2715. 🇨🇾 Geology Themed Issue From Cyprus.

 

New issues -

🇨🇾 Cyprus Post -

8 May 2025 - 75th anniversary of the founding of the Geological Survey Department - 1 stamp. Lithographed. Rating:- ****.

🇬🇧 Royal Mail -

2025 - King Charles III definitives - 20p definitive reprinted with code M25LMAIL. Rating:- ***.

🇭🇰 Hong Kong Post -

24 April 2025 - “Year of the Snake goes global prestige stamp album” sold for HK$998 (£96.38).This appears to be a limited edition prestige booklet-style product containing a ‘gold’ miniature sheet containing a single $10 stamp. Rating:- 0

🇬🇧 EuroPhilEx Birmingham 2025 -

  This international stamp exhibition opened at the National Exhibition Centre in Solihull near Birmingham today on 7 May. The exhibition hall is a long way from the railway station (Birmingham International) so visitors need to steel themselves for some good exercise particularly if the moving pavement is undergoing maintenance which is frequently the case. The are no signposts that I could see in the complex which identify the location of the exhibition so visitors are advised to know in which hall the show is located when setting out from the railway station.

  The entrance fee up until 11AM was a remarkable £20 but this was reduced to £10 after that time. It is a spacious hall and most of the dealers sell their wares from trestle tables which to me seem rather jumbled and do not, in many cases, identify which dealer is selling from them and so it is useful to consult the programme if looking for a particular dealer.

  Royal Mail has a good-sized stand at the Exhibition though there was nothing I particularly wanted to buy having previously obtained the special Dame Vera Lynn miniature sheet with additional inscription from the Royal Mail website. I did not bother with the special Collectors sheet as those particular items are far too expensive whether or not they provide varieties of the stamps such as self-adhesive versus gummed versions.

  The British Guiana 1 cent on magenta, described as the world’s most valuable stamp, is on display in a murky Court of Honour and there are a wide range of exhibits. I bought one or two items from a couple of the dealers there. I had been hoping to buy some items from the south Atlantic Islands for which Isle of Man Stamps and Coins act as agents but the stand remained unmanned during my visit to the Exhibition.

  The entrance fee had to be paid in cash as there was no card machine and I bought some items from the India Post stand which had no card machine and which had not really considered that if payment is made in banknotes then a supply of change might be useful.

  The NEC has good travel connections and is on the same site as Birmingham airport and it has its own railway station on the Birmingham-Euston route as well as good motorway connections. Accommodation and food prices are considerably lower than in London and the NEC is only10 minutes by train to New Street and the city centre which has some excellent restaurants including the two Michelin starred Opheem  plus a whole range of other places to eat.

 Thanks to all involved in bringing this exhibition to its opening day. I hope it is successful.