🇨🇾 Cyprus Post -
9 May 2023 - EUROPA, Peace, the highest human value - 2 stamps, each issued in sheetlets of 8. Designed by Linda Bos and Runa Egilsdottir (64c). Rating:- ***.
Events.
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting opens in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, on 20 June 2022, bringing together senior politicians from the Commonwealth’s 54 member states. The meeting was originally due to take place in June 2020 but was delayed until June 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and then delayed again to this year for the same reason. In Blog 1617, I related the history of Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings and the stamps which were issued over the years by various postal administrations to commemorate the events. The most recent meeting held in London in 2018 was not associated with an accompanying commemorative stamp issue though Royal Mail grudgingly produced a slogan postmark for use on ordinary mail at the time (commonwealthstampsopinion.blogspot.com/2020/03/1617-commonwealth-day-2020.html).
It seems unlikely also that there will be any postage stamps released by I Posta, the Rwandan postal service, because it has not issued any postage stamps since 15 November 2010 - almost 12 years, the longest period in modern times of not issuing a postage stamp of any country in the Commonwealth - and looking at the company’s internet site I could not find any reference to postal rates for ordinary mail in the country with the only postal services getting any mention being EMS (Express mail service) and parcel post. This is the case in a number of countries. The postal service of Samoa (expected to be the next CHOGM host country) for instance rarely releases stamps now after an unfortunate experience in dealing with a United States-based ‘philatelic agency’ and when it does the issue is usually a series of surcharges, some with high face values for use on parcels and express post.
The Meeting’s chair will be Paul Kagame, Rwanda’s fourth President in office since 2000, who takes over the chair from the current holder of the position, Boris Johnson, the British prime minister. The theme of the meeting is ‘Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming’. The Prince of Wales will represent the current Head of The Commonwealth, 96 year old Queen Elizabeth II, at the meeting: the Prince himself has been elected previously by Commonwealth leaders to succeed his mother as the next Head of The Commonwealth.
Ali Bongo, the President of Gabon, has made a number of announcements in the past year or so saying that he expects his country to be admitted to membership of The Commonwealth during the Kigali meeting and the government of Zimbabwe will be hoping to hear of progress in its application to rejoin the organisation after the downfall of Robert Mugabe who withdrew the country from Commonwealth membership.
As it seems unlikely that there will be any philatelic commemoration of the event I have put a stamp design together on my I pad (in about 5 minutes, stamp design really isn’t that hard) (see the head of this Blog) and the Meeting’s emblem is featured along with a small cameo of President Kagame. And by the way, if you want a rare error, the ‘stamp’ below has an error of date.
🇧🇧 The Prince of Wales represented Queen Elizabeth II at the midnight ceremony in Bridgetown which marked the declaration of Republic status by the Caribbean country of Barbados. Prince Charles, who would have succeeded The Queen as the country’s next Head of State, watched as the royal banner was lowered marking the assumption of the role of the country’s first president by Dame Sandra Mason, the country’s Governor-General. The Republic of Barbados remains a member of The Commonwealth. The Barbados Post Office has previously indicated that there are to be no special stamps to commemorate the achievement of Republic status which is surprising given what an important event it is in the country’s history.
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Canada Post issued a single self-adhesive stamp sold in booklets of 10 on 25 November 2021 to commemorate the novelist Margaret Atwood. The author is depicted on the stamp in a striking photographic black and white portrait. Rating:- *****.
🇮🇳 India Post issued a single stamp on 27 November 2021 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. Rating:- **.
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🇰🇾 In Blog 1791 I mentioned the new definitive series released by the postal service of Cayman Islands on 18 November 2020 and now provide illustrations of the set. The set is on the subject of The Queen Elizabeth Botanic Park in the territory an£ the issue provides some wonderful illustrations of the place. My favourite is the $1.60 depicting Prince Charles with Peter the Blue Iguana - a charming picture - and I also like the picture of the Queen visiting the park. It’s a lovely set though it is expensive with both $10 and $20 values but as time goes by face values are bound to gradually rise though hopefully self-respecting postal administrations will be able to avoid the extreme sort of face values reported in recent blogs from places like Dominica, Tonga and The Cook Islands. Rating:- *****.
Self-adhesive stamps from booklets of 10:-
🇯🇪 One item I have so far completely overlooked is another one of those tiresome and expensive Commemorative sheets which Jersey Post continues to find it worthwhile to release from time to time. This particular item was issued on 8 May 2020 to commemorate the International Year of the Nurse And Midwife and sells for £12.50p and is made up of 20 identical stamps depicting a pair hands making a heart shape with attached labels. Rating:- 0.
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| English physician Edward Jenner used mild cowpox as basis for smallpox vaccination |
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| Edward Jenner opened the way for modern vaccination techniques. |
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| Jenner’s first experiment with vaccination. |
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| Jonas Salk introduces polio vaccine March 1953. |
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| John Enders developed Measles vaccine 1960. |
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| Thomas Weller developed Rubella vaccine. |
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| Max Theiler developed Yellow Fever virus 1938. |
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| Theiler awarded Nobel Prize 1951 |
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| Dr Hideyo Noguchi, Yellow fever researcher who died from the condition in 1928. |
