1710. 🇺🇸 Items Feature Religious Leader.

  🇺🇸 A number of philatelic products giving publicity to the Chinese-American artist, Buddhist religious leader and self-declared third reincarnation of Dorje Chang (a not uncontested title among many Buddhists) have received publicity in recent months particularly from the New York-based IGPC which in the past has labelled itself  ‘The World’s most respected philatelic agency’. However many of the ‘issues’ have not been illustrated on any sites that I could find.
  I came across an internet site recently, Rare Art Inc., which illustrates a number of artworks by Dorje Chang as well as reporting on previous sales of artworks by another contemporary Chinese artist. In addition the site features the various philatelic products publicising Dorje Chang. The products with the name of Commonwealth countries printed on them are ‘from’ Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Papua New Guinea, Grenada, New Zealand (!) and Guyana. There are also products from Austria, Liechtenstein, Ukraine, Poland, Central African Republic, Djibouti, Moldova, Israel, Palau, Portugal and the Marshall Islands.
  The illustrations make it clear that these ‘stamps’ from most of the above countries, including New Zealand, are actually ‘Personalised’ stamps and of no greater official status than anyone else could have had produced for themselves. The rest, I suppose, being very much ‘IGPC stamps’ in appearance have probably been sponsored by Dorje Chang or one of his supporters to give him publicity. Some of what look like IGPC products and which appear on IGPC's monthly lists have in recent years sold their philatelic souls to Stamperija (Sierra Leone, Djibouti and Central African Republic) so whether or not there’s been a special deal done between the two highly respected agents or whether the countries have individually chosen to have their names used in this way on this occasion has to remain a matter of speculation. The subject has very little or no relevance to the Commonwealth countries named on the ‘stamps’. Needless to say, none of them will be finding their way into any of my albums.

Sheet of 50 New Zealand personalised stamps

  Some of the non-Commonwealth issues:-

Poland

Central African Republic

Djibouti

Liechtenstein 

Austria

Israel

Ukraine

Booklet from Portugal, personalised I assume.

Addendum:- See p4peter’s comment at the end of Blog 1706 about the items inscribed Liechtenstein which are mentioned above.