A stamp with a map but not as you’d expect
Stamps displaying a map is not an unusual occurrence. In my own collection of Great Britain there is the 1991 Bicentenary of Ordnance Survey set which can be bought at a really affordable price and are a set of 4 great looking stamps.
At first glance Latvia's first postage stamp, initially issued on December 18, 1918 following the country's declaration of independence has no map related imagery, until that is, you turn it over.
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Due to paper shortages after World War 1, the first printing of this series were printed on the backs of unused German military maps left behind in Riga (Capital of Latvia).
The map depicts the areas of modern-day Belarus, Lithuania, and Latvia and these unique stamps can still be purchased at a reasonable price with the above example costing me just under £10.00 which I consider great value for this piece of Philatelic history.








