Perfil del coleccionista Jens Hvass [Jens-Hvass]

I am a Danish stamp collector interested in stamps with cultural motifs worldwide. For me, collecting stamps in the 1960es and 70es was an incredible window to the world. Then I took off to experience the world, and my stamps were tucked away for decades. Only in 2017, my old albums were dusted off, and I started collecting more seriously.

In my collection, I try to establish small portraits of each country with a focus on food & landscape, crafts & clothing, architecture & art while mapping our global pre-industrial cultural diversity. And then some few countries I collect more comprehensively. Initially it was China and Japan - and Japan is my main collection country. But gradually I have put focus on other countries like France, Italy, Turkey, Switzerland, and the Scandinavian countries. And through Colnect, I look forward to swap interesting and beautiful stamps from all over the world.

The list named '1st wishes' contains stamps from my wish list that I would be especially happy to find.

Swapping notes

I am almost through the process of listing my collection, but still, most of my duplicate stamps are not listed (most of them being from Japan).

I may engage in 1:1 exchanges as long as a fair overall balance is maintained. But I very much appreciate the fairness of swapping according to value. Here the Stampworld online catalogue offers a convenient, freely available basis.

To me, a good swap is good for both parts. Please do not send any letter until swap content is fully communicated and agreed upon. And please send the stamps well protected in a sturdy envelope, with waterproof protection inside.

Sending recommended (trackable) letters from Denmark has become very expensive, so, except for special cases or very large swaps I will use ordinary mail. Unfortunately, from April 1st 2023, it is not possible to use ordinary stamps for recommended letters.

The end of Danish postage stamps

On March 6^th of 2025, it was announced that Postnord, the company responsible for handling of letters in Denmark, will stop handling letters by the end of 2025. Now it has been revealed that from January 2026, it is DAO who takes over the handling of international letters in Denmark. DAO offer a service for letters up to 100 g / 250 g, but no option for recommended/tracked letters. DAO already has a domestic letter service, and instead if well-designed postage stamps, they use simple labels of little philatelist value. Thus, sadly, an era of Danish postage stamps has come to an end.

New EU import rules

On July 1st 2021, EU introduced new import rules. Still, implications for stamp exchanges are not perfectly clear. But for purchases, there will be a 25 % VAT added, and Danish postal services will add a handling fee of 160 DKK (approximately 25 $). Though, for presents with a declared value under 40 €, there may be VAT extemption, and thus no fee!