International Reply Coupon

An international reply coupon (IRC) is a coupon that can be exchanged for one or more postage stamps representing the minimum postage for an unregistered priority airmail letter of up to twenty grams sent to another Universal Postal Union (UPU) member country. IRCs are accepted by all UPU member countries.

UPU member postal services are obliged to exchange an IRC for postage, but are not obliged to sell them.

The purpose of the IRC is to allow a person to send someone in another country a letter, along with the cost of postage for a reply. If the addressee is within the same country, there is no need for an IRC because a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) or return postcard will suffice; but if the addressee is in another country an IRC removes the necessity of acquiring foreign postage or sending appropriate currency.

History

The IRC was introduced in 1906 at a Universal Postal Union congress in Rome.  First issued on 1st October 1907, an IRC could be exchanged for a single-rate, ordinary postage stamp for surface delivery to a foreign country, as this was before the introduction of airmail services. An IRC is exchangeable in a UPU member country for the minimum postage of a priority or unregistered airmail letter to a foreign country.

Design & Cycle

Since 1906, the appearance of the IRC has changed several times, with 9 different models, 21 different iterations (changes to the basic model) and 5 special anniversary coupons (for the 100th  110th & 115th  anniversaries of the IRC and the 140th &  145th  anniversary of the UPU)

Model 1

1907 – 1929

Rome 

The first IRC design depicted a female figure flying from the Eastern to the Western hemisphere holding a letter and preceded by a small bird.

Model 2

1929 – 1966

London 

The London Congress of 1929 introduced a completely new design (by Franz Helbing) from 1 July 1930, with stylised columns to left and right, all in blue over a pale yellow-brown globe.

Model 3

1966 – 1974

Vienna 

The Vienna Congress of 1964 introduced on 1 January 1966 the third design which was virtually devoid of any ornamentation. The designer was Donald Brun. The circles were one above the other. The yellow security underprint showed (faintly) the main part of the UPU monument (letter-bearing female figures flying around the globe) on the upper one, and the then UPU International Bureau building in the lower. The centre showed a globe (fringed by vertical bars) with a large bird flying upwards.

Model 4

 1975 – 1990

Lousanne 

The Lausanne Convention came into effect on 1 January 1975, and introduced a fourth design. This stretched the centre of Donald Brun’s underprint on the Vienna design to cover the whole coupon. This had simply a text, and a thin framing including date stamp circles in blue on the front, and the yellow colour dominates. The text was only in French (apart from the languages on the back) and the obligation to show a country name or selling price was removed; if either was shown it was in red.

The UPU “logo” of a globe with female figures flying around it appeared in the top-left corner.

Model 5

2002 – 2006

Beijing 

The Beijing Convention, effective from 1 January 2002 5 introduced the most radical changes to IRCs that have occurred since they first appeared. They were doubled in size, to 148x105mm (A6) and printed on stiffer paper that could be processed by machine. The front was lightly printed in blue, with a picture of a girl holding a letter in front of a lake with a mountainous background.

2007 – 2009 

Beijing No2 

2007 – 2009 

Beijing No2 – 100th Anniversary of IRC

Model 6

2009 – 2013 

Nairobi 

Model 7

2014 – 2016

Doha Cycle

2014 

Doha – 140th Anniversary of UPU

Model 8

2017 – 2021 

Istanbul 

Viet Nam emerged victorious from the ten countries participating in the latest competition, held on 7 October 2016 during the UPU Congress for the 2017–2021 period in Istanbul (hence the new IRC name "Istanbul model").

Graphic artist Nguyen Du's design featured a pair of hands and a dove against an Arctic backdrop to represent sustainable development in the postal sector. The image of the yellow stamp on blue represents the future of the Post.

2017 

Istanbul – 110th Anniversary of IRC

2019

Istanbul – 145th Anniversary of UPU

Model 9

2021 – 2025

Abidjan 

The traditional international drawing competition organized to select the illustration of the IRC Abidjan was launched in late 2019 under the theme "Preserve the Ecosystem - Protect the Climate" in reference to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 13 and 15. 

Despite the global health situation related to the Covid-19 pandemic, 9 designated operators from UPU member countries participated in the competition.

The drawing represents a tree formed by two hands surrounding the foliage and a group of birds, all placed on the globe symbolizing the ecosystem.

This drawing has a special character because of the young age of the artist, Miss Valeryia Tsimakhavets, who has just celebrated her 15th birthday.

2022

Abidjan – 125th Anniversary of IRC

Italy : Venezia

Venice is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 126 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are linked by 472 bridges. The islands are in the shallow Venetian Lagoon, an enclosed bay lying between the mouths of the Po and the Piave rivers.

The name is derived from the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century BC. The city was historically the capital of the Republic of Venice for almost a millennium, from 810 to 1797. It was a major financial and maritime power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and a staging area for the Crusades and the Battle of Lepanto, as well as an important centre of commerce—especially silk, grain, and spice, and of art from the 13th century to the end of the 17th. 

