《TAIPEI TIMES》 New stamps feature mosques in Taipei and Taichung

By Cheng Wei-chi and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Chunghwa Post on Tuesday is to release a set of stamps featuring two Taiwanse mosques to highlight cultural diversity in the nation, it said.

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The two-stamp set features the Taipei Grand Mosque and the Taichung Mosque, with denominations of NT$15 and NT$28 respectively.

The Taipei Grand Mosque in the city’s Daan District （大安） is a municipal heritage site, Chunghwa Post said.

The external walls of the wings of the building are framed with arches, while the central building is topped with a golden dome, it said, adding that the mosque is flanked on either side with a 20m-tall minaret.

The Taichung Mosque is in the city’s Nantun District （南屯）, where it operates as a center for learning, gathering and prayer for Muslims in the area.

The stamps are to be available at post offices nationwide, the Postal Museum and online, Chunghwa Post said.

The state-run company is also continuing a trend it set last year by issuing a series of discs etched with the year’s Chinese zodiac sign, which next year is the Ox.

The discs are to be made available on Oct. 5, in gold, silver and copper, the company said.

Chunghwa Post spokesman Kuo Chun-yang （郭純陽） on Friday said that the post office had, before last year, commonly issued zodiac-themed stamps.

“We considered that the zodiac system is unique and should be celebrated with more than themed stamps,” Kuo said.

Last year, Chunghwa Post issued a limited-edition run of discs, which the company was confident would grow in value for collectors, he said.

The etching on this year’s gold discs is based on the NT$13 denomination edition of the post office’s zodiac-themed stamp and is made of pure gold, weighing 10g, Kuo said, adding that it would be limited to 1,500 units and sold for NT$22,000 each.

There are two versions of the silver disc, based on the NT$6 and the NT$13 denomination stamps, Kuo said.

The pure-silver discs weigh 28g each and would be sold for NT$2,150 each, with each version limited to 1,000 units, he said.

The copper discs are limited to 660 units and would be sold for NT$2,680 each, he added.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES