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Killarney National Park

Biosphere reserves

Stamp Info

Name Value
Date of Issue April 22, 2005
Year 2005
Quantity 2,700,000
Denomination
50¢
Perforation or Dimension 12.5 x 13
Series Biosphere reserves
Series Time Span 2005
Printer Lowe-Martin Company Inc..
Postal Administration Canada

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Stamp Price Values

Condition Name Avg Value
M-NH-VF
Mint - Never Hinged - Very Fine Only available to paid users
U-VF
Used - Very Fine Only available to paid users
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Layouts

Pane of 16 stamps - 2 stamps se tenant

Quantity Produced - 312,500
Current Purchase Price: Only available to paid users
Original Purchase Price: $8.00
Perforation: 13+
Dimension: 48 mm x 30 mm (horizontal)
Printing Process: Lithography in 9 colours
Gum Type: P.V.A.
Tagging: General, 4 sides
Paper: Tullis Russell Coatings
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Souvenir sheet of 2 stamps

Quantity Produced - 200,000
Current Purchase Price: Only available to paid users
Original Purchase Price: $1.00
Perforation: 13+
Dimension: 120 mm x 70 mm (horizontal)
Printing Process: Lithography in 9 colours
Gum Type: P.V.A.
Tagging: General, 4 sides
Paper: Tullis Russell Coatings
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Official First Day Cover

Quantity Produced - Unknown
Current Purchase Price: Only available to paid users
Original Purchase Price: $2.00
Cancellation Location: Waterton Park, Alberta
Perforation: 13+
Printing Process: Lithography in 9 colours
Gum Type: P.V.A.
Tagging: General, 4 sides
Paper: Tullis Russell Coatings
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Official First Day Cover - Joint Issue

Quantity Produced - Unknown
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About Stamp

There are few images more Canadian than this, one would think - a deer amid mountain slopes, serene above a green valley. But closer inspection may reveal a surprise. This scene actually portrays Killarney National Park, in Ireland. The landscapes of our two very different countries are sometimes more similar than we think.

In collaboration with Ireland's An Post, Canada Post is releasing a joint stamp issue honouring two special places in each respective country. Both landscapes pay homage to the natural beauty so valued by both nations.

Since 1970, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has recognized certain important ecosystems around the world as models of how humans should live with nature. These are known as biosphere reserves. Killarney National Park is one of two such areas in Ireland, and Waterton Lakes National Park, in southwest Alberta, is one of 13 biosphere reserves in Canada.

Killarney and Waterton now appear on two stamps, jointly issued at the domestic rate (50¢) in Canada and for domestic use in Ireland. The Canadian stamp was designed by Xerxes Irani and his design team at Calgary's nonfiction studios inc., while the Irish stamp was designed by Finbarr O'Connor. The Killarney stamp is based on a painted illustration provided by An Post, while the Waterton illustration was digitally drawn by Jeff Spokes.

Irani is a Calgary native who had visited Waterton as a child, and one of his business partners is a frequent visitor who became engaged to be married there last year. "Part of the excitement of this project was our familiarity with this beautiful place," Irani says. In the stamp design, they chose to portray some of the most characteristic features of the park - the ospreys that travel widely through it, the Saskatoon berries found there, and the dramatic change in topography as prairie suddenly meets mountain.

"We wanted to show the severity of the sudden increase in terrain, and the strong wind that results," says Irani. "There's motion in the sky through the blue clouds that turn grey as they shape themselves into an osprey. The oversized berries in brilliant red then emerge to break the horizon and balance the image."

The vibrant colours of the Waterton stamp contrast sharply with the more subdued Killarney image, with its native red deer. Despite its apparent familiarity, "this is actually a very Irish scene," says Irani, "rocky and barren, in muted green and blue tones."

Typography designed by Irani links the pair of stamps in both Canadian and Irish versions, which are being printed separately by each postal administration. It's a miniature collaboration that speaks well for the possibility of greater global co-operation.

For more information on Irish stamps visit, www.irishstamps.ie.

Creators

Designed by Xerxes Irani.

Similar Stamps

Reference

Canada Post Corporation. Canada's Stamp Details, Vol. 14, No. 2, 2005, p. 14-15.

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