The Olympic Games & Great Britain Stamps.

  With the Diamond Jubilee celebration issues behind it, Royal Mail, the British Post Office can now concentrate on its outpouring of stamps to commemorate the Olympic Games to be held shortly in London. This will be the third Olympic Games to be held in London and there is a large number of British stamp issues which have drawn attention to all three occasions when the games were held in London. The first time the games were held in London was in 1908. No commemorative stamps were issued by Britain at the time.

  However, a sheetlet of 10 "Union Jack" stamps with illustrated labels attached, was issued by Royal Mail on 24 July 2008 to commemorate the centenary of the first London Olympic Games. The sheet, designed by Neon Design, is both very interesting and very collectable for Olympic Games collectors.  

 

  The fifth label in the left hand column depicts the US Tug of War team. The event was included in the games from 1900 to 1920 and it seems to me that it would be rather a fun event to reintroduce to the Games. All 3 medals were won by British teams in 1908.

   

  The middle label in the right hand column depicts a splendid woman called Louie Dod who won a silver medal in archery in 1908 but in addition had won the Wimbledon tennis competition 5 times, won a national golf title and helped to found the England women's hockey team. If ever there was a sporting hero, Louie Dod qualified to be called that. 

 

  After the end of World War 2, London staged the first Olympic Games of the new peacetime in 1948. The Post Office issued a set of 4 stamps to commemorate the event on 29 July 1948 and the designs caught the art deco spirit of the age. The designers were Percy Metcalfe, Abram Games, Stanley D.Scott and Edmund Dulac and the stamps were perfectly printed in photogravure by Harrison and Sons. 

  The ever increasing greed for financial profit, at whatever the cost, resulted in The Post Office issuing 2 stamps on 7 April 1992 to commemorate for the first time an Olympic Games held in a foreign country. The stamps marked the Olympic Games which were held in Barcelona that year and depicted the flags of the British Olympic and Paralympic teams.

 

  The issue was accompanied by 5 definitive stamp booklets with the British Olympic and Paralympic logos on their covers - 4x 2nd class stamps, 10x 2nd class, 4x 1st class and 10x 1st class. They were printed in lithography by Walsall Security Printers and issued on 21 January 1992 while a 10x 1st booklet, printed in photogravure by Harrison was also issued on the same day. A sixth booklet, another 10x 2nd booklet, was released on 31 March 1992 and was printed by The House Of Questa. 

 

  On 9 July 1996, 5 rather uninspired stamps were issued in a setenant strip to commemorate the participation of the British Olympic and Paralympic teams at the games in Atlanta. 

These designs were reused in an even more uninspired miniature sheet which was issued on 5 August 2005 to commemorate the award of the games to London.

     

  On 22 August 2008, at the end of the Beijing Olympic Games, Royal Mail issued a miniature sheet as a joint issue with The Chinese People's Republic, which contained 4 stamps and which commemorated the hand over of the Olympic flag by Beijing to London. The designs featured landmarks in London and Beijing including the London Eye and the Tower of London.

   

The first stamps to commemorate the 2012 Games were issued on 22 October 2009 and consisted of 2 setenant strips of 5 stamps each, a different sport of the Olympic or Paralympic Games being featured on each stamp. Each design was produced by a different artist although the overall designs were produced by Studio David Hillman. The set was the first part of what amounted to 30 stamps, 10 more being released in 2010 (27 July) and 10 more in 2011 (also, 27 July).

 

  Twelve of the designs were also issued in self-adhesive format in 6 booklets which each contained 2 different Olympics stamps and 4x 1st class definitives. They were issued on 7 January 2010 (judo & archery), 25 February 2010 (track athletics & basketball), 27 July 2010 (paralympic rowing & paralympic table tennis), 12 October 2010 (football & cycling), 27 July 2011 (wheelchair rugby & paralympic sailing) and 15 September 2011 (gymnastics & fencing).

