1534. 🇦🇺🇳🇬 Australia Post Christmas Issues And Nigeria Gandhi Issue.

🇦🇺 Australia Post has revealed another new batch of stamp issues mostly related to Christmas 2019.

🇨🇽 Issue inscribed ‘Australia Christmas Island’ 

 1 November 2019 - Christmas - 2 gummed stamps and 1 miniature sheet, 1 ‘sheetlet’ of 10 x 65c self-adhesive stamps sold for $6.50c and 1 booklet of 5 x $2.20c self-adhesive stamps sold for $11. 

Designed by Simone Sakinofsky and lithographed by RA Printing and perforated 14.5 x 14. Rating:- ***.

🇦🇺 Issues inscribed ‘Australia’ - 1 November 2019 - Christmas - (a) gummed stamps, 3 ‘secular’ designs by Simone Sakinofsky and 2 ‘religious’ designs by Sonia Young, (b) 2 self-adhesive ‘embellished’ secular stamps from sheetlets of sheetlets of 10, (c) 5 self-adhesive stamps from booklets or sheetlets  - 20 x 65c secular sold for $13, 20 x 65c religious sold for $13, 5 x $2.20c secular sold for $11 and 5 x $2.20c religious for $11, (d) 1 gummed religious miniature sheet. Rating:- *.

1 November 2019 - Perth Stamp and Coin Show - 1 miniature sheet containing a single stamp. Rating:- *.

November 2019 - 3 x $23 ‘Stamp packs’ each containing 2 panes of 10 stamps with attached labels on the subjects of ‘Emoji’, Disney’s ‘Frozen’ and ‘Star Wars, The Rise Of Skywalker’.  Rating:- 0.

November 2019 - Nat Fife Fremantle, the 2019:Brownlow medallist of 2019 - 1 x $15.95 ‘souvenir stamp sheetlet’ containing 8 ‘Map of Australia’ stamps with attached labels. Rating:- 0.

November 2019 - AFL and NRL Champions, 2019 - 2 x $15.95c ‘souvenir stamp sheetlets’, each containing 8 ‘Map of Australia’ greetings stamps with attached labels. Rating:- 0.

🇳🇬 The postal service of Nigeria issued a single stamp and 1 miniature sheet containing the same stamp in early October 2019 though I am not yet sure of the precise date of issue to commemorate the 150th Birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The design depicts Gandhi at his spinning wheel and the miniature sheet also includes the flags of Nigeria and India. Rating:- ****.

1533. 🇭🇰 More 2020 Issues From Hong Kong Post.

🇭🇰 The designs of most of the remaining stamps (see Blog 1532) to be issued by Hong Kong Post during 2020 are depicted below.

21April 2020 - Children’s Stamps, ‘Chess Games Delight’ (board games) - 6 stamps and 1 miniature sheet. Designed by Alex Ng. Rating:- **.

21 May 2020 - ‘Hong Kong Museums Collections’, Art from the Chou Lo Lou collection - 6 stamps and 1 miniature sheet. Designed by Arde Lam. Rating:- ***.

23 June 2020 - World Heritage in China series (9), Qinghai Hoh Xil - 1 miniature sheet. Designed by Eric Chum. Rating:- **.

24 July 2020 - Hong Kong’s participation in the Tokyo Olympic Games - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet. Designed by Hikoko Ito. Rating:- **.

18 August 2020 - Ocean Park in Hong Kong - 6 stamps and 1 miniature sheet. Designed by Wong Fun- fun. Rating:- ****.

17 September 2020 - Hong Kong as an international legal hub - further details awaited.

13 October 2020 - Hong Kong Past and Present, Victoria Harbour - 8 stamps and 1 miniature sheet. Designed by Colin Tillyer. Rating:- ****.

27 November 2020 - ‘Bruce Lee’s legacy in the world of martial arts’ - 6 stamps and 1 miniature sheet. Designed by Gideon Lam. Rating:- ****.

No date yet indicated, 2020 - Centenary Of Hong Kong Correctional Service - details awaited.

1532. 🇭🇰 Hong Kong Post’s First Issues Of 2020.

 🇭🇰 Hong Kong Post has announced its new issue programme for 2020 and the earliest issues of the year are mentioned here:-

11 January 2020 - Lunar New Year, Year of the Rat - 4 stamps, 1 single stamp miniature sheet, 1 ‘silk’ miniature sheet and 2 ‘Heart warming’ sheets each containing 12 stamps with attached labels. Rating:- ****.

11 January 2019 - Lunar New Year, gold and silver sheet. 1 miniature sheet. Designed by Simon Chung. Lithographed with silver hot foil printing and 22k gold plating. Rating:- ****.

4 February 2020 - ‘24 Solar terms’, Spring - 6 semicircular stamps (3 se-tenant pairs). Designed by Sherman Lai, the designs depict ‘Spring commences’, ‘Spring showers’, ‘Insects waken’, ‘Vernal equinox’, ‘Bright and clear’ and ‘Corn and rain’. Rating:- ***.

10 March 2020 - Centenary of YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association) activity in Hong Kong. 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet. Designed by Michael Miller Yu. Rating:- ****.

🇬🇧 Universal Mail United Kingdom issued a new strip of 5 stamps with the date 07/19 on the subject of the University of Glasgow. This is a ‘Bespoke’ issue and not obtainable from Universal Mail but only from the client university and therefore it is an issue with extremely limited availability. Rating:- 0.

🇮🇳 India Post issued 4 scented stamps and 2 miniature sheets on 15 October 2019 as the second issue of stamps titled ‘Indian perfumes’. The scents and designs feature orange blossom and agar wood. Rating:- ****.

India Post also issued an almost monochromatic set of 8 stamps and 1 miniature sheet on 19 October 2019 on the subject of ‘Historical Gates of Indian forts and monuments’ which are interesting but a great deal is lost by the absence of colour in the designs. Rating:- **.