1227. 🇹🇿 Excellent New Issues Featuring Art, Dance And Spices From Tanzania.

 🇹🇿 This is what happens when an African postal service takes responsibilty for the type of subject featured on its stamps instead of allowing some money-grubbing foreign postal agency to run riot with its national and philatelic reputation.

  Posta, the Tanzanian Postal Corporation, issued some wonderful, original, interesting and colourful stamps on 17 May 2018 on subjects mainly related to various local arts. There's not a hint of Elvis Presley or Diana Princess Of Wales or Marilyn Monroe or polar bears or Royal weddings about them. The stamps conjure up images which are pure Africa. For all of them I give a rating of *****.

  The issues are:-

  Music and Dance - 4 different stamps in a sheetlet and 1 single stamp miniature sheet. Lithographed by Enschedé:-

  Tinga Tinga arts - 2 sheetlets, 1 containing 6 different stamps and 1 containing 4 different stamps and 1 single stamp miniature sheet:- 

  Spices of Zanzibar - 1 sheetlet containing 6 different stamps and 1 single stamp miniature sheet:-

  🇧🇲 The Bermuda Post Office issued a set of 3 stamps on 21 May 2018 to commemorate the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The designs are fairly humdrum and unlike the stamps and products put out by New Zealand Post, Jersey Post and Gibraltar Stamps after the actual wedding do not feature scenes from the wedding but show photographs of the couple at the time of their engagement. This may explain the publicity photograph of the first day cover of the issue which shows the three stamps cancelled by a postmark dated 22 March 2018. Rating:- **.

  🇮🇲 Hong Kong Post will issue a set of 6 stamps and 1 miniature sheet on 7 June 2018 which is titled 'Inclusive communication'. The issue was designed by Ching tsui Chan and printed in lithography and Braille ink by Cartor with the miniature sheet being printed in lithography and Braille ink and lenticular also by Cartor. The issue is perforated 13.5. Rating:- *.

1203. 🇬🇬 New Counter-Based Post And Go Unit For Guernsey Post.

  🇬🇧 I have previously illustrated the set of 6 stamps which Royal Mail will release on 17 April 2018 on the subject of Reintroduced Species but now include better quality illustrations of this excellent set. The set manages to include a creature for almost every natural history thematic collection - mammals, birds, flowers, reptiles and amphibians and butterflies. Rating:- *****.

  🇬🇬 Guernsey Post will use a new counter mounted Post and Go machine at the Essen International Stamp Fair which will take place from 3 to 5 May 2018. The new machine, GG03, will dispense the Guernsey Flag Post and Go stamps with an additional inscription applied, "Messe Essen/3-5 May 2018". Being dispensed on German soil means that these items will have no postal validity where they were actually issued and can only be used for genuine postal services if transported all the way back to Guernsey itself. Rating:- 0.

  🇸🇬 Singapore Post will issue a set of 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet on 18 April 2018 on the subject of 'Early trades'. The issue was designed by Lim An-ling and lithographed by Thai British Security Printing and perforated '13-14'. The set gives a pleasing look at Old Singapore. Rating:- *****.