 

  On 27 July 2011, a "stamp sheet", sold for £13.80p, was issued and contained all 30 stamps released between 2009 and 2011. It is so big it is impossible to decide how to incorporate it in one's collection. But it is rather colourful, I suppose. On 5 January 2012, 4 "Olympic definitives" were issued (previously described in the blog of 8 January 2012). Still to come is an Olympics and Paralympics "souvenir sheet", comprising 16x 1st stamps and 4x "Worldwide" stamps to be issued on 7 June 2012, Olympic and Paralympic "Welcome" issues, Olympic and Paralympic "Memories" issue on 27 September and, most worryingly, the "Team GB Gold Medal Winners" miniature sheets to be released within 24 hours of a Briton winning a gold medal. I feel particular alarm since an article in the June 2012 Philatelic Exporter states that "Team GB Gold Medal Winners stamps for both (ie Olympic and Paralympic (will be) produced and ready for sale the day following the victory". I hope this is not right.           

  Up until now Royal Mail has suggested to collectors that there will be about 20 miniature sheets produced for Olympic victories but if they are also produced for Paralympic winners, then we might be truly stung if we want an example of each since Great Britain was the second biggest Gold Medal winner in Beijing with 42 Paralympic champions. We may find that added to the £68.40p Royal Mail expects to obtain from each collector for the Olympic winners issues, a further £165.60 will be extracted for the Paralympic stamps. Surely this can not be so. 

  Remember too, that there are 6 different printers of these miniature sheets and many collectors will probably require an example of each printer's work which would amount to a total cost of £410.40 for the Olympics set and, wait for it, £993.60 for a Paralympics set (grand total £1404.00p!!!). Surely, Royal Mail can not really be planning to maul collectors in such a fashion. It is all a far cry from the modest set of 4 stamps which Great Britain issued for the 1948 Olympics,total cost: 1 shilling and 11 pence-halfpenny (just under 10p).

 

Commonwealth Diamond Jubilee Stamps Checklist.

 

With the main part of the diamond jubilee celebrations now completed it is worth seeing what stamps have so far been issued by the countries of The Commonwealth to commemorate this historic event:- Antigua and Barbuda, issued 26 March 2012, 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet; Ascension, 6 February 2012, 6 stamps and 1 m.s.; Australia, 3 April 2012, 2 gummed stamps, 2 self-adhesive coil stamps, 1 self-adhesive stamp ex-booklet and 1 gummed m.s.; Bahamas, July 2012, 4stamps which also commemorate the jubilee visit of Prince Harry; Barbados, 12 March 2012, 4 stamps and 1 m.s.; Belize, 6 February 2012, 6 stamps and 2 m.s.; Bermuda, 9 February 2012, 6 stamps and 2 m.s.; British Indian Ocean Territory, 6 February 2012, 6 stamps and 2 m.s.;

Canada 16 January 2012. 1 stamp and 1 m.s., and on various dates until 7 May 2012, 6 m.s.; Cayman Islands, 12 June 2012, 4 stamps and 1 booklet of 10x 25c self-adhesive stamps; Cook Islands, 6 February 2012, 6 stamps and 2 m.s.; Falkland Islands, 10 May 2012, 4 stamps and 1 m.s.; The Gambia, 6 different stamps in a sheetlet; Gibraltar, 6 February 2012, 6 stamps and 2 m.s., 14 September 2012, 1 m.s. containing 3 different stamps which commemorates the Jubilee visit of The Earl and Countess of Wessex to Gibraltar; Grenada, 8 February 2012, 4 stamps and 1 m.s.; Grenada Grenadines, 2013, sheetlet of 4 stamps and 1 m.s.; Guernsey, 22 February 2012, 6 stamps and 1 m.s.; Isle Of Man, 6 February 2012, 6 stamps and 2 m.s., 3 June 2012, 1 m.s. commemorating the Jubilee Regatta; Jersey, 6 February 2012, 2 stamps and 1 m.s., 1 June 2012, 1 stamp (price £10); Kiribati, 4 June 2012, 4 stamps (issue to commemorate the Queen's 80th birthday overprinted by The Malvern Press in Harlow, Essex 

