Poland 1943 – Nicolaus Copernicus 

This is a repeat of the 1942 Poland design, but with the colour changed from green to dark red (the Gibbons catalogue terms it purple) and overprinted with the dates ’24 Mai 1543’ on the left and ’24 Mai 1943’ at right to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of Copernicus. There was also a souvenir sheet (below), consisting of a block of 10 of the same stamps – one of the first astro-stamp souvenir sheets, and perhaps the very first. 

This souvenir sheet was issued by the German occupation government of Poland in 1943 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of Copernicus. The ten stamps that make up the sheet are the same as that of the individual issue shown above. Note that in the inscription below the stamps Copernicus is described as ‘Deutschen’. 

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