613. Beautiful Flower Stamps From Jersey Used To Highlight China-Jersey Ties.

  Jersey Post's "Links With China" issue will be released on 22 September 2015 and the links depicted in the designs of the set are, to say the least, rather unconvincing. The subject of the issue is flowers that are found in both the gardens of China and Jersey which makes for a pretty and attractive set of flower stamps but does not say much for the state of Jersey-China relations, either historic or present. Surely someone could have come up with more significant ties between the two territories than a display of flowers which are grown by both Jersey and Chinese gardeners. 

  For what it's worth, the issue is made up of 6 stamps and 1 miniature sheet and was designed by Wang Huming and Martin Morck and lithographed by Cartor. Rating:- ***.

  The flow of philatelic products from the British offshore islands continues unassuaged and in addition to the above Jersey Post Issue, there are new items soon to appear from the Isle Of Man postal administration - on 9 September 2015 a "Self-adhesive Pane" will be put on sale to add to the island's items which commemorate the achievement of Queen Elizabeth II in becoming the longest reigning monarch in British history. The cost of the item will be £6.76p Rating:- *. 

  On the same day the Isle Of Man Post Office will also release a "Prestige booklet", cost £13.52p, which contains 2 sets of the above stamps. Rating:- *

  Singapore Post's contribution to the joint Australia-New Zealand-Singapore issue is due for release on 14 August 2015 and depicts the parliaments of the 3 countries in the form of a miniature sheet. Rating:- ****.

   Singapore Post also issued a folder containing a sheet of 50 My Stamp stamps on 15 July 2015 which is titled "50 stamps for 50 years". The stamps have 50 different labels attached to them, each depicting a different previously issued stamp, which were selected from those displayed in the local exhibition "The Singapore Journey: 50 Years Through Stamps". Rating:- ***

Pack cover.

Complete sheet.

  This week's philatelic products from Stamperija have the name of Sierra Leone inscribed on them and are stated to have been issued on 26 June 2015. The products take the usual form of 10 sheetlets each of 4 different "stamps" with 10 accompanying "miniature sheets" and have the usual range of themes which are calculated to have appeal to collectors. The art on some of them is very poor. 

  For the record the subjects covered are the achievement of Queen Elizabeth II in becoming the longest reigning British monarch (to enhance the issue's popularity the stamps also feature philatelic design stalwarts such as Diana, Princess of Wales, Pope John Paul II, Mother Theresa and The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William - ho hum!); the Fastest trains in the world (not in Sierra Leone presumably); Singapore 2015 Philatelic Exhibition - the Crimson sunbird, national bird of Singapore; 70th anniversary of the United Nations; 175th anniversary of the Penny Black; European Football Championships 2016 (I suspect that Sierra Leone will not have a team in the competition); 50th anniversary of the first spacewalk; NASA (North American Space Agency); 150th anniversary of the end of of the American civil war and Jacques Yves Cousteau. Rating:- 0.

612. Those Killer Penguins Are Back Again.

  Those notorious killer penguins are back again as The Falkland Islands postal administration releases its 4th set in its series of "Penguins Predators And Prey" stamps. This time the unfortunate Falkland Sprat is depicted to represent our killer penguins' prey (75p value) while the Falkland Skua is depicted on the £1 value representing nemesis for the penguins - the skua likes nothing more than a meal of penguin chick or penguin egg (though it does partuclarly enjoy the variety of texture served up in a meal of penguin chick!). The species of penguin featured in this issue in particular is the Magellanic penguin and this wonderful, original set of stamps, to be issued on 21 August 2015, has been designed by Tony Chater and lithographed by BDT International. Of course the splendid issue originates in the Creative Direction/Pobjoy Stamps stable. Rating:- *****.

  IGPC  has released:-

  Ghana - 2 March 2015 - The Palace Museum in the Forbidden City, Beijing (part 2) - 1 sheetlet of 11 different stamps. See also Blog 603. Rating:- * 

  I rarely mention stamps from territories outside of The Commonwealth but I can not resist mentioning here a stamp issued on 13 May 2015 by the postal administration of French Polynesia which commemorates the 250th anniversary of the discovery of The King George Islands by the British explorer, John Byron, who landed on the islands in June 1765 during a circumnavigation of the globe in HMS Dolphin which lasted from 1765 to 1767. In the previous year he had landed at The Falkland Islands and claimed them for Great Britain and during the same voyage he would also visit Tokelau, the southern Gilbert Islands (Kiribati) and the Northern Marianas. 

   He had fought in the Seven Years War and would also fight in the American War of Independence at the Battle of Grenada in July 1779. He was known as "Foul weather Jack" because of his frequent encounters with bad weather whilst at sea. He reached the rank of Vice Admiral. Given his interesting story of exploration and service to the Royal Navy, we may expect to see him make another philatelic appearance at some time in the future - hopefully on a stamp of one of the Commonwealth territories he visited.

  The King George Islands group consists of 4 atolls and 1 island and is a subgroup of the Tuamotus Islands. The islands were claimed by the French as recently as the 1880's. The stamp has an unusual design in that it is an issue of one of the Francophone territories which do not usually make a habit of depicting Royal Navy ships flying red ensigns landing their crews on what was to become French territory. The stamp was also issued in a miniature sheet which includes another stamp which commemorates the 180th anniversary of the translation of The Bible into Polynesian by Henry Nott, a British missionary:-

  Sticking with the Pacific Ocean area, Philatelic Collector Inc. issued a set of 51 stamps (yes 51) on 5 August 2015 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of self-government in The Cook Islands. The issue takes the form of 1 x $1 stamp with 4 accompanying sheetlets (a.10 x 10c, b. 15 x 30c, c.15 x 40c and d. 10 x 50c values) - each sheetlet stamp depicts a different "meaningful" Cook Islands stamp issued during the past 50 years. At least the face values of the individual stamps are low which means that the total face value of the set is tolerable despite the large numbers of stamps being released in this issue. Rating:- *. 

611. New Zealand Features All Blacks Shirt In Run-up To Rugby World Cup.

  With the Rugby World Cup due to start in England on 18 September 2015 (see Blog 606), New Zealand Post has announced that it will issue a single $15 stamp sold in a special pack to commemorate the New Zealand national rugby team, The All Blacks. The date of issue will be 2 September 2015 and the design, by Dave Burke, features an All Blacks shirt and is printed on fabric by lithography. Rating:- ***

All Blacks special pack.

First Day Cover.

  New Zealand Post's Children's Health charity issue for 2015 will also be released on 2 September 2015 and will consist of 1 x 80c + 10c self-adhesive stamp, 3 x gummed stamps and 1 miniature sheet. The subject of the issue is "Being sun smart - Slip, Slop, Slap and Wrap", in other words, a campaign to protect children from excessive sunlight exposure. This important and cheerful set was designed by Donna McKenna and lithographed by Southern Colour Print. Rating:- ***

self-adhesive stamp

miniature sheet.

  Meanwhile, back to the Rugby World Cup. Royal Mail's issue of 8 stamps and 1 counter booklet of 6 x 1st Class rate self-adhesive stamps is depicted on the internet - the set consists of 4 different se-tenant pairs at the 2nd class, 1st class, rates as well as £1 and £1.52 values. The 6 booklet stamps are made up of 4 Machin Head definitives in a new colour (which coincides with Queen Elizabeth II becoming Britain's longest reigning monarch) and the two 1st class Rugby World Cup stamps. As mentioned in Blog 606, the date of issue will be 18 September 2015. I think I would have liked these stamps a little more if the illustrations had been in colour rather than black and white. Rating:- ***

£3.78 counter booklet of self-adhesive stamps.