Portugal Senses FDC

Portugal FDC
Name: Stamps and Senses
Date of Issue: 02 October 2009

This issue – consisting of five stamps and a block with a sixth stamp – is a consequence of a proposal made by the Universal Postal Union to celebrate the birth bicentenary of Louis Braille (1809-1852), the inventor of a system that combines embossed dots and which is applied to reading, writing, calculation and music for the blind.

The stamps of this issue are dedicated to each of the five senses, allowing for experiencing real physical interaction: the touch feels the embossed ink coming out of the tube; the smell receives the aroma of the cup of coffee; the sight detects holographic images on the spectacle lenses that change according to the position of the stamp; the taste identifies the flavour of vanilla on the glue of the stamp that shows an ice-cream; the ear is sensitive to the noise made by the file when you rub its rough surface.

Made up of different nerve cells that capture variations and respond to stimuli, according to present science the sense organs comprise not only the classical five senses described by the ancient but other senses as well, such as cold and heat, balance and pain, contact and pressure. However, it is not the aim of this issue to underline theoretical statements, but rather to contribute to modernity in communication. Thus, thanks to improved technology in graphical arts, a set of elements, which is usually absent in common stamps, has been incorporated in this collection, becoming a differentiating fact in this emission and imparting an innovative character to stamps in the landscape of contemporaneous philately.