Stamps from the Principality of Hutt River

Next we shall see the stamps of the Principality of Hutt River, a 75 squared km area of land completely surrounded by Western Australia with Prince Leonard I as head of state. Stamps are a very important export of PHR and can be found at the Principality's own post office in the capital Nain.

Firstly, I shall place a photo of an envelope sent to me from the PHR. As I mentioned earlier, these microstates have managed to send post all over the globe without having to rely heavily on the postage systems of more recognised countries.



Though the envelope is recent, the stamp is one of the earliest (23rd April 1979) from the PHR and appears to no longer be on sale. This stamp is part of and the greatest in value of the wildflowers set. Next is an image of the October 1995 "Islands of the South Pacific" complete set, presenting the flags of various states in the South Pacific. Note: the name "Hutt River Province" is no longer the official name of the PHR though can be seen in the earlier stamps of the country



The following stamps are shown in the book "Micronations: The Lonely Planet Guide to Home-made Nations" under a section specific to the history of stamps in self declared microstates. This is the "Views of the Principality" set and once again use an older version of the countries name, the "Hutt River Province Principality".



Here is an image of a very recent set of stamps from the PHR, the "Christmas 2007", displaying the primary colours within a Christmas tree design and the complete seal of the PHR.



The Lonely Planet Guide goes on to explain that the PHR is a leading microstate when considering stamps, as it has managed a postal service from the capital Nain for years and continues to do so. Tourists also buy the stamps as souvenirs, and the PHR's economy is growing as tourism is growing (along with the exports of currency and wildflowers). In fact, the Australian Postmaster found it necessary to divert all post to Canada and place an embargo on the PHR, eventually leading to the declaration of war on Australia (which ended after a few days).