TAIWAN. ATM issues 2015

TAIPEI 2015

	TAIPEI 2015, the 30th Asian International Stamp Exhibition, was held from April 24th to 28th at the Taipei World Trade Centre Exhibition Hall 3, in the Xinyi District. This huge shopping, exhibition and congress business complex is located at the foot of Taipei 101, one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world.

The organization of this important philatelic event was carried out by Chunghwa Post Co. Ltd., the Taiwanese postal administration, along with the China - Taipei Philatelic Federation, and the Taiwan External Trade Development Council, under the patronage of the F.I.A.P., the Inter-Asian Philatelic Federation, which includes the federations of Asia and Australia.

	Main exhibition access and TAIPEI 2015 logo

TAIPEI 2015, themed 'Joy of philately', was developed in an area of about 7000 m2, with an international philatelic exhibition displaying more than 1,000 frames, 70 dealer stands, philatelic services and companies related to the sector, as well as exhibitions and areas dedicated to philatelic diffusion and promotion, with various activities scheduled throughout the event. At one end, the organization had set up a large stage, with performances by different artists and groups of the country.
Over the five days, the philatelic event attracted thousands of visitors of all ages, including many young people and families.

Undoubtedly, one of the most visited places was the large Chunghwa Post stand, with its daily releases of stamps and sheets, and their respective postmarks. All these issues were related to the theme of the day (24th - TAIPEI 2015 Day, 25th - Ecology Day, 26th - Family Day, 27th - Tourism Day, and 28th - Culture Day). Chunghwa Post also produced various special issues, books and folders, and other merchandising products related to the event and the company.

After the exhibitions in 1996, 2005 and 2008, TAIPEI 2015 was the fourth time that Taipei held the Asian International stamp Exhibition and, like in 2005 and 2008 (article and VARIABLE 8), Chunghwa Post decided to produce a special ATM issue.

	The design is by Xu Wei and features the Taiwan salmon or trout (Oncorhynchus masou formosanus), which also appears in the TAIPEI 2015 logo. This is a critically endangered landlocked fish endemic to Taiwan, and protected as a national treasure.

The rolls of labels were manufactured by the French company Cartor Security Printing, which also had a stand at the exhibition (see next article). The total production was 900,000 labels - 900 rolls of 1,000 labels.
The composition includes the philatelic event name, in Chinese characters, and the logo in the upper left corner. All labels have a unique serial number pre-printed in the bottom left corner (ARJ0940 in the image). This 7-digit code is made up of 3 letters, identifying the roll, and 4 digits for the label number. There is also the logo, and the name of the postal operator and country, in the bottom right corner.

In 1995, the postal administration of Taiwan (then named Directorate General of Posts, Republic of China) issued a set of four stamps dedicated to Taiwanese trout, showing different phases of the life of this rare species.

The issue was available, from April 24th 2015, from all the Innovision vending machines (numbers 076 to 147) installed in post offices across the country.

During the philatelic event, Chunghwa Post installed five distributors -numbered 100, 101, 102, 103 and 104- in the exhibition. The machines were placed in a large space in front of the stand of Chunghwa Post, and next to the stage area.

All these vending machines were temporarily moved from their usual locations in different post offices - Taipei Beimen, Taipei Sinyi, Postal museum, Taipei Da-an & Pingtung Mingsheng Rd., respectively.

Every day, long before the opening of the stamp exhibition, collectors interested in these issues formed a long queue outside the Exhibition Hall (image below). Once inside, the perfect organization had arranged long rows of chairs in front of each machine, where visitors could wait their turn in order and comfort.

Arriving at the vending machine, each user had only six minutes to buy ATMs, always under control and close supervision of Chunghwa Post staff.

From the Innovision distributors, customers could obtain ATMs with any face value starting from 5 New Taiwan dollars (NT$5), corresponding to the current basic rate of domestic mail, with a maximum of 10 stamps per transaction. Payment is by coin only and no change is given.

	Values under NT$5 can be obtained as residual values and only one at a time. The user must insert coins for more than the required value and, after waiting a few seconds, the machine issues the requested stamp along with a second stamp with the residual value.
	Right, ATM with double face value imprint

	During the five-day event, all the machines alternated three different ink colours cartridges, providing 15 different combinations of colour / machine number. Very attentive to number symbolism, the most requested machine in TAIPEI 2015 was 104. It corresponds to the year 2015, according to the national calendar, which starts with the year of foundation of the country.

	100	101	102	103	104
24.04.2015	black	green	magenta	green	magenta
25.04.2015	magenta	black	green	magenta	green
26.04.2015	green	magenta	black	green	magenta
27.04.2015	magenta	green	magenta	black	green
28.04.2015	green	magenta	green	magenta	black

Chunghwa Post produced an illustrated first day cover (right), and a special postcard (below).
For the first time, they doubled the seven postmarks prepared for the philatelic exhibition, with versions in English and Chinese. These were the general usage type for the exhibition (cover below, in the centre), the special for the ATM issue (images), and the five daily postmarks.

