XANTHE'S
STAMP MAGAZINE

Here is a set of stamps I meant to review a few weeks ago and didn't get round to because I've been in Scotland and then at Stampex. However, I thought I would come back to it even if it's a bit late because I find these stamps very interesting. I am very interested in nature as some of you will know. There have been other chameleon stamps (e.g. France 1971, Madagascar 1973 or Zambia 1984) but they're not the most common animal to be found on stamps. What is more interesting

Here is a remarkable new issue from Norway. The stamps show bees - the first is the Tree Bumblebee (bombus hypnorum) and the second is the Western Honey Bee (apis mellifera). Both of these are very common bees in Norway and across Europe. Have you ever thought how beautiful bees are? Design Quality: The design is basic and depends on photographs. But these are excellent examples of macrophotography that are very "up close and personal" with the bees. They are fantastically

A new issue from Canada has been released in time for Hallowe'en! Some of you will know from what I wrote last year that I am a big fan of Hallowe'en stamps! Do I like this set of three stamps? Last year I said that my favourite Hallowe'en themed stamps were the Haunted Canada stamps of 2014-2016. I don't know if these are quite as good, but I definitely like them. Design Quality: It's a very striking design and the use of colour and shadow is very effective. The three st

At the end of August, when King Harald V of Norway died, I wrote an article looking back at the stamps depicting the king. We haven't had to wait very long for the first stamp for the new king, Haakon VIII. Last week, Norway issued its first ever stamp for him and here it is. We see the king in military uniform, looking slightly away from the camera. In case anyone didn't know, the stamp helpfully has "Kong Haakon VIII" written prominently above the name of the country. The m

I don't know about you, but I have been impressed with some of the new Polish issues this year, especially those for WOŚP and General Tadeusz Rozwadowski. These have been two of the highest-scoring issues in my reviews, and I think the Rozwadowski stamp shows that Poczta Polska (Polish Post) understands how to respect the past meaningfully. A new stamp from Poczta Polska, issued on 8th October, marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Professor Krzysztof Skubiszewski. I wo

PostNL (Netherlands Post) has recently issued a "Gold Delft Blue" stamp. This contains 24-carat gold and shows a dish from the Royal Delft collection. Post NL give us a lot of information about this stamp so I will let them explain: "Delft Blue is a type of earthenware featuring blue decorations that has been produced in Delft since the 17th century. It is renowned among enthusiasts worldwide, and Delft Blue tiles, decorative plates, tableware, apothecary jars, and vases are

I have just been alerted to this fabulous presentation pack / folder featuring all the SEPAC stamps from this year. Some of these I have already reviewed but not all of them, so I thought it would be a good idea if I took a look at all of them so you can see them together. If I have already reviewed them I will just give my score and provide a link the the original post. The folder contains stamps from the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Monaco, Guernsey, Åland, Jersey, Liechtens

In the last few days there have been three new sets of religious stamps released, which I am going to take a look at. Sometimes collectors overlook stamps with religious themes, but I think that they can be every bit as interesting as other stamps and we can learn a lot from them. MALTA - Festa The first of them is from Malta. This is a place I have been to and while I was quite young I just about remember it. Malta has strong Roman Catholic traditions, and is supposed to be

Serbia's latest new stamp was for World Postcard Day on 1st October. World Postcard Day was launched by Postcrossing in 2020. The idea is to encourage people to send postcards, celebrate the history of postcards and promote the joy of handwritten communication. I am surprised more countries haven't issued stamps supporting World Postcard Day (are you reading this, Royal Mail?) but at least Serbia has got in on the act and created this fantastic stamp. I think the designers h

This new stamp from Austria not only looks like a coffee bean, it smells like one too! Post AG is very proud of this stamp and tells us that it is "once again setting new standards in the particularly innovative design of stamps". I agree it is a bit different but it reminds me a bit of these fruit-shaped stamps from Tonga and of course there have been scented stamps before. In the past year I have reviewed to stamps from France, one of which was scented and the other smelle

