Nederland – Netherlands 1969 – 1981 'Regina' (Queen Juliana)

Design

From the early 1960s, there had been plans to issue a new permanent series depicting the monarch. Issuance of the new series, however, did not start until January 1969. Philatelists refer to this third permanent series of Queen Juliana's reign as the 'Regina' series. The name derives from the inscription "JULIANA REGINA" (Juliana Queen) in the frame of the portrait. Like the preceding permanent series of Queen Juliana, Samuel (Sem) Louis Hartz designed the 'Regina' series. Hartz is one of the most prolific Dutch stamp designers.

-Sem Hartz based his design on coinage. Sem Hartz engraved the portrait in a transparent hard plastic. Consequently, he photographed the engraving under different lighting conditions. The final design gives the impression of an alabaster sculpture.


'Regina' permanent series design

Following Queen Juliana's wish, the design shows the Queen without any regal symbols. Many Dutch people saw Queen Juliana as a granny whom you would visit for tea and a biscuit on Sunday afternoon. The portrayal of the Queen 'en profile' creates distance and lends regal appearance to the monarch that the portrait itself lacks. The portrait is set against a solid background in a frame printed in a lighter hue. The frame bears the inscription of the country name "NEDERLAND," the face value, and the words 'JULIANA REGINA.' Johan Enschedé of Haarlem printed the stamps in photogravure.

The 'low' value stamps have the value inscribed in C(ents) in a single line. The high values from 1 guilder upwards have the value inscribed in 'GULDEN' in two lines. Fractions of guilders appear underlined in raised smaller type. No comma separates guilders and cents on these stamps.

Glad to see another series posted, they're great!

1969 basic inland letter rate

On 1 February 1969, the basic inland letter rate increased to 25 cents. The Dutch post, PTT, issued the first two stamps in the new design on 29 January 1969. These were the 25C and 1.25 Gulden stamps. The latter prepaid the combined basic inland letter rate and 1 guilder registration fee.


Machine-vended stamp book PB9a

The 25C stamp was only available from machine vended stamp books of four stamps. The sheet stamps in the old 'en profil' design remained in use at post office counters. From 1967, postal mechanisation led to the issuance of stamps on phosphor-coated paper. The 25C stamp of the 'en profil' design was not issued until February 1969.


25C 'en profil' permanent series stamp

1969 basic inland letter rate papers

Between January 1969 and March 1971, PTT issued machine vended stamp books of four 25C stamps with eight different texts on the stubs. All but the third of these books exists both with stamps printed on ordinary and phosphor-coated paper. The stamp book catalogued as PB9c exists only with stamps printed on phosphor-coated paper.


PB9 editions with phosphor-coated (left) and ordinary (right) paper under long-wave UV light

The phosphor-coated paper turns dull greenish yellow under both short-wave and long-wave ultra-violet light. Above picture was taken with a Samsung S10 whilst holding a Leuchtturm (Lighthouse) long-wave lamp over the stamps. The stamps on the left react dull greenish yellow to ultra-violet light. The yellow is much more pronounced to the naked eye and more like that in below picture. The stamps on the right were printed on ordinary paper. This turns dullish white under the ultra-violet lamp.


PB9 editions with phosphor-coated (left) and ordinary (right) paper long-wave afterglow

The phosphor-coated paper shows both a long-wave and short-wave dull greenish yellow afterglow after turning off the ultra-violet lamp. As the above picture shows, the ordinary paper shows no afterglow at all.

I shall return to the 25C stamp later, as there are two types of this stamp.

Is there any way you can get the ordinary (right) paper long-wave afterglow to show?

@Timm,

The ordinary paper has no afterglow.

Reactions to uv light can be fluorescent and phosphorescent. The fluorescence is caused by a fluorescent agent that reflects light. The 'Gouda' test stamps of the 'Van Krimpen' and 'en profil' designs were printed on paper with a fluorescent agent added to the pulp. This shows up greenish yellow under a uv-lamp. But often, it is an optical brightening agent that makes the paper look whiter under uv light. Normally, fluorescence can be shown under long-wave uv light.

