Europa 97 'Mary Celeste' (view technical specs)

The theme for the Europa stamps as instructed by Post Europ was Tales and Legends

The Mary Celeste was a brigantine merchant ship famously discovered in December 1872 in the Atlantic Ocean unmanned and apparently abandoned, despite the fact that the weather was fine and her crew had been experienced and able seamen. The Mary Celeste was in seaworthy condition and still under sail heading towards the Straits of Gibraltar. She had been at sea for a month and had over six months of food and water on board. Her cargo was virtually untouched and the personal belongings of passengers and crew were still in place, including valuables. The crew was never seen or heard from again; their disappearance is often cited as the greatest maritime mystery of all time. (Wikipedia)

Europa stamps have been issued annually since 1956. First sets representing the founding 6 members of the ECSC, European Coal and Steel Community, then by the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) in 1959, (first stamps issued in 1960) and by PostEurop since 1993. Initially in 1956 a total of 13 stamps were issued with a common design from 6 different countries. A common theme of Peace and Welfare through agriculture and industry was used for 1957. The common design reappeared in 1958 and continued until 1973. From 1974 the designs reflect a common theme. The common design idea replaced the common theme in 1984, which was the CEPT 25th Anniversary (1959-84) and shows a symbolic bridge, said to represent Liaison, Exchange and Communication. With the split of posts and telecoms providers in most countries, CEPT is no longer responsible, but the postal authorities under the guidance of PostEurop continue the Europa tradition. From 1993 all the stamps have "Europa" inserted into the design in small print. (Source Wikipedia)

Technical Specs

Design:	S. Tarabay
Illustration / Photography:	GPBL
Printer:	House of Questa
Process:	Offset Lithography
Colours:	Multicoloured
Stamp size:	30 x 30mm
Issue date:	1997-02-12
Stamp Values:	28p, 28p, 30p, 30p