Public Prize Best Europa Stamp 2012

Dutch flag Written in: Dutch • Jacqueline van der Pas •
Croatia Hungary philately
It was already reported on Monday that an expert jury had chosen Russia's entry as the winner of the 2012 Europa stamps. The public, however, made a different choice: Hungary won with a substantial lead over Turkey and Croatia. Up to and including June 10, everyone could vote online for the stamp of their choice via the PostEurop website. 8063 votes were registered, 45% more than last year. 1602 of these votes were for Hungary.

Winning European stamp

Hungary's winning stamp is one of the two Europa stamps designed by Hungarian graphic artist Ágnes Rozmann. The main motif of the stamp is Hungary's online country code: .HU. That code is filled with bell peppers and grapes. 100.000 copies of the sheet were printed by the Pénzjegynyomda printing company.

“Philately remains an important part of the Hungarian community, and collectors keep it very much alive. We are proud of our entry this year and thank the public for their support,” said Gábor Péterffy, Head of Philately at Magyar Posta. In the past five years, Hungary has already won this annual competition four times. Turkey came second this year with 832 votes, and Croatia finished third with 444 votes.

Turkey second place

Number three: Croatia

The jury prize and the audience prize will be awarded on September 22 during the Belgian Philatelic Grand Prix at Brussels City Hall.

The most beautiful one?

Tastes differ, and there may well be many voters from Turkey and Croatia, but those stamps would not be my choice. Certainly not when you look at the other entries, of which there are on Postzegelblog in April there were already some things to see. I do think the winning stamp from Hungary is beautiful and the seal of Russia who won the jury prize as well. What do you think?

4 comments

  1. To put it bluntly, I don't find the Hungarian stamps particularly special. It was a nice touch to place the images inside the letters, but it wouldn't make me decide to visit Hungary. Looking at the stamps featured in April, I find Monaco and Bulgaria to be two series that make me think: oh, I would like to see that in real life.
    In terms of design, I found Romania the most refreshing. I think I would have chosen that series.

    To answer

  2. Strange (or suspicious?) that Hungary wins almost every year. I just find those stamps from Turkey ugly. There is a lot to see there, and they’ve crammed it all onto two little stamps.
    The first Croatian stamp is quite nice, but I find the one with the statue a bit strange. What is that man actually doing?! Well, in that case, I find the Russian stamp with a beautiful lady more inviting!

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