XANTHE'S
STAMP MAGAZINE

There have been a lot of new issues for Chinese New Year! I have already reviewed some of these for New Zealand, Jersey and the Isle of Man. Several other countries have also created special stamps for Chinese/Lunar New Year - the Year of the Horse - and here are four more that stand out. I am going to look at these stamps from Switzerland, Azerbaijan, Hong Kong and the USA. I will use Xanthe's six categories to score them. Design Quality  - These stamps from Switzerland ar

Here's a new stamp from Poland. It is very colourful and as you can see it shows DNA strands. So what is it all about? This is actually a charity set that celebrates the 34th finale of Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy (Grand Orchestra of Christmas). The orchestra, known as WOŚP for short, is not just about music - it raises funds for charitable causes, especially "in the field of health protection consisting in saving the lives of sick people, especially children, and ac

As you will know, I love stamps. I know that sounds a bit unusual for someone my age, but I have said many times that I think stamps are tiny pieces of history you can hold in your hand. Some stamps celebrate big national events or important people. But I have recently discovered stamps that were designed and approved but then never issued at all. Why not? Well, because the events they were supposed to be celebrating never happened! This year is a World Cup year and it feels