The paintings were hit by bullets in December 1989, during the popular uprising against the dictator Ceausescu and the communist regime. On the right side you can see the impact of the bullet (compare with the stamp on the left side, issued in 1968). This masterpiece was painted by Stefan Luchian and represents Old Nicholas, the Cobza-player. In the meantime the painting was restored and can be admired at the National Museum of Art.

    All stamps of the set mention on the top: Tablouri împuscate = Shot Paintings. The set was issued the October 15, 1990. The print run of the whole set was of 250,000.

     From left to right:

• Ion Andreescu. Woman in White.
• Stefan Luchian. Safta the Florist.
• Jan Bruegel the Elder. Vase of Flowers.
• G.B.Paggi. Madonna and Child.

SHOT, THEN OVERPRINTED AND SURCHARGED

After about 10 years following the original issue, the first five values of the set were overprinted with a new value of 1700 Lei. It represented the cost of a simple letter sent in Romania.

The old face value was overprinted by the image of a easel, following the "tradition" of recent overprints of the Romanian PA. In order to cheer up the set, I have cancelled it in Bucharest on my birth anniversary day, the 19 of September 2000. Please note that the value of 5 Lei wasn't overprinted, probably because it was out of stock. Only  250,000 pieces were printed, which is a small quantity when compared with the print run of  800,000 to 3,000,000 for other values of the set.

I show only the above part of the cover. Below there are affixed other two stamps, in order to attain the value of 12,300 Lei, the price for a letter from Romania to Switzerland. A high price for the Romanian population!

Romanian