336. British Antarctic Territory Stamp Blizzard.

  Thirty eight new stamps were issued by The British Antarctic Territory on 27 November 2013. A sheetlet containing 6 different stamps was released to commemorate the centenary of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (cost: £4.20p) (shown above). Eight stamps depicting the ever-popular subject of penguins were also issued (cost of set: £5.70):-

  Another 8 stamps, total face value £7.20p, commemorated the 70th anniversary of Bransfield House and Halley VI Research Station:-

  And finally, 16 stamps were issued on the 50th anniversary of the first British Antarctic Territory stamp issue which appear to do nothing more but reproduce the original stamps and sell them at a much higher face value than the original set - the price of all 16 being £17.28p due to the presence of £5, £3.50 and £2 values in the set.

  The total cost of a single day's issue is therefore £34.38p which admittedly probably represents a whole year's issues but comes as rather a body blow to a BAT collector when delivered in one fell swoop (I understand why the Territory has a very limited time space to release all its issues but by the time the stamp dealer's profit and costs as well as VAT are added to the face value this represents a large outlay by the stamp collector in a single purchase).

  Maybe I'm reading a little too much into this but I note that the date of issue was only 2 days before the close of tenders for taking on the role of philatelic agents for the territory (see Blog 324) so perhaps CASCO, the current agents, put out a lot of expensive stuff, with the Territory's Administrator's agreement no doubt, to prove that they still CAN contribute a lot of money to the Territory's finances by the production and sale of postage stamps and thus make them more attractive as the agency to have their contract renewed; intriguing isn't it?

  Other issues just released or about to be released by CASCO/Harry Allen (I do not yet know exact dates of issue because CASCO's promotional information to collectors is, frankly, very poor) are:-

  Cayman Islands - Christmas - 4 stamps;

  British Indian Ocean Territory - 60th anniversary of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II - 4 stamps.

335. Travelling Post Office.

  Following on from last year's "Pop Up" (what a horrible term) Post Office in Camden in London, Royal Mail have repeated the exercise but instead of picking one location for the Pop Up Post Office to appear in, this year the "Christmas Stamp Shop" has been travelling the length of Great Britain selling its wares. In fact, there has been very little for the stamp buying public to purchase apart from Christmas Robins and 2nd class "Machin" "Post And Go" stamps from Hytech machines A3 and A4 (depicted below) and special "Smilers" stamps. For the latter, members of the Pop Up Post Office staff took customers' photographs with what looked like an I Pad and the photographs were then used on labels printed on site which were attached to 2013 Christmas stamps. The Smilers stamps seemed to be popular with members of the general public but the "Post And Go" stamps seemed to be mainly bought by stamp collectors.

Pop Up Post office in Rotunda Square, Birmingham.

  The Pop Up Post Office started its tour in Newcastle on 20 and 21 November and then crossed the border into Scotland to be in Glasgow on 23 and 24 November. The Robin stamps with security codes MA12 and MA13 appear to have been sold in both of these locations as also happened in Liverpool which was visited by the post office on 29 and 30 of November and 1 December. The Post Office next appeared in Great Britain's Second City, Birmingham, on 5 and 6 December and I visited it on its second day in that city.

  The Travelling Post Office was sited in a busy shopping area (shown above) with many banks and stores close by and many people using various cash machines so that the "Post And Go" machines were severely interfered with by the surrounding devices and since they could only take card payments and not cash, it took approximately half an hour and multiple attempts to persuade the Hytech machines to accept payment for the Post And Go stamps which I wanted to buy  (just a single "Collectors" set of the Robins stamps and 1 each of the 2nd Class stamps). It did not seem a very cost effective way to sell stamps, both in time and money, given that there were quite a number of Royal mail employees involved in the Pop Up Post Office. No doubt it gave some publicity for Royal Mail and a number of people were pleased to buy Smilers stamps. My Robins stamps had the MA13 security code so at least the time I spent trying to obtain the items was rewarded by a new set of stamps for my collection.

