451. Margaret Thatcher's Final Victory.

  Great Britain's first (and only) female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, loved and loathed in equal measure, and subject to aggressively vituperative comments when it was suggested that a stamp should be issued to commemorate her after her death in 2013, has scored her final victory - she will be featured on a Royal Mail commemorative stamp to be issued as part of a set of 8 to be released on 14 October 2014 (as predicted in Blog 309).

  The set comprises 4 x 1st class values and 4 x 97p stamps and the featured premiers are William Pitt The Younger (1783 - 1801), Charles Grey (Earl Grey, of tea fame, 1830 - 1834), Robert Peel (1840 - 46), William Ewart Gladstone (1868 - 74), Clement Attlee (1945 - 51), Winston Churchill (1940 - 45 and 1951 - 55), Harold Wilson (1964 - 71 and 1974 - 76) and Margaret Thatcher (1979 - 90). This choice of subjects to appear on the stamps, by any standards, represents a remarkably delicate political balancing act and the featured leaders cover a wide range across the British political spectrum. But, undoubtedly, the depiction of Margaret Thatcher will provide us with one of the most controversial stamps ever issued by Royal Mail.

  Gladstone has been featured as recently as 2009 on a British stamp (see Blog 229) and so it is surprising that he has been depicted again so soon afterwards - perhaps it was to ensure that a great Liberal favourite would be included in the set - but other prime ministers previously depicted - Sir Robert Walpole (the first British prime minister), Benjamin Disraeli and David Lloyd George do not reappear in this set although Winston Churchill has been featured several times since 1965.

  Margaret Thatcher's depiction on a British stamp commemorates the first woman to become a British prime minister and it is for that achievement alone, if for no other reason, that she deserves to be included in this set. This philatelic achievement may well represent her final victory.

450. Endangered Birds of New Zealand.

  New Zealand Post will issue five excellent stamps and 1 miniature sheet which combines all 5 values on 3 September 2014 which depict attractive and interesting photographs of endangered seabirds of the New Zealand. The set was designed by New Zealand Post and lithographed by Southern Colour Print and is of great interest to collectors of "Birds" stamps as well as collectors in general:-

  New Zealand Post will also release 2 gummed stamps (80c + 10c and $1.40c + 10c), 1 self-adhesive stamp (80c + 10c) and 1 miniature sheet on 3 September 2014 in the annual Children's Health series. The stamps were designed by Insight of Wellington and lithographed by Southern Colour Print:-

  On 5 August 2014 Pakistan issued a single stamp which depicts a splendid cow to commemorate the centenary of the conservation of the Sahiwal breed of cattle:-

  Tuvalu's latest issue is a set of 4 stamps produced as a se-tenant block within a sheetlet of 16 stamps on the subject of the Giant Pacific octopus. The set was issued on 5 August 2014 and is accompanied by a miniature sheet which contains a single stamp. 

  This issue is similar to several others released in 2014 by Tuvalu's New York-based agency on behalf of Guyana, Sierra Leone and Nevis as Worldwide Fund For Nature (WWF) stamps but notably does not bear the WWF symbol. I wondered why but a quick visit to Wikipedia revealed the reason why this issue is not acceptable as a WWF issue - the Giant Pacific octopus is NOT a species found in Tuvalu waters which would be a precondition for it being acceptable as a WWF issue. The Giant Pacific octopus, known also (and here's the clue) as the NORTH Pacific octopus, inhabits the waters along the coast of North America across to Japan. So why oh why has Tuvalu's philatelic agent produced stamps depicting an octopus not found around Tuvalu when there is such a wealth of marine wildlife in the South Pacific area which could have been depicted? 

  I do wish that philatelic agencies and postal administrations who make large amounts of money from selling thematic stamps to collectors could at least show a little respect to their customers by carrying out the most basic research on the designs which they produce so that those who buy these stamps can feel satisfied with the products they buy and do not feel as though they have been taken advantage of. Because of the irrelevance of the subject of this issue to the country whose name appears on the stamps, I shall NOT be adding this issue to my Tuvalu collection.

