2673. 🇸🇭 Ascension’s Masked Booby Issue.

 

New issues -

🇸🇭 Postal service of Ascension Island -

3 March 2025 - The masked booby - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet containing all 4 stamps. Designed by Bee Design and lithographed by Cartor and perforated 13.5 x 13. Production coordinated by Creative Direction. Thanks to Isle Of Man Post Office for information about this issue. Rating:- *****.

Commonwealth countries and territories which are not known to have yet issued, or had issued on their behalf, any legitimate postage stamps during 2025 -

Anguilla 

Antigua and Barbuda 

Ascension

Australia Cocos (Keeling) Islands

Bahamas

Barbados 

Belize

Botswana 

British Antarctic Territory 

British Indian Ocean Territory 

British Virgin Islands 

Brunei Darussalam 

Cameroon 

Cayman Islands 

Cook Islands including Rarotonga

Cook Islands Aitutaki 

Cook Islands Penrhyn 

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus 

Dominica 

Falkland Islands 

Gabon 

Ghana

Gibraltar 

Grenada 

Grenada Carriacou and Petite Martinique 

Guyana 

Jamaica 

Kenya 

Kingdom of eSwatini 

Kiribati 

Lesotho 

Malawi 

Maldives 

Mauritius 

Montserrat 

Mozambique 

Namibia

Nauru 

Nevis 

New Zealand Ross Dependency 

Nigeria 

Niue

Papua New Guinea 

Pitcairn Islands

Rwanda

St Helena 

St Kitts/St Kitts Nevis

Saint Lucia 

St Vincent and The Grenadines 

Samoa 

Seychelles 

Sierra Leone 

Solomon Islands 

South Africa 

The Gambia

Togo

Tokelau 

Tonga

Tonga Niuafo’ou 

Trinidad And Tobago 

Tristan Da Cunha 

Turks And Caicos Islands 

Tuvalu 

Uganda

United Republic of Tanzania 

Vanuatu 

Zambia 

Therefore, at the end of February, 67 (76.1%) of Commonwealth philatelic entities appear to have not issued, or not had issued on their behalf, any legitimate postage stamps during 2025 compared with 81.8% at the end of January 2025 and 69.3%  at the end of February 2024.

2672. 🇬🇮 Gibraltar’s Snake And Cat Issues.

 

New issues -

🇬🇮 Royal Gibraltar Post Office -

20 March 2025 - Domestic cats - 6 stamps (cost - £7.95) and 1 miniature sheet (cost - £7.95) containing all 6 stamps. Designed by Stephen Perera and lithographed by Cartor. Rating:- *. An attractive set featuring some very fine felines but given the RGPO’s excessive issuing why release this set at this moment?

20 March 2025 - Chinese New Year, Year of the Snake - 6 stamps and 1 miniature sheet containing all 6 stamps. Designed by Stephen Perera from illustrations by Rising Design Lab and lithographed by Cartor. Rating:- 0. Pleasant illustrations but what is the relevance of Chinese new year to Gibraltar and why release the issue one month after the Chinese new year celebrations have ended?

🇮🇳 India Post - 

My Stamps, personalised stamps sold by India Post at a premium usually in sheets of 12 with attached labels.

February 2025 - Commemoration of Bajiprabhu Deshpande - 1 stamp.

February 2025 - 60th anniversary of Dwaraka Doss Goverdan Doss Vaishnav College, Chennai 1 stamp.

2671. 🇿🇼 2024 Zimbabwe Issue Depicts Wire Toys.

 

New Issues -

🇿🇼 Zim Post (postal service of Zimbabwe) -

30 September 2024 - Wire toys - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet containing all 4 stamps. Lithographed. Rating:- *****.

🇨🇾 Cyprus Post -

27 February 2025 - Motorcycles - 4 stamps printed in sheets of 8 stamps. Lithographed. Rating:- *****.

27 February 2025 - Refugee stamp - 1 stamps printed in. Lithographed. Rating:- *****.

Postal rates -

🇮🇲 Isle Of Man Post Office -

2670. 🇮🇲 Isle Of Man’s Knox Issue Balloons In Cost.

 

New Issues -

🇮🇳 India Post -

February 2025 - Personalised My Stamps usually sold in sheetlets of 12 with attached labels at a premium price.

The Waghnakh, medieval weapon from Maharastra - 1 stamp.

February 2025 - Commemoration of Tanaji Malusare, fighter against the Mughals - 1 stamp. 

February 2025 - Birth centenary of the late Shri Mulchand G Shah, philanthropist - 1 stamp.

🇴🇲 Oman Post -

21 February 2025 - Joint issue with Singapore Post, 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Oman and Singapore (see Blog 2663) - 1 stamp issued in a sheetlet of 8. Lithographed. Rating:- ****.

🇮🇲 Isle Of Man Post Office -

27 February 2025 - ‘Archibald Knox Order and Beauty’. This issue was featured in Blog 2657 where I mentioned that I could not find any reason for such an issue to be released at this particular time but publicity put out by the IOM PO on 21 February 2025 relates this issue to a major exhibition at the Manx Museum to open on the 5 April, and to run for a year, of many of Knox’s notable art works. This seems a good enough reason to me though sadly it now appears that there are to be more philatelic items to be released as part of this issue. 

The basic set of 10 stamps featured in Blog 2657 which will be issued as a gummed sheetlet of 10 and will cost £12.34. There will also be 2 booklets each of 10 self-adhesive stamps costing respectively £9 (10 x 90p) and £10 (10 x £1) and a ‘Prestige booklet’ which will cost £24.68 including a pane of the 10 stamps from the booklet which will be sold separately for £12.34, making a grand total for those who really must have ‘one of everything’ of £68.36. 

All this additional trumpery moonshine ensures this issue remains rated:- *.

As if all the above were not bad enough -

14 January 2025 - 60th anniversary of the Isle of Man Arts Council - 10 stamps from sheets (previously featured in Blog 2637). In addition to the basic set of 10 stamps (cost £ ) there is also a coil of 10 self-adhesive stamps of varying values reproducing the designs of the basic set and sold by Isle Of Man Stamps and Coins for £11.15. Rating:- *

2669. 🇮🇪 Irish Republic’s St Patrick’s Festival Issue.

 

New Issues -

🇮🇪 An Post (postal service of the Republic of Ireland) -

20 February 2025 - St Patrick’s Day Festival - 4 self-adhesive stamps. Designed by Detail and lithographed by Enschedé in sheetlets of 4 (one of each stamp). Rating:- ***. 

🇵🇰 Pakistan Post -

20;February 2025 - 60th anniversary of the first flight between Pakistan and China - 1 stamp and 1 miniature sheet containing 3 different stamps. Designed by Omair Obaid (stamp) and Iftikar Amad (miniature sheet) and lithographed by National Security Printing Company Karachi and perforated 13. Rating:- ***.