This week there appear to be no new stamp issues with the names of Commonwealth countries printed on them being released by the notorious Lithuania-based philatelic agency, Stamperija. The agency this week is concentrating its activities on "issues" from non-English speaking territories. Sometimes my breath is taken away by the sort of cheeky stuff that appears from Stamperija. A real corker has appeared from the agency "issued" in the name of The Central African Republic. What possible reason would the Central African Republic Post Office have to issue commemorative stamps on the subject of The United Kingdom's referendum decision to withdraw from the European Union?
The issue is hilarious with former British prime minister, David Cameron, depicted looking perplexed and sweaty and the new British prime minister, Theresa May, making her philatelic debut with a severe expression on her face. Best of all, is a demon-like Nigel Farage puffing away on a cigar.
This is a delightfully malicious pair of products which has nothing to do with The Central African Republic or, for that matter, anything to do with postal services but probably has more to do with someone in Lithuania having some mischievous fun than anything else. Great fun but I wouldn't be foolish enough to give good money for these "stamps".
Other philatelic products on which I wouldn't like to spend any amount of money are the 2 stamps and 3 miniature sheets issued by Philatelic Collector Inc. on behalf of Tonga Post but inscribed "Niuafo'ou" which, as pointed out in the comment by Stewie 1911, I omitted to mention in Blog 819. The "EMS" issue has the same enormous total face value as the issue inscribed "Tonga" mentioned in Blog 819 - T$516 (£170.10p) - so in one fell swoop Philatelic Collector has released £340.20p worth of stamps. Rating:- 0.
Pos Malaysia will issue 3 stamps and 1 miniature sheet on 21 October 2016 to commemorate the Bicentenary of Penang Frees School. Rating:- ***.
Preceding the Penang School issue will be a set of 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet on the subject of mainly anti-colonialist "Battles" which will be released on 15 September 2016. The designs feature the battle of Bukit Mulawati, fought between the Selangorese and Dutch in 1785, the Mat Salleh campaign in Sabah in which the leader Mat Salleh lead a rebellion against the British North Borneo Company in 1897, the campaign of Libau Rentap in the early 1850's against the White Raja, James Brook, in Sarawak and the Battle of Bukit Kepong which took place on 23 February 1950 between the Federation of Malaya Police Force and gunmen of the Malayan Communist Party. The miniature sheet depicts the battle against the invading Japanese at Kota Bharu, Kelantan in December 1941. Rating:- ****.
Sri Lanka Post issued a single stamp on 8 September 2016 to commemorate the golden jubilee anniversary of the Sri Lanka Archaeological Society. The stamp was designed by P. Isuru Chathuranga and depicts a Gilt Avalokitesvara statue which dates back to the 8th - 9th century AD and is currently on display in Colombo National Museum having been discovered in 1968 in Anuradhapura District. Rating:- ****.
Brexit stamps linked by the Guardian today
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jan/05/royal-mail-brexit-stamps-souvenirs-uk-eu
Thanks Ian. Very interesting. This is a wonderful illustration of how unreliable our newspapers are and how we really should take 99% of printed, broadcast and internet news with a pinch of salt. If you don't know the subject you're writing about then don't write it may be a very good rule.
DeleteThe Guardian states that these stamps are "not "official" and are "fakes". This ofcourse is incorrect since Stamperija, as much as we may detest it, does issue this stuff as a result of a contract with the country named on the stamps. In that sense these are indeed 'official' and are not 'fake'. It may or may not be the case that these items ever grace the counters of a post office in the Central African Republic but they are not fake and are official legally. You can't expect non-collectors to appreciate the status of modern new issues.
This item explains to me why yesterday there were over 300 visits to Blog 820 which I had been puzzling over until you drew my attention to this article.