In magenta, the exhibition mark.

For this ATM issue, and for each machine number installed in the philatelic exhibition, Chunghwa Post issued a large size folder containing stamps with all the denominations up to NT$99, and two commemorative folders (depicted below) containing the set of values for domestic mail (NT$ 5-12-25-32) and international mail (NT$ 9-13-15-17), in the three available colours.

Four months after the celebration of TAIPEI 2015, the 30th Asian International Stamp Exhibition (see article, also published in VARIABLE 37), Chunghwa Post announced the last special issue of the commemorative ATM for this important philatelic event, in the Hsinchu Wuchang St. Post Office, in the northwest of the country.

For just over six hours, on Saturday August 22nd 2015, the Innovision distributor, number 084, was installed in the post office, and fitted with a blue/violet ink cartridge.
The many collectors who attended the event were allowed to use the machine for just three minutes per person.

Chunghwa Post put on sale a special commemorative envelope (right), and illustrated folios or folders containing stamps with the sets for domestic mail (NT$ 5-12-25-32) and international mail (NT$ 9-13-15-17), plus the minimum and maximum values NT$1 and NT$99, printed in blue.
A special postmark was also available.

CARTOR in TAIPEI 2015 and the 'Goat labels'

Besides Chunghwa Post, one of the most visited stands at TAIPEI 2015 was the French security printing company Cartor Security Printing.
Since 2004, the company has been, together with the English Walsall Security Printers Ltd part of International Security Printers Group (ISP). Cartor has produced stamps and philatelic products for most postal administrations around the world, as well as for Chunghwa Post. Since 2012, many of the Taiwan ATM issues -among them, TAIPEI 2015, have been manufactured by Cartor.

A wise decision, Cartor decided to install an Intelligent AR philatelic kiosk on its stand. This was one machine identical to those already in service in the UK and Jersey. During the five-day exhibition, visitors could check the equipment and obtain free special souvenir labels !

The Cartor - TAIPEI 2015 special series consisted of two alternating designs by the well-known Japanese designer Motoharu Morita and dedicated to the Year of the Goat.
The rolls of self-adhesive thermal labels, with the same size and features as the UK 'Post & Go' issues, were also manufactured by Walsall Security Printers Ltd.

	It is easy to guess that the novelty and exclusiveness of the issue, as well as the chosen theme, aroused enormous interest among visitors. Throughout the show, long queues of collectors were constantly in front of the Cartor stand. An excellent introduction to the company and promotion for the IAR philatelic kiosks !

	During TAIPEI 2015, the kiosk only allowed users to choose between single labels or 'Collectors strips' of two (left) or six labels (right), according to the programming. Being just souvenir labels, the machine did not print any face value on them, only the text 'Goat Label' and the date of issue. In the lower part of the label, a code similar to 'Post & Go' issues - B4TW15 (philatelic team - April - Taiwan - 2015), then TAIP (special 4-digit code of the machine), followed by the operation or session number, and the label number. Although the card payment module was disabled, the kiosk established a fictitious value of £ 0.01 per label, and issued receipts with the total ordered (left). The total production of this special edition was 30,000 labels, 20 rolls of 1,500 labels, which were distributed throughout the five days of the exhibition. TEST imprint label - VOID

2015, the year of the Auspicious Sheep

Following the three earlier annual issues devoted to the Year of the Dragon (see article, also published in VARIABLE 26), the Year of the Snake (article and VARIABLE 31), and the Year of the Horse (article and VARIABLE 35), Chunghwa Post brought out a new ATM issue for the Chinese zodiac animals. 2015 was the Year of the Sheep, a lucky, auspicious animal, according to Chinese tradition.

The design of the issue is by Tseng Kai-chih. On the left, the goat design in bright colours is achieved by paper-cutting style. The label background includes blooming flowers that, according to the Chunghwa Post information, 'conveying the idea that everything is thriving and goes well in one's life, family, and career'.

The rolls of gummed labels were manufactured by the French company Cartor Security Printing. The total production run was 880 rolls of 1,000 labels.

All labels each have a unique serial number pre-printed in the bottom left corner (AEE0971 in the image above). This 7-character code is made up of 3 letters, identifying the roll, and 4 digits for the label number. There is also the logo, and the name of the postal operator and country, in the bottom right corner.

According to the Chinese lunar calendar, the year of the wooden sheep began on February 19th 2015, and ends on February 7th 2016. There is no general agreement on the name of this year, and it is referred to as the Year of the Sheep, the Year of the Goat, or even the Year of the Ram.

