Olympic Games 1896 (stamp series)

The Olympic Games stamp series was issued on April 6, 1896 by the Greek Post Office ELTA on the occasion of the 1896 Olympic Games .

history

At the end of the 19th century it was common to collect all of the world's postage stamps, but very few postage stamps were issued. The two young philatelists Demetrios and Johannes Sacoraphos suggested to King George to issue a series of commemorative stamps on the occasion of the Olympic Games in order to finance the Games. Until then, there were only a few special stamps around the world. A parliamentary resolution, which took place on August 15, 1895, was necessary for the issue.

The stamps were designed by the Athens-based Swiss artist Emile Gilliéron (1850–1924), the engraving was carried out by the French engraver Louis-Eugène Mouchon (1843–1914), who specialized in postage stamps.

The first Olympic stamps are also the oldest sports stamps. A total of 400,000 drachmas were raised, half of which went towards organizing the games. This covered a large part of the costs, so that later the legend arose that the games were financed exclusively from the sale of postage stamps.

On the occasion of the Intermediate Olympic Games in 1906 , a series of stamps was issued again, which was able to build on the success of the previous one.

List of brands

image	values	motive	Edition	Michel catalog number
	1 lepton	Pugilist	4,000,000	96
	2 Lepta	Pugilist	3,000,000	97
	5 Lepta	Discus thrower	3,000,000	98
	10 Lepta	Discus thrower	2,000,000	99
	20 Lepta	Vase representation Pallas Athene	4,000,000	100
	25 Lepta	Quadriga	2,033,670	101
	40 Lepta	Vase representation Pallas Athene	153,360	102
	60 Lepta	Quadriga	23,760	103
	1 drachma	Acropolis with stadium	221,250	104
	2 drachmas	Messenger of the gods Hermes	157,800	105
	5 drachmas	Goddess of victory Nike	107.106	106
	10 drachmas	Acropolis of Athens	52,200	107

Five postage stamps were reissued with a red overprint on December 22, 1900 for no special reason. These are the values ​​40L. (now 25 L.), 1 Dr. (now 5 L.), 2 Dr. (now 50 L), 5 Dr. (now 1 Dr.), 10 Dr. (now 2 Dr.). Due to the lower values, it can be assumed that larger items of unsold postage stamps were disposed of.

literature

• Walter Umminger: The Olympic Games of the Modern Era - from Athens to Munich, Dortmund 1969. P. 17.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Olympic Review No. 247/1988 STAMP SUPPORT FOR SPORT. Pp. 252–252, PDF file 248 kB, online on the Internet: April 28, 2012
2. ↑ Walter Umminger: The Olympics of modern times - from Athens to Munich, Dortmund 1969. p. 17

Web links

• tsironismichalis.gr (private website about the special postage stamps of the Olympic Games 1896 and 1906)