Stamp_&_Coin_Mart_2016_01_

http://www.stampandcoin.co.uk JANUARY 2016 45

A

ndorra the tiny

landlocked

principality,

population around

85,000, on the

Spanish-French

border is most unusual philatelically in

that it is served by two stamp issuing

authorities whose issues are easily

distinguishable from each other, as

demonstrated on two Europa issues

from 1997 when the Europa theme was

Legend and Folklore.

The territory issues stamps sparingly,

so a complete collection is achievable

over time without a major outlay if you

begin from the early 1960s. For example,

to take a year at random, in 2005 French

Andorra issued a dozen single stamps

only, the typical face value being around

50c, whilst Spanish Andorra issued only

seven ranging from 28c to €2.21. The

territory does not tend to issue lengthy

sets of commemoratives. The French

Post Office began issuing in 1931 but

If you’re collection is almost complete, there’s still a

world of stamps to pursue, from all corners of the

globe. In the first part of a new series, Jeff Dugdale

looks at some places you might want to go to, at

least in a philatelic sense, beginning with Andorra

Collect by country

Why Collect...

Andorra?

the early pictorial definitives (overprinted

‘Andorre’) can be pricey, and this is

also the case with the Spanish issues

beginning in 1928 using Spanish stamps

overprinted ‘Correos Andorra’.

Alternatively you could adopt a

thematic approach to certain aspects such

as its history, its environment or local

legends which are all popular topics. For

example, a stamp from 1964 refers to the

13th-century power struggle which led to

the joint sovereignty treaty, giving some

context to the region’s history.

However, being aware of the power

of an illustration to attract tourists,

the postal authorities regularly employ

images of the principality’s scenic

beauties as these examples illustrate.

Stamps from the French authority

have also been created by some of

France’s best designers such as Albert

Decaris (as in the 1964 Pareage example

above) and many of the stamps are often

elegant and aesthetically pleasing.

Andorra is clearly a very attractive

tourist destination and given its

location easily reachable should the

scenery which its stamps exploit entice

you to see for yourself.

An annual feature of the stamp

issuing programmes since just before

the turn of the century has been a

single stamp referencing a local legend,

a set of these making an interesting

presentation after research as two

further examples illustrate.

One final encouragement to collect

the stamps of Andorra is the regular

production of the Valira Torrent, the

32 A4-sized full colour bulletin of the

Andorran Philatelic Study Circle founded

in 1974 and currently edited by Alec

Jacques, who also deals in the territory’s

stamps. The magazine is particularly

good at explaining the somewhat

esoteric nature of most of the legends.

Above, from left: the

different approaches

to 1997’s Legend and

Folklore; the Spanish

administration stamp

illustrates ‘The Bear and

the Smugglers’, whilst

the French topic is ‘The

White Lady’

Right: 1961 The Gothic

Cross at Meritxell and

the 1964 stamp for The

Pareage of 1288

Below, from left: 1986

St Vincent’s Chapel, at

Enclar; Spanish 2012

stamp referencing the

cosmology of a man and

a winged goat; 1932

stamp showing the

Valley of St Julia

Fact  le

French Andorra

First issue: 1931 French stamps

overprinted ‘ANDORRE’ then in 1932

stamps bear the identifi er ‘Vallees

D’Andorre’ moving to ‘Andorre’ in 1944

and to ‘Principat Andorra’ in 1978 to present day.

Currency: Centimes and Francs until Euro conversion in 2002

Spanish Andorra

First issue: 1928 Spanish stamps overprinted ‘CORREOS

ANDORRA’, then in 1929 identifi ed as ‘Andorra’, then ‘Principat

Andorra’ in 1979 to present day.

Currency: Centimos and Pesetas until Euro conversion in 2002

Website for collectors: http://apsc.free.fr

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