2607. 🇬🇮 Gibraltar’s Christmas Stamps.

 

New issues.

🇬🇮 Royal Gibraltar Post Office -

12 November 2024 - Christmas - 6 stamps and 1 miniature sheet containing all 6 stamps. Designed by Stephen Perera using illustrations by Donnay Style and lithographed by Cartor. Rating:- *.

🇨🇦 Canada Post -

14 November 2024 - Hanukkah (Jewish religious festival) - 1 self-adhesive stamp sold in booklets of 6. Designed by Subplot Design Inc using photography by Matthew Liteplo and lithographed by Colour Innovations. Rating:- ****.

🇸🇬 Singapore Post -

10 January 2025 - Machine vended stamp, Chinese New Year, Year of the Snake - 1 stamp. Rating:- ***.

🇺🇸 Philatelic Collector Inc. (United States-basedelf-proclaimed ‘boutique philatelic agency’ producing and marketing philatelic items in the the name of the postal services of Tonga and Cook Islands including products with the names of parts of the countries such as Aitutaki printed on them).

It is interesting to note that this ‘agency’ has not made any announcements about products issued in the name of the above territories since 18 October 2023 - that is - more than one year ago. It is fairly normal for this business to allow several months to pass without announcing new ‘stamp’ issues (and then showcasing issues with stated dates of issue going back several months) but it has never before occurred that more than one year has passed without announcements. The most recent issues it has featured on its internet site are:-

🇹🇴 Tonga postal service - 

16 October 2023 - Heritage sites in Tonga - 4 single stamp miniature sheets.

🇨🇰 Cook Islands postal service -

10 October 2023 - Marine life - 4 stamps.

  I have seen no explanation of why such a long time has elapsed since the previous announcement about new issues but doubtless all will become clear eventually.

1573. 🇸🇬 Singapore Post Starts 2020 With Attractive Collectors Sheet.

🇸🇬 Singapore Post’s Chinese new year issue commemorating the Year of the Rat due to be released on 8 January 2020 includes a very attractive ‘Collectors sheet’. I like Singapore Post’s ongoing series of Collectors sheets which are usually beautifully designed and produced and very attractive and though sold at prices above face value usually look very pleasing on an album page. Rating:- ****.

🇨🇰🇹🇴 Further to Blogs 1565, 1566 and 1572, the USA-based, self-styled “Boutique philatelic agency”, Philatelic Collector Inc., has added dates of issue for the numerous Birds of the World philatelic items it has released in the name of its client postal services, those of Cook Islands and Tonga. All of these items have been illustrated in the previous Blogs.

Cook Islands - 15 November 2019 - Birds of Prey part 2

                          20 November 2019 - Parrots

Cook Islands Aitutaki - 15 November 2019 - Birds of Prey part 2

                                         20 November 2019 - Owls

Cook Islands Penrhyn - 15 November 2019 - Birds of Prey part 2

                                          20 November 2019 - Parrots

Cook Islands Rarotonga - 15 November 2019 - Birds of Prey part 2

                                             20 November 2019 - Hummingbirds

Tonga - 18 November 2019 - Birds of Prey part 2

              25 November 2019 - Owls

Tonga Niuafo’ou - 18 November 2019 - Birds of Prey part 2

                                25 November 2019 - Birds Of Paradise.

Among its recently released products is a further issue which I have so far overlooked - the se-tenant pair of previously issued ‘Birdpex’ stamps inscribed ‘Cook Islands’ with 50c surcharges applied and stated to have been ‘issued’ on 11 March 2019. Rating:- *.

🇰🇳 It looks as though collectors who hoped that St Kitts’ postal service had escaped the clutches of the US-based IGPC may be disappointed as the agency which once named itself “The World's most respected philatelic agency” (no, that’s surely not hollow laughter that I can hear) has included an illustration of a sheet of stamps which commemorate the 150th Birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. No date of issue is identified alongside the illustration of this item but if it has been issued during 2019 then St Kitts disappears from the list of Commonwealth philatelic countries which have not issued stamps during 2019. 

  This is a typical IGPC product with the large margin on the right side of the stamp depicting the Mahatma Gandhi Bridge in Hamburg in Germany which says nothing at all about St Kitts’ links with Gandhi. What is good is that if this is a single value issue then the face value of 30c is very low and the addition of a single stamp from the sheet. to a St Kitts collection would be of minimal cost.

1572. 🇨🇰🇹🇴 Christmas And Year Of Rat Stamps From Philatelic Collector Inc.

  The USA-based ‘Boutique’ philatelic agency, Philatelic Collector Inc., has updated its website and revealed that it has released more philatelic items in the name of its 2 client postal administrations, Tonga and Cook Islands. Apart from a set titled ‘Birds of prey Part 2’ with the name of Aitutaki inscribed on the products the numerous Birds of the World issues described in recent Blogs and which are being offered for ‘exclusive’ sale by an Internet dealer in Russia are not yet mentioned on the PCI website but I imagine they soon will be. The ‘date of issue’ of the Aitutaki birds set is stated to have been 15 November 2019.

  Only 2 subjects are featured on the latest products - Chinese new year (Year of the Rat) and Christmas. In all there are 12 Chinese new year stamps and 10 Christmas stamps. Some of the Christmas stamps (Tonga, Aitutaki and Penrhyn) all look as though they have been printed on previously issued personalisable stamps.

🇹🇴 Tonga - 11 October 2019 - Chinese new year - 2 stamps. Rating:- 0 (or perhaps this time I should write “Ratting:- 0”).

12 December 2019 - Christmas - 2 stamps. Rating:- *.

🇹🇴 Tonga Niuafo’ou - 11 October 2019 - Chinese new year - 2 stamps. Rating:- 0. 

12 December 2019 - Christmas - 2 stamps. Rating:- *.

🇨🇰 Cook Islands - 11 October 2019 - Chinese new year - 2 stamps. Rating:- 0.

16 December 2019 - Christmas - 2 stamps. Rating:- 0.

Cook Islands Aitutaki - 11 October 2019 - Chinese new year - 2 stamps. Rating:- 0.

16 December 2019 - Christmas - 2 stamps. Rating:-  *.

🇨🇰 Cook Islands Penrhyn - 11 October 2019 - Chinese new year - 2 stamps. Rating:- 0.

16 December 2019 - Christmas - 2 stamps. Rating:- *.

🇨🇰 Cook Islands Rarotonga - 11 October 2019 - Chinese new year- 2 stamps. Rating:- 0.

1378. 🇨🇰 The Birds Of Prey Stamps From Aitutaki And Rarotonga.

  🇨🇰 Illustrated below are the 12 individual stamps on the subject of 'Birds of Prey' issued by Philatelic Collector Inc. which are inscribed 'Rarotonga Cook Islands' and the 12 individual stamps inscribed  'Aitutaki Cook Islands' as discussed in Blogs 1375, 76 and 77. The total face value of the 'Aitutaki' issue is NZ$36.40c which is equivalent to £19.07p. The total face value therefore for collectors wishing to buy all 12 stamps and the 3 accompanying miniature sheets is £57.21p. The total face value of the 'Rarotonga' stamps is NZ36.40c (again £19.07) meaning that the complete face value of 12 stamps and 3 miniature sheets with that name inscribed on them is also £57.21p. We may note that Rarotonga is not a separate political entity but simply the capital of Cook Islands so the issue of stamps inscribed 'Rarotonga' is rather like issuing stamps separately for London or Paris or Stockholm and so on! Rating:- 0. From what I can see in Wikipedia, Aitutaki does not have any resident Birds of Prey at all and nor does The Cook Islands in general.