911. Black Pioneer Features On New Canada Post Stamp.

  🇨🇦 Among the latest new issues to be announced by Canada Post is a single stamp in its "Black History" series on the fascinating subject of Matthieu Da Costa, who is believed to be the first person of African descent to reach Canada who is recorded in existing documents. The stamp, self-adhesive and issued in booklets of 10, was designed by Andrew Perro from an illustration by Ron Dollekamp and lithographed by Canadian Bank Note. 

  Documents exist which record that Da Costa agreed to work for the French fur trader, explorer and Governor of Arcadia, Pierre Dugua de Mons, in 1608, the year Champlain founded the city of Quebec. No contemporary likeness of Da Costa exists but the designers worked with the Canadian historical illustrator Francis Back to ensure historical accuracy in the design elements such as Da Costa's clothing and the depicted ship. The stamp will be issued on 1 February 2017.  Rating:- *****.

  Finally, in the absence of a contemporary portrait of Da Costa, did the designers base their portrait of the pioneer on the actor, Idris Elba?:-

  Canada Post will then issue a set of 5 stamps on 4 February 2016 on the subject of Canadian opera and featuring Canadian opera singers. The stamps will be self-adhesive and issued in booklets of 10 (2 x 5 designs) and there will be an accompanying gummed miniature sheet. The issue was designed by Parcel using illustrations by Peter Strain and printed in lithography by Colour Innovations. Rating:- ****.

  Canada Post will then issue 2 stamps on 1 March 2017 in its "Flowers" series. The subject of the issues is Daisies and they are sold in 2 forms - self-adhesive from booklets of 10 5 x 2 designs) and self-adhesive from coils - plus a gummed miniature sheet containing the 2 stamps.

  The issue was designed by Debbie Adams and lithographed by Lowe-Martin. Rating:- *****.

  🇬🇧 Royal Mail's next issue is the £5 which commemorates the 65th anniversary of the succession of Queen Elizabeth II which will be released on 6 February 2017. Personally, I've long thought that Machin Head stamps have had their day but the Queen herself is said to like them and they give many collectors hours of fascinating study and collecting so who am I to moan about this latest offering? Rating:- ***.

  Royal Mail's first "Post and Go" issue of the year will be released on 15 February 2017 and, as previously reported, is titled "Mail by Rail". It's an excellent set and will be available in the usual formats - NCR kiosk-printed stamps from widespread post offices, IAR kiosk-printed stamps from Enquiry offices and from the Spring Stampex exhibition and from packs sold by the Philatelic Bureau. Rating:- *****.

   🇲🇿 Recently offered for sale on Delcampe was a very scarce set of stamps issued by the Mozambique postal service on 30 April 2004 which depicted "Minerals". I have never seen the set offered for sale anywhere before and my 1st edition of Stanley Gibbons Commonwealth Stamp Catalogue Southern and Central Africa does not quote a price for the set of four. These are not Stamperija produced items but locally designed in a very naive style and also locally printed.

  The 5000M value can be found rather more often with a **33,000 MT 33,00 Mtn surcharge applied.

910. Isle Of Man's Sapphire Jubilee Issue.

  🇮🇲 The postal service of Isle Of Man will issue a set of 6 stamps and 1 miniature sheet on 6 February 2016 to commemorate the 65th (sapphire) anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II. The stamps which are quite interesting depict The Queen on various overseas trips she has carried out including her visit to The Isle Of Man in 1979. The miniature sheet is on the subject of gifts made to The Queen and the single stamp contained in the sheet depicts the presentation to The Queen of a horse called Burmese by the Royal Mounted Canadian Police. The entire issue was designed by True North and lithographed by Lowe-Martin and perforated 14. Rating:- ***.

  The next issue from the Isle Of Man postal service will be released on 13 February 2017 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the first Manx general election to choose members of The House Of Keys, the Manx parliament. This seems like an interesting issue commemorating a worthwhile anniversary. The issue is made up of 4 stamps and was designed by EJC Design and lithographed by Lowe-Martin and perforated 14. Rating:- ****.

