1334. 🇸🇬 Delicious Festival Food Featured On New Singapore Issue.

  🇸🇬 Delicious-looking stamps! Yum yum! Singapore Post will issue 8 stamps on 21 November 2018 depicting various Festival foods - Chinese New Year, Hari raya aidiferi, Deepavali and Christmas. This attractive and mouth-watering set was designed by Alynn Teo and lithographed by Southern Colour Print and perforated 13.5. Rating:- *****.

  🇵🇬 The Papua New Guinea postal service has issued 2 sets of stamps.

  14 May 2018 - 40th anniversary of economic co-operation between Papua New Guinea and the European Union. Designed by Kin Kaupa and lithographed by Southern Colour Print. At this time of Brexit, this is an interesting issue. Rating;- *****.

  18 June 2018 - 50th Anniversary of the United Church in Papua New Guinea. Designed by Banian Masiboda and lithographed by Southern Colour Print. Rating:- *****.

  🇮🇳 India Post issued 2 stamps and a miniature sheet containing the 2 different stamps on 14 November 2018 on the subject of 'Communal Harmony' as its Children's Day issue. The designs are based on winning entries in a painting competition for children. Rating:- ***.

1333. 🇫🇰 Falkland Islands Commemorate Historic Post Office.

  🇫🇰 There are two new upcoming stamp issues from the Falkland Islands postal service. On 28 November 2018 a set of 4 stamps will be released to commemorate the Centenary of Fox Bay post office. The issue was designed by Bee Design and lithographed by Cartor and perforated 13.5. Rating:- *****.

  The second issue to be released on 28 December 2018 will be on the subject of Landscapes as described in Blog 1314 but the date of issue has been deferred until the end of December.

  🇬🇧 The various new issues from British Antarctic Territory mentioned in Blogs 1308, 1309 and 1319 were all issued on 1 November 2018.

  Thanks to Juliet Warner of Pobjoy Stamps for information about all the above issues.

  🇮🇪 I have overlooked up to now 3 strips each of 4 different self-adhesive stamps which have been issued by An Post, the postal service of the Republic Of Ireland, in which each stamp features a design used on recent commemorative stamps. I am not sure of the date of issue. Rating:- ****.

  🇲🇺 Depicted below is a better illustration than that which appeared in Blog 1330 of the single stamp released on 12 November 2018 by Mauritius Post to commemorate the Centenary of the Armistice which ended the First World War:-

 

  🇬🇧 A wonderful photograph has been issued on the 70th Birthday of the Prince Of Wales depicting him with his wife, children and grandchildren. His birthday, 14 November, has been commemorated by a number of postal administrations with the release of sets of stamps. How long, I wonder, before this marvellous photograph finds itself being used as the basis for a stamp design?

1332. 🇬🇧 So, What Stamps Does Royal Mail Have In Store For Us In 2019?

  🇬🇧 I assume that we are only a few weeks away from knowing about some of the subjects which Royal Mail plans to feature in its 2019 new issue programme. What will they be? I do not know but I have reproduced screen shots below from Blog 923 which talked about the survey put out in March 2017 which sought collectors' opinions about which subjects should be depicted on the new Royal Mail stamps of 2019. One can only speculate that most new issues will be extracted from this list though one wonders if a Europa set featuring the highly popular theme of National Birds might be one of those subjects which will be featured that does not appear in the lists.

  My choice of subjects was summarised in the following paragraph:-

  We already know of course that the 150th anniversary of the Royal Philatelic Society is to be commemorated by an issue on 15 January made up of a miniature sheet containing 6 stamps each depicting a classic British stamp (as speculated about in the paragraph above where I list my preferred subjects). Although I prefer the sea mammals as a subject, given Royal Mail's predilection for 'blockbuster' television programmes featuring on new stamp issues, one can not help but expect that there will be an issue featuring David Attenborough's landmark series, Life On Earth.

