China - Denmark Joint Issue

China Daily reports, "A two-year collaboration between the Danish and Chinese postal systems bore fruit last weekend, when a pair of intaglio-engraved stamps was officially issued in Nanjing."

According to the article by Mike Peters, "Engraving stamps from steel plates is a fading art, as cheaper offset printing and digital ways to deliver postage and mail dominate the market. But engraved stamps represent a great tradition of fine design and craftsmanship, says Lene Reipuert, the head of stamp production for Denmark Post. She and Martin Pingel, the Danish agency's design chief, were in China last week for the Nanjing ceremony."

Peters goes on to pen, "The two stamps represent centuries-old inventions astronomers used to survey the night skies. The 'abridged armilla' from Ming-dynasty China and the 'great equatorial armillary sphere' of 16th-century Denmark are etched in fine detail on the newly minted Chinese stamps, valued at 1.20 yuan, and two 6-kroner stamps that will be issued in Denmark on Jan 4."

"China Post turned to Denmark for help after stamp engravers there won an international prize for a series of Hans Christian Andersen stamps," Peters points out.

"Stories by that Danish writer are very popular in China, and the culmination of the program will be a series of four Danish stamps honoring Andersen designed in China, which will be issued in Copenhagen next June."

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