The lagoon and the historic parts of the city within the lagoon were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, covering an area of 70,176.4 hectares (173,410 acres).

25 Apr 1912 : The Campanile in Venice

1912 : Poster Stamp

5 Mar 1973 : Save Venice Campaign

10 Apr 1973 : Save Venice Campaign

16 Mar 2007 : Venice Unesco Heritage

2 Jul 2009 : Celebrating the SMS Venice Project

25 Mar 2021 : 1600th Anniversary of the Founding of Venice

30 Jun 2021 : Tourism

2021 : Tourism

Italy : Roma Capitale

 

, 

21 April 2011

20 Sep 2010

Piazzale di Porta Pia

21 Apr 2009

Piazza di Spagna

21 April 2008

Imperial Forums

21 April 2007

Rome Forum

Vatican City : Map

 Vatican City  is a landlocked sovereign country, city-state, microstate, and enclave within Rome, Italy. It became independent from Italy in 1929 with the Lateran Treaty, and it is a distinct territory under "full ownership, exclusive dominion, and sovereign authority and jurisdiction" of the Holy See, itself a sovereign entity under international law, which maintains the city-state's temporal power and governance, diplomatic, and spiritual independence. The Vatican is also a metonym for the pope, the city-state's and worldwide Catholic Church government Holy See, and Roman Curia.

With an area of 49 hectares (121 acres) and as of 2023 a population of about 764, it is the smallest state in the world both by area and by population. As governed by the Holy See, Vatican City State is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state ruled by the Pope, who is the bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church. The highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergy of various origins. After the Avignon Papacy (1309–1377) the popes have mainly resided at the Apostolic Palace within what is now Vatican City, although at times residing instead in the Quirinal Palace in Rome or elsewhere.

The Holy See dates back to early Christianity and is the principal episcopal see of the Catholic Church, which has approximately 1.329 billion baptised Catholics in the world as of 2018 in the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches. The independent state of Vatican City, on the other hand, came into existence on 11 February 1929 by the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and Italy, which spoke of it as a new creation, not as a vestige of the much larger Papal States (756–1870), which had previously encompassed much of Central Italy.

Vatican City contains religious and cultural sites such as St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican Apostolic Library, and the Vatican Museums. They feature some of the world's most famous paintings and sculptures. The unique economy of Vatican City is supported financially by donations from the faithful, by the sale of postage stamps and souvenirs, fees for admission to museums, and sales of publications. Vatican City has no taxes, and items are duty-free.

1933 Express Stamps

14 April 1986

In 1984, the Vatican was added by UNESCO to the List of World Heritage Sites; it is the only one to consist of an entire state.

10 February 2009 : The 80th Anniversary of Vatican City

11 February 2019 : The 90th Anniversary of the Lateran Treaty

The Lateran Treaty  was one component of the Lateran Pacts of 1929, agreements between the Kingdom of Italy under King Victor Emmanuel III (with his Prime Minister Benito Mussolini) and the Holy See under Pope Pius XI to settle the long-standing Roman Question. 

The treaty and associated pacts were named after the Lateran Palace where they were signed on 11 February 1929, and the Italian parliament ratified them on 7 June 1929. The treaty recognised Vatican City as an independent state under the sovereignty of the Holy See. The Italian government also agreed to give the Roman Catholic Church financial compensation for the loss of the Papal States. 

In 1948, the Lateran Treaty was recognized in the Constitution of Italy as regulating the relations between the state and the Catholic Church. The treaty was significantly revised in 1984, ending the status of Catholicism as the sole state religion.

Johor 1965-2016 Definitives Stamps

 

25 Feb 2016 
Sultan Ibrahim III

2009 Nov 14

Sultan Iskandar

1986 Oct 25

Sultan Iskandar

1979 Jul 30

Sultan Ismail

1971 Feb 01
Sultan Ismail

1965 Nov 15 
Sultan Ismail

Indonesia 2004-2012 Traditional Food

 

6 Jul 2004

6 Jul 2005

5 Jul 2006

Gudeg is Yogyakarta’s most iconic traditional food and a strong symbol of the city’s culinary identity. It is made mainly from young jackfruit (nangka muda) that is slowly cooked for many hours with coconut milk, palm sugar, and local spices, giving it a distinctive sweet flavor and brown color. Gudeg originated from traditional Javanese home cooking and became closely associated with Yogyakarta due to the region’s preference for sweet-tasting dishes. It is usually served with rice and side dishes such as opor ayam (chicken in coconut milk), telur pindang (braised egg), sambal krecek (spicy buffalo-skin stew), and tofu or tempeh. Gudeg is significant not only as everyday comfort food but also as a cultural heritage dish, widely sold in homes, markets, and famous eateries, and often brought as a culinary souvenir from Yogyakarta.

6 Jul 2007

6 Jul 2008

6 Jul 2009

6 July 2010

6 July 2012