2248. 🇬🇧 Royal Mail Raises Curtain On Its King Charles Definitives.

 

New issues.

🇬🇧 Royal Mail -

4 April 2023 - Definitive issue with barcodes, King Charles III.

Designed from a sculpture by Martin Jennings used on the new coinage. When available more detailed illustrations of individual values will be published. Rating:- *****.

Illustrations from Buckingham Covers of domestic rate values:- 

On the day prior to the announcement about the new definitives Royal Mail Stamps trailered the revelation with social media posts -

2247. 🇮🇲 Manx Stamps Feature Battle of El Alamein And Wildlife.

 

New issues.

🇮🇲 Isle Of Man Post Office -

17 February 2023 - 50th anniversary of the Manx Wildlife Trust - 10 gummed stamps (total face value £9.70) and 10 self-adhesive stamps sold in booklets (cost £8). Designed by Kllbr8 from illustrations by Clare Payne and lithographed by bpost and perforated 11.5. Rating:- ***.

21 February 2023 - 80th anniversary of the Battle of El Alamein - 5 stamps (total face value £9.03) and 1 Prestige booklet (sold for £18.06) and 1 booklet pane containing all 5 stamps plus a label depicting Field Marshall Rommel sold separately for £9.03. Designed by Isle of Man Advertising and PR and lithographed by bpost and perforated 11.5. Rating:- *.

2246. 🇹🇬 Togo Commemorates National Masonic Lodge.

 

New issues.

🇹🇬 Togo postal service.

5 December 2022 - 30th anniversary of the Togo National Masonic Grand Lodge - 1 stamp produced in sheetlets of 4, 1 miniature containing a single stamp plus the same items produced with enhanced gold printing on parts of the stamp and additionally imperforate versions of all the items. This appears to me to be from a source different from the notorious Stamperija which has a contract with the Togo postal service to produce hundreds of miniature sheets with the country’s name printed on them annually and has many of the features of stamps of other Francophone African countries in that the basic stamps are released but accompanied by limited edition extras such as an enhanced or imperforate versions which are sold at a considerable premium. The rating is for the basic stamps only though I like the enhanced versions as well but would not bother with the imperforate versions. Rating:- ****. These items are being sold on an internet auction site by e French Company, Busch Collectables.

Gold enhanced perforate - 

Non-enhanced imperforate - 

Gold enhanced imperforate - 

🇭🇰 Hong Kong Post -

14 February 2023 - ‘Seasonal trees’ of Hong Kong - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet containing all 4 stamps. Designed by Lau Yi and lithographed by Cartor and perforated 13.5.  

🇶🇦 Qatar Post -

23 January 2023 - FIFA World Coup Finals - the first to be held in a Arab region - 1 miniature sheet containing a single stamp. Rating:- *.

2245. 🇳🇷 Nauru Post’s Elusive 2022 Hammer De Roburt Stamp.

 

New issues.

🇳🇷 Nauru Post -

26 October 2022 - Birth centenary of Sir Hammer De Roburt, first President of Nauru. This item has been reported previously in this Blog but no illustration has been available. The stamp can now be seen on Steven Zirinsky’s Stamp shop internet site and he is offering it for sale. Other recently issued Nauru Post stamps seem to have become more easily available recently; Mr Zirinsky has recently offered them for sale and Bombay Stamps has included them on its most recent twice monthly list of new issues. Rating:- *****.

🇮🇳 India Post -

2 February 2023 - 150th birth anniversary of Ram Chandra Maharaj (‘Lalaji’), spiritual guide - 1 stamp. Rating:- ***.

4 February 2023 - Commemoration of General KS Thimmaya (1906-65) -1 stamp. Rating:- ***.

🇧🇩 Bangladesh Post -

25 January 2023 - 32nd Asia-Pacific and 11th National Scout Jamboree, Mouchak, Gazipur - 1 stamp. Previously item with overprint apples. Rating:- **.

2 February 2023 - Commemoration of Bangladesh Women’s football team’s victory in the SAFF Women’s Championships of 2022 - 1 stamp. Rating:- ****.

🇲🇲 Myanmar Post - 

31 January 2023 - Endemic birds of Myanmar (part 5), Ayeyarwady bulbul - 1 stamp. Rating:= *****.

2244. 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka Commemorates 75 Years Of Independence.

 

🇱🇰 Sri Lanka Post -

2 February 2023 - 75th of Independence - 1 stamp. Printed in lithography by Department of Government Printing. Rating:- ***.

🇱🇹 Stamperija (notorious Lithuania-based producer and seller of paraphilatelic products under contract from various foreign governments) - 

🇹🇬 Products inscribed ‘Togo’ - 

Stated ‘date of issue’ - 5 December 2023 - Products relating to the commemoration of the late Queen Elizabeth II, Head of The Commonwealth, released as part of an issue of a large number of items (2 stamps from sheetlets and 42 miniature sheets) on various subjects - 

a. Previously released products (60th anniversary of the Queen’s succession, 2012) reissued with overprint applied - 3 miniature sheets.

b. New products - 3 miniature sheets.

All rated:- 0.

  This vast list of products also includes 3 miniature sheets claiming to commemorate the succession of King Charles III. Tastelessly the set features prominently the late Diana Princess of Wales from whom the king was divorced amid much acrimony and fails to depict the King’s second wife, Queen Camilla. Interestingly, one of the ‘stamps’ in the four ‘stamp’ miniature sheet depicts the King with Rishi Sunak, the latest British prime minister (there were 3 of them in 2022) who became the first person to occupy the office who is of south Asian heritage.