In Blog 698 I highlighted the Australia Post Adelaide 2016 "emergency" issue of 6 x 30c counter-printed stamps which were sold between 5 and 9 January 2016 to make up for a shortfall of the value which occurred with the massive hike in Australian postal rates from 70c to $1 which occurred at the beginning of the year.
The first of these rare strips of stamps has now been sold on an Internet auction website and after a week on sale and final frenzied bidding, the 6 stamps have been sold for A$1061.11c - yes, more than A$1000 (exactly £521.30p)! When I looked at the auction website to see the final price I was as jolted by the result of this auction as I was when the BBC revealed the exit poll results of last year's British general election which were completely different from the predicted outcome up till then and stunned the pundits.
This is a remarkable price for a new issue though of course the stamps of Australia remain a popular area for collectors. It will be interesting to see for how much future examples are sold and if the price has already peaked or indeed, if it's got further to go.
The Norvic Philatelics Blog reveals some interesting news about Royal Mail "Post and Go" issues - Kiosk M001 is to be installed at the British Forces Post Office (BFPO) Headquarters in RAF Northolt. The kiosk will not be available for use by the general public and will dispense stamps to personnel on the base only at first. "Weigh and Vend" scales and other equipment will be installed later as the trial progresses.
It will be interesting to see if this is the start of the provision of special stamps for the British Forces Post Office which I think is a very good idea - I would particularly like to see issues for the Sovereign Bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia since they actually form a completely separate British Overseas Territory, albeit ruled by a military administration, and the only such territory not to have its own distinctive postage stamps.
The Norvic Philatelics Blog also reveals that IAR "Post and Go" kiosks A006 and A008 respectively will be installed in the RAF museums at RAF Hendon (as predicted in Blog 678) and RAF Cosford in Shropshire in March 2016. The kiosks will vend Machin Head and Union Jack labels with the added inscription "Royal Air Force".
Actually the British bases in Cyprus are British sovereign territory and are not 'Overseas Territories'. They are as much a part of the UK as military bases in England, so do not need any special stamps.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I would not claim to be expertly informed on the status of Akrotiri and Dhekelia but all my reading about the territory's status on the Internet seems to say that Akrotiri and Dhekelia is indeed an Overseas Dependent Territory which is made up by the Sovereign Bases with,of course, a military administration. The issue of whether it "needs" special stamps because "it is as much a part of the UK as military bases in England" is not really relevant - most stamps that are currently issued are not "needed" but "need" does not usually provide a barrier to the issue of stamps. Stamps for "England" are not "needed" though they are issued (even though there are stamps for The United Kingdom of which England is a part) - indeed the England stamps seem to be seen only rarely in English post offices and used on mail even more rarely.
DeleteDespite lack of "need" for such stamps, a series of stamps for Akrotiri and Dhekelia sold by the British Forces Post Office could be very interesting and popular with stamp collectors. Provision of Post and Go kiosks at the military post offices in the territory, following on from that to be installed at RAF Notholt, would be very interesting and fulfill a greater postal need than the kiosks situated in various museums.
Many thanks for your comment.
Best wishes.