Stamp_&_Coin_Mart_2016_02_

78 FEBRUARY 2016 http://www.stampandcoin.co.uk

painting by Howard Koslow, showing

the tower set against a blue sky.

Sub themes

One obvious way to create a sub-

theme is to collect lighthouse stamps

issued by one particular country; the

USA, Norway, Australia and Croatia

have all issued stunning stamps and

series over the decades.

You could also focus on lighthouse

technology, lighthouses that no longer

exist (such as Pharos), automated

or non-automated lighthouses, or

even stamps where lighthouses are

not the main focus, such as a 1980

East German stamp showing notable

buildings around Cape Arkona –

including both the town’s old and

new lighthouses.

Lighthouse keepers are another

possible theme. Alderney’s 1991 four-

stamp ‘Lighthouse’ set featured a

lighthouse keeper’s daughter rowing

to Casquets lighthouse, a literal

bird’s eye view of a lighthouse with

the building pictured from below as

seen by a flock of birds, Casquets

Lighthouse with the wreck of HMS

Victory, and a modern-day helicopter

rescue from Casquets.

Lightships, which are used when

a lighthouse can’t easily be built at

a particular location, form another

interesting sub theme. A 1974 Isle

of Man issue to mark the 150th

anniversary of the Royal National

Lifeboat Institute featured the lightship

Daunt alongside the lifeboat Mary

Stanford. The Daunt was also featured

on an Eire stamp of the same year, and

on the same subject, this time with a

dramatic image of sailors jumping from

the lightship onto a lifeboat.

Whether you like lighthouses

for their historical value, the

achievements of their builders and

engineers, or the role they continue to

play in society, a lighthouse theme has

plenty to offer and is sure to continue

to produce many new issues in the

coming years.

Thematics

Ten stamps on... Explorer Ernest Shackleton

As Royal Mail marks the centenary of Ernest Shackleton’s

Endurance expedition, we take a look at how this heroic but ill-

fated adventure has been portrayed on stamps over the years

1

The year 1963 saw the fi rst stamps of the British

Antarctic Territory. Two stamps refl ected the

infl uence the of the Endurance expedition, with

the 10s value showing the research ship RRS

Shackleton and the £1 value depicting the Royal

Navy ship, HMS Endurance, named after the ill-

fated expedition vessel.

2

In 2003, Shackleton was one of the explorers

featured in the Royal Mail Extreme Endeavours

six-stamp set. Shackleton is shown alongside a

photo of the Endurance and some of his crew

members, all of whom he personally selected.

3

In 1972, South Georgia marked the fi ftieth

anniversary of Shackleton’s death with this

dramatic 1½d stamp which shows the Endurance

trapped in the ice at Weddell Sea.

4

In 2004, Ireland (the birth country of

Shackleton) marked the ninetieth anniversary

of the launch of the expedition with four stamps

featuring archive photos of the Endurance

trapped in the ice.

5

South Georgia’s 2014 Heroes of the Imperial Trans-

Antarctic Expedition nine-stamp set provides a

visual guide to the people and events which made

up the adventure. The camaraderie of the men is

shown on the fi rst stamp on the 65p value.

6

In 2015, Ross Dependency issued six stamps

showing the story of the Endurance expedition,

featuring the ship, the temporary ocean camp, the

relief expeditions and rescues.

7

Australian Antarctic Territory has, not

surprisingly, featured many explorers and

their ships over the years and in 1979, it was

the turn of HMS Endurance.

8

Four years after the Endurance expedition

Shackleton embarked upon the Shackleton-

Rowett expedition along with the some of

the original Endurance team. This expedition,

during which Shackleton met his death was

commemorated by a four-stamp set from Tristan

da Cunha in 2012.

9

In the years following his death, Shackleton’s

fame was far eclipsed by that of his fellow

Antarctic adventurer Robert Falcon Scott. This 1957

Ross Dependency stamp shows the pair together.

10

Ascension Island also marked the fi ftieth

anniversary of Shackleton’s death with a

four-stamp set featuring his portrait, statue, the

ship Quest and a map of the Quest expedition.

10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

p74 Theme.indd 78 21/12/2015 10:20