In honor of our recent establishment
of diplomatic relations with
Laputa,
the Diet of Puffiny, the Council of Twenty Puffins, and the Council of Thirty
Puffins jointly authorized the Clobstovfian Administrators (using a considerable
amount of money they probably would have rather spent on good moss) to mint
the first new commemorative stamp in over 30 years. When the ruling class
of Puffins mean to mark an event for all time, they rely upon their old
traditions of minting new postage stamps, and this is a glorious honor indeed.
The last such stamps were produced in 1964 or 1965, but this time, they
authorized the use of advanced digital technologies heretofore unavailable.
The Puffins decreed that no expense should be spared, and requested the
Sultan himself to open his philatelic vault for their inspection, so that
a proper world-class postage stamp could be produced.
Herewith
and hereunder is the aforementioned stamp, a 25 Napa denomination. To put
the value of this stamp in proper perspective, 25 Napa is approximately 5
month's normal income tax paid by the average 'Llome resident, in 1963 dollars.
Today, in the United States, such a sum would reach well into the millions
in today's dollars, all other things being equal. However, since inflation
(but not interest on loans) is unknown in 'Llome, it is enough to buy your
own D'Arsonval for chores around the stump.
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