642. How To Make Your Customers Happy.

  A couple of days ago, I received a cover from Isle Of Man Stamps And Coins which contained a brochure which publicised its "Longest Reigning Monarch" issue. I noted that, unusually, it had postage stamps attached to it - 2 values from the set issued to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II - and, excitingly, a cancel which commemorated the achievement of Queen Elizabeth II in becoming the longest reigning British monarch in history. 

  Then I examined it in more detail and found that both the stamps and the postmark were actually preprinted on the cover. I was not at all disappointed. I appreciated greatly being sent this unusual item of postal stationary rather than th usual run-of-the-mill envelopes which are used to send out publicity and will be delighted to add it to my Isle Of Man collection. And for once it cost me nothing. I felt like a very happy customer of The Isle of Man Post Office and thought -"That's the way to do business".

  In the same post I received my latest shipment of stamps of the Commonwealth countries of southern Africa which I obtain from an excellent South African dealer who trades on internet auction sites as 15dsouth. As well as being a reliable and fair-priced seller he takes a lot of trouble in sending the items he sells to his customers in interesting covers with a range of up-to-date stamps on them. 

   My latest new issues were sent in a particularly interesting cover as shown below and I was interested to find that he had used 2 stamps from the former home land, Venda, on the cover together with a range of South Africa stamps thus producing a splendid combination cover. I did not realise that the stamps from the 4 "home land" territories were still valid for postage in South Africa.

  Needless to say 15dsouth had ensured that he had produced a very happy customer by taking the trouble to put this cover together. That's the way to do business.

  Finally, again in the same postal delivery, I received the most recently issued stamps of Nigeria from the British dealer Nigel Haworth. Nigel frequently is able to provide modern Commonwealth new issues that often other dealers fail to obtain. He retired a couple of years or so ago which was a terrible blow as I feared I would never be able to obtain again some of the rarely available new issues that he had provided me with in the past.

  But he did not stay away for long and I was pleased to start to receive his price lists again, most of which usually include a few almost-impossible-to-obtain new issue gems. My latest package contained the rarely offered Nigeria Centenary of Independence set and imperforate miniature sheet of 2014 (see Blog 499O) as well as the pair of stamps released as a joint issue with Phillipines (see Blog 368). Again, I was a very happy customer. Offering rare and hard-to-obtain stamps to your customers rather than rubbish churned out by exploitative agencies - that's the way to do business!

  Moving on, I now depict the set of 4 stamps issued by the Kiribati postal administration which commemorated the Singapore 2015 philatelic exhibition and which was mentioned in Blogs 602 and 641. Rating:- ***

  Isle Of Man Post Office will issue a set of 6 stamps on 28 September 2015 on a somewhat unusual subject - the 150th anniversary of the Isle Of Man Companies Act. It is not a subject that has broad appeal to stamp collectors but at least the subject has important local relevance although whether it was necessary to issue as many as 6 stamps on the subject is debateable. The stamp designs, by Emma Cooke, are probably a little over-busy but do at least tell a story of local interest. The issue was lithographed by BDT International Security Printers. Rating:- ***.

  Recently offered for sale on an Internet auction site was a set of 2 sheetlets (each of 4 different stamps) with 2 accompanying miniature sheets on the subject of "Owls of Central America and the Caribbean" originating from the philatelic agents for St. Kitts. A number of different species are depicted on these items though there is only one species of owl which is actually to be found on the island - the Burrowing owl.

  I find these sort of items to be very annoying - doubtless there a large number of collectors who specialise in stamps which depict owls but I cannot understand why people want to buy items which depict creatures which have no connection with the territory whose name appears on the "stamps" - don't they sense that they might be being exploited? Rating:- 0.

  And on the subject of irrelevance of subject matter to the country whose name appears on the philatelic item, IGPC has announced that it will soon release "new issues" on the subject of the visit of Pope Francis to The United States. It seems to me that this is a subject of relevance to the postal administrations of only 2 territories - The USA and The Holy See - and I can not imagine what possible reasons other countries would have for allowing philatelic products to be released in their names apart from perceived financial profit for their philatelic agency related to a popular subject. Despite the efforts of the Stanley Gibbons Catalogue editor (see Blog 640) and many others, the cynical release of numerous irrelevant issues appears to continue unabated.

