2827. 🇼🇸 Samoa Joint Issue With China.

 

New issues -

🇼🇸 Samoa Post -

6 November 2025 - Joint issue with the People’s Republic of China, 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, pigeons. Lithographed. Rating:- *****.

🇨🇦 Canada Post -

13 November 2025 - Hanukkah (Jewish religious festival) - 1 self-adhesive stamp sold in booklets of 6. Designed by Subplot Design Ltd and lithographed by Lowe Martin. Rating:- ****.

🇮🇳 India Post - 

8 November 2025 - My Stamp personalised stamps, 50th anniversary of NHPC Ltd, a governmental power company specialising in hydropower and renewable energy - 1 sheetlet of 12 different stamps with attached labels sold at a premium. 

🇺🇸 Intergovernmental Philatelic Corporation (IGPC) -

🇬🇾 Products inscribed Guyana -

12 December 2024 - ‘Prince William’ - 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 6 different stamps and the other a single stamp. Lithographed. Rating:- 0.

12 December 2024 - ‘Prince William and Princess Kate’ - 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 5 different stamps and the other a single stamp. Lithographed. Rating:- 0.

12 December 2025 - Re-election of Donald Trump as President of the United States - 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 6/different stamps and the other a single stamp. Lithographed. Rating:- 0.

🇬🇾 Guyana Post Office Corporation -

25 July 2025 - Low carbon development strategy - 1 miniature sheet containing a single stamp. Lithographed. Rating:- ****.

35 October 2025 - 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Guyana and tge Dominican Republic - 1 stamp. Lithographed. Rating:- ***.

🇰🇳 Nevis Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications - 

7 November 2024 - Centenarians 2024 - 1 miniature sheet containing 6 different stamps honouring 3 Nevis centenarians. Lithographed. Rating:- ****.

2826. 🇹🇷 🇮🇴 New Issues From Northern Cyprus; BIOT Not Dead Yet.

 

New issues -

🇹🇷 Postal service of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus -

12 November 2025 - Works by Northern Cyprus cartoonists - 4 stamps. Designed by Kustafa Camal Azizoğlu, Husain Mehmet Ulubatli, Çakmak and Alper Susuzlu and printed by Devlet Basimevi. Rating:- ***.

12 November 2025 - Chess in Northern Cyprus - 2 stamps. Designed by Gabriel Sönmezer and printed by Devlet Basimevi. Rating:- ***.

BIOT - Reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated.

On 22 May 2025 I published this -

  On the basis of the belief that the issue was settled - the issue being that the British government would pay the Republic of Maurice £30 billion to take over the British Indian Ocean Territory - I removed the BIOT from my list of active Commonwealth philatelic entities. This turned out to be somewhat precipitate as the British Parliament still had to pass a bill to allow the government to lose the strategically important islands as well as the £30 billion it had promised to pay Mauritius where there was a considerable amount of pleasure voiced by the public there as the prime minister of Mauritius promised he would use it to cut taxes in Mauritius. 

  The descendants of the people who had lived in the Chagos Islands for 200 years, known as the Chagossians, who had been expelled from the Chagos Islands in the early 1970s by the British, were less pleased than the Mauritians because they would never be able to return to their ancestral homeland. It was a rare case of a colonial people wanting to continue with British rule. They mounted a heavy resistance to the bill which would deprive them of their homes and they were supported by the British opposition parties and other influential people. The bill to abandon the Chagos Islands did however make its way through the House of Commons and was then debated in the House of Lords where there was heavy resistance to it and the British government stepped back from attempting to take the final step. Today it has been announced that the bill will not be proceeded with until next year. 

  Therefore the British Indian Ocean Territory, for the present at least, continues to exist as a political entity though we do not expect to see any new stamps being released. I shall, however, return it to my list of philatelic entities until, and if, the bill to end the territory for ever is passed eventually.

BIOT - The present situation as one British commentator sees it.

2825. 🇱🇷🇬🇧🇬🇸 Malaysia Stamp Week, BAT Huts And South Georgia Marine Science Issues.

 

New issues -

🇲🇾 Pos Malaysia - 

13 November 2025 - Stamp Week, Classic animations - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet containing all 4 stamps. Lithographed. Rating:- ***.

🇬🇧 Postal service of British Antarctic Territory -

late November 2025 - Historic Antarctic huts and bases, part 1 - 6 stamps (3 se-tenant pairs). Designed by Bee Design and lithographed by Cartor and perforated 13.5 x 13. Rating:- *****.

🇬🇸 Postal service of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands -

18 December 2025 - Discovery investigations - the centenary of marine science- 4 stamps ( 2 se-tenant pairs). Designed by Bee Design and lithographed by by Cartor and perforated 13.5 x 13. Rating:- *****.

Production of the 2 above issues was coordinated by Creative Direction. Thanks to Isle Of Man Stamps & Coins for information about these stamps.

One that got away -

🇬🇧 Royal Mail -

10 November 2025 - Centenary of the birth of the extremely important stage and screen actor, the Welshman Richard Burton CBE. Preferring to issue a set celebrating the role of ducks in the history of Britain and a set commemorating the invention in the United States of a board game, Royal Mail missed the opportunity to commemorate the birth centenary of Sir Richard Burton, one of Britain’s greatest actors, a notable figure in modern Welsh history and famous for his relationship with Elizabeth Taylor.

  True, Royal Mail did feature Burton in his role as Henry V on a stamp as part of an issue released in 2018 to commemorate the bicentenary of the Old Vic but it does seem that he is a figure worthy of commemoration on the centenary of his birth and a stamp issue intended to do that also of course gives the opportunity to highlight Wales, one of the countries of the United Kingdom.

  This is another example of a stamp issue that got away though the Ducks issue may be relevant as Burton starred in the movie The Wild Geese. See also Blogs 2781 and 2805.

2824. 🇧🇼 Second Set Of Beautiful Birds From Botswana.

 

New issues -

🇧🇼 Botswana Post -

26 September 2025 - ‘Beautiful birds of Botswana’, part 2 - Rollers - 4 stamps. Lithographed. Further details awaited. Rating:- *****.

🇸🇬 Singapore Post -

7 November 2025 - Festive treats - a miniature sheet containing all 4 stamps was also issued alongside the 4 basic stamps (see Blog 2818). The issue was designed by See Pin Pin and lithographed by Brebner Print and is perforated 14.5. Rating:- *****.

🇮🇳 India Post -

150th anniversary of the Mande Vataram,  national song - 1 stamp. Further details awaited. Rating:- ***.

🇵🇰 Pakistan Post -

3 November 2025 - Pakistan International Maritime Expo and Conference. Designed “supplied by the customer” and lithographed by Pakistan Security Printing Corporation Karachi and perforated 13. Rating:- **.