2946. 🇹🇷 Northern Cyprus Features Handicrafts Motifs.

 

New issues -

🇯🇴 Postal service of  Jordan -

13 July 2026 - EUROMED, Traditional mosaics of the Mediterranean - 2 miniature sheets, one containing 3 different stamps and the other a single stamp. Lithographed. Rating:- ****.

🇦🇺 Australia Post -

7 July 2026 - Personalised My Stamp, Scott Pendlebury’s 433 record-breaking VFL/AFL Game  1 stamp available cancelled only on a ‘Medallion cover’ costing A$45. Rating:- 0.

13 July 2026 - ‘Paralympic of the Year’, Ben Tudhope - 1 stamp sold in sheetlets of 10 costing $17. Rating:- **.

🇹🇷 postal service of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus -

8 July 2026 - Traditional motifs of local handicrafts - 4 stamps. Designed by Saziye Aladag, Hasan Saydam, Raul Ersadal and Berhice Sőnmes Brian and printed by Devlet Basimevi. Rating:- *****.

🇧🇿 postal service of Belize -

17 July 2026 - Definitives - 11 stamps. These stamps are now featured on the Spectre Stamps internet site and are likely to be offered for sale by that dealer from the date of issue. Lithographed. Further details awaited. Rating:- *****.

2941. 🇺🇸 Colonial Rebels Make Unilateral Declaration Of Independence.

 🇺🇸 Postal service of the Thirteen Colonies akaThe United States of Artificial Intelligence -

  4 July 2026 - 250th anniversary of the illegal unilateral declaration of independence by the British colonists in North America - 4 stamps, 1 miniature sheet containing a single stamp and 1 label without value inscribed on it but sold for £5 in a special pack. The stamps show the rebel leaders debating the so-called ‘Declaration of Independence’, the rebel armed forces commander, Washington, crossing the Delaware river with his troops prior to the Battle of Trenton, the Battle of Yorktown where His Majesty’s forces surrendered and HM King George III discussing the loss of the colonies after Yorktown. The miniature sheet includes the King George III stamp with a depiction of the traitor Benjamin Franklin in the margin and the valueless label depicts the treacherous rebel army leader George Washington. Designed by Gemini. Rating:- *****.

Despite the illegality of the current regime in our 13 North American colonies we say “Happy 250th birthday” to the USA!

Meanwhile the postal service of United States of America itself is commemorating the 250th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence by issuing a stamp featuring a hamburger which you can neither eat nor lick as it’s a self-adhesive stamp. From Washington to Hamburger, the story of a nation.

  Below is depicted a copy of the American rebels’ Declaration of Independence rediscovered recently in the British National Archives, one of only 11 surviving copies printed in New Hampshire. The document was seized by the Royal Navy on Christmas Eve 1776 when HMS Raisonable captured an American privateer, the Dalton, off the coast of Portugal, after pursuing it for seven hours -

2924. 🇫🇯 A Flood Of Fiji Surcharges.

New issues -

  The stamp dealer, Prince Stamps, based in Spain, is offering a large number of new surcharges fron Fiji Post which are stated to have been released in 2026. I believe these were being sold at the Fiji stand at the Boston International Stamp Exhibition just finishing. There were also some commemorative issues for sale -

23 May 2026 - Fiji traditions - 4 stamps. Lithographed. Rating:- *****.

23 May 2026 - Boston International Philatelic Exhibition, Fiji’s natural heritage - 1 miniature sheet containing 4 different stamps. Lithographed. Rating:- ***.

19 May 2026 - 147th Girmit Era (see Blog 2918). The designs of this set have been pre iously shown in tbis blog but a number appear to have been printed with name of the country omitted from the stamp design. Rating:- *****.

2026 - Various surcharges totalling 43 different stamps as illustrated below. Rating:- ****

Commonwealth countries and territories which are not know to have issued, or had issued on their behalf, any legitimate postage stamps during 2026 up until the end of May.

Anguilla 

Antigua and Barbuda

Australia (Cocos (Keeling) Islands)

Australia Norfolk Island 

Australian Antarctic Territory 

Barbados 

Belize

British Antarctic Territory 

British Indian Ocean Territory 

British Virgin Islands 

Cameroon 

Cook Islands including Rarotonga 

Cook Islands Aitutaki 

Cook Islands Penrhyn 

Dominica

Gabon 

Grenada 

Grenada Carriacou and Petite Martinique 

Guyana 

Jamaica

Kenya

Kingdom of eSwatini

Kiribati

Lesotho 

Malawi 

Maldives 

Montserrat 

Mozambique 

Nevis

New Zealand Ross Dependency 

Niue

Papua New Guinea

Pitcairn Islands 

Rwanda

St Helena

St Kitts/St Kitts Nevis

Saint Lucia 

St Vincent and the Grenadines 

Samoa

Seychelles 

Solomon Islands

Tokelau 

Tonga 

Tonga Niuafo’ou

Trinidad and Tobago 

Turks and Caicos Islands 

Tuvalu

Uganda 

United Republic of Tanzania 

Vanuatu 

Zambia

Therefore at the end of May, 51 out of 88 ( 57.95%) of Commonwealth philatelic entities had not issued, or had not had issued on their behalf, any legitimate postage stamps in 2026.This compares with 59.1% at the end of April 2016 and 58.2% at the end of May 2025.

2921. 🇯🇴 Jordan Commemorates 80 Years Of Independence.

 New issues -

🇯🇴 JO Post (postal service of Jordan) -

25 May 2026 - 80th anniversary of Independence (Transjordan was liberated from Turkish rule in 1918 during the First World War and became a League of Nations Mandate of Great Britain in 1920 with the establishment of the Emirate of Transjordan on 1 April 2021 and full independence from Great Britain being achieved on 22 March 1946 as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan) - 1 miniature sheet containing 8 different stamps and 1 booklet containing 9 different panes (1 containing the 8 stamps and the other each containing a single stamp). Lithographed. Rating:- *****.

The booklet - 

🇱🇰 Sri Lanka Post -

22 May 2026 - Wood carvings of Embekke Devalaya - 3 stamps and 1 miniature sheet containing all 3 stamps. Lithographed. Rating:- ****.

🇮🇳 India Post -

? May 2026 - 60th anniversary of the Institute of Packing, My Post - 1 stamp with attached label sold above face value in sheetlets of 12.

🇵🇬 Post PNG (postal service of Papua New Guinea) -

2025 probably - Fruit trees of Papua New Guinea - 4 stamps and 2 miniature sheets, 1 containing 4 different stamps and the other a single stamp. Lithographed. Rating:- **.

2025 (probably) - Birds of the Forest floor - 4 stamps and 2 miniature sheets, one containing 4 different stamps and the other a single stamp. Lithographed. Rating:- **.

How hard is it to design an appealing set of postage stamps in 2026?

Answer - Not hard at all.

This set of 4 stamps depicting Labrador retrievers was created using AI in about 10 minutes.

Surely these are better than the recent set of Royal Mail Castles stamps. If RM wants me to provide it with future stamp designs, Gemini and I are standing by. Oh yes! For a nice juicy fee please.