  🇬🇬 While the Isle Of Man postal service has got off to an excellent start in 2017 with its interesting and locally relevant new issues, the same can not be said for Guernsey Post which has released 6 stamps and 1 miniature sheet on the subject of the Chinese New Year, which really has no relevance to Guernsey, and additionally a gold foil miniature sheet reproducing the ordinary miniature sheet has also been released in a limited edition of 200 which Guernsey Post seems to think to be a reason for pricing the item at £95. Rating:- 0.

   🇬🇾 IGPC released an issue on 17 November 2016 in the name of Guyana which was on the subject of the World Wildlife Fund and depicting the Giant armadillo. The issue was made up of 4 different stamps printed in se-tenant strips as part of a sheetlet of 16 and there was also a miniature sheet containing 8 stamps (2 x 4 different values). The issue was designed by IGPC stamp department. Rating:- ***.

   🇬🇮 Royal Gibraltar Post Office/Gibraltar Stamps will issue 2 x £2 stamps in a se-tenant pair to commemorate the lunar new year, "Year of the Rooster" on 30 January 2017. The stamps were designed by Stephen Perera with credits for the illustration being given to cbsjena and siewhoong at I.stockphoto.com. The issue was lithographed by Cartor.

  There will be some lunar new year celebrations in Gibraltar this year but the issue is still pretty irrelevant to the territory. Rating:- 0.

909. Philatelic Food Fest Begins In Malaysia.

  🇲🇾 Pos Malaysia issued the first part of this year's special series of "Festival food" issues on 24 January 2017. The issue on the subject of food for the Lunar new year was made up of 3 stamps and 1 miniature sheet. The issue was designed by KY Lim of Reign Associates. The miniature sheet depicts a "Tray of Togetherness" and contains a single circular stamp. Rating:- *****.

  🇧🇼 One item I have overlooked up till now is a diamond-shaped miniature sheet issued by Botswana Post along with a set of 5 stamps which were released on 9 October 2016 on the subject of "50 Years of Botswana stamps". The ordinary stamps are depicted in Blog 843. Rating:- *****.

  That noble institution, Stamperija, has announced the release of more of its paraphilatelic products with the name of Commonwealth countries printed on them:-

  🇲🇿 Mozambique - "issued" 10 August 2016 - 15 sheetlets each containing 4 different "stamps" and 15 miniature sheets featuring The 90th Birth anniversary of Marilyn Monroe, "Stamps on stamps", Centenary of the Salvation Army in Mozambique, World Youth Day, Whales, Turtles, Tigers, Tall ships, Supersonic airlines, "Summer Games",  Prehistoric man, 135th Birth anniversary of Pablo Picasso, Orchids, Owls and Minerals. Rating:- 0.

  🇸🇱 Sierra Leone - "issued" 29 December 2016 - 10 sheetlets each containing 4 different "stamps" and 10 accompanying miniature sheets featuring Whales, Polar bears, Reef fishes, Corals, "Scouting and mushrooms" (!), Orchids, Butterflies, Endangered species, Dogs and Cats. Rating:- 0.

   *** Bogus stamps *** 

 🇸🇿 ☠️ It's bad enough that philatelic entities such as Royal Mail release a new set of stamps and miniature sheets with a face value of over £50 (see Blog 908) or that Stamperija and IGPC and others continue to peddle their wares on the new issue stamp market but there are also numerous bogus issues being sold on internet auction websites including some which have the names of Commonwealth countries printed on them. I drew attention to these issues and their characteristics in Blog 905 and I return to the subject having found a series of items for sale on the Delcampe auction site. These have the name of Swaziland printed on them and take the form of 5 "miniature sheets" which are imperforate and are on a subject of no direct relevance to Swaziland itself. The product description is in German and so I have no idea if the true bogus nature is mentioned since I have a scanty knowledge of the language. Regardless, the items depicted below are BOGUS and as such are valueless and should be avoided.