in a limited edition of less than 3000 stamps); Malaysia, 13 September 2012, 2 stamps and 1 m.s. (also commemorates the Jubilee visit of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge); Montserrat, 18 April 2012, 4 stamps and 1 m.s.; Mozambique, 1 sheetlet of 6 different stamps and 1 m.s.; Nevis, 1 sheetlet of 4 identical stamps and 1 m.s.; New Zealand, 9 May 2012, 6 stamps and 1 m.s.; Niue, 23 May 2012, 2 stamps and 1 m.s.; Norfolk Island, 20 August 2012, 1 miniature sheet containing 3 different stamps; Pitcairn, 1 June 2012, 2 stamps;

Papua New Guinea, 7 November 2012, 6 stamps and 1 m.s. (sheet containing a single K10 stamp);

  St. Helena, 6 February 2012, 6 stamps and 2 m.s.; 12 June 2012, 4 stamps depicting local childrens' artwork; St. Kitts, 1 October, 5 stamps and 2 m.s.;

 Saint Lucia, 6 February 2012, 6 stamps and 2 m.s.; St. Vincent And The Grenadines, 1 January 2012, 3 stamps and 1 m.s.; Solomon Islands, 5 June 2012, 9 stamps in 2 sheetlets and 1 m.s.; South Georgia and The South Sandwich Islands, 28 May 2012, 4 stamps and 1 m.s.;Tokelau, 23 May 2012, 2 stamps and 1 m.s.; Tonga, 6 March 2012, 1 stamp and 1 m.s.; Tristan Da Cunha; 6 February 2012, 6 stamps and 1 m.s.; Turkish Republic Of Northern Cyprus, 1 April 2012, 1 stamp; Turks And Caicos, 1 sheetlet of 4 identical stamps and 1 m.s.; Tuvalu, 18 September 2012, 1 sheetlet of 5 stamps and 1 m.s. commemorating the Jubilee visit of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to Tuvalu, 31 December 2012, 1 sheetlet of 4 different stamps and 1 m.s.; Vanuatu, 1 June 2012, 2 stamps; United Kingdom Royal Mail, 6 February 2012, 1 short-term "Jubilee" definitive and 1 booklet and 1 m.s., 22 February 2012, 6 limited edition "Post and Go" stamps, 25 April 2012, 1 short-term "large letter" definitive, 21 May 2012, 1 "Union Jack" "Post and Go" label sold in 6 values, 31 May 2012, 8 stamps and  1 retail booklet of self-adhesive stamps and 1 "prestige booklet" (price £12.77), 26 September 2012, "Union Jack" "Post and Go" stamps additionally inscribed "Diamond Jubilee 1952 - 2012" and "Union Jack" produced by Hytech machine with variant script (both issues only available at Autumn Stampex 2012), both issues available for 6 different postal rates; 1 October 2012, booklet of 6 x 1st definitives with quotation inside the front cover;

 

Universal Mail United Kingdom, June 2012, 1 self-adhesive stamp in a booklet of 5:-

 Doubtless more stamps to commemorate the event will appear over the next few months and add to this very interesting (if expensive) collection.

The Jubilee Coup.

In Britain this weekend, the celebrations of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth are in full swing and on 5 June 2012 a service to mark the jubilee will be held in St. Paul's Cathedral which will be attended by many people including Commonwealth leaders. This is reminiscent of the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977 when many Commonwealth leaders were in London to attend the Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting. For one of them at least, it was to be a disastrous occasion. Seychelles had achieved independence on 29 June 1976 and became a republic within The Commonwealth with James Mancham as its first president and his political opponent, France Albert Rene, as the first prime minister. The philatelic consequences of these events were that while still using the Crown Agents to produce some of its stamps, the Seychelles Post Office also allowed a large New York-based philatelic agency to produce and market stamps on its behalf. The result was that a number of issues which appeared were more relevant in subject matter to the USA than Seychelles. One such issue was a pair of stamps which not only commemorated the independence of Seychelles but also commemorated the bicentenary of the declaration of independence of The United States. The pair are depicted below cancelled on the first day of issue at Victoria, capital of Seychelles. Both stamps include a portrait of President Mancham which was also a feature of the set of 8 stamps produced by The Crown Agents to commemorate Seychelles independence (the highest value featuring the first national flag is illustrated at the head of this blog).

