640. Australia's New Stamps Go Into Space; More Appendix Issues.

  Australia Post issued a set of 8 stamps and 1 miniature sheet on 22 September 2015 to mark "Stamp Week" and the subject is "Our Solar System". The stamps were designed by Jo Mure and lithographed by EGO Print. The cost of these items will be $9.80 but, as often happens, the price is boosted by the release of a $7.00 booklet of 10 x 70c stamps (in just 2 designs) and a booklet of 20 x 70c self-adhesive stamps (in 2 more different designs) sold for $14.00.

  Additionally the two 35c values are sold as a gummed se-tenant pair and can be obtained by buying a sheetlet of 50 (25 of each design) at a cost of $17.50c.

 Anyone feeling unable to resist buying a "complete collection" of the above will therefore need to fork out $48.30c. Rating:- **.

  In the Catalogue column included in the latest edition of Gibbons Stamp Monthly (October 2015) the editor has relegated another 33 Commonwealth stamp issues to the Catalogue's appendix section hence not according full catalogue status to the items. All of the philatelic products to suffer this fate have been released by IGPC and are inscribed with the names of Dominica, Grenada or Grenada Carriacou And Petit St. Vincent and were released on to the philatelic market in 2013 or 2014.

  The philatelic products which have been banished to the Catalogue's appendix all appear to feature subjects which have little or no relevance to the territories whose names are inscribed on them. This is all excellent news for collectors as many slavishly try to collect everything that is included in the full listing of the catalogue and if such items are not accorded full catalogue status then collectors feel less compelled to buy such items.

  By adopting this policy, the Gibbons Catalogue editor appears to be leading the way in the fight back against excessive issuing of new stamps. It would be pleasing if he took the bold step of turning his attention to more popular philatelic entities such as the British offshore islands or Australia (the latest issue detailed above illustrates the problem) where the proliferation of new stamp issues in the past couple of years has been scandalous. A number of issues from The Channel Islands and Isle Of Man have little or no relevance to those territories so to be consistent throughout the catalogue logically the editor should really treat those territories in a similar way as the excessive products emanating from New York or Lithuania.

  Issues consigned to the Appendix include:- Dominica Cats 2013 - 

  Grenada Animals of China 2014 - 

  Grenada Grenadines Chinese Folk Art 2014:-

  More philatelic products which presumably will not find a place in the Gibbon's Catalogue main listing have been released by the Lithuania-based philatelic agency, Stamperija. These items are inscribed with the name of Solomon Islands. This issue is made up of the usual 10 sheetlets each of 4 different "stamps" plus 10 accompanying "miniature sheets". The subjects depicted on these products are:- Rugby, The Journeys of Pope Francis (not including a visit to Solomon Islands, one notes), The Red Cross in Solomon Islands, Tennis, Scouting, Paintings by Jean-Francois Millet, Paintings by Vincent Van Gogh, Chess, Elvis Presley and Paintings by Camille Pissaro. The stated date of issue of these philatelic gems is 3 September 2015. Rating:- 0.

  Singapore Post issued 2 stamps and 1 miniature sheet on 18 September 2015 as part of a joint issue with Thailand which featured designs on the subject of desserts. Rating:- ****.

  During August 2015 Singapore Post also introduced a new design for its automated teller machine stamps to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Singapore's independence. The lowest pre-set value is the 1st Local (30c) with other values including the 2nd Local (37c), 50c, 60c, 70c, 80c, $1 and so on. rating:- ****.

639. Has Stamperija Gone Too Far? - Islamic Maldives New Stamps Depict Christian Saints And Prostitutes.

  The notorious Lithuanian philatelic agency, Stamperija, was given a contract by Maldives Post to produce philatelic products on its behalf in 2013 (see Blog 286) and in the past 2 years has released literally hundreds of "stamps" and "souvenir sheets" with the country's name printed on them with a total face value running into hundreds of pounds. Many of these philatelic products have depicted subjects with little or no relevance to Maldives and there is no real evidence that I have yet seen that suggests that they are receiving normal day-to-day usage on genuine mail in the country.

  Maldives is a proudly Islamic country and one would expect that "stamps" bearing the country's name, issued with its postal administration's permission, would adhere to the country's Islamic principles. 

