New Gibraltar Crypto stamp to be issued May 17

By Denise McCarty

Gibraltar will issue a new Crypto stamp May 17 in a limited-edition presentation pack.

Crypto is short for cryptocurrency, a currency that exists only digitally, and according to the Gibraltar Philatelic Bureau, the new stamp will be “dedicated to this revolutionary new technology.”

On its website, the Gibraltar Philatelic Bureau also said that the new stamp “will be tied to the release of a blockchain based Digital Collectible, or non-fungible token (‘NFT’) counterpart, exclusively produced by Coinsilium in collaboration with Vietnam-based RedFOX Labs Joint Stock Company (RedFOX).”

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines blockchain as “a digital database containing information (such as records of financial transactions) that can be simultaneously used and shared within a large decentralized, publicly accessible network.”

Nonfungible tokens are not yet included in that online dictionary, but other sources online have provided definitions. For instance Jazmin Goodwin said in an article on the CNN Business website, “In the simplest terms, NFTs transform digital works of art and other collectibles into one-of-a-kind, verifiable assets that are easy to trade on the blockchain.”

This is Gibraltar’s second cryptocurrency stamp. The first was issued May 15, 2018, in what the bureau called a “personalized stamp sheet of four.” The four 50-penny stamps in that sheet share the same design showing the Rock of Gibraltar.

Stephen Perera designed that sheet of four, as well as the new £4 Crypto stamp.

Cartor Security Printers printed the new stamp by offset lithography. The stamp measures 40 millimeters by 40mm and is in a souvenir sheet that is 100mm by 60mm.

The stamp will be issued in a presentation pack in a quantity of 50,000.

The nonfungible tokens will be sold separately, but those who purchase the stamp presentation pack “will also receive a first entitlement to an NFT collectible counterpart, with an exclusivity period of approximately 8 weeks, prior to general release of the NFT, slated for around mid-July 2021,” according to the philatelic bureau.

The bureau added that a total of 100,000 Gibraltar nonfungible tokens will be “pre-minted and will be delivered online in a digital sealed pack” of two.

These tokens will show 22 iconic images of Gibraltar by local photographers, including Christian Ferrary and Mario Garcia, according to an April 22 article on the website of the Gibraltar Chronicle.

The tokens, which will be denominated in cryptocurrency, are being produced in five scarcity levels, which the Gibraltar Philatelic Bureau calls common, uncommon, rare, ultra rare and mythic rare.

A handful of other postal administrations also have issued cryptocurrency stamps, including Austria, Croatia, the Marshall Islands and the United Nations Postal Administration. Issues from Austria and Croatia also had a nonfungible token counterpart, according to Malcolm Palle, executive chairman of the Coinsilium Group.

In the aforementioned Gibraltar Chronicle article, Palle said: “There have been NFT stamps before by the Croatian and the Austrian post offices.

“But what they haven’t done, firstly, is link such a broad collection specifically to Gibraltar or any jurisdiction.

“The Austrian stamp doesn’t have a load of Austrian images.”

“This has iconic images of Gibraltar, there are 22 of them.”

The Gibraltar Crypto stamp presentation pack is available for preorder at the WOPA+ Stamps and Coins website. Further information also is available on the Gibraltar Philatelic Bureau’s website www.gibraltar-stamps.com.

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