703. Bidding Frenzy as Adelaide Emergency Issue Seller Hops Away With £500.

  In Blog 698 I highlighted the Australia Post Adelaide 2016 "emergency" issue of 6 x 30c counter-printed stamps which were sold between 5 and 9 January 2016 to make up for a shortfall of the value which occurred with the massive hike in Australian postal rates from 70c to $1 which occurred at the beginning of the year.

  The first of these rare strips of stamps has now been sold on an Internet auction website and after a week on sale and final frenzied bidding, the 6 stamps have been sold for A$1061.11c - yes, more than A$1000 (exactly £521.30p)! When I looked at the auction website to see the final price I was as jolted by the result of this auction as I was when the BBC revealed the exit poll results of last year's British general election which were completely different from the predicted outcome up till then and stunned the pundits.

  This is a remarkable price for a new issue though of course the stamps of Australia remain a popular area for collectors. It will be interesting to see for how much future examples are sold and if the price has already peaked or indeed, if it's got further to go.

  The Norvic Philatelics Blog reveals some interesting news about Royal Mail "Post and Go" issues - Kiosk M001 is to be installed at the British Forces Post Office (BFPO) Headquarters in RAF Northolt. The kiosk will not be available for use by the general public and will dispense stamps to personnel on the base only at first. "Weigh and Vend" scales and other equipment will be installed later as the trial progresses.

  It will be interesting to see if this is the start of the provision of special stamps for the British Forces Post Office which I think is a very good idea - I would particularly like to see issues for the Sovereign Bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia since they actually form a completely separate British Overseas Territory, albeit ruled by a military administration, and the only such territory not to have its own distinctive postage stamps.

  The Norvic Philatelics Blog also reveals that IAR "Post and Go" kiosks A006 and A008 respectively will be installed in the RAF museums at RAF Hendon (as predicted in Blog 678) and RAF Cosford in Shropshire in March 2016. The kiosks will vend Machin Head and Union Jack labels with the added inscription "Royal Air Force".

702. Malaysia's Very Own "Strictly Come Dancing" Stamps; Ireland Gives Us A Young St. Patrick And Fine Dogs.

  The next issue to be released from Pos Malaysia will be a set of 5 stamps and a miniature sheet on the subject of "Traditional Dance Part 2". This interesting and attractive set was originally included in the planned 2015 programme but has been put back to 3 February 2016. The miniature sheet will combine the designs to make up a single montage. Rating:- *****. 

  Sadly, no Bruce Forsyth or his Malaysian equivalent!

  Below are illustrations and more details of upcoming issues from An Post, the postal administration of Ireland which were mentioned in Blog 701:-

  28 January 2016 - 50th anniversary of the Irish Heart Foundation - 1 stamp - Designed by Ger Garland and lithographed by Cartor. Rating:- **.

  11 February 2016 - "Love and Marriage" - 1 stamp. Designed by Atelier David Smith and lithographed by Cartor. Rating:- *.

  25 February 2016 - St. Patrick's Day - 1 stamp. Designed by John Kindness and Steve Simpson and lithographed by Cartor. I like this unusual depiction of Patrick as a young man - original and nicely executed. Publicity for the issue tells us that Patrick was born in Britain around 386 and was originally named Maewyn Succat, the son of Calphurnius, a deacon of a high ranking Roman family, and Conchessa, a close relative of St. Martin of Tours. He was also the grandson of another clergyman, Pontius. Rating:- *****.

  10 March 2016 - Dogs - 4 stamps. Designed by Detail Design Studio and lithographed by Cartor. Splendid depictions of Irish dogs - the Irish wolfhound, the Irish setter, the Border collie and the Kerry Blue terrier but I wish the whole portrait of the dogs had been used rather than depicting only half of the portrait. Rating :- ****.

 

  In Blog 697 I mentioned the sheet of 110 different stamps which was released by the US-based philatelic agency, IGPC, with the name of Grenada inscribed on all of the "stamps". The subject of the products had nothing to do with Grenada since each "stamp" depicted the former leader of The People's Republic of China, Deng Xiao Ping, and appeared to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the return of Macao to Chinese sovereignty. In a comment on the Blog, Stewie1911 pointed out to me that the IGPC  website did indeed show this issue and gave the alleged "date of issue" - 8 December 2014.

