2535. 🇧🇼 Botswana’s Beautiful Birds Series Features Finches And Waxbill.

 

New Issues.

🇧🇼 Botswana Post - 

20 June 2024 - ‘Beautiful birds of Botswana’, first series  - Waxbill and finches - 6 stamps. Lithographed. Rating:- *****.

🇯🇪 Jersey Posy -

15 July 2024 - Royal visit of King Charles III and Queen Camilla to Jersey, Post and Go stamps - 7 different stamps (1 coil strip of 6 different Jersey Arms stamps with additional inscription ‘King Charles III &/Queen Camilla Visit’ dispensed from kiosk JE02 and 1 Jersey Flag stamp (from coil in several values) dispensed from JE03 with additional inscription’King & Queen/Royal Visit’). Rating:- ***.

2534. 🇫🇯🇮🇲 More Fiji Surcharges; IOM Issues ‘Postage Paid Labels’.

 New issues -

🇫🇯 Fiji Post -

?2023 or 2024 - Previous definitive surcharged. This is different from the 40c on 81c stamp reported in Blog 2504 which had 2 Xs obliterating the 81c value while here there are 3 Xs.

?2023 or 2024 - There are also 11 surcharges on the 63c Fiji goshawk stamp - 1c, 2c, 3c, 4c, 5c, 6c, 20c, 23c and 40c (all with the previous value obliterated by XXX plu# tge 40c and a 50c with the previous value obliterated by XX.

I do not know the precise date of issue of these surcharges.

There are also 2 new surcharges on the 44c purple swamp hen stamp - 40c surcharges with either XX or  XXX used to obliterate the 44c value.

The Fiji Bird definitive surcharges have been dealt with previously in Blogs 2504, 2021, 1792, 1143, 791 and 743.

🇮🇲 Isle Of Man Post Office -

23 July 2024 - 60th anniversary of Peel Engineering - 1 sheetlet containing 12 different self-adhesive stamps described rather bizarrely by IOM Post Office as, “4 stamps from the 2006 Peel Cars issue paired with a block of 8 Postage Paid labels …”. Interestingly, as far as I can make out from the illustration provided on the IOM Stamps and Collectibles site, the 8 ‘Postage Paid’ labels do not appear to bear the Royal cameo or cypher which suggests that this issue did not receive royal approval. Perhaps it is because it is a promotional issue possibly sponsored by the company featured on it and therefore royal approval would suggest that the King is promoting these products - I’m speculating here obviously. Still, if the actual issued stamps do not include evidence of royal approval then that would be an interesting development making the issue well worth obtaining. Designed by EJC Design and lithographed. Cost - £17.50. Rating:- ***.

🇬🇬 Guernsey Post -

25 July 2024 - ‘Guernsey by Day and Night’ (self-adhesive booklet stamps) - 10 stamps (5 x local internal Guernsey rate and 5 x rate to the United Kingdom) - 10 x GY rate booklet, 2 of each stamp, sold for £6.50p, booklet of 50 GY stamps sold for £32.50p, 10 x UK rate booklet, 2 of each stamp, sold for £12 and booklet of 50 UK stamps sold for £60. A set of the 10 stamps costs £9.25. Designed from photographs by Chris George and Ben Fiore and lithographed by bpost. Rating:- ***.

2533. 🇳🇿 New Zealand Celebrates National Rugby Team Centenary.

 

New issues -

7 August 2024 - Centenary of The Invincibles’ (New Zealand  rugby team) tour of Great Britain, Ireland, France and Canada - 4 stamps (cost of set NZ$16.40) and 1 miniature sheet containing all 4 stamps (cost $16.40). Designed by Hannah Fortune and lithographed by Brebner Print and perforated 14.5. Rating:- ***.

🇲🇾 Pos Malaysia -

20 July 2024 - Installation of HM KeBawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Di-Pertuan Agong XVII Sultan Ibrahim - 3 stamps and 1 miniature sheet containing a single stamp. Lithographed. Rating:- *****.

