1657. 🇬🇬 Guernsey Post Organises Children’s Art Competition To Design COVID-19 Stamps.

  🇬🇬 Guernsey Post is organising 2 competitions for local children to produce designs for 2 sets of stamps to be issued later in 2020 to commemorate the people’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic - a set of 12 stamps to have the name of Guernsey printed on them (for children in school years 1 - 12 [representing one from each year group?] from Guernsey, Herm and Sark) and a set of 8 stamps to have the name of Alderney printed on them (competition for Alderney children only “aged 1-11“ though one must be a little dubious about what the stamp design by a one year old will look like).

  The publicity for the issue for Alderney states that, “All proceeds from the sale of the stamps will be donated to the Alderney Helping Hands project” (it is not entirely clear to me if this means that All money from the sales is implied or whether it just means All profits from the sales is intended) and for the Guernsey issue, “This special stamp issue called #GuernseyTogether will be due out later this year and proceeds will raise money for 2 local charities”. The Alderney issue will be titled #AlderneySpirit.

  The competition winners, who must place their artwork in a frame as shown above, will be awarded “a £100 voucher for a local retailer” (notably Guernsey Post does not seem to think that today’s children will be lured into a design competition just offering the promise of a philatelic prize as the reward for the winners). The Guernsey Post internet site has other details of the competition.

  It looks as though each stamp will have a 50p face value which given that that would make a total face value of £10 makes for a rather expensive set for collectors - and no doubt it will be mainly collectors who will buy complete sets - even if it is for a good cause.

684. New Issues From Bhutan, Guernsey And Cayman Islands.

  In Blogs 675 and 680 I noted some new issues from Bhutan Post and more are now mentioned below. The centre of attention of Bhutan Post's new issue programme appears to be the 60th birthday of King Jigme Singye Wangchuk, the 4th King of Bhutan.

  2015 (date of issue not yet known) - "Ascending the Golden Throne", "Democracy- a Royal Gift" (already featured in Blog 675), "A Golden Reign", "Father of Gross National Happiness" and "The Transition of Destinies" - 5 sheetlets and 2 miniature sheets. Rating:- *****.

                              

                              

                               

                               

                               

                                 

                                                 

 9 October 2015- King Jigme, "Father of Gross National Happiness" - 1 sheetlet of 6 different stamps and 1 miniature sheet. Rating:- *****.

                                  

                                     

  11 November 2015 - 60th Birth anniversary of King Jigme Singye Wangchuk - Conservation of the Black- necked crane and White bellied heron - 1 sheetlet 8 different stamps and 1 miniature sheet. Rating:- *****.

                                     

                                       

 11 November 2015 - Worldwide Fund For Nature (WWF) (King Jigme's contribution to wildlife conservation) - 1 sheetlet of 8 different stamps (see Blog 680) and 1 miniature sheet. Rating:- *****.

                                        

  2015 (date not yet known) - Royal visit to Merak and Sangteng, eastern Bhutan (May 2015) - 1 sheetlet of 6 different stamps and 1 miniature sheet. Rating:- *****.

                                         

                                         

  2015 - Dzongs of Bhutan (King Jigme's role in conservation of historic buildings) - 1 sheetlet of 6 different stamps and 1 miniature sheet. Rating:- *****.

                                              

                                            

  2015 (date not yet known) - Monasteries of Bhutan - 1 sheetlet of 6 different stamps and 1 miniature sheet. Rating:- *****.

                                               

                                                          

  Guernsey Post will issue a set of 6 stamps and 1 miniature sheet which combines all 6 stamps to commemorate the Lunar new year (Year of the Monkey) on 20 January 2016. Priced at £7.24p for set plus miniature sheet these items have no real relevance to Guernsey and are dull, anaemic-looking and tell the collector nothing about Guernsey. I shall not be adding the issue to my collection of Guernsey stamps. Rating:- 0.

                                                        

                                                       

                                                         

  Although I am not aware of any useful publicity put out to collectors by the seemingly moribund CASCO, the Cayman Islands philatelic agents, it seems that the postal administration of this Caribbean territory has recently released 2 new issues of stamps. 

  The first is its Christmas issue and consists of 4 stamps, depicting children's art, as well as a booklet of 10 x 25c self-adhesive stamps. The 25c value depicts a parrot which looks like the Grand Cayman Parrot, the territory's national bird. Because of the poor pre-publicity I do not yet know the date of issue.This is a pleasant and colourful set. Rating:- ***.

  The second issue from Cayman Islands, equally unannounced to collectors by any publicity of which I am aware, depicts artefacts from the Cayman Islands National Museum. Again, I do not yet know the date of issue. Rating:- ***.

513. Guernsey Post Adds To A Surfeit Of Flags.

  Guernsey Post will issue its first "Post And Go" stamps on 18 February 2015 at the Spring Stampex Philatelic Exhibition in London. The souvenir labels which will of course have no postal validity in The United Kingdom will be available in 6 values in a vertical strip printed in photogravure by Walsall Security Printers. The issue which depicts the national flag of Guernsey was designed by Two Degrees North. It appears that these labels will not for the present be available to the mail sending public of Guernsey from a machine located on the island where, of course, they would be valid for postal use. For the present at least therefore I shall not be adding them to my collection of postage stamps but will buy them when and if they are sold from a Post And Go machine actually located in Guernsey:-

  Meanwhile the flag of Jersey continues to put in regular appearances with its usage by Jersey Post on the "Churchill 24.1.65."-inscribed "Post And Go" stamps which will be produced by the machine located in the Broad Street post office in Jersey where of course they will have postal validity unlike those produced by the machine at Spring Stampex in London where they really only have the status of exhibition souvenirs. In both cases, the "Post And Go" issues will be produced as strips of 6 different values. For vexillological philatelists  - or should it be philatelic vexillologists? - this is a feast of flags on stamps but for other collectors the constant outpourings of minor variations on a theme especially from Jersey Post are all becoming rather tiresome. Each strip of 6 stamps has a face value of £4.07p to which Jersey Post deteminedly attaches value added tax and even without which these two issues will cost stamps collectors at least £8.14p:-

  The unrelenting release of philatelic products continues from Stamperija with another 15 sheetlets (each of 4 different "stamps") and 15 accompanying miniature sheets with the name of Mozambique printed on them. The stated "date of issue" is 20 August 2014 and the 15 featured subjects are Birds of prey, Parrots, The fight against malaria, Butterfies, High speed trains, Funicular railways, Steam trains, Cruise ships, Fire engines, Dirigibles, Ambulances, Lighthouses, Satellites, the "Colonisation of Mars" and Mountains and birds:-