Commonwealth Stamps Opinion: 417. Never Ending New Issues.

The collection of Commonwealth new issue stamps is very interesting if only to see the way different postal administrations and philatelic agencies approach the choice of subjects to feature on the stamps which they release. Some stick strictly to a brief of producing stamps which celebrate truly important national events and anniversaries, some extend that brief to the depiction of various aspects of a country which are not necessarily linked to an important event or anniversary, some have no hesitation in celebrating significant international events or anniversaries which do not necessarily have a national relevance and then there are those which just pick a subject which they think has thematic/topical appeal to enough collectors so that there is a profit to be made from sales of such products.

The last group frequently have no demonstrable relevance to the country whose name is printed on the stamp but as long as that country has allowed the agency to print such items in its name they can be said to have postal validity and are therefore postage stamps in the broadest sense of the word. Clearly many collectors are content to buy such products as the agencies which seem to pursue such policies continue to stay in business and therefore presumably are making a financial profit from these philatelic products.

A new wave of such products has just been released by the large New York-based philatelic agency, IGPC:-

Grenada:-

29 May 2014 - 150th Birth anniversary of Henri Toulouse-Lautrec - 1 sheetlet of 4 different stamps and 1 miniature sheet of 2 different stamps:-

29 May 2014 - "Philakorea 2014" International Philatelic Exhibition, Industry in South Korea - 1 sheetlet of 8 different stamps and 1 miniature sheet:-

29 May 2014 -Canonisation of Pope John Paul II - 1 sheetlet of 4 different stamps and 1 miniature sheet :-

Dominica -

1 May 2014 - Sea turtles - 1 sheetlet of 3 different stamps and 1 miniature sheet. All 3 species of turtle depicted on these stamps are actually found in the waters around Dominica and lay their eggs on the island's beaches and this is therefore one issue which is of direct relevance to Dominica:-

Nevis:-

3 January 2014 - Modern art (second part) - 1 sheetlet of 4 different stamps and 1 miniature sheet:-

St. Vincent And The Grenadines:-

19 May 2014 - Farm animals - 1 sheetlet of 4 different stamps and 1 miniature sheet of 2 different stamps:-

12 May 2014 - "Philakorea 2014" International Philatelic Exhibition, Taekwondo (second part) - 1 sheetlet of 4 different stamps and 1 miniature sheet of 2 different stamps:-

23 June 2014 - Sunflowers - 1 sheetlet of 4 different stamps and 1 miniature sheet of 2 different stamps:-

5 May 2014 - Canonisation of Pope John Paul II - 1 sheetlet of 3 different stamps:-

Philatelic Collector Inc has just announced the release of a vast array of new issues for the 3 countries whose stamp issue policy is in the hands of the self-proclaimed "Boutique Philatelic Agency":-

Samoa:-

10 April 2014 - Easter - 1 sheetlet of 4 stamps:-

9 May 2014 - Nelson Mandela commemoration - 1 miniature sheet of 2 different stamps:-

Cook Islands -

9 April 2014 - Easter - 1 sheetlet of 6 different stamps and 1 m.s.:-

9 May 2014 - Pacific Small Island Developing States - 3 miniature sheets each of 6 different stamps and 18 stamps:-

13 May 2014 - Nelson Mandela commemoration - 1 m.s. of 2 different stamps:-

Cook Islands (Aitutaki) -

9 April 2014 - Easter - 6 stamps and 1 m.s.:-

Cook Islands (Penrhyn) -

9 April 2014 - Easter - Sheetlet of 6 different stamps:-

Tonga -

20 May 2014 - Pacific Small Island Developing States - 18 stamps and 3 m.s.:-

7 April 2014 - Easter - 1 sheetlet of 4 stamps:-

13 May 2014 - Nelson Mandela commemoration - 1 sheetlet of 2 different stamps:-

9 April 2014 - Chinese camel painting - 1 stamp issued in a sheetlet of 4:-

3 February 2014 - Space programme of The People's Republic Of China (15th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Tonga) - 4 stamps:-