1037. 🇧🇲 Bermuda Commemorates Longest Reign - 2 Years Too Late.

  🇧🇲 The postal service of Bermuda released a set of 3 stamps during June 2017 (precise date of issue not yet known) which feature 3 charming portraits of Queen Elizabeth II taken during royal visits to the island and with a heavy emphasis on her choice of hats. The issue commemorates, exceptionally belatedly, the Queen's achievement in becoming the longest reigning British monarch which actually occurred on 9 September 2015 - almost 2 years ago - so why there is a necessity to commemorate the event so long afterwards is a mystery. Despite that, I like the set very much. I have no other details of the issue yet. Rating:- *****.

  🇧🇧 The Barbados Postal Service issued a new set of 4 stamps and one miniature sheet containing a further 5 stamps on 12 June 2017 on the subject of Motor sports In Barbados - an unusual subject from this Caribbean country. It's good to see something a little different and the issue is designed by the always excellent Andrew Robinson, lithographed by Lowe-Martin and perforated 13. Rating:- *****.

  🇵🇰 Pakistan Post issued a single stamp on 29 June 2017 as another part of its "Men of Letters" series (I have no idea whether or not there will also be a "Woman of Letters" series) which commemorated Majeed Amjad (1914-1974), an Urdu poet of Pakistan. Alas, not a very interesting design. Rating:- **.

1035. 🇻🇬 New British Virgin Islands Definitive Issue.

  🇻🇬 After quite a long period since its last stamp issue (apart from the highly controversial Revenue stamps) the postal service of British Virgin Islands issued a new definitive set on 5 July 2017. The subject of the issue is "Undersea Life" and the stamps were designed by Bee Design using photographs taken by the BVI Conservation and Fisheries Department and printed in lithography by Cartor and perforated 13.5.

  As we have come ro expect from Creative Direction this is an issue of well chosen photographs - I particularly like the $10 value with its design which depicts 2 Bottlenose dolphins - which have been placed pleasingly on the stamps and I will be happy to add the set to my BVI collection. Rating:- *****.

  Thanks to Juliet Warner of British Pobjoy Mint for the above information.

  🇮🇲 Rarely a day seems to go by without the Isle Of Man Post Office announcing some new philatelic product or the other. Here's another. A previously issued miniature sheet commemorating The Queen's sapphire succession anniversary was reissued on 30 June 2017 with an overprint applied which commemorated the 150th anniversary of the Confederation of Canada. That's another £3.75p please! Rating:- 0.

1034. 🇪🇷 Dramatic Eritrea 2015 Set Finally Turns Up.

  🇪🇷 Eritrea of course is not a member of The Commonwealth but it was occupied by the British from 1941 after they had defeated the Italian colonial forces at the Battle of Keren until 1952 when the United Nations, following the wishes of The United States government, handed Eritrea over to Ethiopia against the wishes of the Eritreans. 

  I have collected the modern stamp issues of Eritrea, which are not numerous, since Eritrea finally wrested its independence from Ethiopia and they make up an interesting footnote to my collection of stamps issued in Eritrea whilst it was under British occupation. I think it useful to mention them here as it's often difficult to find information about Eritrean stamps and let's face it, Eritrea doesn't really have many friends in the world ruled, as it is, by a tyrannical president whose actions have led to hundreds of thousands of young Eritreans fleeing the country and risking their lives to escape across North Africa and sailing in dangerous little boats to join the current mass migration attempts from Africa to Europe.      

  Poor Eritrea seems to have been one of the most unfortunate of nations in recent decades and its stamps, dedicated as many of them are to telling the story of the unfortunate country's fight for Freedom, make a fascinating collection.

  A few weeks ago, Stewie1980 reported on Stampboards that Eritrea had issued a set of 3 stamps during 2015 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Second Battle of Massawa (Operation Fenkil). Although he knew the date of issue - 10 February 2015 - he had no other details and no illustrations of the stamps but now I see that the excellent Bombay Stamps is offering this set for sale and we now can know what the 3 stamps look like. 

