Some Surprise Diamond Jubilee Stamps & Other Issues.

Universal Mail United Kingdom has issed a large number of new booklets of stamps for use by tourists on postcards to overseas raising the number which it has now released to a total of 68 booklets, the cost of each being £4.35 currently for 5 stamps (equating to a cost of 87p for sending a postcard overseas). Most designs feature tourist attractions in various regions, or cities popular with tourists, of The United Kingdom but one interesting booklet has been released to commemorate the diamond jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II and in my view fully qualifies for inclusion in a collection of stamps issued to mark the important royal anniversary. Over the next few days I shall add all the new issues to the Universal Mail UK checklist which appears on the 19 June 2012 blog but below are some examples of the latest issues:-

Booklet UK 0066 The National Gallery

Booklet UK0048 West Midlands

Booklet UK0064 North Wales

Booklet UK 0065 Severn Valley Railway

New Zealand Post has also been responsible for a new Diamond Jubilee-related philatelic item - a miniature sheet issued on 12 October 2012 to coincide with the Blenpex national stamp exhibition to be held in the town of Blenheim. Three of the New Zealand Diamond Jubilee stamps are included in the miniature sheet and so this is another item to add to a Diamond Jubilee collection.

      

On 5 September 2012, New Zealand Post also issued 4 WWF stamps for Niue which depict various sea fans. The stamps are also available in se-tenant format and in a miniature sheet.

On 2 October 2012, Isle Of Man will issue a miniature sheet to commemorate the centenary of Robert Scott's ultimately tragic expedition to the South Pole. Royal Mail issued a single stamp earlier this year in the miniature sheet which accompanied the final set of British monarchs stamps- clearly they judged the bravery of Scott and his colleagues to be of less importance in the history of Britain than the work of the children's book writer, Roald Dahl, who was commemorated by a set of 6 stamps, a miniature sheet and a prestige booklet (price £11.47p) less than a month before the solitary Scott expedition item appeared. The Isle Of Man issue redresses the balance a little.

Also to come from The Isle Of Man on 20 October 2012 are 6 gummed and 2 self-adhesive stamps for use on Christmas mail on the theme of a traditional Christmas:-

and 6 stamps on 20 September 2012 to commemorate the centenary of the Royal Flying Corps:-

Gibraltar issued another item for Diamond Jubilee stamp collectors on 14 September 2012 which commemorated the royal visit of The Earl and Countess of Wessex to Gibraltar to mark the Diamond Jubilee. The Earl is the Queen's youngest son.

On the same date, the territory also issued 4 excellent stamps to commemorate the bicentenary of the birth if the writer, Charles Dickens:-

and a set of 5 stamps and yet another miniature sheet which depicted old views of the territory:-

Tonga and Niuafo'ou have had another outpouring of new issues (dates of issue not yet known):-

Above is a $20 miniature sheet which depicts former Tongan monarchs and marks the death of King George Tupou V (see blog of 17 May 2012). Two sheetlets have been issued which depict the flags of the countries which attended the Pacific Islands Forum (a total of 30 stamps).

and, according to the Tongan Post Office's philatelic agents, at the request of the Tongan Post Office an express delivery $25 stamp which depicts owls has been issued. Oh, I forget to mention, there is not one $25 stamp but four of them and they are also issued in miniature sheet format so that even though the Tongan Post Office wanted one Express Delivery stamp, the philatelic agents have managed to produce eight stamps costing the stamp collector not $25 but $200!

And if that was not enough, the agency has also produced 4 similar stamps and an accompanying miniature sheet with the name of Niuafo'ou printed on them making a total cost of $400!

As if to show that they are really decent stamp producers fulfilling the needs of the client post office, 2 very modestly priced stamps have been produced (one each for Tonga and Niuafo'ou) on the subject of eduction

but unable to resist further exploitation, 2 very old miniature sheets have been dug out and overprinted in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales and both surcharged to much higher face values than they previously were.

Finally, the same agents have produced an new issue for their other client territory, The Cook Islands, and this issue, too, commemorates the Pacific Forum and uses the same designs as the Tonga set (why go to the cost of producing fresh designs for your client when you've already had to pay for one that you can use again at no extra cost?) So far in 2012, Tonga with Niuafo'ou has "issued" 94 stamps and 15 miniature sheets, not quite up to Stamperija totals but getting there.