Gulf of Finland

Shipwrecks on postage stamps

The fourth issue in the Gulf of Finland stamp series features finds from five ship wrecks. The shipwrecks are called Egelskär, St. Nikolai, Vrouw Maria, St. Mikael and Mulan. The items depicted in the stamps represent different realms of life. "We did not want to limit ourselves to showing just so-called valuables; instead we wanted to include a wider perspective on marine archaeology", said Susanna Rumpu and Ari Lakaniemi, the designers of the booklet.

Important finds

Everyday life of olden days is represented by drinking vessel salvaged from a small wooden vessel foundered in the early 14th century. The wreck is located at Egelskär in the outer archipelago of Nagu. A seal, originally affixed to a bale of cloth, found in the Vrouw Maria, a Dutch merchantman shipwrecked in 1771, represents the all-important trade and transport of goods. The golden watch found in St. Mikael, shipwrecked in 1747, is a valuable item, and the bandoleer salvaged from the Mulan wreck relates to military history. The figurehead of St. Nikolai, a Russian frigate sunk in a battle in 1790 near Kotka, represents seafaring and shipbuilding.

Photographs by Matti Lehto and Markku Haverinen

The artists have worked with photographs by Matti Lehto and Markku Haverinen (National Board of Antiquities), and photographs from the Finnish Nature photo Archive.
The stamps were printed by the British printing house Walsall Security Printers. The stamps were printed in a four-colour offset process with gold metallic as a fifth colour. The artefacts are embossed. The total print run was 720,000.

Gulf of Finland stamps

The first issue in the Gulf of Finland series, presenting the themes of the following issues, was issued in 2001. The submarine world and marine research were the subjects of the second booklet issued in 2002, while the third one, issued last year, presents lighthouses in the Gulf of Finland.
Issue: Finland, 8 September 2004

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