The 1961 joint issue series with ‘doves of peace’ from the countries participating in the Europa CEPT community includes values from Belgium, France, Germany Federal Republic, Greece, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey, completed in March 1962 by three latecomers from Cyprus.
They all adopted the design by Dutch artist Theo Kurpershoek (1914-1998): a flying dove formed by the outlines of 19 birds as a sign of peace between the member states of the European Postal Union. The Principality of Liechtenstein, Portugal and San Marino contributed different motifs.
Speculation dominated the market at the time of these issues. The Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung described, in a later review, that in Liechtenstein ‘the “stamp rush” of quick riches, reminiscent of the gold rush in America … resulted in speculators spending the night before the 1961 issue of the Europa stamp in front of the post offices to grab extra sheets of the coveted speculative items.’
After this first
