Postage stamps, currency (bank notes), and coins are perishible and circulate everywhere in thousands of copies. They are nevertheless very much like physical and permanent outdoor monuments. Both preserve forever the design and symbols chosen by their creators to represent an historic event, place, or meaning.
Click here for essay about Japanese postage stamps with themes of peace.
Click here for Indian stamps commemorating Mahatma Gandhi [1869-1948].
Click here for people on US postage stamps.
Postage stamps & currenty which actually depict peace monuments:
Right click image to enlarge.
|  1927 - Tower of Victory & Peace / Tour de la Victoire et de la Paix, Centre Block, Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Ontario (Canada). "A focal bell and clock tower, sitting on the central axis of the the Canadian parliament buildings. The present incarnation replaced the 55 m (180 ft) Victoria Tower after it burned down in 1916, along with most of the Centre Block. It is commonly called simply the Peace Tower and serves as a Canadian icon, appearing on the obverse of both the Canadian $50 and $20 bills." Instead of these bills, the image shows the obverse of the last one dollar bill (printed between June 3, 1974, & June 30, 1989).
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1939 -
"Trylon & Perisphere," New York World's Fair (1939-1940),
New York City, New York (USA). "The Theme Center of the fair. Connected to the Trylon, which stood 700 feet tall, by what was at the time the world's longest escalator, the Perisphere was 180 feet in diameter. It housed a diorama called 'Democracity' which, in keeping with the fair's theme 'The World of Tomorrow,' depicted a utopian city-of-the-future."
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|  1940 - Peace Tower, Heiwadai Koen / Park, 6146 Koshigasako, Shimokitakatamachi, Miyazaki-shi, Miyazaki, Kyushu Island (Japan). 37-meter tower erected to promote "the unification of the eight corners of the world under one roof" (hakko ichiu) & celebrate 2,600th anniversary of the mythological foundation of Japan. "Purportedly contains artifacts that once belonged to the first emperor. Pedestal made with stones donated by Japanese expatriates from all over the world. Copper door created with coins donated by Japanese children. It may seem ironic that a peace tower was erected at a time when Japan was busy colonizing much of Asia; [but] the intention was to show that the world could live peaceably, albeit with Japan as leader. Figures on the tower depict the guardians of fishery, agriculture, self-defense, and commerce." Ten Yen note shows Imperial crisantemum (no longer used after WW-II).
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| Date? - Five dollar bill (USA). Abraham Lincoln on face, Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, on back of bill.
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| 1955 -
Japanese stamp depicting the Genbaku Dome (aka A-Bomb Dome), an "unintentional monument" in Hiroshima (Japan). Peace Memorial Park and Peace Memorial Museum were created this year (10th anniversary of the A-Bomb).
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| January 26, 1973 - LOVE Stamp (USA). "The 330 million US postal stamps issued in the 1970’s are one of the more popular examples of the great appeal of this iconic image."
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|  1970 - LOVE Sculpture, Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA), Indianapolis, Indiana (USA). 3-ton sculpture made of Cor-ten steel, 12-feet high, 12-feet wide and six-feet deep. Completed in 1970 and acquired by IMA in 1975. Examples in many other cities. Indiana native "Robert Indiana first conceived the idea of LOVE during the Vietnam War [1959-1975], and his work became a symbol of peace.
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| 1977 - 13-cent stamp commemorating "Peace Bridge 1927-77." Fiftieth anniversary of the Peace Bridge between Buffalo, New York (USA), and Port Erie, Ontario (Canada).
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| 1977 - 13-cent stamp commemorating "Peace Bridge 1927-77." Fiftieth anniversary of the Peace Bridge between Buffalo, New York (USA), and Port Erie, Ontario (Canada).
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 |  1978 - Stamp of the German Democratic Republic (DDR) commemoratiing Mauthausen-Gusen Concentration Camp, Mauthausen & Gusen (Austria), center of a group of SS slave labor camps. Original inmates were largely Germans who had resisted the Nazi regime, notable communists, socialists, and religious dissenters. The Mauthausen Museum was officially opened on May 3, 1975. 
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|  November 30, 1979 -
Polish Stamp. Depicts "Peace" by Andre le Brun, a sculpture from Royal Castle in Warsaw. Stamp designed by J. Brodowski.
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|  1981 - Postage stamp (Spain). Depicts "Guernica" painted by Pablo Picasso in 1937 (qv).
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| July 14, 1982 - 20-cent postage stamp commemorating the 50th anniversary of the International Peace Garden, Dunseith, North Dakota (USA) and Boissevain, Manitoba (Canada).
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| 1995 or later - Japanese Stamp. Depicts the Cornerstone of Peace, Mabuni, Okinawa (Japan). Site of bloodiest battle in human history. Trys to list all the names (both military and civilian) from all countries involved in the battle. As of June 2008, it contains 240,734 names. Click here for the Wikipedia article.
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|  June 8, 2004 - UN stamp (one of a set of different denominations) commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Japanese Peace Bell, West Court Garden, Secretariat Building, United Nations (UN), New York City, New York (USA).
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Other postage stamps, currency & coins related to peace:
Right click image to enlarge.
|  July 21, 1877 - Paix et Commerce (France). 25 , 30 and 40 in various colors.
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|  1918 - Czechoslovakia. This appears to be the first and only "peace dove" stamp issued in connection with World War I, except for the Japanese stamp in 1919 (according to the Postal Museum in Tokyo).
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| 1919 -
"Peace Commemoration Stamp," (Japan). "In Japan, the first stamps to carry a peace theme were issued in 1919 (the 8th year of the Taisho era). Doves and olive branches were featured in both of the designs issued to celebrate the end of World War I. We were impressed by the fact that these stamps were issued not to celebrate victory but the end of the war.