621. Turkish Cyprus Issues Charming Cats And Dogs Set.

  The postal administration of The Turkish Republic Of Northern Cyprus issued a set of 4 stamps on 5 August 2015 on the subject of Cats and Dogs. The issue was designed by Huseyin Billur and Gorel Korol Sonmezer and printed in lithography by the State Printers, Lefkosa. Rating:- *****.

  I suppose I was rather naive to believe Australia Post would be selling 6 different miniature sheets at the Singapore 2015 philatelic exhibition - a different design on each day of the show - when it announced that 6 miniature sheets would be sold to commemorate the event. Well, Australia Post did indeed produce 6 sheets but all the same design! 

  So collectors minded to pay money for these items where the producer could not even be bothered to present the buyer with a fresh design on each day (each item with a face value of $4.50c) will find that the only way to tell the difference between each miniature sheet is to look at the lower right corner where an inscription is placed saying "Day 1", "Day 2", "Day 3" and so on. This approach is verging on the cynical - very little effort being put into providing a worthwhile product no doubt expecting that collectors will buy whatever is put in their way providing they can keep their collection complete. My rating of the issue:- 0. There will be no space in my collection for this stuff:-

Day 2

Day 3.

Day 4.

Day 5.

  Gibraltar Stamps will release the 4th isssue of its ongoing RAF Squadrons series on 31 August 2015. The issue will consist of 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet of 4 different stamps and was designed by Stephen Perera from artwork by John Batchelor and printed in lithography by BDT International Security Printers. Rating:- ****.

  Gibraltar Stamps will then release a set of 6 YouStamps (3 at internal domestic rate, 'G', at 3 at the European rate, 'E') on 9 September 2015. The purpose of the items is to aid personalisation of an individual's mail. 

  The Moorish Castle design is used for both internal and European rate stamps and both issues have the SEPAC inscription as recorded in Blog 618. The set was designed by Stephen Perera from photography by Stephen Perera and Nicholas Ferrary and lithographed by BDT. Rating:- ***

SEPAC stamps

620. IGPC's China Syndrome.

  I now illustrate more recently announced philatelic products released by IGPC, a US-based philatelic agency which also has a Beijing office, and issued in the name of the Commonwealth Queen's Realm of Grenada. 

  The first is an extraordinary set of 15 different stamps which between them depict a huge military parade through the streets of Beijing complete with tanks, marching soldiers, heavy guns mounted on vehicles and rocket launchers. The issue has been released "to honour China". The total face value is EC$ 67.50c (£15.93p). The date of issue is said to have been 3 August 2015.

   If Grenada wishes to honour The People's Republic Of China on its stamps, and it may well wish to for all I know, surely the producers of its stamps could have produced a more suitable subject to link the 2 countries than an enormous military parade. Then again, I don't suppose the Grenadan postal administration has had much input into the design of these philatelic products. Clearly these "stamps" have been produced with the sole aim of appealing to the large Chinese philatelic market and trying to increase sales there rather than having any consideration for what sort of stamps Grenadans may wish to stick on their mail. Rating:- 0.

  A second set inscribed "Grenada" from IGPC which is also clearly aimed at the Chinese philatelic market (much of the inscription is in Mandarin) is a set of 5 "stamps" which depicts Allied World War II leaders (De Gaulle, Churchill and Roosevelt together with Stalin plus Mao Zedong). The hatched shading of the stamps' background suggests that the designer of the Beijing military parade set was also responsible for these items, each with a face value of EC$ 4.50c (total $22.50c or £5.31p). In modern times, Stalin is viewed in the West at least, as a monster responsible for the death of millions of people and so I'm sure that Grenadans will be delighted to see his image depicted on one of their stamps. The stated date of issue is 3 August 2015. Rating:- 0.

  The IGPC website says that "one third of the world's philatelists reside" in China and that "always on the lookout for opportunities to expand the stamp markets of its government clients, IGPC was the first  foreign philatelic agent to open a permanent office in China". "From the capital of Beijing, IGPC promotes the sales of its clients' postage stamps, while facilitating consumer research amongst this grandiose population of collectors. The research here is used to devise stamp design and marketing strategies to boost sales in the Asian market, and ultimately greater income for the agency's government clients". 