The next issue from Royal Mail issue will be released on 14th October and feature Winnie the Pooh. All of us will know about Winnie the Pooh and his friends Eeyore, Piglet, Owl, Tigger and Christopher Robin. This year marks the centenary of the publication of A.A. Milne's book, Winnie the Pooh, which 100 years later is as popular as ever. I received a card from Royal Mail yesterday, which tells us that "this charming collection of special stamps celebrates the centenary of W

Ireland isn't a country that creates a huge sets (are you reading, Royal Mail?) and this issue of four stamps celebrates modern Irish literary fiction. I don't know a lot about Irish fiction. It's fair to say, I often don't know much about the subjects on commemorative stamps, which is why stamp collecting is so interesting - it teaches you so much about the world. You might thing that the stamps show book covers but actually they don't. These are designs by The books are:

Sometimes new stamps come out so quickly you can miss an issue. This happened with this issue. I was so looking forward to reviewing the Isle of Man's set about the life of John Harrison that I didn't notice that the Isle of Man Stamps and Coins had issued another set about National Treasures just ten days previously. It's easy to do when so many new issues come along at once. I know that I try to review every new issue from Royal Mail, The Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, Alde

In the last few weeks there have been a few new European issues with a scientific theme. I am quite interested in science and I have decided to review all of them together partly because there is a shared theme and also because it is a really good thing to celebrate science. France: 400th Anniversary of the National Museum of Natural History, Botanical Garden The Jardin des Plantes, the botanical garden that is part of the National Museum of Natural History (Muséum national

The next issue from Jersey Stamps will be "British Grand Prix - 100 Years". It's a strange issue from Jersey Stamps, which normally focuses on local history and identity. This would be a much better fit for Royal Mail, which inexplicably doesn't feel 100 years of the British Grand Prix is worth celebrating, so I guess Jersey Stamps thought of the commercial possibilities... Design quality: The cars should make this an exciting set, but the busy splashes of colour and crowded

Here is the latest issue from the Isle of Man. This one celebrates the life and inventions of John Harrison (1893-1776). According to Isle of Man Stamps and Coins, John Harrison was a "self-taught Yorkshire carpenter and clockmaker whose extraordinary inventions transformed navigation. "The designs feature a 17th century French cannon linked to the 1707 wreck of HMS Association, a portrait of Harrison, his H1 marine timekeeper, a replica of his 1713 wooden clock, his 1726 wo

Apologies for not doing a few more reviews in the last week. There have been some fantastic new issues from around the world so Xanthe and I will try to update you with them in the next few days. The first one is from Tristan da Cunha and celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Blue Belt Programme. The programme has three "key pillars": Climate, Nature and People. The Tristan da Cunha Marine Protected Zone was established in 2021 and is an internationally recognised Blue Park.

To mark World Post Day (9th October), South Africa has issued a set of two stamps called "Love the Postbox". What is not to love about postboxes? I have never been to South Africa but they clearly have red postboxes too. And, if you look at the First Day Cover, you will see that they have a mixture of traditional as well as modern postboxes just like in the UK. Some of these are from the time when parts of South Africa were colonies of the British Empire, so perhaps it is not

I received this card today from Royal Mail. This new issue will be released on 17th September (next Thursday) and will celebrate Duran Duran. This is the latest in a series dedicated to Music Giants. In recent years we have had stamps for AC/DC, The Who, Iron Maiden, The Rolling Stones, Queen and Pink Floyd. This design was first used for a special set celebrating The Beatles back in 2007. The card says that "few bands have shaped sound, style and visual culture quite like Du

Like the Falklands Islands' Summer issue, this is another issue I discovered when looking for something to buy. I am not sure exactly when they were issued, but the Free Stamp Catalogue has only listed them this week so they are quite recent. Stamps showing birds are always very popular but there are also an awful lot of them and they can sometimes feel quite "samey". These are a bit different and it is helpful that in this photograph we don't just see the stamps but the full