Today, on May 2, 2013, the Estonia post within the program EUROPA
introduces into circulation set of 2 values "The postman van ". The
stamps depicts a mail kibitka and a modern postal vehicle. The issue is printed
in mini sheet of 5 series.
Print: offset Designer: Jaan Saar Size of stamps 36 x 26 mm. Edition: 100 000 copies Perforation:
14 : 13¾
Printing
House: AS Vaba
Maa
On Estonian and Livonian roads mail was carried on horseback
until the middle of the 18th century. Constant growth in the carriage of mail
and passengers caused the need that open-top carriages and covered wagons,
called kibitkas, were taken into use. As roads were poor and the postal
vehicles primitive, travelling by them was inconvenient. A new period in the
carriage of passengers began in the 1820 to 1840s in connection with the
introduction of stage coaches. According to the requirements a stage coach had
to have iron axles, good appearance and built in accordance with drawings
endorsed by the chief of the mail routes. One of the illustrations features a
government stage coach dating from 1840 and the other a modern mail carriage
vehicle. Today there are more than 350 mail carriage vehicles in Estonia,
covering about 40,000
kilometres daily.