01 August 2014
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Tintin stamp from Belgium 2014
Comic book icon Tintin made his first appearance in print in 1929 in a children’s newspaper supplement called Le Petit Vingtieme (The Little Twentieth), since then Tintin has appeared on many stamps, and on philatelic souvenirs and coins
1. Metro Station Postcard
Along with stamps, Tintin and friends have featured on a wide selection of philatelic products including postcards and pre-stamped stationary.
This nice example was issued on 16 October, 1993 on behalf of Stockel Metro Station in Brussels.
The station’s mural, which features 140 characters from ‘The Adventures of Tintin’ comic strips was drawn by Hergé himself in 1983 and completed by Studio Hergé. The mural stretches 135 metres along both sides of the station’s wall.
2. Swiss Postal Cards
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Hergé, Swiss Post produced two Tintin postal cards in a run of 35,000 sets.
The picture cards take their images from ‘The Calculus Affair’ which was based partly in Switzerland.
In fact Hergé spent many years in Switzerland, describing it as ‘a paradise on Earth’ and the story reflects his time spent in the area around Lake Geneva.
In the same year, Swiss Post also produced a special Professor Calculus cancellation to mark the translation of ‘The Calculus Affair’ into the Gruyere regional dialect. This was available for use on anything from books to envelopes, without a stamp purchase.
3. 1950s Stamp Label
In December 1950, the Tintin Magazine produced a Tintin stamp designed by Hergé himself.
This wasn’t an official postal product but instead a nice piece of early Tintin merchandise.
The ‘stamp’ featured Tintin and Snowy, with the motto ‘Timbre Tintin’ at the top and ‘Kuifje’s Bon’ at the bottom. Versions came in red or green.
4. French prêt-à-poster
Tintin is popular in most French-speaking countries and has made regular appearances on French stationary products.
The most popular of these are come as innumerous designs but the most popular are either fold up, pre-stamped illustrated envelopes (l’envelcarte) or pre-stamped envelopes with choice of illustrated postcards to put inside (prêt-à-poster).
5. Tintin coins
Belgium has produced three celebratory Tintin/Hergé coin issues.
The first (4 January, 2004) marked Tintin’s 75th anniversary and was a limited run of 50,000. This was followed by a ten euro coin in June of the same year, marking the 50th anniversary of ‘Explorers on the Moon’ and a Hergé centenary coin in 2007.
France’s 2006 ‘Comic Strip Heroes’ coins featured Tintin and Haddock, Tintin and Calculus and Tintin and Chang on the 1 ½ euro value, Tintin on the 10 euros, and Tintin and Snowy on the 20 euro. Coins were available in both proof silver and gold.