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Thule
Private Issue in Honour of Dr. Knud Rasmussen (1879-1933)

Pictorial Definitives
Missing from the set of stamps inscribed 1910-1935 is a 15 ore value depicting
a Danish flag on a coastal mountainside with a ship in the distance.

The town of Thule, now known as Qaanaaq, is located in northwestern Greenland. Although Greenland had parcel post stamps that were in use from 1905 until 1937, stamps for regular mail were not issued until November 1, 1938. The earlier parcel post issues were used on shipments going either from Denmark to Greenland or from Greenland to Denmark (with used issue orginating in Greenland having greater value than those coming from Denmark). In commenting on the controversial nature of Greenland's "local issues," the editors of Gibbons' Stamp Monthly cited the Philatelic Bureau of the Danish Post Office as having stated that the stamps were used for "statistical and accountancy purposes" because letters were generally carried free of charge to the European population who were either employed by the government or who were there with the sanction of the government. It would appear, therefore, that Thule began using stamps on regular mail before the rest of Greenland however, this is not the case. A clarification of the status of the Thule issue from the Danish Post Office stated that the "stamps" were issued with the permission of the Danish Post Office but had the same status as Christmas seals. They were privately printed by the Thule Committee in memory of Dr. Knud Rasmussen (1879-1933) on the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the most northerly trading post in the world, the Thule Trading station on Cape York. An additional 25 ore value was issued on August 10, 1936.


Bibliography

"Greenland." Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue. 2005.

"Knud Rasmussen." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 21 July 2013. Web. 23 July 2013.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knud_Rasmussen.

"Qaanaaq." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 21 July 2013. Web. 23 July 2013.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qaanaaq.

"Stamp News in Brief." Gibbons' Stamp Monthly. Mar. 1936: 120.

"Thule 1936 Commemorative Stamps 25 Ore,." Stampmedia. Stampmedia Project, 2012. Web.
    23 July 2013. http://www.stampedia.net/stamp/catalogue/stamp,498584/.

Way, W. Dennis. "Why Not Greenland in the Catalogue." Gibbons' Stamp Monthly. Dec. 1935: 46-47.


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