  So it appears that research carried out in China dictates what will appear on stamps which are produced in the name of Grenada, Ghana and Papua New Guinea (but presumably not St. Vincent And The Grenadines and St. Kitts both of which have produced stamps emphasising diplomatic ties with Taiwan in recent years - though interestingly the latter set, issued over a year ago, has not yet  been promoted on the philatelic market since, one supposes, such an issue might annoy IGPC's mainland Chinese clients). This research in China has therefore, one assumes, identified that if Grenada 

has a large Chinese military parade depicted on its stamps along with the likes of Stalin and Mao Zedong then it will receive a "greater income" from its "boosted" philatelic sales. Interesting isn't it? 

  On the subject of St. Kitts, in Blog 618 I illustrated some recently released philatelic items from IGPC inscribed with the name of St. Kitts and I now add more illustrations of those issues:-

  3 August 2015 -  Bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo - 1 miniature sheet now illustrated:-

   3 August 2015 - Domestic cats - Sheetlet of 6 different stamps now illustrated:-

   3 August 2015 - Birth of Princess Charlotte of Cambridge - Sheetlet of 4 different stamps and 1 miniature sheet:-

   3 August 2015 - Singapore 2015 Philatelic Exhibition - Sheetlet of 4 different stamps and 1 m.s.:-

618. Australia Post To Issue Princess Charlotte Stamp.

  Australia Post will issue 1 gummed stamp from sheetlets of 10 and 1 self-adhesive stamp in booklets of 10 on 25 August 2015 to commemorate the birth of Princess Charlotte who is 4th in line to the throne of Australia. The stamp was designed by Jo Mure and lithographed by EGO. Rating:- **

  Royal Mail's "Post And Go" labels produced by kiosks A006 and A008 sited at the Singapore 2015 Philatelic Exhibition with the inscription "Singpex 2015 World Stamp Expo" appear to have the same inscriptions as those sold by the British Philatelic Bureau from kiosk B001. In both cases the Machin Head design has the code MA13 with there being no code on the Union Jack design. Therefore, apart from the code at the bottom of the label, there seems to be nothing of note to distinguish between the Singapore-printed labels and Philatelic Bureau-sold labels unlike, for instance, the labels produced 2 years ago for the Australia 2013 Exhibition where 2 different inscriptions were produced (see Blog 248).

  As usual, it's worth remembering that the labels produced at the Singapore 2015 Exhibition are being produced in a country where they have no postal validity but I suppose they are an interesting souvenir for any visitors to the exhibition. See also Blog 615. Rating:- 0.

  "Post And Go" enthusiasts also have the pleasure of knowing that a new series of labels will be available from 25 August 2015 produced by kiosk A010 which is newly situated at the railway museum "Steam GWR Museum" in Swindon. Collectors strips of the Machin Head and Union Jack labels will be dispensed with the unique identifier "STEAM GWR" inscribed on them. Presumably these items will have an appeal to collectors of railway-themed stamps.

  More new philatelic products from IGPC have been publicised though not all items have been illustrated. Philatelic products inscribed "St. Kitts":-

 1 June 2015 - Hummingbirds of St. Kitts - 1 x $1 stamp and 1 x $10 miniature sheet. Rating:- ***

 3 August 2015 - Singapore 2015 Philatelic Exhibition (Singapore Botanical Gardens) - 1 sheetlet of 4 different stamps and 1 x $10 miniature sheet. Rating:-**

 3 August 2015 - Birth of Princess Charlotte - 1 sheetlet of 4 different stamps and 1 x $10 miniature sheet. Rating:- **

 3 August 2015 - Domestic Cats - 1 sheetlet of 4 different stamps and 1 x $10 miniature sheet. Rating:- **

 3 August 2015 - 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo - 1 sheetlet of 4 stamps and 1 x $10 miniature sheet. Rating:-**

  The Gibraltar postal authorities will issue a single stamp on 7 September 2015 in the European postal rate as its contribution to the Sepac omnibus issue for 2015. The subject of this year's omnibus is "culture" and I suppose that this stamp is a rather clever interpretation of the subject reflecting as it does various cultures which have been relevant to Gibraltar during its history - thus the main part of the design depicts the Moorish Castle reflecting the influence of Islam on the territory and a small Union Jack is flown from the top of the castle which recalls the historic and present-day influence of the British. Rating:- ***.

  The postal administration of Pitcairn Islands will issue a miniature sheet containing 3 different stamps on 26 August 2015 on the subject of "The breadfruit saga", the story of the plan to gather breadfruit in the Pacific area for transport to the West Indies on board The Bounty on which voyage the crew under Fletcher Christian mutinied against Captain Bligh and cast him adrift and themselves finally settled on Pitcairn Island. Rating:- *****.