The following year was, as stated above, the year of the silver jubilee and President Mancham left Seychelles to attend the celebrations in London. On 5 June 1977, Albert Rene took moves to depose Mancham and make himself president and Mancham was exiled in London. A set of 8 stamps, 4 depicting items of the crown jewels and 4 depicting the Queen and distant views of islands of Seychelles, and a miniature sheet was due to be released by Seychelles to commemorate the silver jubilee but due to the fact that they depicted James Mancham, their release was delayed. The stamps were eventually released on 5 September 1977 with Mancham's portrait removed.

We get an impression of the original design of these stamps because the Crown Agents Bulletin had already published illustrations of some of the stamps as they were intended to be issued with the portrait of Mancham illustrated on them.

Apart from some overprinted definitives which had originally been issued in 1969, the first definitive set of The Republic Of Seychelles was issued on 10 November 1977 and consisted of 16 stamps which depicted Seychellois natural history.

The release of this set was severely delayed by the coup as The Crown Agents Bulletin had illustrated the set at the same time as depicting the silver jubilee issue in 1976, again with President Mancham's portrait depicted on the stamps.

Another startling immediate philatelic result of the coup was the issue of a stamp and miniature sheet with a distinctly revolutionary look about it, which was printed at the State Printing Works in Moscow and commemorated the 60th anniversary of the "Great October Socialist Revolution". The items were typical in appearance of issues produced by The Soviet Union at the time. At least this issue heralded the end of any influence the New York Agency might exert on the type of stamps coming from Seychelles.

So, this political event had substantial outcomes for the contemporary and future stamp issues by Seychelles. If it had not occurred, we may well have seen countless later issues which depicted Mickey Mouse, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and other American icons.

Albert Rene himself was only depicted on 1 postage stamp issued by Seychelles. The stamp was one of a set of four issued on 2 June 1984 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Rene's political party, the Seychelles People's United Party (SPUP). The stamp also showed the new national flag which was adopted after the coup on 29 August 1977, being an adaptation of the party flag of the SPUP (this is another example of the change of a national flag following a political change as discussed in the previous blog). The R2 value depicted a rather unimpressive ironwork statue, the "Zombre Libre"which had been erected in Victoria. The name in Creole does not mean the "Free Zombie", as you might think when you look at this horrible piece of modern art, but instead it means "Free man". For years the air of radicalism hung over Seychelles and "Liberation Day" was celebrated annually. On 5 June 1978, a set of 4 stamps was released to commemorate Liberation Day and the designs had a distinctly revolutionary air about them which seemed quite out of step with the peacefulness of the beautiful islands. It really did not seem fitting to depict guns with bayonets fixed and soldiers with rifles on a Seychelles issue.

The subject also clashed terribly with the fact that Seychelles wished to attract tourists - the illustration below shows one of the 1978 Liberation Day stamps, admittedly less militaristic than the 2 values depicted above, postmarked rather incongruously by the slogan "Tropical Island Holidays Seychelles Indian Ocean".

No doubt Commonwealth leaders in London for the diamond jubilee celebrations of 2012 will hope that they do not suffer the fate of James Mancham and fall victim to a "Jubilee Coup".

Malawi's New President Alters National Flag.

On 7 April 2012, Mrs. Joyce Banda (pictured above), previously the Vice-President, became President of Malawi after the sudden death of the incumbant, Bingu wa Mutharika. Mr. Mutharika had led a rather lavish lifestyle and Mrs. Banda rapidly introduced measures to save money and also reversed the decision of her predecessor to change the national flag in 2010. The first national flag of Malawi had been flown from independence and featured on the first set of 4 stamps issued by the new country to celebrate the event on 6 July 1964. This set is of great significance to me since it was the first set of stamps I ever bought from a stamp shop at a price which shocked my grandmother who accompanied me - I paid 5/- (25p) for the set - you could not even send a second class letter through the post here for that price nowadays! The design also featured a portrait of the first president, Dr. Hastings Kamazu Banda, who, as a young man, had worked as a doctor in Scotland.

