New Issues 2003

This page collects only issues released during the year 2003.  For issues to come (announced) see the latest information.

As it is not such obvious as it looks to find this information, this list is probably not yet complete. In certain countries, joint issues are often announced on the day of the issue and sometimes it takes months before this information and the corresponding stamps reach us. Data on missing issues or supplementary information, particularly for countries, which are producing joint issues exceptionally, will be highly appreciated.

This page was updated the last time on November 23 , 2003.

2003 (7 January)
Australia - Christmas Islands
Year of the goat. Territorial joint issue
Twelve stamps and a souvenir sheet containing two stamps for Christmas Island - two prestamped envelopes for Australia - FDCs

2003 (16 January)
France - Germany
40th anniversary of Diplomatic Relationship. Joint Issue.
One stamp per country - FDCs

2003 (24 January)
Bosnia Herzegovina (Sarajevo) - Crotian Republic of Herzeg-Bosna
Archbishop Josip Stadler (1843-1918); 160th birthday. Unique issue [U2].
One single stamp for both countries, origin of the stamps can only be differentiated by cancellation. Portrait. Multi-colored.

2003 (12 March)
Denmark - Greenland
Expedition in Greenland: Danish Literary Greenland Expedition 1902-1904. Twin issue [T1].
Two stamps per country, with one identical totalling three stamps which designs are reproduced in a miniature sheet for each country. A, participants to the expedition: Harald Moltke, Knud Rasmussen, Jørgen Brønlund, Ludwig Mylius-Erichsen, Gabriel Olsen; B: Knud Rasmussen (1879-1933); C: landscape, Island of Aqpat (Saunder's Island), wintering's site in Jakobshavn (1902-1903). Multi-coloured
1 stamp - 1 souvenir sheet - FDCs

2003 (20 March)
Poland - Vatican
25th anniversary of the designation of Cardinal Karol Wojtyla as Pope John Paul II (silver jubilee). Twin issue [T1].
Identical silver stamps; identical sheets of 25 different stamps. Silver stamp shows a portrait of the Pope; the sheet shows 25 different situations involving the Pope, one per year starting with 1978. Multi-colored.
One silver stamp per country - one sheet of 25 different stamps per country (identical sheets for both countries) - FDCs

2003 (20 March)
Spain - Sweden
Spanish Nobel Prizes in medicine. Twin issue [T1].
Two identical stamps, se-tenant; Portraits of Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852-1934), Nobel Prize in 1906 (together with Camillo Golgi) for his work in neuroscience and Severo Ochoa de Albornoz (1905-1993) Nobel Prize in 1959 (together with Arthur Kronberg) for his work in nucleic acid biosynthesis; multi-colored.
2 stamps per country - FDCs - mixed FDC

2003 (15 April)
China - Iran
Clock Tower and Mosquee. Twin issue [T1].
Two stamps per country, identical. Chinese stamps issued in sheets, individual stamps and also in an illustrated souvenir sheet (picture of the desert with camels) containing 4 pair of stamps se-tenant; Iran issued se-tenant with label showing flags of both countries. Buildings: Bell tower from Xi'an, China (1384); Mosque from Isfahan, Iran (1621). Multi-colored.
2 stamps per country - sheetlet (China) - FDCs - mixed FDC

2003 (3 May)
France - Slovakia
General Milan Rastislav Stefanik (1880-1919), Czechoslovakian politician. Twin issue [T1].
Identical stamps. Portrait. Multi-colored.
1 stamp per country - FDC - mixed FDC

2003 (10 May)
Belgium (10 May) - Russia (15 May)
150th anniversary of relationships. Carillon and bells. Twin issue [T1].
Identical pair of se-tenant stamps. Carillon in the Saint Petrus and Paulus cathedral in Saint Petersburg; Carillon in the Saint Rombout's cathedral in Mechelen.
2 stamps per country - FDCs - mixed FDC - Belgium Numisletter

2003 (3 June)
Dutch Antilles (3 June) - Netherland () - Surinam (3 June)
300 years Johan Eschede Printing House. Territorial parallel issue [PT].
Similar stamps. Antilles: printed older bank bill and stamp; Surinam: portrait of Johan Eschede, bill and stamp. Multi-colored.
4 stamps per country - FDCs

2003 (12 June)
Austria - Germany
100th anniversary of the Salzbach Bridge (Obendorf - Laufen). Twin issue [T1].
Identical stamps. Bridge. German stamps are available as normal stamps in 10 stamp sheets as well as in self-adhesive stamps in 2x10 stamp sheets. Multi-colored.
1 stamp - mini-sheets - Numisbrief - postal stationery - FDCs - mixed FDC

2003 (13 June)
Croatia - Hungary
Saint Ladislav's robe. Parallel issue [P1].
Both countries issued each a different souvenir sheet. Croatia: the complete robe on the stamp and details of the cross and the figures on the sheet; Hungary: details of the figures on the robe and interior of the Zagreb cathedral. Saint Ladislav (1045-1095) was King of Hungary. Multi-colored.
1 souvenir sheet - FDCs

2003 (20 June)
Switzerland (6 March) - United Nations (Geneva) (20 June)
International year of freshwaters. Delayed issue [D].
Two different stamps issued at different dates but affixed on a same common cover on the first day of issue of the United Nations stamp, with a common unique cancellation (Names of both countries on the same cancellation). Swiss stamp: martin pecheur, water; United Nations: symbol. Multi-colored.
1 stamp - FDCs - mixed FDC (unique cancellation)

