A TRIP TO MURIA

The tomb of Sunan Muria.

The tomb of Pangeran Gadung Sosro Kusumo, the uncle of Sunan Muria

ME N NEPENTHES

Collecting Nepenthes is my other hobby. And here I am, with my nepentheses.

RARE & EXPENSIVE STAMPS

INDONESIAN STAMP - Special Edition 2000

NOTAPHILY

Notaphily is the study of paper money or banknotes. It is believed that people have been collecting paper money for as long as it has been in use. However, people only started collecting paper money systematically in Germany in the 1920s, particularly the Serienscheine (Series notes) Notgeld. The turning point occurred in the 1970s, when notaphily was established as a separate area by collectors. At the same time, some developed countries such as the USA, Germany and France began publishing their respective national catalogues of paper money, which represented major points of reference literature.

Stamps History

Before the use of adhesive paper stamps, letters were hand stamped or postmarked with ink. Postmarks were the invention of Henry Bishop and were at first called 'Bishop mark' after the inventor. Bishop marks were first used in 1661 at the London General Post Office. They marked the day and month the letter was mailed.

The first issued postage stamp began with Great Britain's Penny Post. On May 6, 1840, the British Penny Black stamp was released. The Penny Black was engraved the profile of Queen Victoria's head, who remained on all British stamps for the next sixty years. Rowland Hill created the first stamp.

Sir Rowland Hill himself designed the first stamp which cost one penny and bore the profile of Queen Victoria. Because the stamp was printed in black, the 1-cent stamp soon became known as the "Penny Black" -- the world's most popular stamp. These first stamps were imperforate, meaning that people had to cut apart the sheets of stamps. The first perforated stamps did not appear until 1854 (1857 in the United States, 1854 in Great Britain).

EXONUMIA

Exonumia is the study of coin-like objects such as token coins and medals, and other items used in place of legal currency or for commemoration. This includes elongated coins, encased coins, souvenir medallions, tags, badges, counterstamped coins, wooden nickels, credit cards, and other similar items. It is related to numismatics proper (concerned with coins which have been legal tender), and many coin collectors are also exonumists.

The sample above is a rare and historic Bechuanaland Border Police canteen token.

The salt farm

These pictures were taken when I went to a salt farm somewhere North of Central Java. It was quite fascinating to know how salt was produced.


This was when I harvest the salt crystals.

This was me, pumping the sea water (from the ditch) into the drying field.

Producing salt is a hard work, and yet we take salt for granted. Maybe we should have a 'Salt Day' just to commemorate how vital salt is for our life.

Collecting Money and Numismatic

Again with the misconception. Numismatic is not collecting coins/money.

From Wikipedia:

Numismatics (Latin: numisma, nomisma, "coin"; from the Greek: νομίζειν nomízein, "to use according to law") is the scientific study of currency and its history in all its varied forms. While numismatists are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, the discipline also includes a much larger study of payment media used to resolve debts and the exchange of goods.

Indonesian translation:

Numismatik (Latin: numisma, nomisma, "koin"; from the Greek: νομίζειν nomízein, "digunakan sesuai aturan") adalah bidang studi mengenai alat tukar (uang) dan sejarahnya dalam segala bentuk. Walau numismatis biasanya dicirikan oleh orang yang mempelajari uang atau orang yang mengkoleksi uang, bidang studi ini juga mempelakari mengenai alat-alat tukar lain yang dipakai untuk membayar hutang dan membeli barang.

Again, even though it's cool to call yourself "numismatist (numismatis)", it's not the correct term to use for coin/money collection. Just like calling yourself philatelist (filatelis) just because you're collecting stamps.

Philately is NOT stamp collecting.

There is a misconception for most people that philately means collecting stamps.

As wikipedia has stated clearly:

Collecting is not the same as philately, which is the study of stamps. A philatelist often does, but need not, collect the objects of study, nor is it necessary to closely study what one collects. Many casual collectors enjoy accumulating stamps without worrying about the tiny details, but the creation of a large or comprehensive collection generally requires some philatelic knowledge.

and translated to Indonesian Language (for the benefit of those not so well versed in English):

Mengkoleksi prangko itu tidak sama dengan filateli, yaitu pembelajaran mengenai prangko. Seorang filatelis biasanya, tapi tidak selalu, mengkoleksi objek yang mereka pelajari, dan tidak ada keharusan untuk mempelajari apa yang seseorang koleksi. Banyak pengoleksi prangko biasa yang menikmati menambah koleksi mereka tanpa harus panik mengenai detail-detail terkecil dari koleksinya, tapi pembuatan koleksi besar-besaran atau koleksi lengkap biasanya membutuhkan sedikit pengetahuan filateli.

So, please people, once and for all, use the correct label to call us. We're not philatelists (filatelis) but we're stamp collectors.

First Post!

Hi,

I'm Asriza, born 31st of March and this is my first blog.

It's all started because of a school assignment and voila!

Many thanks to my evil sister, Vega, for.... well, everything.

Hope you enjoy my blog.