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Pyongyang Zoo animals (group of 9) (DPR Korea)
Our scan shows you four of the nine cards in this grouping, all unused, all issued in 1974. Captions are in Korean and English, and include: Fox, Lynx, Leopard, Wild boar, Wolf, Lion, Small-eared cat, Bear, and Tiger. Grade: 1
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34th World Table Tennis Championships (set of three) (DPR Korea)
A set of three unused maximum cards from this event, issued in March, 1977. The cards show, respectively, (1) World Table-tennis Queen, People’s Athlete Pak Yong Sun, (2) People’s Athlete Pak Yong Sun who came first in the 34th World Table Tennis Championship, and (3) Trophy of the 34th World Table Tennis Championships. (Verbatim.) Grades: 1
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Central Zoo (set of 5) (DPR Korea)
All or part of all five cards are visible in the scan, a set from 1979 and captioned only in Korean. Grade: 1
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Honey-bee (set of three) (DPR Korea)
Set of three unused cards from 1979, all equally captioned “Honey-bee” in Korean and English. Grades: 1
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Pyongyang, The Chollima Statue in the morning (DPR Korea)
Unused maximum card from 1981. There’s an English caption. Don’t be fooled by the design: the real stamp, with the cancellation, is at the lower left. The other stamp, on the upper right, is part of the design and not “real”. By the way, everything about this is quite different from other DPRK maximum cards. Grade: 1
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Los Angeles Olympics 1984 (set of five) (DPR Korea)
On the face of it, five unused maximum cards issued in 1983, with enormous and beautiful stamps, and captions in Korean and English. All or part of each card appears in the congested scan. So far, so good. However DPRK, along with 13 other nations, boycotted the 1984 Games in retailiation for a U.S.-led boycott of the previous 1980 Moscow Games. One might think these cards would have been withdrawn from sale, but not so. Please note, the postmark cancellations are all there but very difficult to read. Overall, a most unusual set. Grades: 1
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World Cup matches 1954-1986 (set of 6) (DPR Korea)
At least the stamped portion of each of the six cards in this set is visible in our scan. The unused maximum cards show scenes from various finals over the years, some dated, some not (mostly 1970’s-80’s). Set was issued in 1985. Grade: 1
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Chess World Championship 1984-1985 (DPR Korea)
Wikipedia tells us that the World Chess Championship 1984 was a match between challenger Garry Kasparov and defending champion Anatoly Karpov in Moscow from 10th September 1984 to 15th February 1985. After five months and 48 games, the match was abandoned in controversial circumstances with Karpov leading five wins to three (with 40 draws), and replayed in the World Chess Championship 1985. Kasparov won. All of which leads up to: this is an unused maximum card, captioned in Korean and English. Grade: 1
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Pyongyang, Memorial sculptural group of the Revolutionary Martyrs’ Cemetery (DPR Korea)
Unused card from 1986, captions in Korean and English. Grade: 1
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West Sea Barrage (DPR Korea)
This is a remarkable structure and the unused 1986 card represents it well. Captioned in Korean and English. Grade: 1
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Mandarin ducks (group of four) (DPR Korea)
From 1987, with slightly flawed postmarks (note what should be “WWF”) , this set of four unused cards all showing Aix galericulata and captioned in both Korean and the scientific name. Grades: 1
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500th Anniversary of Columbus’ America Discovery (DPR Korea)
Arguably an odd choice for DPRK to issue, nonetheless here it is, a card from 1988 with no Korean language at all (except on the stamp) and everything else extensively in English. The postmark is indistinct, and there is some postmark ink transfer on the reverse. Grade: 2
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Soviet astronauts (set of two) (DPR Korea)
Issued in 1988, two unused cards, one (with Yuri Gagarin on the stamp) captioned “Spaceship” in English and Korean, and the other (with Valentina Tereshkova) captioned “Work in space” in English, and Korean. Grade: 1
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13th World Festival of Youth and Students (set of two) (DPR Korea)
Colourful set of two unused cards from 1989, of the event held in Pyongyang. Captioned entirely in English. Grade: 1
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Saturn (DPR Korea)
Unused 1989 in English and Korean. Just as a side thought, what’s up with having a black postmark on a black background? Don’t hope for much visibility there. Grade: 1
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Brasiliana-89 (set of two) (DPR Korea)
Set of two unused cards from 1989, called Brasiliana-89 but both featuring Pele. One is his performance in the World Football Championship in 1970. Captioned in Korean and English. Grade: 1
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Flowers (set of six) (DPR Korea)
Six unused maximum cards from 1989. They are captioned in Korean and with the scientific names. Our scan shows at least the stamped part of each card, and to compensate for not showing all of the photos, we will give you all of those scientific names: Tulipa gesneriana, Anthurium andreanum, Clivia miniata, Gerbera hybrida, Narcissus pseudonarcissus, and Rhododendron obtusum. We like the name “Narcissus pseudonarcissus,” as if it couldn’t decide what it wanted to be: it’s a wild daffodil. Grade: 1
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Pyongyang, Rungra Bridge (DPR Korea)
Unused maximum card from 1990. Captions in English and Korean. Grade: 1
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Rembrandt (DPR Korea)
Unused 1990 maximum card, captioned in Korean and English. Grade: 1
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XI Asian Games – Beijing 1990 (DPR Korea)
Unused 1990 card, with no other special caption apart from Pyongyang attribution. Grade: 1