  After Birmingham, the post office moves on to Cardiff (7 and 8 December), Croydon (11 and 12 December), Covent Garden (13 and 14 December) and London Westfield (17 to 19 December).

Hytech Post And Go machines A3 and A4.

Christmas Robins Collectors strip from machine A4.

2nd Class stamps from A4.

Post  And Go stamps receipt from Pop Up shop, Birmingham,  6 December 2013.

  The Travelling Post Office staff were also handing out brochures which on one side publicised Christmas last posting dates and on the other, as shown below, detailed the nearest post offices in central Birmingham. The head post office, location 2, situated in Pinfold Street and opening on to Birmingham's magnificent Victoria square, has a number of Post And Go Wincour machines which sell a range of different Post And Go stamps although I have not yet been able to obtain the Wincour version of the MA13 Christmas robins stamps from there:-

  The isle Of Man Post Office has given details of its first issues of 2014. the first set will be released on   6 January 2013 and consists of 8 stamps on the theme of "Isle Of Man Isle Of Culture". The interesting stamps depict paintings by the Manx local artist, Juan Moore, which illustrate various forms of culture and which are inscribed both in Manx and English:-

  

  There will also be a miniature sheet issued on the same day which illustrates the subject of winter flora and is designed by another Manx artist, Catherine James:-

  Finally, news from South Africa of a miniature sheet which was released on 25 October 2013 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between South Africa and Mexico. The item was designed by Thea Clemens and lithographed by Lowe Martin:-

334. New Anguillan Issues And 14 Issues In 2014 From Jersey.

  The website of the Post Office of Anguilla has recently added news of 2 sets of stamps which it has issued during November 2013. The website is rather poor technically and suggests that 4 sets of stamps were issued by Anguilla in 2013 but I can only find news of the 2 sets issued in November and no illustrations are included. However the website of a local newspaper, The Anguillan, does include an illustration of one of the sets and I depict it here.

 A set of 3 stamps was issued on 11 November 2013 which commemorated the Bicentenary of the introduction of Methodism into Anguilla. I have not yet tracked down an illustration of this set. However I can illustrate the 8 Stamps which were issued on 25 November 2013 which form a set titled "Anguillan Sea Captains Part 1". There is also an accompanying miniature sheet but I am not sure if the item I have depicted below is the miniature sheet or if it represents the stamps themselves placed on a first day cover. Time will tell.

  As a collectable territory Anguilla is in the first rank and in recent years it has had a marvellously conservative new issue policy which has even not allowed it to issue stamps for the diamond jubilee and 60th anniversary of the coronation of its Queen nor the birth of Prince George, third in line to the British throne which means that one day he will be King of Anguilla. Any stamps it has issued have been of strict local interest and commemorated ordinary local people of note which is just what a commemorative stamp should do.

  Now, if only the Anguilla Post Office could find someone who knows how to use a website properly as well as keeping its philatelic agent informed about what it is doing so that stamp issues get the publicity they deserve.

Footnote Issues.

While I am keen to add the latest Anguillan stamps to my collection, the following will not be finding a place there (I don't think I need to explain why):-

Mozambique - 25 June 2013 - Miscellaneous issues (part 2) - 60 "stamps" issued as 15 sheetlets of 4 different designs and 15 miniature sheets on the following subjects - Bees, Butterflies and orchids, Pope Benedict XVI, Birds of prey, 120th anniversary of the death of Eugene Delacroix (French artist), Dolphins, Lighthouses and birds, Elephants, Marilyn Monroe, Owls and mushrooms, Mushrooms and insects, Pope Francis, Parrots, 120th Birth anniversary of Mao Tse Tung (Chinese statesman), Mahatma Gandhi.

The Sacred:-

And The Profane:-

  The portraits of Pope Francis are almost unrecognisable. It is astonishing to me that anyone would spend good money on these items. This latest production means that Mozambique has now had 418 "stamps" and 91 miniature sheets produced for it during 2013 (and that is only up to 25 June!).

