Austria stamp printed on beer coaster souvenir sheet

By David Hartwig

A souvenir sheet of one stamp issued Oct. 10 by Austrian Post functions as a working beer mat, also known as a coaster.

Austrian Post used wood pulp cardboard to print the souvenir sheet, which contains a removable gummed €3.50 stamp featuring a frothy tankard of beer along with text that translates to “Beer has it all.”

The selvage of the sheet touts some of the nutrients and their percentages found in a liter of beer, such as B vitamins, magnesium and potassium.

Austrian Post says multiple printing processes were required for the cardboard material, which, at 1.4 millimeters thick, required special band steel for the die-cut perforations.

Beer holds significant cultural and social importance in Austria, where the consumption and brewing of beer has been deeply ingrained in daily life and traditions for centuries. Today the country is known for its high quality lagers, particularly its Vienna-style lager.

David Gruber designed the Oct. 10 Beer Mat stamps, which were printed via offset and intaglio by Variuscard in a quantity of 150,000.

The stamps measure 38 mm by 51mm, and the sheet is 100mm on all four sides. The €3.50 denomination pays the national registered mail rate.

For ordering details, visit the Austrian Post online shop.

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