Iraq 2010 "Prehistoric animals"

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Issue Date 28.06.2010
ID Michel: 1796-1803, Bl. 123-124; Scott: 1786a-h, 1787-1788 ; Stanley Gibbons: 2288-2295, MS2296a, MS2296b ; Yvert et Tellier: 1608-1615, 111-112 ; Category: pR
Design Faruq Hassan
Stamps in set 10
Value D 250, perforated stamps: (stamps nummbered in bottom-left corner)
34/10-1: Tyrannosaurus, Pteranodon, Iguanodon,
34/10-2: Bird, Diatryma, prosauropod,
34/10-3: Pteranodon, pterodactyloid, bird (Ichthyornis?),
34/10-4: Pteranodon, Elasmosaurus(?).
34/10-5: Dimetrodon,
34/10-6: crocodile, theropod,
34/10-7: Stegosaurus, Apatosaurus,
34/10-8: Tyrannosaurus, Stegosaurus.
D 500, imperforated stamps
34/10-9: Dimetrodon, theropod dinosaur, Archaeopteryx,
34/10-10: small theropod, ornithopod, ornithomimosaur, Pteranodon.
Size (width x height) 50x40 mm (perforated stamps), 104x76 mm (imperforated stamps)
Layout One sheet of 6 rows (3 sets per sheet), 4 stamps each of perforated stamps.
Products FDC x2
Paper glossy white pre-gummed paper. Phosphor overprint showing the Iraqi post logo on each stamp
Perforation 13.5
Print Technique Offset
Printed by Green Glory Printing House Lebanon
Quantity 500.000 sets
Issuing Authority Post of Iraq
dinosaur stamps of Iraq 2010

At the end of June 2010 Post Authority of Iraq issued a set of 10 stamps depicting many prehistoric animals. There is a stripe of two rows with four stamps each and two large imperforated stamps in the set. The very colorful stamps were printed in Lebanon and depict a very chaotic mix of animals who lived at different locations and in different geologic times. The stamps were perforated very strangely with some animals cut in the middle by the perforations. Most of the reconstructions of these prehistoric animals depicted are quite outdated, based on old illustrations of famous paleo-artists such as Zdenek Burian and Rudolph Zallinger.

Zdenek Michael František Burian (February 11, 1905, Koprivnice, Moravia - July 1, 1981 Prague) was a Czech painter and book illustrator whose work played a central role in the development of palaeontological reconstructions during a remarkable career spanning five decades. Originally recognised only in his native Czechoslovakia, Burian's fame later spread to an international audience, and a number of artists later attempted to emulate his style. He is regarded by many as the most influential palaeo-artist of the modern era.

Rudolph Franz Zallinger (November 12, 1919 - August 1, 1995) was an American-based artist notable for his mural The Age of Reptiles (1947) at Yale's Peabody Museum of Natural History.


One row of these stamps is just a modification of the mural created by Rudolph Zallinger for Yale's Peabody Museum of Natural History in 1947:

mural The Age of Reptiles of Rudolph Zallinger versus dinosaur stamps of Iraq 2010



Products and associated philatelic items

FDC
FDC of dinosaur stamps of Iraq 2010 FDC of dinosaur stamps of Iraq 2010 FDC of dinosaur stamps of Iraq 2010
Stamps-Sheet First-Day-of-Issue Postmarks Color shift
Circulated cover with stamps of Iraq 2010 Dinosaur on postmark of Iraq 2010 Regular and color shift stamps of prehistoric animals of Iraq 2010
Example of circulated covers
Circulated cover with stamps of Iraq 2010 Circulated cover with stamps of Iraq 2010 Circulated cover with stamps of Iraq 2010





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References:
  • Technical details:
    StampedOut, Colnect, http://shirwanistamps.webege.com/list9.htm (doesn't exist anymore).


Acknowledgements:
  • Many thanks to Dr. Peter Voice, PhD Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Western Michigan University, USA, for review of a draft of this article and his very valuable comments.
  • Many thanks to fellow stamp collector Jon Noad, from Calgary Canada, who share some scan FDCs from his collection.
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