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Brontosaurus (DPR Korea)
Unused 1991 card captioned “Mesozoic Animal (Brontosaurus)” in English, and in Korean. Grade: 1
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Cats and birds (DPR Korea)
Unused 1991 maximum card No. 105275 whose Korean-only caption (고 양 이 와 새) translates as: “And the amount of new,” which is not too helpful. But judging from the look on that orange cat’s face, the amount of birds may soon decrease by at least one. Grade: 1
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Equus caballus (DPR Korea)
Unused maximum card No. 105278 from 1991, captioned as “Horse” in Korean, and “Equus caballus” otherwise. Grade: 1
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Insects (set of six) (DPR Korea)
If you are into entomology, how can you not love this 1993 set of six unused cards? The scan gives you the idea of what they look like, and the captions are in Korean and the scientific names: Trichogramma dendrolimi, Gryllus campestris, Geocoris pallidipennis, Cyphononyx dorsalis, Metrioptera brachyptera, and Brachymeria obscurata. (We did that both for you and for the search engines.) Grade: 1
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Fruits and vegetables (set of six) (DPR Korea)
The scan shows four of the six cards in this set, to give you the idea. Unused, from 1993, and identically captioned in Korean and English (“Fruits and Vegetables”). Grade: 1
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Monument to the Victory (set of three) (DPR Korea)
Set of three unused cards from 1993. Captioned in English and Korean, one of these cards says “Monument to the victory in the Fatherland Liberation War ‘Defenders of the Height 1,211′”. The other two have similar themes. Grade: 1
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King Tongmyong (set of five) (DPR Korea)
Set of five unused maximum cards from 1993, of which you can see at least the stamped part of all five in the scan. The caption on one says “King Tongmyong (Ko Ju Mong), the Founder of Koguryo entering the castle (Mural painting)” and the others have a similar idea. Grade: 1
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Mao Zedong (sic) (set of five) (DPR Korea)
The scan shows all or part of the five unused cards in this 1993 set, various scenes of Chairman Mao’s activities. Grade: 1
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Dogs (set of five) (DPR Korea)
Excuse us while we say more than usual here. First, this is a set of five unused cards from 1994. The postmarks are very faint, basically illegible. Our scan shows four of the five cards; the fifth is of a group of five dogs sitting and looking like they are dozing in the sun. Four of the five cards are captioned “dog” in Korean and English. The fifth card–which is the one on the lower right side of the scan–is captioned “Phungsan dog” (풍 산 개) in addition, possibly to compensate for the gory scene taking place. Phungsan translates as “wind mountain”, and as a side note, the sound for “wind” seems to be the same in Cantonese and Korean. Enough! Grade: 1
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Kimilsungia (DPR Korea)
Have you been searching for a Kimilsungia postcard? This one’s for you. Unused card from 1994, captioned in Korean and then the flower’s name in western letters. Grade: 1
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Nature (set of six) (DPR Korea)
“Nature” in this case means a set of six unused cards from 1994, of which four appear in the scan. All are captioned in Korean and with the scientific names of the respective foliage, which–if you would like to know–are: Chrysosplenium sphaerospermum, Campanula cephalotes, Dianthus repens, Gentiana algida, Sedum kamtschaticum, and Trollius macropetalus. (Why do we do this? Two reasons: someone might really want to know, and we need all the search engine visibility we can get for this website.) Grade: 1
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Olympics (set of two) (DPR Korea)
Two seemingly unrelated unused maximum cards from 1994, though they do commemorate the 100th IOC Centennial. One shows the Tower of Signal-fire of the 1st International Olympic Games, and the other shows J.A. Samaranch, chairman of the International Olympic Committee. Captioned in Korean and English. Grade: 1
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Shells (set of five) (DPR Korea)
Once again, five unused cards from 1994, captioned in Korean and with the scientific names: Neverita didyma, Gomphina veneriformis, Cardium muticum, Buccinum bayani, and Phalium strigatum. Grade: 1
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Zhou Enlai (set of three) (DPR Korea)
Set of three unused cards from 1994, captioned in Korean and English (why not also in Chinese?) Grade: 1
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The immortal Ode Monument (DPR Korea)
Unused 1995 maximum card, with Korean and English captions. Grade: 1
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King Tangun (set of four) (DPR Korea)
Set of four unused cards from 1995, with various aspects of King Tangun. Captions in Korean and English. Grade: 1
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Lighthouse (DPR Korea)
Stand-alone unused card from 1995, captioned only “Lighthouse” in Korean and English. Grade: 1
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Mushrooms (set of three) (DPR Korea)
Set of three unused maximum cards from 1995, captioned in Korean and with the scientific names: Amanita caesarea, Russula atropurpurea, and Russula virescens. Somehow, it’s reassuring to be able to tell you that all three varieties are edible. Grade: 1
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Sports Festival (set of two) (DPR Korea)
Set of two unused maximum cards from 1995. Both are captioned in Korean and English. The coloured card says “The Pyongyang International Sports and Cultural Festival for Peace” (and no better way to portray that than through wrestling), while the other shows Ryok To San, a legendary DPRK champion. Grade: 1
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Party Founding (set of three) (DPR Korea)
A set of three unused cards from 1995. Captions in Korean and English, and we’ll give the English to you: The Monument to Party Founding; The sculptural group of three persons of the Tower of Juche Idea; and The Party Founding Museum. Grade: 1