Cook Islands, Aitutaki Cook Islands and Penrhyn Cook Islands - early 2014 - Chinese New Year (Year Of The Horse) - 1 miniature sheet for "Cook Islands" containing 2 different $3 stamps, 1 m.s. for "Aitutaki Cook Islands" containing 3 different $1.50 stamps plus a stamp sized label and 1 m.s. for "Penrhyn Northern Cook Islands" containing 3 different $1.50 stamps plus a stamp sized label.

- early 2014 - for "Cook Islands" - "Insects" definitive series (part 2) - 12 additional stamps plus 1 miniature sheet which contains all 12 values.

Tonga and Niuafo'ou - early 2014 - Chinese New Year (Year of The Horse) - 1 miniature sheet of 4 different $2.45 stamps for Tonga and 1 m.s. of 4 different $1.50 stamps for Niuafo'ou.

Samoa - early 2014 - Chinese New Year (Year of The Horse) - Sheetlet of 6 different stamps.

- early 2014 - "Endangered species" (birds and bats) (part 2 ) - additional 12 stamps (no accompanying miniature sheet).

and so to Jersey Post which has announced that it will release 14 new stamp issues in 2014 (perhaps it thinks it should match the number of its stamp issues to the year (Heaven help us in 2099!)

Appallingly. the greedy little postal administration is hoping that stamp collectors will offer up their money to them for the following stuff:-

7 January 2014 - Jersey architecture (manor houses) - 6 stamps,

25 March - Musical instruments (Europa) - 4 stamps,

23 March - 450th birth anniversary of William Shakespeare - 6 stamps and 1 m.s. (at least Jersey is honouring The Bard in style even if Royal Mail can't be bothered),

6 May - Poppies - 6 stamps and 1 m.s.,

6 June - 70th anniversary of D-Day - 6 stamps and 1 m.s.,

30 June - Summer - 8 stamps,

15 July - The Red Arrows - 6 stamps and 1 m.s.,

11 August Centenary of the outbreak of World War I - 6 stamps and 1 m.s.,

14 August - Commemoration of the 50000th collector to give up collecting Jersey stamps - special £10 stamp issued in a sheetlet of 6, each with a slightly different background to render each design slightly different from one another plus a special miniature sheet with a small emerald stuck to it and offered at a special price of £320 or the same but with a small ruby attached to it sold for only £300 (both items available for the knock down price of £580). The prices do NOT include VAT.

27 August - Jersey's Roman connections - 6 stamps and the inevitable miniature sheet,

17 September - Marine life (crustaceans) 6 stamps and, yes, 1 miniature sheet,

9 October - Oyster fishing - 6 stamps and 1 m.s. and, of course, an additional prestige booklet,

30 October - 350th anniversary of the founding of New Jersey by Sir George Carteret - 6 stamps (what, no miniature sheet?),

12 November - Pirates and privateers - 4 stamps and 1 m.s.,

27 November - Christmas (Bosdet's stained glass windows) - 8 stamps and, yet again, 1 miniature sheet.

You may have noticed that one of the above is a spoof but the question is, which one?

This looks like a Jersey Post Office blue print to ensure that collectors finally stop collecting the island's stamps. Or a last desperate attempt to squeeze money out of a sick and moribund golden goose. I make it a total of 84 stamps, 10 miniature sheets and 1 prestige booklet - not quite up to Mozambique standards. Perhaps Jersey Post Office should give up any pretence at philatelic respectability and invite Stamperija to take over its philatelic activities. At least Stamperija is up front about what it does.

333. Turbulent Priests.

Canterbury Cathedral.

  In recent years many stamps have been issued by or on behalf of various Commonwealth postal administrations which illustrate the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and commemorate numerous Papal events, frequently of no direct relevance to the country whose name appears on the stamp. In Blog 216 which coincided with the election of Pope Francis, I illustrated some stamps from Commonwealth countries which depicted the various Popes who have occupied the See of Rome since 1900. Of equal relevance as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church to many Commonwealth countries is the most senior cleric in the Anglican Church, The Archbishop of Canterbury. There have been a number of stamps issued in recent years which commemorate the men who have occupied that post and I illustrate them below.