The first national flag was said to represent the African people (black stripe), the freedom fighters of Malawi (red stripe) and fertility (green stripe). The 31-rayed red rising sun expressed the idea of Kwacha, the dawn of a new age. This iconic flag was replaced by President Mutharika on 29 July 2010 when the colours were re-ordered and a full 46-rayed white sun was placed at the centre of the flag. The change in the appearance of the sun was said to reflect the economic development and progress which had been made since independence. No Malawian stamp has depicted the second flag but it was printed on labels attached to the two stamps issued on 18 January 2011 to commemorate 35 years of Malawian economic partnership with the European Union (an ironic issue since later in 2011 The United Kingdom and other members of the EU suspended aid to Malawi because of the President's lavish spending which was not benefitting his people). The old national flag was restored on 28 May 2012 as part of the changes following Mutharika's death although the action has provoked some controversy in Malawi. During Mutharika's rule, Malawi maintained a highly conservative philatelic new issue policy so let us hope that this continues under Mrs. Banda's rule.

This change of flag following political change has happened before and elsewhere in The Commonwealth. In The Cook Islands, a change of government led to the adoption of a new national flag on 4 January 1979 in which the flag which had been adopted in 1973 was replaced with a version in which The Union Jack was placed in the canton of the new flag and thereby stressed the links of The Cook islands with The Commonwealth. The territory issued a set of 12 stamps on 9 September 1983 which depicted various historical flags of the islands and the 1973 - 79 flag and its successor were depicted in a se-tenant pair.

At independence, on 1 October 1978, Tuvalu adopted a blue flag with a Union Jack at its canton and 9 yellow stars scattered across the field, representing the nine islands of Tuvalu. However, following a change of government, a new national flag was adopted on 1 October 1995 which included the national arms at the hoist and only 8 stars which represented the country's name which means "eight together" in Tuvuluan. The ninth island had been uninhabited but the situation changed and when the new government was replaced the returning government readopted the flag of 1978 - 95 on 11 April 1997.

The flag of 1978 to 1995 was depicted on a stamp issued as part of set of 3 which was issued on 26 October 1982 to commemorate the royal visit to Tuvalu of Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh. The stamp also featured the royal standard.

The flag of 1995 to 1997 was not featured on a stamp but was depicted on the border of a miniature sheet which was issued by Tuvalu on 1 January 1996 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Tuvalu's first postage stamp. The national ensign (national flag flown at sea) was depicted on one of a set of 4 stamps issued on 17 February 1982 to commemorate the Maritime School in Tuvalu:-

Finally, to change the subject, I note that the New York philatelic agency which releases stamps on behalf of Guyana, has changed the illustration of a sheetlet and miniature sheet which appeared on its website and publicised the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the succession of King Edward XIII (see blog of 23 March 2012). Clearly they felt that they had to correct this hilarious error and reprint the items so that they correctly commemorated King Edward VIII. Actually, I'm a little sad that they have done so, it would have been the most awful, and well as the funniest, error ever to have found its way on to a postage stamp. I wonder if there are any of the errors out there waiting for an eagle-eyed collector to snap them up.

Australian Doctors, Anguillan Revolutionary Coins & Kiribati Error.

Over the years stamps have featured numerous unpleasant dictators, corrupt politicians, over-rated entertainment celebrities and overpaid sportsmen, but sometimes people of true worth find their ways on to postage stamp designs. On 10 April 2012, Australia issued a set of 5 gummed stamps and 5 self-adhesive coil stamps which commemorated medical doctors of great note and great worth. All 5 values were in the domestic postage rate of 60c and the designs featured Dr. Jane Stocks (1872 - 1939) who, with her sister, founded the Queen Victoria Hospital in Melbourne and worked to improve the health particularly of children of the time. Dame Kate Campbell (1899 - 1986) was a paediatrician who demonstrated the link between blindness in premature babies and oxygen levels in neonatal incubators. She was awarded the OBE in 1971.

