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A Denomination Lost in Space

On 6 December 1997, Ukraine issued a 40k commemorative stamp honoring the first flight of Ukrainian Cosmonaut Leonid Kandediuk on the American space shuttle Columbia.

Several sheets with the 40k denomination missing escaped detection by postal authorities and were released. This has become the first major error of a new Ukrainian stamp to date.

Section of Columbia stamp (showing denomination) 

Left: Circled in red for emphasis, the dull silver 40k denomination appears to left of red booster cone.

Right: 40k denomination is absent.

Columbia stamp with Error (missing denomination) 

It's not surprising that an error like this went undetected. The dull silver color of the 40k denomination hardly stands out from the background colors of this stamp.

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