1856. 🇧🇩 Bangladesh Commemorates 50 Years Of Independence.

 

🇧🇩 Bangladesh Post issued a single stamp on 26 March 2021 to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of the country’s achievement of Independence from Pakistan. The dignified and tasteful design features the nation’s father figure Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Rating:- *****.

🇮🇲 Meanwhile Isle Of Man Post Office will issue 2 sheetlets containing previously issued stamps and attached labels to commemorate the 100th Birthday of The Duke Of Edinburgh and the 10th Wedding anniversary of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The first item will be issued on 31 March 2021 and was designed by EJC Design and lithographed by Lowe Martin, is perforated 13 and costs £8 and the second item will be issued on 29 April 2021 and has the same designer and printer as the Duke of Edinburgh sheet and costs £9. While I welcome a philatelic commemoration of the Duke’s birthday I feel an ordinary stamp issue would have been preferable and really there seems even less reason for a sheetlet to commemorate the Cambridges’ wedding anniversary though in an era when the marriages of the younger members of the royal family seem to last a very short time generally I suppose a tenth wedding anniversary is a notable achievement for Prince William and his wife. One doubts that his younger brother and his wife will still be together at 10 years. Rating:- *.

🇸🇬 The next issue from Singapore Post will be released on 16 April 2021 and the subject will be tetra fish. These will be ‘high values’. Further news is awaited.

As we reach the end of March, here is a list of Commonwealth philatelic entities which are not yet known to have issued any new stamps during 2021 (or are due to do so in the next few days):-

Aitutaki Cook Islands

Anguilla 

Ascension Island 

Bahamas

Belize

British Antarctic Territory 

British Virgin Islands

Brunei Darussalam

Cameroon

Cayman Islands 

Cocos (Keeling) Islands

Cook Islands

Turkish Republic Of Northern Cyprus 

Dominica

eSwatini

Falkland Islands 

Ghana

Jamaica

Kenya

Lesotho 

Malawi 

Maldives

Mauritius

Montserrat 

Mozambique 

Nauru

Nevis

Niuafo’ou Tonga

Niue

 Pakistan 

Papua New Guinea

Penrhyn Cook Islands

Pitcairn Islands

Rarotonga Cook Islands

Ross Dependency

Rwanda

St Helena 

St Kitts

Saint Lucia 

St Vincent And The Grenadines 

Samoa

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

South Africa

South Georgia And The South Sandwich Islands 

Tanzania 

Tokelau 

Tonga

Trinidad And Tobago 

Tristan Da Cunha 

Turks And Caicos Islands 

Uganda

Vanuatu 

Zambia

Hence 54 entities are not yet known to have issued any new stamps so far in 2021

1855. 🇬🇧 Royal Mail Classic Science Fiction Literature Set Due In April.

🇬🇧 A little bird has indicated that another little bird has revealed a photograph of the 6 upcoming Royal Mail Science Fiction classics stamps presentation pack and here are the best illustrations I can manage of the stamps inside the pack. The set is made up of 3 se-tenant pairs - the 1st Class rate values feature respectively Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and HG Wells’ The Time Machine (both of which have featured on previously issued Royal Mail stamps), the £1.70 values depict John Wyndham’s Day of the Triffids and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and the £2.55 values feature Arthur C Clarke’s Childhood’s End and Doris Lessing’s Shikasta. These are good original designs and fit in a programme of British stamp issues much more than did last year’s Star Trek release so I have no real complaints about the set. 2021 does mark the 75th anniversary of the death of HG Wells and the 70th anniversary of the publication of The Day Of The Triffids and so maybe we can find an excuse or two for Royal Mail to have released this particular set this year. The date of issue will be 15 April 2021. Rating:- ***.

Here are the se-tenant pairs as illustrated by a first day cover producer:-

 🇮🇲 Isle Of Man Post Office will issue a set of 6 stamps on 27 April 2021 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Guild of St John by the Victorian art critic, art patron, watercolourist and philanthropist, John Ruskin. The Guild of St John  was a charitable and educational trust which founded the Laxey Woollen mills in 1881 which therefore celebrates its 140th anniversary this year. The issue therefore clearly has relevance to the Isle Of Man. The stamps were designed by EJC Design and were lithographed by Cartor and are perforated 13. One or two of the designs are somewhat cluttered. Rating:- ***.

🇮🇳 Bangladesh Post and India Post released a joint issue on 27 March 2021 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The Bangladesh issue is made up of a se-tenant pair depicting the respective parliaments of the two countries while that from India is a single stamp. The stamps are interesting but not particularly attractive. The Bangladesh issue was designed by Sumanto Kumar and was lithographed by Security Printing Corporation (Bangladesh) Gazipur and the stamps are perforated 12.5. Rating:- ***.

1854. 🇧🇹 Bhutan Silk Miniature Sheets Feature Dalai Lama’s Advice On Coping With The Pandemic.

