750. Important New Surcharges From Samoa And Papua New Guinea.

  I feel fortunate to have just obtained from the excellent Steven Zirinsky Stamps 6 new surcharge stamps from the Samoa postal administration. I have not seen these offered for sale anywhere before and presently do not know the dates of issue. These items are illustrated above and below. The issue is made up of a $2 surcharge on the 90s value from the 2001 Siva afi Fire Dancing set, 2 x $2.70c surcharges on the se-tenant pair of 70s Millenium stamps of 2000, $5 surcharge on the 95s "Sporting legends of Samoa" stamp, a $15 surcharge on the 95s value of the "Samoan Scenes" set of 2002 and a $20 surcharge on the $1.85 value of the 2002 "Faces of Samoa" set. Rating:- *****.

   It will be interesting to discover if these stamps were issued before the Philatelic Collector Inc. issues began or whether they are more recent and were necessary despite the philatelic agency producing numerous stamps in the name of the Samoan Post Office.

 Post scriptum - in his latest blog, Steven Zirinsky has revealed that these new surcharges were issued in 2016 and also depicts some inverted surcharges which are offered for sale on his website.

  Steven Zirinsky now has some other important surcharges for sale on his website which, unfortunately, are rather more expensive than I can afford.  These are surcharges which were produced by the Papua New Guinea postal administration during 2014 and 2015 and which are very interesting. 

  The issues featured are 4 x K1.30 surcharges (a. 2012 Traditional clay pots issue K1.20 value, b. 2012 Cuscus and possums issue K1.20 value, c. 2012 Orchids issue K1.20 value and d. 2012 Orchids issue K1.20 value), 2 x K15 surcharges (e. 2009 Bats issue 85t value and f. 2011 Law and Justice issue K1.05 value), 4 x K25 (g.2010 Orchids issue K6.30 value, h. 2010 Traditional Dance (II) issue K5 value, i. 2010 Orchids issue K4.65 value and j. 2010 Beche de mer issue K6.30 value), 2 x K40 (k. 2009 Oil palm issue and l. 2010 Girl Guides issue K4.65 value) and 3 x K90 (m. 2010 Census issue K3 value, n. 2010 Girl Guides issue K6.30 value and o. 2011 Traditional Dance issue K7 value).

  The rarest of these items appear to be (k.), (h) and (f.) which are all priced at US$ 2150 each. I expect that we will see a publication about these remarkable issues from Steven Zirinsky in the future.

Rating:- ***** (if you have the money!)

  Other interesting items I have obtained recently are the RAF Northolt "Post And Go" "Collectors strips" which I mentioned in Blogs 703 and 707. As the first stamps to be issued for ordinary postal usage by the British Forces Post Office (on 1 February 2016) I believe these to be significant items even if they do not have an additional inscription which identifies the site where they were dispensed though, of course, the number of the kiosk, M001, is included in the string of lettering on the stamps and pins down the origin of the stamps. Rating:- *****.

  Australia Post will issue 7 stamps in June 2016 to commemorate National Stamp Month. The theme of the issue will be endangered wildlife of Australia and the rest of the world and will also commemorate the centenary of Taronga Zoo in Sydney. There are no other details of the issue as yet, including the date of issue, but I presume that the stamps will be available in multiple formats - gummed, self-adhesive coils and booklet stamps, and a miniature sheet. It seems to be attractive issue which features some local species and commemorates a local anniversary. Rating:- ***.

  Pos Malaysia's "National Laureates" set of 3 stamps was issued on 29 April 2016. The set features 3 rather grim-faced middle-aged men and could not be less interesting if it tried. Rating:- **. 

  The next issue from Malaysia is scheduled to be a set on the subject of "River transportation in Sarawak" to be released on 26 May 2016 to be followed by an issue on 16 June 2016 highlighting Kedah and Kelantan as tourist destinations. Let us hope that the coming issues have more appealing designs than the Laureates set.