Victor Chang, a cardiac surgeon, established Australia's National Heart Transplant Programme and pioneered the development of an artificial cardiac valve. Professor Christopher O'Brien was a specialist in surgery of the head and neck and his work in cancer care was pioneering and this led to the establishment of a cancer treatment and research centre in Sydney.

Professor Fred Hollows, an ophthalmologist, was born on 9 April 1929 in Dunedin in New Zealand and lived the first seven years of his life there before his family moved to Palmerston North where he attended Palmerston North Boys' High School. He enjoyed mountaineering and became a friend of Sir Edmund Hillary, the conqueror of Mount Everest. From 1961 to 1965, he studied ophthalmology as a young doctor in Great Britain (firstly at the world-famous Moorfields Hospital in London and then in Cardiff). He then moved to Australia to work in ophthalmology in Sydney and in the 1970's pioneered the treatment of trachoma, halving curable blindness in the Australian Aboriginal population. He worked in rural settlements surveying and providing health care services. As a consultant for WHO he attended a meeting in Egypt in the mid-1980's and subsequently paid his first visit to Eritrea and realised that people in such countries were suffering blindness because of the lack of basic medical resources. He established intraocular lens laboratories in Eritrea and Nepal where such lenses are produced for a tiny fraction of the cost of those produced in western industrialised countries as a result of his work. Professor Hollows died at the age of 64 on 10 February 1993. Eritrea issued a memorial set of 3 stamps which is reported to have been issued on that date though I think that that is improbable.

The stamps draw attention to the Eritreans' great respect for Professor Hollows. In the capital of Asmara there is a street named after him near the Presidential Palace and it is in that street that the Fred Hollows IOL Laboratory still carries on his work. These stamps are very interesting and very worthwhile and underline why the collection of Commonwealth new issues can still be very rewarding despite the tsunami of worthless new issues from so many philatelic agencies.

Another new issue of great interest is a set of 4 stamps from Anguilla which depicts "revolutionary coins" which were coins from Mexico and Panama and elsewhere which were counterstamped "Anguilla Liberty Dollar 11 July 1967" at the time of the Anguillan rebellion against rule from St. Kitts. About 1000 such coins were so treated and sold mainly on the US market to generate funds for "the revolutionary cause". The coins consisted of 3 differently valued coins from Mexico and one each from Panama, Philippines, Peru and, strangely, Yemen. Two such coins are featured on the 15c and 40c values.

Commemorative coins were also minted to celebrate the 1st anniversary of "Independence" in values of EC$25, EC$200 and EC$1500. The coins depicted a portrait of Ronald Webster, the leader of the rebellion, on the reverse and and the three dolphins, the motif on the rebels' flag, on the obverse. The coins were produced in gold, silver and platinum (sounds like some modern philatelic collectibles from places like Jersey!) and the design of one of these coins is depicted on the $2.50 stamp. The $5 stamp shows a rare coin which features the Anguillan coat of arms which was minted in 1970. The design depicts the mahogany tree, a symbol of strength, which is a historic landmark at the geographical centre of Anguilla, and a dolphin leaping from the sea. It is interesting that these stamps have been produced now at the time of the Queen of Anguilla's Diamond Jubilee (I have not yet seen any reports of an Anguillan Diamond Jubilee stamp issue) - perhaps the issue has a continuing note of rebelliousness about it.

Finally, an interesting error in my collection on one of the 30c values of the 1995 Tourism set from Kiribati. The stamps were produced in a se-tenant strip of 5 different stamps,each of the same value, as well as in a booklet of 10 stamps as depicted below.

The "gun emplacement and map" design stamp in my booklet correctly names the island of Betio but the stamp from the strip taken from ordinary sheets names the island as Beito. This must be a constant error but it is not mentioned in the 2009 Stanley Gibbons Western Pacific Stamp Catalogue although it is hard to believe that it is not a known error, given the popularity of Kiribati as a country to be collected.