This time I present a stamp (souvenir sheet) of the Portuguese Post, which in my eyes combines three novelties with something old. and is already listed on the “shortlist” for the World Post & Parcel Awards in 2021.
- Novelty 1: It is a stamp (souvenir sheet) that can be seen in connection with the Covid-19 pandemic, although not at first sight.
- Novelty 2: This is the first brand worldwide to use graphene, a nanomaterial that is also the focus of Covid 19 research due to its antimicrobial properties.
- Novelty 3: In addition, a message is integrated on this brand by means of NFC (=Near Field Communication), which can only be read after it has been read out with the help of NFC.
- Old: And this message is now the “old”: a poem by the poet and doctor Miguel Torga entitled “Contagion”. A poem that is meant to give hope and thus fits into our Corona/Covid-19 times.
Unfortunately, the annotation in the Michel catalogue (“Transponder and coil of graphs with poem “Contagio” (Contagion) by Miguel Torga 1907-1995 writer and doctor”) did not pick up on this connection. It was, however, clearly presented in the Portuguese Post’s press release: “With this (title) “It is Time for Hope”, CTT wants to show that hope for the future is essential, and that it is this hope that will help us overcome this crisis (pandemic) that unfortunately we are all going through. “
How – would one own the stamp – could one retrieve the poem. To do this, three steps are necessary:
- a phone that is NFC capable and has this option enabled.
- install the free APP “CTT Filatelia” from the APP-store
- “Connect” your phone with the integrated chip on the tag and now you can read the poem.
This combination of the new with the old (but perhaps only the new) has earned the stamp (block) the World Post and Parcel Award 2021.