  The first Archbishop of Canterbury was Augustine, an Italian monk sent by Pope Gregory The Great to convert the people of Kent to Christianity. He arrived in 597 AD and founded a church at Canterbury where, after a short time, Aethelbert the King of Kent was baptised and he was followed by many of his people. Augustine founded 2 more sees at Rochester and London in 604 but died on 26 May 606 and was succeeded by another Italian, Laurentius. There was no native English Archbishop of Canterbury until 655 when Deusdedit (Frithine) became the sixth Archbishop of Canterbury. Augustine was depicted on 2 stamps issued by Royal Mail on 11 March 1997, the 43p also including a depiction of the Kentish king, Aethelbert.

Augustine and Aethelbert

St. Augustine of Canterbury.

  We move on to the period after the Norman conquest of England and the reign of Henry II. In 1162, Thomas Becket, Henry's Chancellor and a former protege of the previous Archbishop of Canterbury, Theobald of Bec, was appointed as the new Archbishop. However, eventually a running dispute began  between the king and primate and eventually, in December 1170, four of Henry's knights murdered Becket inside the cathedral at Canterbury, Henry having been said to have asked "Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?" The king paid penance for the murder and Becket was made a saint and his shrine at Canterbury became a great site of pilgrimage in the middle ages. Becket's murder is featured on a stamp issued by Tristan Da Cunha on 15 January 2010 and King Henry was depicted on a stamp issued by Barbuda on 15 April 1970:-

The murder of Becket.

King Henry II

King Richard II

  Another unfortunate Primate who met a bloody end was Archbishop Simon Sudbury who took up the post on 4 May 1375 and was the leader of the Church during the reign of King Richard II (illustrated above on one of the Barbuda Kings and Queens set which was issued on 1 August 1970) - he suffered the fate of being beheaded by rebels on 14 June 1381 during the Peasants Revolt. The revolt itself was featured on a stamp issued by Tristan Da Cunha on 15 January 2010 and the stamps show the boy king Richard on horseback facing down the rebels with the city of London in the background:-

The Peasant's revolt 1381

  We move forward to the reign of Henry VIII who had grown tired of waiting for his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, to produce a male heir to the English throne and thus secure the future of the Tudor dynasty. He had developed a passion for a woman called Anne Boleyn and resolved to marry her but it was first necessary to have his marriage to Catherine annulled, something which the Pope would not allow him to do. In 1532, a reformist priest, Thomas Cranmer, was appointed to be Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1533, a court established by Cranmer ruled that the marriage between Henry and Katherine was against the laws of God because Katherine had first been married to Henry's teenage brother, Arthur, and the marriage was annulled. Cranmer worked to reform the Church in England and eventually it broke with Rome and Henry VIII became the Head of The Church Of England. 

Thomas Cranmer.

King Henry VIII.

  Henry was succeeded by his 9 year old son, Edward VI, who was a fervent Protestant and great reforms in The Church continued. Cranmer made a significant contribution to the preparation of The Book Of Common Prayer which was published in 1549. However, Edward VI died in 1553 and eventually his Catholic sister, Mary known as "Bloody Mary", managed to seize the throne and Cranmer's fate was sealed. He was arrested for treason later in 1553 and deprived of the Archbishopric by Rome in December 1555. He was first imprisoned in the Tower Of London and later in Oxford where he eventually recanted of his Protestant beliefs.

King Edward VI.

  However, Mary's vicious regime condemned the 66 year old man to be burned at the stake and this was carried out on 21 March 1556 although Cranmer rejected his recantations and plunged his right hand into the flames first because that had been the part of his body which had signed the recantation. Mary's vengeful triumph was complete but did not last long as she herself died 2 years later and was succeeded by her Protestant sister, Elizabeth I.

Bloody Mary

Queen Elizabeth I

  John Bancroft was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1604 to 1610 and he was the chief mover of The Authorised Version of The Bible which was published in 1611 and is often known as the King James Bible. A rather poor rendition of King James holding the new Bible was depicted on one of the Millenium Christmas stamps issued by Great Britain in December 1999:-

King James I and the King James Bible.