  Zimbabwe's Zimpost issued 6 stamps on 3 June 2014 which had the subject of old methods of transportation in Zimbabwe. The set was lithographed by Natprint of Harare:-

449. The Romans In Jersey.

  I frequently grumble about what I see as the excessive number of stamp issues put out by Jersey Post as well as its irritating gimmicks such as the infamous diamond-encrusted miniature sheet. But, putting those complaints aside for once, there are many good points about many of Jersey's new issues. 

  The newest issue to be announced is the set and miniature sheet containing a single stamp which will be released on 27 August 2014 which deal with the island's connections with The Roman Empire. For once, there seems to be a reasonable explanation for why this issue is to be made - apparently a hoard of 70000 ancient Roman coins was discovered in a field in Jersey in 2012 and this issue ties in with that discovery depicting some of the emperors and governors who were featured on some of those coins.

  Jersey stamp designs very frequently use original art which is much to be preferred to the products of  a lot of postal administrations and philatelic agencies which are quite content to use photography, often poorly chosen, for their designs which makes the collector think that little or no effort has been put into producing the design despite the stamps being given high face values. This Jersey "Roman" issue uses the wonderful original art of the marvellous Victor Ambrus, who supplied the art for the Manx "Viking" set from earlier this year, and his artistry makes it an excellent issue. The reasonably priced £2 miniature sheet depicts a battle elephant and is bound to be popular with thematic collectors who specialise in stamps which portray elephants.

  Having had my faith in modern issues restored by Jersey's issue, it comes crashing down to earth again with the outpourings from a large New York-based philatelic agency on behalf of several Commonwealth territories. Most of the subjects have little or nothing to do with the territories whose names appear on the stamps and there is no attempt that I can see to make the products original or even particularly interesting:-

  Montserrat - 

27 August 2014 - Domestic dogs:- 1 sheetlet of 4 different stamps and 1 miniature sheet:-

6 August 2014 - "Famous paintings":- 1 sheetlet of 4 different stamps and 1 miniature sheet:-

  Nevis - 

14 August 2014 - Prince George of Cambridge commemoration:- 1 sheetlet of 6 stamps (3 x 2 different designs) and 1 miniature sheet:-

  Papua New Guinea - 

10 July 2014 - Commemoration of Pope Francis:- 4 stamps, 1 sheetlet of 4 more different stamps and 1 single stamp miniature sheet. Papua New Guinea is home to about 2 million Catholics - 27% of the country's population.

  St. Vincent And The Grenadines -

19 May 2014 - Farm animals Part 2:- 1 sheetlet of 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet:-

21 July 2014 - The Meeting of US President Obama with Pope Francis:- 1 sheetlet of 6 identical stamps and 1 miniature sheet:-

14 August 2014 - "World Famous Paintings":- 1 sheetlet of 3 different stamps and 1 m.s.:-

  Sierra Leone - 

7 July 2014 - Centenary of the beginning of the First World War:- 1 sheetlet of 4 different stamps and 1 m.s. of 2 different stamps:-

7 July 2014 - Chinese trains:- 1 sheetlet of 4 different stamps and 1 m.s. of 2 different stamps:-

To return to stamps which have relevance to the countries which issue them:-

Ireland's An Post issued 8 self-adhesive stamps on 31 July 2014 - four depict marine life and the remaining 4 depict wildlife. The stamps were designed by Zinc Design Associates and digitally printed  by Label Art Ltd:-

  Ireland will issue 4 stamps on 7 August 2014 to commemorate the Irish Prison Service. The stamps were also designed by Zinc Design Associates and lithographed by Irish Security Printers:-

  Botswana Post issued 6 stamps on 1 August 2014 on the subject of local domestic animals. It is worthwhile to compare the designs of the Botswana issue which have an authentic local feel about them with those of the St. Vincent issue featured above which seem to have had no feeling put into them at all:-

  This week's issue from Australia Post is an admittedly modest pair of stamps inscribed "Christmas Island" which is on the subject of the island's red crab migration. The date of issue will be 12 August 2014 and the stamps were designed by Sonia Young and lithographed by RA Print:-

  Vanuatu issued a clever set of free-form self adhesive stamps on 23 July 2014 on the original subject of "Cocktails in Paradise" - a lovely illustration to tourists to the islands of what can be enjoyed there apart from undersea post boxes, volcano post boxes, snorkelling and lazing on beaches. The set was designed by Denise Durkin and lithographed by Southern Colour Print:-