🇸🇸 Postal service of South Sudan -

9 July 2024 - 13th anniversary of Independence - 6 stamps and 1 miniature sheet (as described in Blog 2527). This issue was originally intended to be released to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Independence but circumstances in the country did not allow this to be possible at the time. 

  Thanks to Leo Van der Velden, who is an excellent and highly reliable source of the new issues of Uganda and South Sudan on internet auction sites, all at an excellent price, I have added to my collection a variant of the SSP5000 value of this recently released issue. This features a chimpanzee rather than a turtle with a bar through the value and is a stamp which was not issued, the turtle design being preferred instead. 

  Leo has reported that no further new issues are expected from South Sudan during the course of 2024.

2532. 🇹🇷 🇸🇬 Northen Cyprus Commemorates The Fiftieth Anniversary Of The Turkish Invasion; Singapore Olympics Stamps.

 

New issues -

🇹🇷 Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus postal service -

19 July 2024 - 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion and occupation of Northern Cyprus (described as the ‘Turkish Peace Operation’) - 1 stamp issued in a sheetlet of four. Printed by Devlet Basimevi. Rating:- *****.

🇸🇬 Singapore Post -

26 July 2024 - Singapore’s participation in the Games of the 33rd Olympiad, Paris - 10 stamps. Designed by Andy Koh and lithographed by Secura and perforated 13. Rating:- **.

2531. 🇬🇬 Guernsey Post To Commemorate Royal Visit.

Revised Guernsey Post new issue programme will include Royal Visit stamps.

🇬🇬 Guernsey Post -

Guernsey Post will release a miniature sheet on 9 October 2024 to commemorate the Royal Visit of King Charles III and Queen Camilla to the island which will take place on 16 July 2024. This is an addition to Guernsey Post’s previously published new issues programme. The King and Queen will also visit Jersey on the previous day, 15 July 2024, but I have not yet seen any news from Jersey Post saying that it too will release a commemorative issue related to the Royal Visit to that island though I doubt that Jersey Post would miss the chance to release a philatelic item to mark the first visit of the King and Queen to the Channel Islands.

Jersey Post press release on day of Royal Visit, 15 July 2024.

Interestingly, Guernsey Post’s issue is scheduled to be released on World Post Day and on the same day 4 stamps will be issued to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Universal Postal Union, the United Nations agency which has taken it on itself to proscribe the stamps of the British Indian Ocean Territory claiming that the Chagos Islands are an integral part of the republic of Mauritius.

On the subject of Royal Visits it has been confirmed that the King and Queen will visit Australia and Samoa in October 2024 so that the King can attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Samoa from 21 to 25 October.

We may well expect stamps related to the visits. The Australian government has recently released official Australian photographs of Their Majesties, who of course are King and Queen of Australia, and it is likely that these may be used for future Australia Post stamp issues, perhaps even on an issue to commemorate the Royal Visit later this year. The photographs are credited to Millie Pilkington 2024.

Previously, Samoa Post is known to have last issued postage stamps in 2022 but these were surcharges, some of them of very high face value, and other surcharges had been produced and issued in years previous to 2022 but the last stamp produced with a distinctive design and with the name of Samoa printed on it was stated to have been released on 30 December 2016 by the ‘boutique’ philatelic agency (as it likes to call itself) , Philatelic Collector Inc. New issues then ceased because Samoa Post fell out with Philatelic Collector Inc over the release of the surcharges mentioned above and seven and half years have now passed without a Samoan commemorative stamp being issued. It must be doubtful therefore that Samoa Post will see that the issue of a stamp to celebrate the Royal Visit and the hosting of CHOGM is a good way of drawing attention to this small country and enhancing its international reputation but on the other hand the events may just prove a good enough reason for Samoa Post to once more release a new stamp issue. We must wait to see.

New issues -

🇭🇰 Hong Kong Post -

26 July 2024 - “Support to the delegation of Team Hong Kong, China to Paris 2024” - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet containing all 4 stamps. Designed by Chan ching-tsui and lithographed by Enschedé and perforated 13.5. Rating:- **.