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Matthew Patay's
Note of the Month
February 2007
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Map and flag images provided by Graphic Maps
This month's featured note
is from the Faeroe Islands.
The denomination is 200 Krónur and the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money
(SCWPM) Number is P-26.
The note is dated (20)03.
03-drs_f-550.jpg)
(front)
The banknote is dull purple on multicolored underprint.
A Ghost Moth, Hepialus humuli, printed in intaglio, as portrayed by Zacharias
Heinesen (1936-present), is at right.
The 200 Krónur is a new denomination.
The introduction of this new denomination in the Faroese banknote series is a
natural consequence of the Act on Faroese Banknotes etc., which e.g. states that
Faroese banknotes shall have the same denominations as Danish banknotes (this
information was obtained from the
Bank of Denmark website).
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The following information
was obtained from:
Wikipedia
the online Encyclopedia
Ghost Moth
(Hepialus humuli)
The Ghost Moth (Hepialus humuli), also known as the Ghost Swift, is a moth of the family Hepialidae. It is common throughout Europe except for the far south-east. This species is now considered the only species in the genus Hepialus which previously included several other species now reclassified into other genera.
The male has a wingspan of about 44 mm and both forewings and hindwings are pure white (although in H. h. thulensis, found in Shetland and the Faroe Islands, there are buff-coloured individuals). The female is larger (wingspan about 48 mm) and has yellowish-buff forewings with darker linear markings and brown hindwings. The adults fly in June and July [1] and are attracted to light. The species overwinters as a larva.
The Ghost Moth gets its name from the display flight of the male, which hovers, sometimes slowly rising and falling, over open ground to attract females. In a suitable location several males may display together in a lek.
The larva is whitish and maggot-like and feeds underground on the roots of a variety of wild and cultivated plants (see list below). The species can be an economically significant pest in forest nurseries.
The term ghost moth is sometimes used as a general term for all Hepialids.
The following information
was obtained from:
Art History on
Stamps
Zacharias
Heinesen
(1936 - Present)
Zacharias Heinesen was born in Tórshavn in 1936 as son of the writer and artist William Heinesen, and has today a central position in modern Faeroese painting. During 1958-59 he was educated at the Academy of Fine Arts in Reykjavik (Iceland), and later (1959-62) at the Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen.
In 1962 he established his own atelier in Tórshavn, from where he has worked ever since. From his studio, placed on a hilltop he has a wide view of the city and the harbour, which are central motifs for this artist, who works with oil paintings, water colours, wood cuts, drawings, paper-collages, and lithographs. In his later years Heinesen has specialized in landscapes, his palette being clearly inspired by Matisse and Picasso.
In his landscape paintings he focuses on the intensity of the colours and the vibrant life depicted on his canvas, all with swift, dense brush-strokes. The fronts of the houses, with their their facades and roofs, all form a pattern of small, individual surfaces together with the small lots of land surrounding the village. This composition continues into the beveled structure of the mountains and the amorphous shapes of the cloud formations.
Vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines, signaling the outlines of the houses and the boundaries between the land lots, all show the cubistic rhythm and movement of the painting. The main colours are mainly orchestrated in blue-green shades together with hints of red, yellow and ochre, giving emphasis to the Faeroese nature.----------
03-drs_b-550.jpg)
(back)
The back has the motif of Tíndholmur near Vágar as portrayed by
Zacharias Heinesen (1936-present).
The following information
was obtained from:
Wikipedia
the online Encyclopedia
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF THE
FAEROE ISLANDS
(Extracted article. Follow the above
link for complete details)
The early history of the Faroe Islands is not very clear. Irish hermits (monks) settled in the 6th century introducing sheep and oats to the islands. Saint Brendan, who lived circa 484–578, is said to have visited the Faroe Islands on two or three occasions, naming two of the islands Sheep Island and Paradise Island of Birds.
Later the Vikings replaced the Irish settlers, bringing the Old Norse language to the islands, which locally evolved into the modern Faroese language spoken today. Although the settlers were Norwegians, most of them probably didn't come directly from Norway, but rather from the Norwegian settlements in Shetland, Orkney, and around the Irish Sea, and were so-called Norse-Gaels.
According to Fćreyinga Saga, emigrants who left Norway to escape the tyranny of Harald I of Norway settled in the islands about the beginning of the 9th century. Early in the 11th century, Sigmund, whose family had flourished in the southern islands but had been almost exterminated by invaders from the northern islands, escaped to Norway and was sent back to take possession of the islands for Olaf Tryggvason, king of Norway. He introduced Christianity and, though he was subsequently murdered, Norwegian supremacy was upheld. Norwegian control of the islands continued until 1380, when Norway entered the Kalmar Union with Denmark, which gradually evolved into Danish control of the islands. The reformation reached the Faroes in 1538. When the union between Denmark and Norway was dissolved as a result of the Treaty of Kiel in 1814, Denmark retained possession of the Faroe Islands.
The monopoly trade over the Faroe Islands was abolished in 1856. Since then, the country has developed towards a modern fishing nation with its own fleet. The national awakening since 1888 was first based on a struggle for the Faroese language, and thus more culturally oriented, but after 1906 was more and more politically oriented with the foundation of the political parties of the Faroe Islands.
On April 12, 1940, the Faroes were invaded and occupied by British troops. The move followed the invasion of Denmark by Nazi Germany and had the objective of strengthening British control of the North Atlantic (see Second Battle of the Atlantic). In 1942–43 the British Royal Engineers built the only airport in the Faroes, Vágar Airport. Control of the islands reverted to Denmark following the war, but in 1948 a home-rule regime was implemented granting a high degree of local autonomy. The Faroes declined to join Denmark in entering the European Community (now European Union) in 1973. The islands experienced considerable economic difficulties following the collapse of the fishing industry in the early 1990s, but have since made efforts to diversify the economy. Support for independence has grown and is the objective of the government.
The following information
was obtained from:
Wikipedia
the online Encyclopedia
Vágar Island
(Where Tíndholmur is located)
Vágar, or Vágoy is one of the 18 islands in the archipelago of the Faroe Islands and the most westerly of the large islands. With a size of 178 km˛, it ranks number three, behind Streymoy and Eysturoy.
* Largest lake: Sřrvágsvatn
* Highest point: Árnafjall - 722 meter
* Size (km˛): 176
* Number of mountains: 41
* Inhabitants: 2890 (February 2005)
The shape of the island is very distinct, since it resembles a dogs head. Sřrvágsfjřrđur is the mouth and Fjallavatn is the eye.
Vágar is the first port of call for most foreigners travelling to the Faroe Islands, as it is home to the islands’ only airport, Vágar Airport. An airfield was built there during World War II by the British, who friendly occupied the Faroe Islands. After the war it lay unused for about 20 years, but was then put back into service and expanded/modernised as required. It handles about 170,000 passengers a year. Such large numbers by Faroese standards put a considerable strain on transport facilities, with the result that a road tunnel (Vágatunnilin) measuring 5 km in length and running under the sea now connects Vágar with the two largest islands in the Faroes and therefore the capital Tórshavn.
The tourist attractions on Vágar are excellent and perhaps the best in the Faroe Islands. The country’s two largest lakes - Leitisvatn and Fjallavatn - are to be found there, and the tourist association organises excursions throughout the summer.
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For more information about the Faeroe Islands visit:
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