  The interesting trio depict battle scenes and pictures of liberation fighters of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front ((EPLF) engaged in land and sea assaults on the Ethiopian forces in Eritrea's chief port of Massawa. The defeated Ethiopians retreated to the town of Ghinda after being driven out of Massawa where buildings had been destroyed. I visited Eritrea in 2008 and much of the destruction was still visible even 17 years later. Independence was finally achieved on 28 May 1993 when the country was finally admitted to membership of The United Nations, a membership it had denied Eritrea 40 years before. Rating:- *****.

  Bombay Stamps are also selling blocks of 8 stamps, as opposed to the miniature sheets previously reported, which were issued by the Eritrea postal service in 2013 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the country's diplomatic relations with The People's Republic of China. The blocks of 8 are taken from sheetlets of 16 (2 x 8). The stamp issue had been a gift from the Chinese government to Eritrea. Rating:- *****.

  The Royal Mail Post and Go stamps which were reported in Blog 1023 which are dispensed by Kiosk A006 situated at the HMS Trincomalee Museum in Hartlepool and which commemorate the ship's bicentenary are depicted below. The stamps come in 2 forms - the "Union Jack" labels with the added inscription "HMS Trincomalee/200 Years" and the "Machin Head" labels with the same added inscription as well as a ship logo. Both types of course come in "Collectors strips" of 6 different values. As reported in Blog 1023 these items went on sale on 16 June 2017 and will be dispensed until October 2017. 

1033. 🇸🇬🇧🇼 Singapore Wedding Jewellery And Netball In Botswana.

  🇸🇬 Singapore Post will issue an excellent set of 4 stamps on 12 July 2017 on the subject of "Wedding Jewellery". This beautifully produced issue was designed by Jonathan Castillo Reyes (DNA Lift Pte Ltd) and lithographed with pigment varnish and iridescent varnish by the unequalled Cartor. The set is perforated 13.5. Pure philatelic gold! Rating:- *****.

  🇧🇼 Botswana Post issued a set of 5 stamps and 1 miniature sheet on 1 May 2017 to commemorate the holding of the Netball World Youth Cup in the capital of Botswana, Gaborone, from 8-16 July 2017. The issue was designed by Citizen Design and Irfan Kokabi and lithographed by Southern Colour Print and the illustrations feature different positions of play. I think that this is yet another excellent set from Botswana Post which always sets an example to many other postal administrations of the perfect way to provide a new issue stamp programme and service. Rating:- *****.

  🇳🇿 New Zealand Post issued what it calls a "special product" on 3 July 2017 to commemorate the victory of the New Zealand team, Emirates Team New Zealand, in the Americas Cup sailing competition finals held in Bermuda from 17 to 26 June 2017. 

  The announcement of the issue states that 6 stamps are included in the issue and the illustration suggests that the "special product" is a large miniature sheet as depicted below.

  The issue was designed by Jonathan Gray and lithographed by New Zealand Post Collectables and Solutions Centre Whanganui and perforated 13.5. Rating:- ***.

1032. 🇨🇦 Emblematic Birds And Classic Photographs From Canada.

  🇨🇦 Canada Post will issue a set of 5 self-adhesive stamps (issued in booklets of 10 - 2 x 5) and 1 gummed miniature sheet on the subject of Birds of Canada. This is the second part of the series which features the bird emblems of Canada's provinces. The depicted birds are the Osprey (Nova Scotia), the Gyrfalcon (North West Territories), Common loon (Ontario), Blue jay (Prince Edward Island) and Great grey owl (Manitoba). The issue was designed by Mike Savage of Signals Design from illustrations by Keith Martin. The issue was lithographed by Canadian Bank Note. This is an excellent set with beautiful illustrations and it won't have any trouble finding a place in my collection. Rating:- *****.

  Canada Post will also issue a set of 5 self-adhesive stamps from booklets of 10 and 2 gummed miniature sheets (one containing 3 stamps and 1 containing 2 stamps) on 4 July 2017 as the final part of its 5 year series on 150 Years of Canadian photographs. The issue was designed by Stephane Huot and lithographed by Canadian Bank Note. I have not been very keen on the stamps of this series because the stamps' size is usually too small to fully enjoy the depicted photographs. This issue is no exception. Rating:- **.

