: Though this second printing had a higher net issued quantity than the first printing, they appears to have been consumed by heavy use and philatelic supplies of it ran out quickly. Very scarce!

WANTED
Needed. Please make offer.

235089

1997 Tourist Stamps Booklet Facit #HTU 10B Hotels, Second Printing with Dull Gum. VF: Though this second printing had a higher net issued quantity than the first printing, they appears to have been consumed by heavy use and philatelic supplies of it ran out quickly. Very scarce!

WANTED
Needed. Please make offer.

235090

1997 Tourist Stamps Facit #TU 19-24 Maps six-block. VF: It seems that the majority were consumed in postal use.

36.00

WANTED
More needed. Please make offer.

235091

1997 Tourist Stamps Booklet Facit #HTU 11 Maps. VF: It seems that the majority were consumed in postal use.

80.00

WANTED
More needed. Please make offer.

Stamps continued ...

Top

Item #

Quality & Description

IMAGES: Hover mouse pointer over image to determine if ACTUAL image of item OR a REPRESENTATIVE sample image of item.
Click for more information

Never
Hinged

US$

#TU25 was issued in a booklet containing a pane of 12 stamps, folded at the center. In Swedish tradition, "singles" are usually collected as a vertical pair. The stamps have vertical line-rouletting and much smaller, fainter, horizontal line/dot-rouletting. There is vertical line of colored-black roulette cuts at the right side of the pane at the binding edge. The pair with this line may be available, please inquire.

203149

1998 Tourist Stamps Facit #TU 25 booklet pair. VF: "TP" and Plane pair from booklet.

7.00

235092

1998 Tourist Stamps Booklet Facit #HTU 12 Airplane. VF: Contains 12 stamps: 5 pairs of Facit #TU 25B1 and one pair of 25B2.

39.00

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