  I hope that there is not a medical issue as we are only a couple of years away from the Centenary of the discovery of insulin which would be a perfect opportunity to commemorate British medical discoveries particularly as the Scot, Professor John Macleod, shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his role in its discovery with the Canadian, Frederick Banting. 

  A combination of the Defoe and George Elliot anniversaries could make a good Literary anniversaries issue or a Notable Persons' issue could be made up of those two writers plus stamps commemorating Dame Margot Fonteyn, Alexander McQueen, James Watt and doubtless there are others who could make the set up to 8 or 10 as well as ensuring a race, gender etc balance which is always necessary today with modern stamp issues.

  The Harrier jump jet and Concorde themes could make up an aviation issue but as I've written before, if artists are to be commemorated on British stamps then, in true Brexit fashion, let them be British artists - we have enough of them though one must admit that the art work featured on the Contemporary Art stamps released this year hardly does credit to British art. I suppose if Royal Mail really does feel it can't bring itself not to commemorate Leonardo Da Vinci then his art work in British collections could be used as the basis of designs for Christmas stamps.

  So, we'll see what is announced unless Royal Mail's tedious embargoing of news goes even further than it has so far.

1331. 🇲🇾 Stamp Week In Malaysia.

  🇲🇾 Pos Malaysia issued 5 stamps and a My Stamp sheetlet containing 8 stamps (2 x 4 different stamps) with attached labels on 12 November 2018 to commemorate 'Stamp Week'. This is a cheerful and pleasant issue. Rating:- ***.

  🇺🇸 More philatelic products from IGPC issued in the name of various Commonwealth countries, distressingly:-

🇬🇲 The Gambia - 

  9 November 2018 - The dama gazelle - 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 3 different stamps and the other containing 2 different stamps. This species is not found in The Gambia. Rating:- 0.

  9 November 2018 - Zebras - 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 4 different stamps (illustrated in Blog 1325) and the other containing a single stamp). Rating:- *.

🇬🇩 Grenada - 

  9 November 2018 - Domestic cats - 6 stamps in a sheetlet and 1 miniature sheet containing a single stamp. Rating:- 0.

🇬🇩 Grenada Carriacou And Petite Martinique -

  

  9 November 2018 - Wedding of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex - 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 5 different diamond-shaped stamps and 1 containing a single stamp. Rating:- 0.

🇬🇾 Guyana -

   20 November 2018 - 50th anniversary of the First manned lunar landing - 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 6 different circular stamps and 1 containing 2 different stamps. Rating:- 0.

  20 November 2018 - South American tapirs - 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 4 different stamps and the other containing 2 different stamps. This species is found in Guyana. Rating:- ***.

  20 November 2018 - The leaf cutter ant - 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 4 different stamps and 1 containing 2 different stamps. Rating:- *.

🇲🇸 Montserrat - 

  10 October 2018 - Fishing in Montserrat - 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 3 different stamps and 1 containing a single stamp. Rating:- ***.

  24 October 2018 - The Concorde. 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 4 different stamps (see Blog 1325) and 1 containing a single stamp. Rating:- 0.

🇰🇳 Nevis - 

  22 October 2018 - Donkeys of the West Indies - 1 miniature sheet containing 5 different stamps. Rating:- **.

🇻🇨 St Vincent And The Grenadines:- 

  12 October 2018 - Visit of US President Trump to Canada. See Blog 1325, date of issue now reported here.

  12 October 2018 - 50th anniversary of the First manned Lunar landing - 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 3 different circular stamps (illustrated in Blog 1325) and the other containing a single stamp. Rating:- 0.

  26 October 2018 - Honeybees - 1 miniature sheet containing 4 different stamps. Rating:- 0.

  26 October 2018 - Gemstones - 2 miniature sheets - 1 containing 4 different stamps and the other containing 2 stamps. Rating:- 0.

  26 October 2018 - Tropical eels - 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 4 different stamps and the other containing a single stamp. Rating:- *.