 I now illustrate the entire sheet of 110 "stamps" plus the complete sheet broken up into sections - it's an outrageous product but it's also fascinating to see how each of the 110 portraits of Deng Xiao Ping, starting at the upper left of the sheet and moving down the bottom right, depict portraits in which Deng moves from youth to old age. Clearly intended for sale in the Chinese philatelic market, I wonder if a single one of these "stamps" has actually ever been sold in Grenada itself.

701. New Issue From Maldives Depicts "Biosphere" Reserve.

  Maldives Post issued a miniature sheet containing 4 different stamps on 2 December 2015 in a special folder on the subject of the Baa UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The designs of the 4 stamps feature a Whale shark, a Lesser frigate bird, a Manta ray and Maldivian lacquer work. Illustrated below are the individual stamps and the inside covers of the containing folder. Rating:- *****.

  An Post has revealed the 2016 new issue programme for Ireland. In the previous blog I detailed the new definitive which was released on 21 January 2016. The issues for the rest of the year are:-

28 January - Irish Heart Foundation (1 stamp)

11 February - "Love and Marriage" (1 stamp)

25 February - St. Patrick's Day (1 stamp)

10 March - Dogs (4 stamps)

7 April - Birth bicentenary of Charles Gavan Duffy, Irish nationalist and founder of the nationalist newspaper, The Nation. He became Member of Parliament for New Ross in 1852 but emigrated to Australia in I856 where he settled in the newly founded colony of Victoria. He was immediately elected to the colony's Legislative Assembly and became Premier of Victoria from 1871 to 1872 and later, in 1877, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. He was knighted in 1873 and died in 1903 (1stamp). I wonder if this is an opportunity for a joint issue with Australia Post?

12 May - Europa (2 stamps)

16 June - Wild Atlantic Way (4 stamps)

7 July - Battle of The Somme (1 stamp)

18 August - Irish shop fronts (4 stamps)

15 September - Cycling in Ireland (4 stamps)

6 October - Commissioner of the Irish Lights (4 stamps)

3 November - Christmas (3 stamps).

  I have recently obtained 2 Royal Mail definitives of 2015 from Norvic Philatelics which had either been very difficult to find being offered for sale or had been issued right at the end of 2015.

  The first of these is the 2nd Class blue from coils with code M15L MRIL and the second is the 2nd Class blue with code M15L MBIL from "Business sheets" printed on backing paper with its own security inscription, "...ROYALMAILROYALMAIL...". This is the first time that the backing paper has received a security inscription and the Norvic Philatelics Blog mentions that a printing of this particular item took place on 1 December 2015 but points out that there may have been earlier printings. Rating:- *****.

  The first issues of 2016 from India Post will be:-

24 January - Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (sounds fascinating!)

25 January - "Vibrant India"

6 February - 3rd International Fleet Review.

   Back to Maldives, a large range of items has been released in the name of the Maldives postal administration by Stamperija which depict the Green humphead parrotfish as a WWF stamp issue. The date of issue is stated to have been 18 January 2016. The basic issue is made up of 4 x 22MVR stamps printed in sheets of 16. There are also sheetlets of 8 stamps which contain 2 of each design, a 70 MVR miniature sheet (all exist in perforate and imperforate format) and an 88 MVR miniature sheet (containing all 4 stamps) in the shape of a parrotfish and 4 miniature sheets each containing a single stamp. Rating:- 0.

700. New Irish Definitives Recall The Easter Rising; Australia Issues £74 "Legends" Set.

  An Post, the postal service of Ireland, issued 4 strips, each of 4 different self-adhesive stamps, on 21 January 2016 with the intention of them fulfilling the role of definitive stamps - what An Post calls its 8th definitive series.

  The stamps are extremely interesting because the subjects featured on them relate to the Centenary of the Easter Rising when Irish nationalists rose up against British rule in the island. The four strips each have a different title - "Leaders and Icons", "Participants", "Easter Week" and "The Aftermath".

   The issue was designed by Zinc Design and printed in HP Indigo high resolution digital print by Label Art Ltd.

  The stamps in the first strip of four, "Leaders and Icons", depict seven leaders of the Easter Rising - Thomas J. Clarke, Sean Mac Diarmada, Thomas MacDonagh, Patrick H Pearse, Eamonn Ceanntt, James Connolly and Joseph Plunkett. These men all signed the Proclamation of The Republic. A depiction of the The Irish Flag completes the strip of 4. The leaders are grouped on the stamps according to the organisations to which they belong - The Irish Republican Brotherhood, the Irish Citizen Army and the Irish Volunteers.

