2740. 🇰🇪 Kenya Commemorates 8 Years Of Chinese Railway Collaboration..

 

New Issues -

🇰🇪 Posta Kenya -

10 June 2025 - 8th anniversary of collaboration with the Chinese People’s Republic in Kenya’s standard gauge railway - 8 stamps. Lithographed by Cartor. Rating:- *****.

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

19 June 2025 - ‘Art on a stamp’, definitives (part 3) - 4 self-adhesive stamps sold in a coil and 1 self-adhesive stamp sold in a booklet of 10 or as a pair for collectors. Designed by Zinc Design and printed by HP Indigo High Resolution Print by CCL Label Ireland Ltd. Rating:- ****.

1882. 🇯🇪 Jersey Post Recalls The 1990s.

 🇯🇪  Jersey Post will issue a set of 6 stamps and 2 miniature sheets, one containing all 6 stamps and the other a single stamp, on 14 July on the subject of 1990s Culture, an ongoing series stamps of looking at local culture over recent decades. This issue seems to emphasise the extraordinarily superficial nature of recent western culture finding little more to feature than confectionery and boy bands. It is also emphasises the triviality of so many subjects featured on recent stamp issues from postal services such as Jersey Post. The designs are by various artists - 54p by Mark Ward, 74p by Laura Callaghan, 88p by David Downton, £1 by eBoy, £1.25 by Serge Sedlitz and £1.30 by Joshua Budich. The designs confirm that the 1990s was a decade well worth remembering (possibly) by the inhabitants of Jersey.

  Sadly this is yet just another forgettable set that Jersey Post has managed to secrete to add to its enormous list of philatelic secretions of recent years. Rating:- 0.

  🇵🇰 Meanwhile, an altogether different kettle of fish from the postal service of Pakistan, with the issue on 21 May 2021 of a se-tenant pair of hexagonal stamps which commemorate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of its diplomatic relations with The People’s Republic Of China. These designs by Mughiz Khan must be some of the least interesting of the year depicting as they do views of two sea ports. The issue was lithographed by National Security Printing Company Karachi and the stamps are perforated 13. Rating:- *.

🇮🇳 India Post is expected to release a single stamp on 10 June 2021 as a joint issue with the German postal service to commemorate the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The design depicts German and Indian dancers as well as important monuments in the two countries. Rating:- ***.

1733. 🇯🇪 Jersey Post Recalls The 1980s.

🇯🇪 Jersey Post will issue a set of 6 stamps and 2 miniature sheets (1 containing a single stamp and the other the 6 stamps in the set) on the subject of the 1980s popular culture on 6 October 2020. The issue was designed by Hat Trick Design (London) Ltd and printed in lithography. This issue would be perfectly acceptable if only Jersey Post did not issue so many other sets during the year but when there are so many it seems like this is just another excessive issue. Rating:- *.

Jersey Post will also issue its strip of 6 Coastal flowers Post and Go stamps with an additional inscription ‘Virtual Autumn/Stampex 2020’ from 1 to 3 October 2020 from the JE03 kiosk. These items commemorate the postal administration having “a booth at this innovative philatelic event”.The sales period is very limited but at least the items are being dispensed in Jersey rather than in London where they would have no postal validity. Rating:- *.

🇬🇬 Guernsey Post will also issue a strip of its 6 Fishing Boat Post and Go stamps from its vending machine at Envoy House in St Peter Port (GG02) with the additional inscription ‘Virtual Autumn/Stampex 2020’ on 1 to 3 October 2020 which, as for Jersey Post’s issue, makes for a very limited sale period. But at least they are being sold from a machine in Guernsey rather than in London where they have no postal validity which is usually the case with these Channel Island Stampex souvenirs. Rating:- *.

🇲🇾 Pos Malaysia issued a Personalised Setemku sheet of 10 different stamps on 10 September 2020 on the subject of the fashion of a company called FashionValet. Similar clothes to these, I assume, will be featured on any future Jersey Post set commemorating popular culture of the 2020s.

🇵🇳 From 20 September 2020 the Pitcairn Islands Philatelic Bureau in Wellington in New Zealand will cease to operate and sales of the stamps of Pitcairn Island will be handled by Tower Mint in London. Tower Mint will also run a programme of coinage issues for Pitcairn.

726. Absolutely Fabulous - More Style Queen Stamps From Pobjoy.

  Pobjoy Stamps/Creative Direction has highlighted the designs of 2 further sets of stamps to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday. The issues - from the British Virgin Islands postal administration and Falklands Post Service Ltd. - take the form of sets of 4 with accompanying miniature sheets again on the subject of "90 Years of Royal Style". Some spectacular photographs of the Queen dressed in eye-catching costumes and often in memorable poses, are used for the designs and emphasise just how clever Creative Direction and the designers it uses are in producing extremely original and memorable stamps. Both issues will be released on the Queen's birthday (21 April 2016).

  The stamps were designed by Bee Design and lithographed by BDT International Security Printers and perforated 14. The upcoming issues from Ascension Island and Bahamas are detailed in Blog 724. Similarly themed sets will be issued by 3 other territories - presumably Tristan Da Cunha, South Georgia And The South Sandwich Islands and British Antarctic Territory (details awaited). Rating:- ****** (yes, 6 stars!)

  The set of 12 bird definitive stamps issued on 11 November 2016 by the St. Helena postal administration (see Blog 721) appears to have been issued in a sheetlet of one of each value as depicted below:-

  The issue is featured at last on the St. Helena Post Office and Philatelic Bureau website as are other previously mentioned recent issues and dates of issue are now provided. As can be seen from the imprint on the lower border of the Birds sheet printing was carried in lithography by BDT International Security Printers.

  1 January 2016 - Construction of new airport on St. Helena (2nd issue) (see Blog 705)

  1 February 2016 - Bicentenary of the arrival of Napoleon Bonaparte at St. Helena (1815) at the start of his exile on the island after his final defeat at the Battle of Waterloo:-

  The miniature sheet issued by India Post which was mentioned in Blog 720 and which is part of a joint issue with the United Nations to promote gender equality is depicted below:-

  The new set of definitive stamps (see Blogs 682, 686 and 706) on the subject of "Makers of India" which has been issued recently now consists of 12 stamps - 1 x 25 paise featuring Mahatma Gandhi, 1 x 50 paise (Subramania Bharati), 9 x Rs5 (Lal Bahadur Shastri, Jayaprakash Narayan, Deendayal Upadhyaya, Rajendra Prasad, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Bhagat Singh, Ram Manohar Lohia, Swami Vivekananda, Moulana Abul Kalam Azad) and 1 x Rs10 (Chmatrapati Shri Shivali Maharaji):-

  India Post also issued 2 new stamps in a se-tenant pair with an accompanying miniature sheet on 13 March 2016 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Allahabad Supreme Court. It's difficult to get excited about Indian stamps at the moment which are generally rather boring both in subject matter and design. The subjects chosen to be commemorated on the stamps seem to have a strong thread of political influence running through them. Rating:- **.

  Having issued no new stamps during 2015, the Malawi Post Office is planning to issue 5 sets during 2016:- 

6 April 2016 - Fish of Malawi

27 May 2016 - Indigenous birds of Malawi

6 July 2016 - Wild fruits of Malawi

6 August 2016 - Endangered animals of Malawi

9 October 2016 - Herbs of Malawi.