I reached the Islands of the Netherlands Antilles today. The Netherlands Antilles comprise of three Islands off the North Coast of Venezuela named "Aruba, Bonaire & Curacao" , also called the ABC Islands around these parts.
I was going through my old port papers & came across this stamp in the papers. I suppose that it is a revenue stamp of the area, but I can't be very sure. The year of print isn't given, but I don't suppose that it would be more then a couple of years
old.
I had always thought that these Islands were a protectorate of the Netherlands and had assumed that they must be using Dutch stamps. But evidently they don't use dutch ones & have some stamps of their own.
I am not very sure, but from the Sailing directions on board my ship, this looks like the harbour view of the Willemstad port in Curacao. A good classic looking stamp, but I hope they have some colorful stamps as well!
2 comments:
hello Velu,
what a great boat trip you're making!
I've always dream to visit Aruba island !
fyi, Aruba is the only island of the nederlands antilles to issue its own stamps (www.postaruba.com). The 3 other islands use the same stamps with "Nederlandes antillen" title.
I like a lot Aruba's stamps. I collect them since 1996.
Enjoy the end of your trip !
Regards from france
Eric
Dear Velu,
I live on Curacao and recognize the stamp. This stamp is used on official papers (revenue stamp in English?) so it is not a postage stamp.
And another FYI: The Netherlands Antilles comprises of Curacao, Bonaire, St. Martin, Saba and Statia. Aruba used to be part of the NA, but has separated some time ago. The NA and Aruba are both autonomous areas within the kingdom of The Netherlands and have their own laws, money... and stamps. And yes, some of them are very colorful :)
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