On September 26, 2016, the Faeroe Islands Postal Service issued a stamp featuring a small piece of Atlantic cod fish skin attached to it. The stamps were produced in France using skins from cod that had been caught in Faeroese waters and then tanned in Iceland. The stamps have a face value of 50 DKK (Danish Krone) and no two stamps will be identical due to the variations in the scales patterns of any fish.
Atlantic cod can grow to 2 metres in length and can weigh up to almost 100 kilos. Although tanning of fish skin has not been common in the post-war period, properly tanned skin of cod and other species can often result in something stronger than cowhide
Image and description of the stamp is courtesy of Jerry Piotrowski of the Greater Toronto Area Philatelic Alliance. Thanks to Jerry for bringing my attention to this unusual stamp because I ended up buying one for my collection.
