575. Attractive British Postal Museum Souvenirs From Europhilex.

 My favourite souvenirs of Europhilex Stamp Exhibition 2015 are the 2 covers sold at the stand of the  British Postal  Museum and Archive (BPMA) with their souvenir "Post And Go" labels applied to them which had been released at the museum on 6 May 2015 to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the  world's first postage stamp, the Penny Black. Although I do not usually buy the "Post And Go" souvenir labels produced at an increasing number of museums I thought that these 2 covers made attractive and interesting souvenirs of a visit to Europhilex and provided an apt way of including examples of the museum's labels in my collection.

  I particularly liked the cover postmarked 13 May 2015 which commemorated Europhilex and which depicted a cover addressed to Malta with 5 Twopenny Blues attached to it. The two European rate labels were used appropriately on this cover and the cover demonstrated what a better use of one's cash it would be to save up to obtain some glorious old classic item for one's own collection than to constantly squander it on items churned out by certain notorious modern philatelic agencies or from machines situated at foreign philatelic exhibitions in countries where those items have no postal validity.

  The second of the covers commemorates the Penny Black's 175th anniversary and is illustrated with a portrait of Rowland Hill. The cover has an example of the museum's 1st class rate Penny Black Post And Go label and an example of the second class rate label with a 6 May 2015 cancellation. Again it is an interesting cover and a pleasing souvenir:-

  As mentioned in Blog 531, some Intelligent A R "Post And Go" kiosks (A006 and GG01) turned up at the Essen Stamp Fair  in Germany from 7 to 9 May 2015 prior to their appearance at the Europhilex Stamp Exhibition 2015 in London. Long suffering completist collectors of these exhibition souvenir labels (they of course had no postal validity in Germany) found themselves faced with the need to buy 3 Collectors' strips - 2 produced in the name of Royal Mail (the Machin Head labels with code MA13 and the Union Jack labels) and the third produced in the name of Guernsey Post (the Guernsey Flag labels). Ho hum:-

  Botswana Post issued a set of stamps and 1 miniature sheet on 24 February 2015 to commemorate the Okavanga's status as a World Heritage Site:-

  Australia Post's next issue will be released on 26 May 2015 on the subject of "Colours of the Australian Antarctic Territory". The issue of 4 gummed stamps and 1 miniature sheet is inscribed "Australian Antarctic Territory" and was designed by Jo Mure and lithographed by RA Printing:-

  Bhutan Post released an interesting issue on 29 April 2015 which was made up of 1 sheetlet of 8 different stamps and 1 accompanying miniature sheet on the subject of the remarkable polymath, Drubthop Thangtong Gyalpo, who, among other achievements, was a builder of iron chain bridges in Tibet and Bhutan as well as being a notable physician. Bhutan Post co-operated with the German Bhutan Himalaya Society and Permemed Switzerland:-