1244. 🇰🇳 Mystery Of St Kitts 2014 Stamps.

🇰🇳 Have you seen these stamps? About 3 years ago I mentioned a set of stamps which was reported in the press in St Kitts And Taiwan which was donated by the latter to the former to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The articles suggested that the issue was to have been released in St Kitts in late January or during February 2014. The reports said that the set was made up of 8 stamps and showed scenes in the two countries.

  I have been looking out for this issue ever since but have never seen it being offered for sale by any dealers including internet dealers. What has happened to it?

  Despite the fact that it was reported that the set was made up of 8 stamps I have found illustrations of 10 stamps but it may be that some of them are to be found in an accompanying miniature sheet or miniature sheets.

  On rereading the press reports of 2014 I noticed that only 300 sets had been handed over to the St Kitts postal service. This is clearly a trivial number and in itself may explain why the issue has not found its way on to the philatelic market. Another problem might have been that St Kitts' philatelic agent is the Beijing and New York based IGPC which has heavy connections with The People's Republic Of China and for that reason may not have been able to, or be prepared to, present the issue to the philatelic market. originating as it did from The Republic Of China.

  The face values of the stamps are very low so they may have received local usage and have been rapidly used up for purely postal purposes but I haven't seen any covers with any of the stamps attached to them being offered for sale.

  Given the limited number of sets it may be that these items were merely intended to be given as presentation items to local dignatories or perhaps the stamps were accepted by the St Kitts authorities and then never put on sale. To me it's all a great mystery. Is there anyone out there who knows whether these items were actually issued by the St Kitts Post Office and is there anyone who has actually seen a set or even a single stamp?

🇧🇩 Bangladesh Post issued a set of 4 stamps in a se-tenant block together with 2 miniature sheets on 14 June 2018 to commemorate the FIFA World Cup Football Finals being held in Russia at present. The designs are not particularly inspired. I do not yet know the precise date of issue. Rating:- **.

🇮🇳 India Post issued a single stamp on 17 June 2018 to commemorate the Centenary of Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha, Madras which was established by Mahatma Gandhi with the aim of propagating Hindi in the southern states of India. The first Pracharak was Mahatma Gandhi's son, Devadoss Gandhi. Rating:- **.

1243. 🇸🇬 Singapore Post Commemorates National Flower.

  🇸🇬 Singapore Post intends to issue a set of 4 stamps and 1 Collectors sheet on 22 June 2018 to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Vanda Miss Joaquim orchid which is the national flower of Singapore. The issue was designed by Adeline Tan and lithographed and printed with metallic pink foil by Southern Colour Print and perforated 14.. This is a very attractive issue. Rating:- *****.

  🇫🇯 Fiji Post is one of the last few postal administrations to inform WNS of its latest stamp issues which is useful as I have finally been able to locate details and good illustrations of its issues so far in 2018.

12 February - UN Climate Change Conference, Bonn 2017 - 4 stamps. Lithographed by Southern Colour Print and perforated 13.

28 February- Chinese New Year, Year of The Dog - 4 stamps. Lithographed by Southern Colour Print and perforated 14.5.

28 March - 50th anniversary of the presence of the Peace Corps in Fiji - 4 stamps. Lithographed by Southern Colour Print and perforated 13.5.

  🇲🇼 In Blog 1242 I mentioned the new sheetlet of 6 stamps issued by Malawi Post on the subject of Indigenous birds of Malawi which was for sale on the Delcampe auction site. It appears that this particular item was also accompanied by 6 single stamp miniature sheets which are depicted below. What a very attractive issue it is. Rating:- *****.

1242. 🇲🇼 More Surcharges From Malawi.

  🇲🇼 Newly on sale on Delcampe are more items from Malawi Post although I cannot presently find any details of these issues including the dates of issue.

  Firsly there are 5 new surcharges on old definitive stamps - 3 Bird stamps and 2 Butterfly stamps. These items are all surcharged in red. Rating:- ****.

  Additionally, there is a sheetlet containing 6 different stamps on the subject of Indigenous birds of Malawi. This item is similar to a number of the issues which were released in 2016 by Malawi Post and is an attractive item. Rating:- ****.

  🇫🇯 In Blog 1208 I mentioned the Year of The Dog stamps presented to Fiji Post by The People's Republic Of China but was unable to provide a reasonable illustration of the stamps. I now illustrate below this issue though sadly the illustrations are still not very good. And neither, for that matter, are the designs. Rating:- *.

  🇵🇰 Pakistan Post has issued a single stamp to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Urdu Dictionary Board on 14 June 2018. The design, by Adil Salahuddin, depicts the first chief editor of the Board, Baba-i-Urdu Maulvi Abdul Haq, and the building in which the Board is located. The stamp was lithographed by the National Security Printing Company. Rating:- **.

  🇸🇿 As readers of the Blog will know, Swaziland has changed its name to celebrate the country's 50th anniversary of Independence from The United Kingdom. Both The Commonwealth and The United Nations have now started to use the country's new name but don't expect to find it listed by The Commonwealth under 'e' or even 's', instead you must look at the letter 'k' where you will find the country identified as 'Kingdom of eSwatini' with the United Nations giving another version in the form of Eswatini (Kingdom of) which is patently incorrect as the 'e' is clearly to be used in lower case. I look forward to seeing the country's first stamps using the new name to discover how exactly the country's postal service inscribes its stamps after the change of name.