1031. 🇲🇹🇬🇬 Malta New Issue Depicts Local Crafts; Guernsey Post Hints At Tiresome Future New Issues.

  🇲🇹 MaltaPost issued a set of 4 stamps on 28 June 2017 on the subject of "Traditional Handicrafts". One of the stamps (59c) is MaltaPost's contribution to the 2017 SEPAC series. This interesting issue was designed by Tony Calleja from ordinal photography by Miranda Publishers and lithographed by Printex and perforated 14. Rating:- ****.

  🇫🇯 News of another new issue from Fiji Post - a set of 4 stamps which were issued on 14 June 2017 to commemorate the Fiji Women's Expo. The stamps are interesting but entirely depict women doing things that are expected of women - handicrafts, basket making, floral displays, rug making - designs fixed in the middle of the 20th century not towards the end of the 2nd decade of the 21st century. Rating:- **.

  🇬🇬 A "tweet" from Guernsey Post Philatelic Bureau reports that on Friday 30 June 2017 the Post and Go kiosk GG01 situated in Smith Street post office was dispensing "Lighthouses" stamps with an added inscription which welcomed passengers from the cruise ship Oriana into port.

  Some customers of Guernsey Post have recently been invited to participate in a survey of their preferred subjects for stamp issues in the next 2 or 3 years and the choices offered in the survey give us an idea of what Guernsey Post may or may not be hoping to sell us in the relatively near future. The choices offered in the survey are:-

  The 5th Birthday of Princess Charlotte of Cambridge

  The 7th Birthday of Prince George of Cambridge 

  The 15th Wedding anniversary of The Prince Of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall

  150th anniversary of the Royal Philatelic Society

  Bicentenary of the launch of HMS Beagle

  75th anniversary of the Normandy landings

  250th anniversary of the Birth of Sir Isaac Brock

  75th anniversary of Guernsey's liberation from German occupation

  120th anniversary of the sinking of SS Stella

  50th Anniversary of the first flight of Concorde

  600th anniversary of the Hundred Years War

  80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain

  60th anniversary of the National Trust in Guernsey 

  Bicentenary of the births of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

  The Cutty Sark

  Visiting cruise ships

  Centenary of the death of Auguste Renoir

  50th Anniversary of the first manned moon landing

  I find this list of suggestions to be extremely depressing - so many events and anniversaries which have been featured on Guernsey stamps before (some more than once), an incredible obsession with commemorating various somewhat insignificant Royal anniversaries (why commemorate the 7th Birthday of Prince George for instance?) What's so special about a 120th anniversary that it requires a stamp issue (I refer to the proposed Sinking of the SS Stella issue, an event which has been commemorated in the not too distant past)? What is the connection between Guernsey and the first manned lunar landing? Yet another Battle of Britain anniversary issue, really? What's the relevance of Concorde's first flight and Guernsey? I could go on.

  I like the idea of the Cruise ships stamps as the issue would tie in with Guernsey Post's Post and Go Smith Street post office stamps which have additional inscriptions to welcome visitors from individual cruise ships. But most of the rest of the ideas are unoriginal, tiresome, exploitational and should be forgotten. If Guernsey Post can not find ideas for new original and interesting stamps to sell to collectors then it would be best to issue no stamps at all. Try harder.

  🇬🇧 It is expected that Royal Mail Post and Go kiosks will be situated at the one day Midpex 2017 philatelic exhibition to be held at the Warwickshire Exhibition Centre near Leamington Spa on 8 July 2017. It is expected, but not confirmed, that the following kiosks will be situated at Midpex:-

  A012 dispensing Machin 50 and Union Jack labels

  A013 dispensing Machin 50 and Union Jack labels and

  A014 dispensing Machin 50 and Machin 2nd class labels.

It has not been stated whether or not these labels will be given additional inscriptions unique to the event.

  🇮🇳 India Post issued a se-tenant pair of stamps on  28 June 2017 on the subject of Banaras Hindu University, the foundations of the main campus of which being laid in February 2016. Rating:- **.

  The following day, 29 June 2017, India Post issued a single stamp to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Shrimad Rajchandraji (1867-1901) who was a Jain poet, philosopher, scholar and reformer. Rating:- **.