According to the Postal Museum in Tokyo, it was very rare for a dove to be used as a peace symbol at that time. Overseas, the only case of a "peace dove" in connection with World War I appears to be a stamp issued in the former Czechoslovakia in 1918."
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| 1921-1928 & 1934-1935 - Silver Peace Dollar (USA). "Bore the legend of Peace on the reverse side and became known as the Peace Dollar. Created following World War I, the War to End All Wars, it was a time when everyone simply wanted a return of peace to their daily lives and hope for the future. Designed by Anthony de Francisci, his wife, Teresa, was reportedly used as the model for Miss Liberty on the obverse side. On the reverse an eagle standing on a rock is awash in rays of the sun. The motto Peace is on the rock the Eagle stands on."
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|  1933 - Vredeszegel / Peace Stamp (Netherlands).
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| 1914 - 2-cent stamp commemorating "Peace 1814-1914." Centennial of peace between the USA and the UK (Canada). Ironically issued on the eve of World War I. 
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|  1945 - Stamp commemorating "Australia Peace 1945." End of World War II.
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| August 6, 1949 - Hiroshima Peace City. Issued on 4th anniversary of the A-Bomb.
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| 1955 - 3-cent stamp commemorating "A Century of Great Lakes Transportation (Soo Locks, Sault Sainte Marie, 1855-1955)."
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| 1955 - 8-cent stamp commemorating "Rotary International, Service Above Self, 1905-1955." Fiftieth anniversary of the service club founded in Chicago, Illinois (USA).
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| 1955 - 3-cent stamp commemorating the US Government's "Atoms for Peace" program (intended to share nuclear technology while limiting the production of nuclear weapons.). Edges of the stamp read "...to find the way by which the...inventiveness of man shall...be...consecrted to his life." A quotation from President Eisnehower's "Atoms for Peace" speech to the United Nations?
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| 1956 - 3-cent stamp commemorating "Friendship - The Key to World Peace (Children's Stamp)."
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|  1959 - Stamp commemorating "Peace 1949-1959" in Viet-Nam.
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| 1959 - Stamp commemorating "World Peace through World Trade."
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| April 7, 1960 - 4-cent stamp commemorating "World Refugee Year." Several other nations also issueed commemorative stamps for World Refugee Year.
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| May 1960 - Poster, Paris (France). By Pablo Picasso [1881-1973]. One of at least 80 posters produces by the Mouvement de la Paix (MVP) during the Cold War.
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| December 15, 1960 - 4-cent stamp commemorating "Communications for Peace."
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| January 26, 1961 - Stamp commemorating Mahatma Gandhi 1869-1948. Engraved "Champion of Liberty" and "Apostle of Nonviolence." Ribbon and gold medal suggest the Nobel Peace Prize which Gandhi never received. Issued as 4 and 8 cent stamps.
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| 1964 - 5-cent stamp commemorating "Food for Peace (Freedom from Hunger)." Refers to the US "Food for Peace" program (Public Law 480 of July, 10, 1954).
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| 1967 - 5-cent stamp commemorating "Lions International (Search for Peace)."
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| 1969 - Stamp commemorating Gandhi Centenery Year 1969 (100th anniversary of Gandhi's birth).
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 | 1975 - 10-cent stamp commemorating "World Peace through Law."
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|  1980 - Peace Anniversary Coin (Israel). Front: "Peace" in the form of an olive branch, written in Hebrew, Arabic and in English. Reverse: The inscription, "Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty - March 26, 1979" in Hebrew, Arabic and English. The denomination "5000" or "200" Lirot. Around the rim, "Israel" in Hebrew, Arabic and English. The date "1980" and in Hebrew "5740." The State emblem at the upper right. The Proof coins struck with a Hebrew 'mem' mintmark at the bottom. The uncirculated coins with a six pointed star.
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| Date? - Stamp commemorating the Peace Corps. Click here for other Peace Corps stamps.
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| Date? - Stamp commemorating the Peace Corps. Click here for other Peace Corps stamps.
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1985 - Stamp honoring Semanta Smith (USSR) in Cyrillic. Samantha Reed Smith [1972-1985] was an American schoolgirl from Manchester, Maine, who became famous in the Cold War-era USA & USSR. In 1982, Smith wrote a letter to the newly appointed Communist Party General Secretary, Yuri Andropov [1914-1984], and received a personal reply and invitation to visit the Soviet Union, which she accepted.
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 |  1986 - Stamp for the UN International Year of Peace (Mexico). Shows the Banner of Peace of Nicholas Roerich [1874-1947].
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|  1998 - Stamps commemorating Gandhi's achievements. Clockwise from top left: Peasant's Welfare, Social Upliftment, Communal Harmony, and Salt Satyagraha. Issued for 50th anniversary of Gandhi's death.
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| Date? - LOVE stamp with heart-shaped globe.
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|  Date? - Finland. Stamp commemorating Nobel Prize ......................
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|  2007 - Peace License Plate, Virginia (USA). "If you drive a car in Virginia you now have the option of proclaiming your interest in "community peacebuilding" via a newly approved license plate. Once 350 orders have been collected the plate will actually go into production."
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1940 - Denmark.
1950 - German Democratic Republic. Anti-nuclear 12 pf stamp featuring a dove of peace. Probably issued in connection with the 3rd World Festival of Youth & Students for Peace (WFYS) which was attended by 26,000 participants from 104 countries. The fetival motto was "For Peace and Friendship - Against Nuclear Weapons."