Phosphorescence is a chemical reaction where phosphor and an activation agent react to uv light. The reaction can come in a range of colours, The phosphorescence can show up immediately. This makes it difficult to say whether it is fluorescence or phosphorescence. Phosphorescence, being a reaction to the uv light, causes an afterglow. Fluorescence is a reflection and does not show an afterglow. Some phosphor activators react to short-wave uv light but not or hardly to long-wave uv-light. This one reacts to both.

Ordinary paper, almost always, refers to paper that does not have a phosphor ink mixed into the coating or applied to the surface. The use of 'ordinary paper' when it comes to the paper being coated or having a coating with an added optical brightening agent is not so clear-cut. What constitutes 'ordinary' has changed over time.

Fluorescence and phosphorescence are best examined in a dark environment. I hide under the stairs and close the door. If Putin starts a nuclear war, at least I can enjoy my stamp collection.

The whole point of the ordinary paper is that it does not react to uv light and certainly does not show an afterglow. If you are in a dark room, irradiate your stamp with the appropriate uv light and turn the lamp off and you do not see anything where your stamp was, one of three things will be the case:
1. the stamp does not have a phosphor coating, nor phosphor bar;
2. you should have used long-wave instead of short-wave uv light, or, more likely, short-wave instead of long-wave uv light;
3. your house mouse has just completed his set of stamps.

The purpose of the picture is to show the difference of the phosphorescent yellow afterglow and the non-phosphorescent darkness because ordinary paper has no afterglow.

Thank you for the explanation, it is very clear.

Sheet stamps

Johan Enschedé of Haarlem printed all the stamps of the series. It printed both the smaller stamps with face values in cents and larger stamps with face values in guilders in photogravure. It had been tradition to print the 'high value' stamps with a face value of 1 guilder or more in intaglio.


1969 – 1981 'Regina' permanent series

Between 29 January 1969 and 26 May 1970, PTT issued the large-format stamps with the guilder values. The 1.50 guilder and 2 guilders values were added in 1971 and 1972, respectively, as the combined basic rate for a registered inland letter rose. Other than the 25C value that only appeared in booklets, the low values did not appear until the end of 1971. Although the basic rate for an inland letter increased to 30 cents on 1 November 1971, the stamp of that value did not appear until 11 February 1972.

issue dates
29 January 1969: 1,25G (and 25C from machine vended stamp books);
25 March 1969: 1G;
14 July 1969: 2,50G;
26 May 1970: 5G, 10G;
25 January 1971: 1,50G;
23 December 1971: 70C, 80C;
24 December 1971: 45C, 75C;
27 December 1971: 60C;
11 February 1972: 30C;
14 February 1972: 40C, 50C;
2 August 1972: 35C;
30 November 1972: 2G;
5 April 1975: 90C;
1 April 1976: 55C.

Stamps with a number on the back printed in black come from rolls of stamps.


'Regina' permanent series coil number in strip of 5

Luminescence

The stamps with face values up to 90C were printed on phosphor-coated paper. The paper also shows a strong fluorescent reaction. Those with face values of 1 gulden and higher were printed on paper without a phosphor coating. Initially, the paper used for these 'high value' showed a white fluorescent reaction under ultra-violet light. Later, they were printed on non-fluorescent paper.


'Regina' permanent series fluorescence

Above image shows the fluorescent reactions under a Leuchtturm (Lighthouse) longwave ultra-violet lamp. There exist two types of the 1,25 gulden stamp. I shall comment on the two types in a later post. For now, it suffices to state the 1,25 gulden stamp on the left is the type I stamp and that on the right the type II stamp. The type I stamp only exists on paper that shows a fluorescent reaction. The type II stamp exists on both types of paper.


'Regina' permanent series phosphorescence

The second image shows the same stamps after turning off the longwave ultra-violet lamp. The values up to 90C have a whitish afterglow to the naked eye. The dull yellowish afterglow is what my Samsung S10 camera detects. The high-value stamps (at the bottom of the picture) have no afterglow. Neither of the two 1,25 gulden stamps shows any afterglow.