Portugal (2012)
ATM issues '2012, International Year of Sustainable Energy for All' |
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In 2012, the second set of ATM issues is dedicated to the commemoration of the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All.
Ever since 2004, when Correios de Portugal decided to devote the first ATM issue to social subjects -on that occasion to the International Year of the Family-, they have released upto 16 issues related to these themes. And it seems that this trend will not change in the future, as the two new sets announced for 2013 will, again, be devoted to promoting social issues - the European Year of citizens and the 150th anniversary of the International Red Cross. Undoubtedly, all these are very important social themes, more than justified as subjects for philatelic issues, but whose designs, unfortunately, are leading to disappointment amongst collectors.
| More than three billion people in developing countries rely on traditional biomass for cooking and heating. One and a half billion people are without electricity and even when energy services are available, millions of poor people are unable to pay for them. For this reason, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the year 2012 as the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All. This initiative aims to raise awareness of the public on energy issues, including modern energy services and access to them, energy efficiency, sustainability and the use of renewable energy sources. |
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The design (!?) of the issue is by Ana Rita de Matos, and is in the usual format which includes the logo, vertically on the left, PORTUGAL and CORREIOS in the upper right corner, and the 20 black optical scanning bars on the right edge. |
The logo for the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All is designed by the communications and design team at the Norwegian oil and gas company Statoil. It is inspired by the technical sign for 'ground' or 'earth' in electricity, but the symbol has been abstracted to make an embracing and caring logo. The colour gradient was used to create the impression of energy and movement.
The rolls of self-adhesive labels were printed, by offset, and manufactured by the Portuguese company Litho Formas Portuguesa. As usual, the rolls were manufactured with two sizes of labels - 55 x 30 mm. to be used in the Amiel, SMD and NewVision Epost vending machines, and 80 x 30 mm. for the Crouzet distributors. Each label has a preprinted sequential number on the back of the waxed paper.
The first day of issue for this ATM series was October 9th 2012, although the change of rolls in most distributors was gradual over the following 2 weeks.
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ATMs with the basic values of Correio Normal (Normal - priority mail) and Correio Azul (Express post) issued by the AMIEL vending machines, using black printing. |
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ATMs with the basic values of Correio Normal and Correio Azul issued by the NEWVISION vending machine, black printing. |
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ATMs with the basic values of Correio Normal and Correio Azul issued by the SMD vending machine, black printing. |
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With no changes in the basic postal rates, the 7 postage values programmed into the majority of Amiel, SMD and NewVision machines, on the date of issue, were: 0.32, 0.53, 0.57, 0.68 and 0.80 EUR, and CORREIO AZUL 0.47 and 1.85 EUR. However, there are ATMs issued by the Amiel and SMD distributors with other values, because of a programming error, or a button with another postal rate. |
| SMD distributor next to the letter boxes in the Devesas postal branch, in Vila Nova de Gaia |
There are also NewVision ATMs with yet other values, arising from programming errors in E-Post 2000 machines, or from the large list of possible values available from the E-Post 2000 M distributors.
The majority of ATM distributors, still in service on the date of issue, were fitted with black ink cartridges, although there are a very few machines using purple-violet ink cartridges.
The few units of Crouzet distributors still in service, offer the basic values for domestic normal (0.32 EUR) and express mail (CORREIO AZUL 0.47 EUR, for this issue), just by pressing a button in the main menu. The remaining values, starting from a programmed minimum value, can be obtained by keying in the amount, or by using the scales and indicating the destination and type of shipment. However, it is possible to obtain ATMs with any face value starting from EUR 0.01, when the distributor does not have the right coins for change. In this case, the machine offers the user a stamp. If required, the machine can issue a receipt for the sale, printed on another identical self-adhesive label.
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| Correio Normal and Correio Azul ATMs sold by a CROUZET distributor, impression in black |
| Official first day cover with the 5-value set of Correio Normal issued by an AMIEL vending machine, and Lisboa commemorative postmark. There are first day postmarks for Lisbon and Porto. |
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| Postal rates (EUR) programmed into the Amiel, NewVision and SMD vending machines |
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Correio normal |
Correio Azul |
| Change of postal rates |
Domestic,
up to 20 g.
normalized |
Domestic,
up to
100 g. |
Spain,
up to 20 g. |
Europe,
except Spain,
up to 20 g. |
Rest of the world,
up to 20 g. |
Domestic,
up to 20 g.
normalized |
International
up to 20 g. |
| 1.1.2002 |
0.27 |
0.45 |
0.46 |
0.54 |
0.70 |
0.43 |
1.75 |
| 1.1.2003 |
0.30 |
0.46 |
0.47 |
0.55 |
0.70 |
0.43 |
1.75 |
| |
Domestic,
up to 20 g.
normalized |
Domestic,
from 20 to 50 g.
normalized |
Domestic,
up to
100 g. * |
Spain,
up to 20 g. |
Europe,
except Spain,
up to 20 g. |
Rest of the world,
up to 20 g. |
Domestic,
up to 20 g.
normalized |
International
up to 20 g. |
| 1.1.2004 |
0.30 |
0.45 |
0.48 |
0.48 |
0.56 |
0.72 |
0.45 |
1.75 |
| 1.1.2005 |
0.30 |
0.46 |
0.49 |
0.48 |
0.57 |
0.74 |
0.45 |
1.75 |
| 1.5.2006 |
0.30 |
0.48 |
0.50 |
0.52 |
0.60 |
0.75 |
0.45 |
1.80 |
| 1.1.2007 |
0.30 |
0.50 |
0.55 |
0.52 |
0.61 |
0.75 |
0.45 |
1.85 |
| 1.8.2008 |
0.31 |
0.55 |
0.60 |
0.57 |
0.67 |
0.80 |
0.47 |
1.85 |
| 1.1.2009 |
0.32 |
0.54 |
0.60 |
0.57 |
0.68 |
0.80 |
0.47 |
1.85 |
| 1.6.2010 |
0,32 |
0,53 |
0,60 |
0,57 |
0,68 |
0,80 |
0,47 |
1,85 |
| * This value appeared from 2005, programmed into some of the Amiel, NewVision and SMD ATM vending machines, instead of the value of Domestic Correio normal (inland normal mail) between 20 and 50 g. |
ATM Web - Spain and Latin American Postal Services: http://www.ateeme.net
© J. Jove - M. Sans. ATEEME. Variable value stamps study group. All rights reserved
This page was created in December 2012 and last updated:
22.12.12
. English edition last rewritten by S. Goodman (22.12.2012)
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