   In its rush to add to the large number of items inscribed "Maldives" Stamperija has placed on sale in the philatelic market its latest emission which features western art through the ages. Given the devout Islamic nature of the Maldivian state, at least a couple of items in this new set are quite shocking.

  The set, as usual, consists of 10 sheetlets each of 4 different "stamps" and 10 accompanying "souvenir sheets"; the subjects of the individual subsets are:- Renaissance art, Post-Impressionism, Surrealism, Symbolism, Romanticism, Realism, Dutch golden age art, Impressionism, Baroque art and Cubism.

  The design of the "Post-Impressionism" "miniature sheet" depicts the painting completed by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec around 1894 which is titled "In the Salon of the Rue des Moulins" which features a number of women, one or two being scantily clad, waiting for clients under the gaze of their Madam. A favourite of Toulouse-Lautrec, a prostitute at the brothel in the Rue D'Amboise, Mirelle, is shown in the foreground, with her right hand around her drawn-up leg.

  The painting's title is incorrect as it depicts a scene in the brothel in the Rue D'Amboise where Mirelle plied her trade rather than that in the Rue des Moulins. Apparently Toulouse-Lautrec produced about 50 paintings and 100 drawings set in brothels between 1892 and 1895. He only began to frequent the salon in Rue des Moulins after Mirelle departed for Argentina. Toulouse-Lautrec died in 1901.

  The subject of this design is quite shocking given the context that it was prepared in the name of a devoutly Islamic country. One suspects that the Maldives authorities had little or no idea of what was being produced in the country's name. Surely someone responsible there must reconsider whether its contract with Stamperija is appropriate, no matter what the financial benefits to Maldives are derived from it, given this appallingly inappropriate issue.

  Inappropriate for another reason is the "Renaissance" sheetlet in which 1 "stamp" not only depicts a painting of the Madonna and Child by Antonello de Messina but also in which a second design depicts the Christian saint, Catherine of Alexandria, by Raphael. I can not believe that this depiction of Christian icons is in any way acceptable to the postal administration of a devoutly Moslem country. But apparently it is. The stated date of issue of these products is 25 August 2015.

  Has Stamperija gone too far this time in its attempts to squeeze money out of stamp collectors?

610. Namibia's Charming New Issue Features Young Animals.

  Namibia Post issued 5 charming stamps on 6 July 2015 which depict baby animals of the 5 species of Namibia's "Big Five" - the 5 large mammals which tourists on safari in the country want to see. The featured creatures are leopard, lion, African buffalo, elephant and black rhinoceros and the stamps were designed by Helge Denker. 

  It's distressing to think that the lion cub pictured on the Non-standard registered mail rate stamp could grow up to be shot by a dentist with a crossbow or that the elephant calf depicted on the N$5.70 value could be killed so that its tusks could be sold on the illegal ivory market. Philately may be out of fashion but we stamp collectors never killed a beautiful creature in pursuance of our hobby. Rating:- *****

  The Bangladesh postal administration issued 1 colourful stamp on 29 July 2015 to commemorate Stamp Day. Rating:-***

  Mauritius Post has issued a single stamp to commemorate the Indian Ocean Games which will be held in France (actually on the island of Reunion which is part of France) from 1 to 8 August 2015. I do not yet know the precise date of issue. Rating:- **

  The latest delights with a Commonwealth country's name printed on them, Maldives, to emanate from Stamperija have a stated day of issue of 1 July 2015 and, as usual, take the form of 10 sheetlets, each containing 4 different "stamps", with 10 accompanying "miniature sheets" all of which are on subjects which have no relevance to The Maldive Islands .... so no change there then. 

   For the record the latest list of subjects encompasses a broad range which is likely to appeal to many people who know no better. The subjects are:- Vasco Da Gama, Space, Centenary of the Endurance expedition (to the Antarctic!), 105th Birth anniversary of Jacques Yves Cousteau (well, I suppose a sub-aqua diver could be relevant to Maldives), Trains,"Space Pioneers", Centenary of The First World War, the Wright brothers (American aviation pioneers), Porsche motor cars and Louis Pasteur. Rating:- 0.