773. Jersey Post Commemorates Big Red Jelly.

  At last someone has come to terms with the fact that most stamp collectors in Britain are in late middle age or could actually be described as "elderly". Jersey Post, which never misses a trick to find a subject to feature on a stamp issue which may further relieve collectors of their money, has come up with a nostalgic issue to interest the older collector and is to release on 5 July 2016 a set of 6 stamps (total price £4.38p plus a miniature sheet (£2) plus a souvenir sheet (£4.38p) on the subject of "Life in the 1950s". 

  Prominent in the way we lived, it appears, was the consumption of jelly, one of which is featured in all its glory with a loving 1950s mother presenting to her adoring son (note, it's a boy and not a girl - most stamp collectors are male - clever, eh?). A fun set (well at least for anyone born in the 1950s in Britain) designed by Hat trick Design but completely unnecessary. Rating:- *.

  Sri Lanka Post issued a single stamp on 7 June 2016 to commemorate the late CV Gunaratne, a Sri Lankan politician who was killed in a bomb explosion on 7 June 2000. The stamp was designed by P. Isuru Chathuranga and lithograph printed. Design rating:- **.

  Information to collectors from the moribund CASCO philatelic agency about the increasingly rare issues of the few remaining territories which it represents is frequently scant and often non-existent. This is the case with recent issues by 2 of its customer postal administrations - Cayman Islands and Jamaica. 

  Thus I can give no details yet, including date of issue, of a set of 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet from Cayman Islands which seems to depict Boars and Ships of relevance to the islands.

  Likewise I can not give any details of 4 new definitives ($40, $140, $180 and $300) featuring Lighthouses which have been released recently by the Jamaican Post Office presumably to address a change in postal rates on the island. Rating of both issues:- ****.

  Post scriptum:- Information supplied kindly by Carlos Maria Silvano after he communicated with the Jamaica Philatelic Bureau gives the date of issue of the Jamaica Lighthouses set as being 14 March 2016. The set is printed on the traditional pineapple watermark paper. (See Comments below).

  

  These new lighthouse stamps are additions to previously issued definitives from Jamaica which first appeared in 2011 and were recently reprinted with a "2015" imprint though, as they have only just appeared on the philatelic market, I wonder if they were actually issued in the first part of 2016 despite the imprint.

  There have been some new issues from Universal Mail United Kingdom in the form of "Bespoke stamps" which are usually only sold at the single site featured in the designs and consequently can be a devil to get hold of as Universal Mail itself no longer sells them directly to collectors. I no longer bother to buy the Bespoke stamps apart from those for tourists attractions owned by English Heritage which sells them from its central shop by mail order. Fortunately 8 of the 10 new strips of 5 Airmail Postcard stamps are issued for English Heritage sites and were obtained with ease for a price of £6.25p per strip.

  The featured sites are:-

Tower Bridge (dated 2/16) (UK0153)

Alnwick Castle (dated 2/16) (UK0152)

English Heritage sites (all are dated 2/16) - Beeston Castle (UK0154), Stokesay Castle (UK0155), Brodsworth Hall and Gardens(UK0156), Framlingham Castle (UK0157),  Lullingstone Roman Villa (UK0158), Rievaulx Abbey (UK0159), Helmsley Castle (UK0160) and Goodrich Castle (UK0161).

  These are infinitely superior Tourist souvenirs compared with the Royal Mail's tedious "Post And Go" issues and it surely can not be so difficult for Royal Mail to start individualising designs for the different sites where its kiosks are situated so that attractive photographs are used instead of the repetitive "Union Jack" and "Machin" designs which seem to be eternal. This must be more so now that Royal Mail is printing digitally "Post And Go" stamps for small runs of some of their products at consequent lower costs.

I like the Universal Mail stamps and rate them *****.

 IGPC - "the World's Most Respected philatelic agency" - has released 2 further products related to the World Stamp Show New York 2016 in addition to those featured in Blog 769. These are 2 quite expensive miniature sheets with the names of Grenada Carriacou And Petite Martinique (date of issue 30 May 2016) and St. Vincent And The Grenadines (date of issue 25 May 2016) printed on them which publicise the American Stamp Dealers Association Inc. Rating:- 0.

  From the issues of the "World's Most Respected Philatelic Agency" to those of, er, Stamperija. This week Sierra Leone's name is printed on the products which are said to have been "issued" on 29 April 2016 though quite where they were "issued" is not specified. There are the usual 10 sheetlets each of 4 different "stamps" with the usual accompanying 10 "miniature sheets" and the umbrella theme of these products seems to centre broadly on "Transport". 

  The total face value of this "issue" is Le 480,000 which is equal to a startling £85.30p. Rating:- 0. Feast your eyes on these:-