Gottardo 2016 stamps
FF DIN in use for a set of Swiss stamps commemorating the inauguration of the Gotthard Base Tunnel on 1 June 2016. The world’s longest railway and deepest traffic tunnel connects Erstfeld in the canton of Uri and Bodio in Ticino.
The triptych featuring two stamps and a connecting pictorial bridge was designed by Vaudeville Studios in Zürich. The red part includes real Gotthard gneiss. From NZZ (translated):
Of the 28 million tons of material that was broken out of the mountain, around 15 kilograms of rock went to the post office. This was processed into a fine powder and then applied to the stamps using a special varnish in a custom printing process.
Explanatory graphic for stamp collectors, with labels for the depicted mountains.
The stamps were spotted by Albert-Jan Pool, the typeface’s designer, who proudly comments: “Swiss national pride communicated through FF DIN.”
Detail with the nominal value of 100 Rappen.
Sheet of stamps.
First Day Cover with special postmark from the Bodio post office in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland.
Accompanying postcard with an SBB passenger train,.
Accompanying postcard with an SBB cargo train,.
The Swiss Post booth is getting ready for the Vaudeville Studios signing session in Rynächt.