In 2015 Macau has dedicated an ATM issue to the same subject, the Lunar Year of the Goat (see article, also published in VARIABLE 37).

The 'Auspicious Sheep' issue was available, from August 25th 2015, from all Innovision vending machines (numbers 076 to 147) installed in post offices across the country. On the first day of issue, all the distributors used black ink, except machine number 104, installed in the Pingtung Minsheng Rd. Post Office, at the south of the country.

2015 is the year 104, according to the local Taiwan or Minguo calendar, the most widely used in the country. Very attentive to the number symbolism, this distributor number was chosen to release the first special imprints on the new ATM design.
On the first day, and only for seven hours, the machine printed the stamps with a face value and machine number on magenta colour. Only forty visitors had the opportunity to obtain stamps that day, as the time allocated was just six minutes per person ...

	For the new ATM issue, Chunghwa Post released a pictorial first day envelope and two special first day postmarks.

Chunghwa Post also put on sale 5,000 commemorative folders holding the set of four ATMs with international mail values (NT$ 9-13-15-17), printed in black, and another 15,000 folders with the ATMs printed in magenta. All the ATMs were printed by distributor number 104. The folders also included a set of 2 stamps, a souvenir sheet and a specimen label, dedicated to the Year of the Sheep.

	This label is identical in design to the ATM issue, but has no face value. It is a sample label, with only the word SPECIMEN, in Chinese characters, printed in red ink in the centre of the label, and a sequential number in the bottom left corner.

Over the following months, various special imprints were produced using this design.

The first was produced on October 21st 2015, at the Zhongli Post Office, in Taoyuan. The event commemorated the 80th anniversary of 'Postal Simple Life Insurance', a banking and financial service created in 1935 and available at all network post offices.

During that day, the two Innovision distributors, 083 and 112, printed the ATMs using green ink cartridges.
Collectors who attended the event were each able to use the machines in periods of six minutes.

Chunghwa Post released a commemorative envelope (right), and made a special pictorial postmark available to visitors .

They also put on sale commemorative folders holding five ATMs printed in green, with different values.
These are high face value stamps that do not correspond to any current postal rate. However, they are charged with symbolism according to Chinese tradition; NT$80 refers to the the 80th anniversary of the creation of the 'Postal Simple Life Insurance'. NT$11, NT$66, NT$88 and NT$99 are lucky numbers, and their combination means wealth and great fortune.

	The next special issue was also released in Taoyuan, in the SOGO department store. During the holiday season, the store gave a space on the eighth floor to the Taoyuan Post Office, which prepared a small philatelic exhibition and set up a temporary post office with the two Innovision distributors 083 and 112.

Over the three days of the exhibition, from December 31st 2015 to January 2nd 2016, both machines printed ATMs using magenta ink cartridges.

Again, Chunghwa Post released commemorative envelopes of the philatelic event, as well as special postmarks for the three days.

The year change is also reflected in the motifs featured on the envelopes and postmarks. The Year of the Sheep gives way to the Year of the Monkey ...

Commemorative folders with the stamps printed in magenta were also on sale at the temporary post office counters.
One of the folders includes five ATMs with the 'symbolic' high face values (right), while the other folder includes the two sets for domestic and international mail, plus the minimum and maximum values available from the distributors (image below).

And a few days before the launching of the new ATM issue dedicated to the Year of the Monkey, Chunghwa Post scheduled a last special issue with the Year the Sheep design ... printed in blue.

(Continuation - Published in VARIABLE 43)

The last special issue with the Year of the Sheep design was held during the Lantern Festival, which took place from February 22nd to March 6th 2016, in a 20-hectare area next to THSR Taoyuan Station, west of Taipei.
This major festival, of Chinese origin, is one of the most important festivities held every year in Taiwan, on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunar calendar, and traditionally ends the Chinese New Year period.
The 2016 festival, which attracted more than 10 million visitors, celebrated the upcoming Year of the Monkey, which was the subject of the 26-meter-high main lantern (right image).

More than 100 companies attended the 2016 festival. Among them, Chunghwa Post, through the local post office Taoyuan Zhongli, with a stamp exhibition and a temporary post office fitted with two Innovision distributors, codes 083 and 112.

For only two days, February 22nd and 28th, both machines issued ATMs with the Year of the Sheep design, printed in blue / violet ink.


Two special pictorial postmarks, dedicated to the Lantern Festival, were also available on both days.

Two commemorative folders, with the stamps printed in blue, were on sale at the temporary post office.
One of the folders includes five stamps with 'lucky' high face symbolic values (right), while the other folder includes stamps with the two sets for domestic and international mail, plus the minimum and maximum values available from the distributors (image below).