Finally, we come to the last Scott #853-7 United Nations personalized stamp sheet. This is by far the strangest sheet, and the one that is the least well known. The H. Gitner ad of 17 September 2007 in Linn's Stamp News did not mention this sheet, and then in the 5 November 2007 Linn's Stamp News advertisement, the sheet is first listed for sale. Presumably, the sheet was discovered by Henry and Debbie, sometime between these two dates.
The sheet can still be found (at least as of this posting) on the website: http://www.yearofmicrocredit.org/pages/getinvolved/getinvolved_shopmarketplace.asp, where both a 37¢ and an 80 cent sheet are listed. Nothing on the website can be purchased, no matter how one tries. Whatever happened to the sheets, how many were printed, how many were sold is a complete mystery. According to Debbie Gitner, the 80 cent sheet was never produced, so only the 37¢ sheet was available.
We're estimating the release date as 7 November 2005, because that is the date of the International Microcredit conference. For those of you who are wondering what Microcredit is, it's a tiny loan, as small as few hundred dollars, to an individual or small group to start a small business in a developing country. They've funded bakeries, pottery makers and other artists, and many other types of businesses. Typically, the people that are helped are poor, and cannot get credit through a banking institution. The majority are women, and the repayment rate is quite high. There are many opportunities for individuals to get involved in a program of this type.
The pictures in the tabs are credited to Adam Rogers, who is a traveling photographer and has his own website showing his work from throughout the world. All other printing characteristics are consistent with the other Scott #853-7 sheets.
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