 🇧🇹 Bhutan Post, which released only 2 new issues last year, issued a spectacular set of 2 miniature sheets (20 different stamps, 10 in each sheet) and an additional single stamp miniature sheet on 24 March as its first issue of 2021. The sheets are printed on “Tara-rayon silk” and have a very local flavour to them and are extremely attractive. The issue’s subject is Om tare tuttare tare svaha but the publicity on Bhutan Post’s Facebook page does not give any further explanation. However the issue commemorates the Green Mantra which is related to Tara, the ‘Mother of All Buddhas’. The Dalai Lama, the Buddhist leader, when asked for advice for spiritual advice about the present pandemic has suggested that chanting the mantra during these troublesome times may be of some help. Therefore collectors of stamps on the COVID-19 theme may see this issue as an important one to include in their thematic collections. Rating:- *****.

🇮🇳 India Post issued a single stamp on 23 March 2021 to commemorate the Centenary of the arrival of Mahatma Gandhi in Cuttack in Odisha when thousands of people turned out to catch a glimpse of him. His visit to Odisha activated the Non-cooperation movement which was part of India’s campaign for independence. Rating:- ****.

 🇲🇾 The next issue from Pos Malaysia on an as yet unspecified date will be a set of 4 stamps produced in sheets of 20 (5 se-tenant strips of ) which commemorate the 75th anniversary of Radio Televisyen Malaysia. A very likeable set. Rating:- ****.

1853. 🇨🇾 Cyprus Commemorates Greek Revolution Bicentenary.

🇨🇾 Cyprus Post will issue 2 stamps and 1 miniature sheet on 24 March 2021 to commemorate the Bicentenary of the Greek revolution. The two stamps depict part of the monument of Cypriot Fighters located in the Garden of Heroes at Messolonghi which was erected in 2006 and the Mausoleum of Cypriot Fighters of 9 July 1821 dating back to 1930 located in Nicosia, both designs being against a background of a Greek flag dating to 1822 which used a blue cross on a white field though soon afterwards the colours were reversed to a blue cross placed on a white field.The colourful miniature sheet depicts the painting by Alexandros Soutzos painted in 1865 and now located in the national gallery in Athens which shows the national flag being blessed by Metropolitan Germanos of Patras. Rating:- *****.

  Two Anniversaries stamps will also be issued on the same date - the first commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Cyprus Cancer Association and the other commemorates the 60th anniversary of Cyta, an organisation which was set up to “give the newly established state [of Cyprus] communication channels, to highlight its place on the international map and to keep step with every era”. Rating:- **. 

 🇺🇸 The latest products from the US-based IGPC include this month a large number of new items with the name of Antigua And Barbuda printed on them:- 

No date of issue is stated for any of these products (not even the year). All are rated 0.

Birth centenary of the late Pope John Paul II - 1 miniature sheet containing 4 different stamps. 

Centenary of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York - 1 miniature sheet containing 4 different stamps.

20th anniversary of the Mini Cooper motor car - 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 4 different stamps and the other a single stamp.

Quatercentenary of the arrival of the Mayflower in America - 1 miniature sheet containing 4 different stamps.

40th anniversary of the Audi Quatro motor car - 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 4 different stamps and the other a single stamp.

50th anniversary of the Range Rover motor car - 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 4 different stamps and the other a single stamp.

70th anniversary of the Morgan Plus 4 motor car - 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 4 different stamps and the other a single stamp.

75th anniversary of The United Nations Organisation - 1 miniature sheet containing 4 different stamps.

Flowers of the world - 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 4 different stamps and the other a single stamp.

Marine life of the world - 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 4 different stamps and the other a single stamp.

Rabbits of the world - 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 4 different stamps and the other a single stamp.

Ghana - the list also includes a miniature sheet with a stated day of issue of 31 December 2020 with the name of Ghana inscribed on the stamps contained in it. No other details are currently available other than that the item is another one of those numerous IGPC products said to commemorate Dorje Chang Buddha III.

1852. 🇮🇲 Isle Of Man Europa Stamp Issued As Part Of A Set Of Ten.

 🇧🇩 The postal service of Bangladesh issued a single stamp and 1 miniature sheet containing the same stamp on 11 March 2021 to commemorate the 73rd anniversary of the march which took place to demand the use of Bengali as a state language in Pakistan which was broken up by Pakistani police officers leading to injuries to some of the protesters including Shawcat Ali who is depicted in a photograph used in the design being helped to hospital by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. An interesting issue. Rating:- ***.

🇮🇲 Isle Of Man Post Office’s EUROPA issue will be one of a set of 10 gummed and 10 self-adhesive stamps (issued in a booklet) to be released on 12 April 2021 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Manx National Trust now part of Manx National Heritage. The 10 stamps’ designs concentrate on the island of Calf of Man and the EUROPA stamp depicts a Manx shearwater to fit in with the theme of Endangered local wildlife with the stamp being made available in sheetlets of 10 identical stamps to enable devoted EUROPA stamps collectors to spend 10 times as much as they would have done otherwise.

  The attractive issue was designed by EJC Design and lithographed by bpost and the stamps are perforated 11.5. The self-adhesive stamps are also sole in an unfolded self-adhesive pane similar to the booklet. Rating:- **.