2003 (22 June)
Bosnia Herzegovina (Sarajevo) - Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosna - Serbian Republic of Bosnia Herzegovina (Srpska)
Visit of Pope John Paul II and canonization of Ivan Merz. Twin issue [T1].
One stamp per country, differentiated only by the Post logo at the bottom left. Portrait of John Paul II (1920-); 8 stamps around a central vignette showing the portrait of Ivan Merz (1896-1928). Multi-colored.
1 stamp - FDCs - second stamp issued by the Serbian Republic

2003 (1 July)
Chile - Spain
150th anniversary of the first Chilean stamp. Twin issue [T3].
Stamps are different but show the first Chilean stamp issued on July 1, 1853. Chile: 2 se-tenant stamps each one showing one of the first Chilean stamp, background, building; Spain: first Chilean stamp. Multi-colored.
1 or 2 stamps - FDCs

2003 (4 July)
Jamaica - Turks and Caicos
30th anniversary of the Caricom. Parallel issue [P1].
One stamp per country. Symbols. Different.

2003 (20 August)
New Caledonia - Wallis and Futuna
100th anniversary of the death of the painter Paul Gauguin. Twin issue [T1].
Identical souvenir sheets containing two stamps. Paintings of Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), A, Still life with statuette; B, studies of Tahitian portraits. Multi-colored
Souvenir sheets - no FDC

2003 (9 September)
Iran - Russia
Protection of the Caspian Sea. Sea otter and sturgeon. Twin issue [T1].
Identical stamps. Caspian seal with seal-calf (Phoca caspica) and beluga fish. Multi-colored.
2 stamps - sheetlets and souvenir sheet (Iran) - FDCs

2003 (15 September)
Belgium - Italy
Europalia - Italy as guest country. Twin issue [T1].
Two identical stamps. Painting from Morandi "Natura Morta" (1938); Car "Cisitalia 202" designed by Battista Pininfarina, displayed at the Modern Museum of Art in New York. The painting stamp was issued in sheetlets of 10 stamps bearing each a "Prior" label; the car stamps were issued in a sheetlet of ten stemps with the illustration of the car on the right side. Multi-colored.
2 stamps se-tenant - FDCs - mixed FDC - Numisletter

2003 (17 September)
Estonia - Ukraine
Ancient trade route along the Gulf of Finland and the Dnieper. Twin issue [T1].
Identical stamps. 2 stamps with label; coins and ships; A, slavs in a fighting boat, coin of the Prince Volodymyr Sviatoslavovych; B, landing of the Scandinavian seamen, coin of the King Svend Estridsen; old map on the label separating both stamps. Ukraine: 2 stamps with central label in a vertical triptych; booklet "Way from Vagarians to Greeks" containing 3 panes (86x117mm) with either a tryptich, one stamp A or one stamp B. Multi-colored.
2 stamps se-tenant - FDCs - sheets

2003 (30 September)
China - Hungary
Art of books. Twin issue [T1].
Identical stamps. A, Song textbook "Ritual of Zhou", Song dynasty (AD 960-1279) edition with annotations by Zheng Xuan of the Han dynasty (BC 206 AD 220) and explanations by Lu Deming of the Tang dynasty (AD 618-907), printed at the Jianyang Printing House during China's Southern Song Dynasty (AD 1127-1279); B, Hungarian color chart annals "Hungarian illuminated chronicle", first book printed in Hungary, published in 1473. Multi-colored.
2 stamps - FDCs - mixed FDCs

2003 (4 October)
Canada - Thailand
National plants. Twin issue [T1].
Identical stamps. Flowers: Ratchaphruek, the national Thai flower; Maple, the national Canadian tree. Multi-colored.
2 stamps se-tenant - souvenir sheets - FDCs - mixed FDCs

2003 (4 October)
Hong Kong - Sweden
Waterbirds - Twin issue [T1]
Identical stamps printed in blocs of four. Birds: Piet avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta), Horned grebe (Podiceps auritus), Black-throated diver (Gavia arctica), Great crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus). Multi-colored.
4 stamps - booklets - FDCs - Artistic Portfolio

2003 (16 October)
China - Hong Kong - Macau
Successful flight of China's first manned spacecraft. Territorial parallel issue [ST/PT].
Different stamps, two stamps per country. Different views from the space and the "taikonaut". Produced as sheetlets containing 2 pairs of stamps and as souvenir sheets sold together in a booklet. Although the three countries sold the same booklet (individual sheetlets were not available for sale), the origin of the booklet can be stated on the basis of the overprinted codes starting with the letter A (China), B (Hong Kong) or C (Macau). Multi-colored.
2 stamps - mixed booklet - FDCs

2003 (27 November)
Kazakhstan - Uzbekistan
Painting. Twin issue [T1].
Identical stamps, se-tenant. A, painting "Happiness", 1966, S. Aitbaev, Kazakhstan; B, painting "Morning. Motherhood", 1962, R. Ahmedov, Uzbekistan. multi-colored.
2 se-tenant stamps - FDCs

2003 (29 November)
France - India
Relations between both countries. Twin issue [T1].
Identical stamps. Rooster from a 15th century French enluminure; peacock from a 19th century Indian jewelry piece. Multi-colored.
2 stamps (India se-tenant) - FDCs - mixed FDC - special folder

2003 (9 December)
South Africa - Thailand
Source: South African postal administration

2003 (10 December)
India - Korea (South)
30th anniversary of diplomatic relationship between both countries. Twin issue [T1]
Identical stamps. Astrological observatories: "Cheomseongdae" in Kyong-ju, South Korea, built during the 7th century AD; "Jantar Mantar" Jaipur, India, built in 1727. Multi-colored.
2 stamps - FDCs