  The second strip, "Participants", depicts various people who were on either side of the conflict - the first stamp depicts the first 2 men to be killed in the violence - Metropolitan Police Constable James O'Brien and rebel, Sean Connolly.

  The second stamp depicts the Malone brothers, Michael who fought with the Irish Volunteers and was killed at the Battle of Mount Street Bridge and William who was a sergeant in the 2nd Royal Dublin Fusiliers and was killed at the Battle of Ypres in May 2016.

  The 3rd stamp depicts Dr. Kathleen Lynne, medical campaigner and suffragist and an officer in the Irish Citizen Army, and Elizabeth O'Farrell, a member of Cumann na mBan, who played a role in the general surrender.

  The strip's final stamp emphasises the role of the ordinary combatant and depicts Jack Doyle and Tom McGrath, 2 rebels photographed inside the Dublin GPO during Easter Week. This is one of only 2 surviving photographs of rebels in the GPO during the Rising - an exciting and interesting stamp indeed.

  The third strip, "Easter Week", begins with a stamp which depicts a detail of the Proclamation of The Irish Republic. The second stamp depicts John F Foster who was the youngest of 40 children killed during Easter Week. The third stamp depicts Louisa Nolan who risked her life tending to those injured at the Battle of Mount Street Bridge. The fourth stamp depicts Sir Francis Fletcher-Vane and Francis Sheehy-Skeffington and relates to the incident in which several civilians were killed on the orders of Captain J C Bowen-Colthurst.

  The final strip, "The Aftermath" focuses on the consequences of the Rising. The first stamp depicts the GPO in Sackville Street and the destruction done to it. The second stamp depicts children gathering firewood to illustrate how ordinary people were caught up in the events of Easter Week. The third stamp depicts two unidentified prisoners who had fought on the rebel side while the final stamp depicts Roger Casement, one of 16 prominent rebels who were subsequently hanged as traitors.

  In addition to the 4 strips of four stamps the series will also include smaller self-adhesive stamps from 2 booklets and from a coil. 

  A €7 booklet contains 10 x 70c stamps which repeat the design which depicts the Sackville Street GPO and a €10.50 booklet contains 10 x €1.05 stamps which depict the Roger Casement design.

  There is a coil which contains 2 x 70c stamps - those depicting the Irish Republic flag and the detail of the the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. This is a wonderful set which does full justice to one of the most important events in the history of The British Isles and The British Empire. I hope that An Post is planning further issues to commemorate this turbulent period in Irish and British history but this new definitive set gives a marvellous overview of the Easter Rising of 1916. 

  An historic issue, beautifully illustrated - rating:- ****** (yes, 6 stars!)

  Malta Post will issue 3 stamps on 22 January 2016 on the subject of Maltese Flora. This is the third issue in this ongoing series. The stamps were designed by MaltaPost and lithographed by Printex. Rating:- ****.

  In Blog 693, I mentioned the Australia Post "Legends" issue for 2016 which has now been released on 21 January. As was known, the issue depicts 12 different Australian tennis players. 

  In addition to the set of 12 x $1 gummed stamps (cost $12) and 12 booklets of 10 x $1 self-adhesive stamps (total cost of booklets $120) there are also 2 gummed sheetlets in the issue, one of which consists of 10 different designs while the other contains 5 each of the 2 other designs (total cost $20). The total cost, therefore, of "one of everything" is $152 (not to mention the $2400 which a set of "chequebook" booklets would cost).

  The issue was designed by Sierra Delta and lithographed by McKellar.

  I depict below the 12 gummed stamps, the 2 sheetlets, the "Leyton Hewitt" booklet and blocks of 4 self-adhesive stamps from the other booklets. These are colourful and interesting stamps and reflect well the Australians' sport-loving culture but are ultimately inconsequential since they are not related to any particular event or anniversary and the number of items issued, and their face value, make the issue grossly excessive. I shall not be adding any of them to my collection and will save myself £73.73p. Rating:- **. 

  Australia Post could learn a thing or two from An Post when it comes to devising its annual philatelic programmes.