Finlandia 88 – Agosthon Faberge 2.5.1988

This Finnish booklet on the cover commemorating Finlandia 88 has a stamp of the collector Agathon Faberge. Yes, he was a member of the same Faberge family that created the fabulous Winter Eggs for the Russian czar. I had written about the “Winter Eggs” in my post in this very blog dated May 01, 2011 . Agathon Faberge was one of the first “grand collectors” of Finnish stamps.

Agathon Faberge (1876-1951) was a famed philatelist, & stamp collector; rarities from his collection are shown on either side of the stamp as well as on the cover.This booklet served as an entrance ticket to the Finlandia88 exhibition (but of course it was also available to those who pre-ordered it from postal services or bought a full year set). Thus the booklets face value is 30 (Markka), but the stamp inside does have a postal value of only 5 (Markka).

I have no idea how many of these exist in “real used” condition, but I fear it’s not a great number. Most of the time this item can be found unused/mint or on official first day covers. Thank you Pia for this wonderful cover.