3D Dinosaurs Stamps from South Africa

Since the discovery of the first nearly-complete dinosaur skeleton in 1858, dinosaurs have captured the imagination of scientists, writers, film-makers and the general public world wide. Although these pre-historic creatures have been extinct for millions of years, this discovery has virtually brought them back to life as they live on through films, books and scientific writings. With this set of ten dinosaur stamps, the South African Post Office is combining pre-history with modern technology by using the anaglyph method to create a three-dimensional effect.
This set of stamps is the first ever with a 3D effect to be issued by the South African Post Office. It will also be the first time that a pair of viewing glasses will be supplied with each stamp sheet and commemorative cover.
An anaglyph is a stereo image that requires special glasses with red and green (or blue) lenses for 3D viewing. To achieve the effect, two views of a picture are printed in two colours, usually red for the left eye and blue or green for the right eye.
The stamps were illustrated by Chantelle Basson, a second-year Graphic Design student at the Open Window Academy in Pretoria. Five of the stamps depict skeletons of different types of dinosaurs, while the other five stamps show images of what scientists believe these creatures most probably looked like. All the dinosaurs depicted on the stamps have an African connection.