  Yet another Archbishop Of Canterbury to meet a grisly end was William Laud who was appointed as Archbishop in 1633 during the reign of Charles I. The puritans feared that Laud was sympathetic to the restoration of Catholicism and eventually had him arrested and had him put on trial. They failed to convict him and condemned him by an Act of Attainder and finally succeeded in having him beheaded in 1645, just 4 years before the King himself was to suffer a similar fate at the hands of Parliament.

King Charles I - beheaded as was Archbishop William Laud.

  We move ahead in to the 20th century. Archbishop Cosmo Lang played an important role in bringing about the abdication of King Edward VIII in 1936. Lang was dismayed at the new king's evident determination to marry the American divorcee, Wallis Simpson, and, greatly due to the intervention of Archbishop Lang, Edward VIII eventually abdicated on 11 December 1936. Shortly afterwards Lang broadcast a speech in which he said about the former king, "From God he received a sacred and high trust. Yet by his own will he has....surrendered the trust" and that Edward had had a "craving for private happiness" which he had sought "in a manner inconsistent with the Christian principles of marriage". The speech shocked the British public and was widely condemned for its lack of charity and was said to have dealt "a disastrous blow to religious feeling throughout the country".

  Although there has been no philatelic depiction of Archbishop Lang, King Edward VIII has appeared on a number of stamps including 4 definitive stamps issued by Great Britain on 1936 and a more recent British stamp issued on 2 February 2012 which was part of a set of 5 stamps which depicted British monarchs of the Houses Of Windsor and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

  I was also unable to resist reillustrating one of the hilarious stamps from Guyana which were issued in 2012 which depict not Edward VIII but Edward XIII. It appears that Cosmo Lang was responsible for causing the deposition of 2 King Edwards rather than one if the Guyana Post Office is to be believed or  more likely the designers who work for the large New York agency which produced these items just don't understand Roman numerals!:-

  Cosmo Lang was succeeded by William Temple in 1942 and he by Geoffrey Fisher (1882-1972) in 1945. He appears on a number of Commonwealth stamps because he was the Archbishop of Canterbury who crowned Queen Elizabeth II at her coronation on 2 June 1953. Royal Mail depicted Archbishop Fisher standing to the left of the Queen on 1 of 10 stamps issued on to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Coronation. Other scenes of the Coronation in which Archbishop Fisher appears were also released by a number of other Commonwelth territories including Dominica and Pitcairn on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the event:-

  Archbishop Fisher retired from the primacy in 1961 and was succeeded by Michael Ramsey who also appears on the above stamps but standing to the Queen's right (at the time of the coronation Ramsey was Bishop of Durham and then was made Archbishop Of York in 1956 and subsequently Archbishop Of Canterbury). Archbishop Ramsey was succeeded by Donald Coggan in 1974 and he in turn by Robert Runcie in early 1980. A set of stamps issued by Ghana on 3 March 1981 depicts Archbishop Runcie sitting with President Hilla Limmann and Pope John Paul II during the Papal visit to Ghana which took place from 8 to 10 May 1980 and when the newly appointed Archbishop was also visiting that country:-

  Subsequently, Belize issued a pair of stamps on 8 March 1984 to commemorate the visit of Archbishop Runcie to that country although the issue consisted of overprinted definitives rather than a portrait of the primate and did not even give the Archbishop's name:-

   Archbishop Runcie was succeeded by George Carey in 1991 and 2 portraits of him were featured on stamps of Seychelles issued on 18 June 1993 to commemorate the Archbishop's visit to the islands:-

  Carey was succeeded by Rowan Williams in 2002 but I am not aware of any stamps having been issued which featured him but his successor, Justin Welby, who became Archbishop in February 2013, has already made a philatelic appearance - on a label attached to a 2013 Christmas stamp issued by Tristan Da Cunha on 18 November 2013. The stamp itself depicts Canterbury Cathedral:-

  The portrait of Archbishop Welby featured on the label shows how remarkably he resembles Archbishop Carey as depicted on the Seychelles stamps depicted above.

