PostNL celebrates 20 years of Postcrossing with a special stamp sheet

To mark the 20th anniversary of Postcrossing, PostNL is issuing a sheet of six identical stamps on Monday, July 14, 2025, for mail weighing up to 20 grams with an international destination. Post crossing The Portuguese Paulo Magalhäes (a lover of sending and receiving postcards) developed a website in 2005 through which participants receive random addresses to send a postcard to other postcrossers, anywhere in the world. The card recipient registers the card delivery on the website, after which the system makes the sender's address available to others who also wish to send cards. In this way, a postcrosser only receives cards if they send them themselves. Those who send many cards also receive many cards. Due to the appeal of postcrossing contacts, friendly relationships develop worldwide. Since 2005, more than 800.000 postal enthusiasts from 210 countries have registered on the website. Contrary to custom, I will first focus on the Postcrossing stamp, and only then on the Postcrossing stamp sheet. This will make the layout of the sheet clearer, easier to interpret, and allow it to truly come into its own with the six identical stamps. Description of postcrossing stamp 1) The red rectangle consists of two triangles. One is filled with a garland of paper figures representing Postcrossing participants (symbolizing connection & friendship) combined with the value indication 1. The other triangle is filled with the handwritten text '20 years Postcrossing.com'. 2) The grey and white rectangle also consists of two triangles. The grey triangle with parallel diagonal lines in the background contains the text 'Internationaal Nederland'. The other triangle contains a number of postcards with the address side combined with the franking hook. 3) The blue rectangle (derived from the color of the Priority logo) contains a world map with the five continents. 4) The contour line around the stamp, with pseudo-perforation perforations in the lower left corner, strongly clarifies the shape of the stamp. 5) The handwritten letters symbolize the personal nature of the contacts. Suggestion of a Dutch flag 6) The three rectangles of the stamp shown above together form a self-adhesive quadrilateral, which can be peeled off separately, as can the self-adhesive priority sticker. The tri-color scheme depicts the Dutch flag. 7) The priority sticker (with pseudo-sticker designation) and the red-white-blue stamp are connected by a zigzag line. Issue details: first day of issue July 14, 2025, print run 100.000 sheets with 6 identical stamps, Priority logo is a separate sticker, design by Sandra Smulders of Vormgoed in Gouda, printed by Koninklijke Joh. Enschedé BV in Haarlem. Postcrossing stamp sheet 8) Graphic designer Sandra Smulders has graphically depicted the sending and receiving of cards (represented by zigzag lines) via Postcrossing in an abstract, metaphorical way using geometric planes and lines. 9) The stamp sheet consists of six identical stamps: three in normal orientation and three in portrait orientation. 10) Postcrossing issues 2011 & 2016: feature striking Dutch landmarks. Both issues provide many appealing images. The new issue abstractly depicts reciprocity: “After all, you only receive postcards if you send cards yourself. Whether the visual language used appeals to the collector, as it did to both previous issues, is doubtful.”