I am not a big fan of EUROPA stamps, but when they are matching one of the topics I collect, I become all of a sudden more interested. Therefore, I have only a couple of complete EUROPA (CEPT) years in my collection – as long as it keeps alive my topical interests. One such occasion was the issue from the year 1976, when the selected topic was Handicrafts.

As many as 27 countries participated in the initiative. 1976 was the third year in the history of EUROPA stamps when each country could opt for their own design (up to 1973 the EUROPA issues featured the same design across the adept geographies). It’s an interesting collection, getting sort of harder to assemble in recent years, but still attainable. Below you can find the entries from the 27 countries (Andorra and Cyprus being counted twice due to their 2 autonomous postal authorities).

Andorra

Pictured above: French Andorra issue; Spanish Andorra Issue.

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Austria

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Belgium

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Cyprus

Pictured above the Greek Cyprus and Turkish Cyprus issues (the latter in normal and overprint variation).

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Finland

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France

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Former German Democratic Republic

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Greece

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Guernsey

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Iceland

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Ireland

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Isle of Man

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Italy

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Liechtenstein

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Luxembourg

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Malta

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Monaco

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Norway

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Portugal

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San Marino

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Spain

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Sweden

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Switzerland

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Turkey

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Former Yugoslavia

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Stamps featured in post: 60; Period: modern era (1976); Pricing: low*; Availability: most of the items are readily available.

* with the exception of the Portugal issue, see below.

Michel catalogue no’s (price for mint in € in brackets): Andorra (French): MiNr 273-274 (10€); Andorra (Spanish): MiNr 101-102 (2€); Austria: MiNr 1516 (0.8€); Belgium: MiNr 1857-1858 (1.5€); Cyprus (Greek): MiNr 435-436 (3€); Cyprus (Turkish): MiNr 27-28 (2€); Finland: MiNr 787 (2€); France: MiNr 1961-1962 (1€); Former German Democratic Republic: MiNr 890-891 (1.4€); .Greece: MiNr 1232-1234 (2€); Guernsey: MiNr 133-134 (1.5€); Iceland: MiNr 514-515 (2€); Ireland: MiNr 344-345 (3.5€); Isle of Man: MiNr 82-87 (2.2€); Italy: MiNr 1530-1531 (0.8€); Liechtenstein: MiNr 642-643 (1.6€); Luxembourg: MiNr 928-929 (2€); Malta: MiNr 532-533 (1.2€); Monaco: MiNr 1230-1231 (3€); Norway: MiNr 724-725 (1.5€); Portugal: MiNr 1311-1312 (70€); San Marino: MiNr 1119-1120 (1€); Spain: MiNr 2209-2210 (2€); Sweden: MiNr 943-944 (1.5€); Switzerland: MiNr 1073-1074 (3€); Turkey: MiNr 2385-2386 (10€); Former Yugoslavia: MiNr 1635-1636 (0.5€).