Scott No: 1799-1802
Serial number: T73
Values in set: 4
Date of issue: August 25, 1982
Denomination: 42 fen
Designer: Xu Yanbo
Size of stamps: 30*40mm
Perforation: 11.5*11
Sheet composition: 80 (10*5)
Printing process: Photogravure
Printing House: Beijing Postage Stamp Printing Works

T73 "Minerals" special stamps were issued on August 25, 1982. The set consists of 4 stamps, printed by photogravure, designed by Xu Yanbo, and printed by the Beijing Stamp Factory. Stamp size 30 mm × 40 mm, perforation gauge 11.5 × 11, 50 stamps per sheet.

Theme of the Set

Minerals are elements or compounds naturally formed in the earth's crust under geological processes and are the material basis of a country's mineral resources. China is rich in mineral resources. This set selects four well-known distinctive minerals of China, displaying the natural crystal forms and geological beauty of minerals, popularizing mineralogical knowledge, and at the same time showcasing China's rich underground mineral resources, echoing the era's context of geological exploration and the four modernizations.

Stamp Designs and Historical Background

Orpiment

Orpiment is a monoclinic arsenic sulfide mineral, with crystals in tabular or columnar form and aggregates often reniform or granular. In the image, orpiment crystals cluster together, golden yellow and brown intermingled, with bright, lustrous crystal faces. Since ancient times orpiment has been used for collation in painting and calligraphy, and it is also an important chemical raw material.

Stibnite

Stibnite is a sulfide of antimony, with crystals often in slender columnar or acicular form, joined end to end and growing in clusters. In the image, a cluster of stibnite crystals stands tall like a stone forest, echoing that antimony ore is widely distributed in southern China. Antimony is an advantageous mineral resource of China, widely used in flame retardants, the military industry, and other fields.

Cinnabar

Also called zhusha, it is a sulfide of mercury, bright and gorgeous red in color, a traditional precious mineral. This stamp is based on the famous giant-crystal specimen "King of Cinnabar." Cinnabar is both a raw material for smelting mercury and a traditional pigment and Chinese medicinal material, mainly produced in Guizhou and other places. It is the key stamp of the entire set.

Wolframite

Wolframite is an iron-manganese tungstate, with tabular crystals, dark black in color, associated with quartz. In the image the wolframite crystals are hard and weighty. Tungsten is an important strategic metal; China's tungsten ore reserves rank among the top in the world, and it is used in hard alloys and military manufacturing. It is also a key stamp of this set.

Artistic Design Features

Based on actual mineral specimens, the set adopts a narrow vertical hanging-scroll format, with clean and simple images and borders outlined in fine gold lines, highlighting the minerals themselves. The colors restore the minerals' original hues, with golden yellow, blue-gray, brilliant red, and black-brown clearly distinguished, and the crystal textures and luster depicted realistically. The four stamps are arranged in sequence, with a realistic and rigorous style. It is a classic special stamp on the theme of minerals and geology.