1764.🇦🇺 Australia Post Issue Recalls Melbourne Lockdown.

 

🇦🇺 Australia Post issued a pane of 5 identical self-adhesive My Stamps on the subject of Let’s Melbourne Again on 26 October 2020. The issue is said to be “a commitment from the people, brands and businesses of Melbourne to inspire hope and encourage people to help bring the city back to life again”. The issue relates to the city’s emergence from a 111 day COVID-19 ‘lockdown’ which began in July and has now resulted in the first day for months in the city where no COVID-19 related deaths nor new cases have been seen. The past few months have had a devastating effect on the local economy and large numbers of deaths have occurred in the city which has a population of 5 million. It therefore seems reasonable for Australia Post to issue a stamp to recognise what the people of Melbourne have been through, to express solidarity with them and to provide hope for the future of the city. Rating:- *****.

🇬🇧 I have added 4 more Royal Mail 2020-coded Machin Head definitives which have appeared recently to my collection. They are all self-adhesive.

From counter sheets. M20L MAIL. 1p value.

From booklets of 6. M20L MSIL. 1st Class domestic rate.

From booklets of 4. M20L MFIL. 2nd Large letter domestic rate.

From Business sheets. M20L MBIL. 1st Class Large letter domestic rate.

  It seems to me therefore, and perusal of Norvic Philatelics latest update of its list of Machin Head stamps  appears to confirm this, that, with 2 months of 2020 remaining, all of the self-adhesive versions of the current Royal Mail definitives have now appeared apart from the 50p, £1, £2, £3 and £5 counter sheet stamps and the 2nd Large letter rate from Business sheets.

The Post and Go kiosk sited at the Fleet Air Arm Museum at RNAS Yeovilton near Ilchester in Somerset will dispense stamps from 11 to 20 November 2020 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Tararanto which took place on the night of 11 to 12 November and involved attacks on the Italian battle fleet by aircraft from HMS Illustrious and HMS Eagle. The kiosk based at the Museum (A003) will dispense Post and Go stamps (I am not sure which design will be used) with an added inscription and a graphic showing a swordfish aircraft. The inscription will be “TARANTO/80”.

1763. 🇨🇰🇹🇴 Philatelic Collector Inc.’s Latest Birds Of The World Products.

 🇨🇰🇹🇴 Joylessly, I list the latest products to emerge from the US-based producers of philatelic products, Philatelic Collector Inc. which releases such items in accordance with contracts with the postal services of Cook Islands and Tonga.

  All of these items are linked to a Birds of the World theme which is basically a fairly random collection of photographs of bird species many of which are not found in the territory of the philatelic entities whose names appear on these products. As has been the case previously some of the items have high face values and are accompanied by miniature sheets which include the high face value stamps. All of these products are rated 0.

Cook Islands - 

8 May 2020 - Kingfishers - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet.

20 May 2020  - Ducks - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet.

Cook Islands Aitutaki - 

8 May 2020 - Birds of Paradise - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet.

20 May 2020 - Geese - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet -

Cook Islands Penrhyn - 

8 May 2020 - Birds of Paradise - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet.

20 May 2020 - Flamingos - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet.

Cook Islands Rarotonga -

8 May 2020 - Parrots - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet.

20 May 2020 - Herons - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet.

Tonga - 

4 May 2020 - Parrots - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet.

18 May 2020 - Ibises - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet.

Tonga Niuafo’ou -

4 May 2020 - Hummingbirds - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet - 

18 May 2020 - Frigate birds - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet.

If anyone wishes to buy one of everything of the above then Philatelic Collector Inc will let you have these philatelic gems for the grand total of US$556.36. Strictly one for the birds.

1762. 🇲🇺 Mauritius Commemorates Historic Post Office Building.

 🇲🇺 Mauritius Post will issue a single stamp on 28 October 2020 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Central post office in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius. An interesting stamp. Rating:- ***.

🇵🇰 Pakistan Post issued a single stamp on 24 October 2020 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations Organisation. The stamp was designed by Murghiz Khan and lithographed by National Security Printing Company Karachi and is perforated 13. Rating:- **.

🇲🇿 Correios de Moçambique has issued a single stamp on an as yet unknown date to commemorate International Day of Family Remittances which occurred on 16 June 2020 (which of course may have been the day of issue). Thanks to super for drawing my attention to the issue in a comment left at the end of Blog 1762 which referenced an item on the excellent Joint Stamps site which in turn had received news of the issue from Nejmeddine Boudaren of Aurescollections. The stamp appears to be part of a joint issue with Togo and St Thomas And Prince.

🇬🇧 The Postal Museum in London will reopen its 2 Post and Go kiosks on 29 October 2020 and dispense the Mail Coach Stamps with the additional inscription “The Postal Museum/Postcards 150” to commemorate 2020 as a year of celebration of the 150th anniversary of the introduction of “the British postcard”. This is an interesting and worthy anniversary to commemorate. Rating:- ****.

  The first British postcard followed the example of such items which had been introduced previously in Austro-Hungary on 1 October 1869 and appeared exactly 1 year later on 1 October 1870 following a recommendation being made by the Postmaster General on 26 May. The early postcards were printed by De La Rue and included an imprinted halfpenny stamp which depicted a portrait of Queen Victoria. This halfpenny value was a new postal rate for open correspondence. The postcard was immediately popular and 675000 were sold on the first day of issue.