332. Mediterranean Christmases.

  Malta's set of 3 Christmas stamps and accompanying miniature sheet was issued on 18 November 2013 and depict the mechanical crib at Jesus of Nazareth Institute in Zejtun. The stamps were designed by Malta Post and printed in lithography by Printex of Malta:-

  A miniature sheet containing a single stamp was issued on 29 October 2013 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the founding of the International Red Cross by Henri Dunant. The sheet was designed by Malta Post and lithographed by Printex:-

   A stamp with label attached was released on 18 October 2013 to mark the "Maltex 2013" Philatelic Exhibition":-

  After several issue-less month, Cyprus released a booklet on 13 November 2013 on the subject of "Spanos and the 40 Dragons", a children's story about a young man who boasted about his bravery and was challenged to prove it by his fellow villagers by slaying the 40 dragons who had cut the village off from its water supply. The design is depicted below:-

       

  Cyprus also released its set of 3 Christmas stamps on 13 November 2013. These continue the theme of children with the designs being produced by local young people:-

       

       

                                         

  The US-based Philatelic Collector Inc. "Boutique Stamp Agency" has produced yet another long list of new philatelic items on behalf of the three countries whose philatelic programmes it controls, all located in the South Pacific area. The latest philatelic products for Tonga are 3 items released on 13 November 2013, designed by Alison Ditko, which depict angels from classic paintings:-

  Perhaps the most interesting release from Tonga was that which was issued on 12 November 2013 which consists of 7 items to commemorate the accession of the new King of Tonga, Tupou VI Ko Ene'Afio. Clearly an issue of local interest and importance, this is one set of 2013 which I will add to my collection of Tonga stamps:-

   Of course there is also an additional Christmas set issued with the name of the island of Niuafo'ou inscribed on the items.

   So far, then, Tonga and its appendage, Niuafo'ou, have had 72 stamps and 14 miniature sheets produced on their behalf during 2013. Even more prolific than the items produced on behalf of Tonga are those printed in the name of Cook Islands. A set of 2 stamps was released on 8 November 2013 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the US President Kennedy:-

  Potential profits for the agency are swelled by the production of items with the names of individual islands additionally printed on them. Thus we have another pair of items produced to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's assassination which are inscribed "Aitutaki Cook Islands". These were also released on 8 November 2013:-

  There is also a pair of items produced for Aitutaki Cook Islands which commemorate Christmas 2013. The agency's website is keen to emphasise that this pair of items is printed with face values that actually represent local mail rates - how wonderful to have items which may really be of practical use if an Aitutakian wants to send a real letter! The date of issue was 18 November 2013:-

  However, fear not, if the sale of philatelic items which actually represent real postal rates does not result in a substantial enough profit for the philatelic agency, a miniature sheet containing 3 higher face value items is also included in the issue:-

  Items have also been produced with the inscription "Penrhyn Northern Cook Islands" and again Kennedy's assassination is the subject of 2 items. These are clearly aimed at the US philatelic market. Once more, the date of issue was 8 November 2013:-

   There are also 2 philatelic items and an accompanying miniature sheet with the Penrhyn inscription to commemorate Christmas 2013 - they were released on 18 November 2013:-

   Twelve new philatelic items have also been produced for Penrhyn Northern Cook Islands which represent the second part of a fish-themed "definitive", total cost of over US$30:-

  although that cost is doubled by the production of a sheetlet which combines all 12 philatelic items within its edges. The date of issue was 11 November 2013. So far during 2013, Cook Islands and appendages have had 115 "stamps" and 12 miniature sheets produced on their behalf.

  The final Cook Islands item to be offered for sale in this batch of products is yet another miniature sheet which commemorates "China International Collection Expo 2013" in the same design as described in Blog 328 but this item is inscribed "Rarotonga Cook Islands". The date of issue was 26 November 2013:-