XANTHE'S
STAMP MAGAZINE

Instead of reviewing different countries' Christmas stamps individually, I thought it would be better to look at them together. I'm not going to give any lengthy reviews - I'll just make a few short comments and give a mark. Here are a few of my thoughts about the different new Christmas stamps from around the world. I've tried to cover as many of them as possible, but no doubt there will be a few countries I have missed. Great Britain I will start with our own Christmas stam

Royal Mail's final issue of 2025 - the sixteenth of the year! - will be a set commemorating the stamps of Queen Victoria. There is no obvious reason for this theme at this time and no anniversary that I can think of that might be being marked. So it's a bit of a strange choice, as there have been previous Royal Mail stamps covering this very theme - take a look below at the 1990 set and the 2015 set marking the 150th and 175th anniversaries of the Penny Black. At least the

There was an interesting new issue this week, when a particular European country decided to celebrate the success of its national football team. Who could it be? Could it have been one of the teams who this week qualified for the World Cup? No. Was it a former winner of the World Cup or the European Championship? No. Maybe it was one of the women's teams? Wrong again. No, it is San Marino, Yes, the team that currently is ranked 210 out of 210 FIFA international teams! Often

It's been a while since I wrote a review of a new issue and that is because most of the new issues at the moment are Christmas stamps. I'm leaving them for a special post at the end of the month where i will compare them all. Jersey Post has released a new issue today and my sister really likes it - then again, she is really into space. She can tell you the names of all the planets, all the dwarf planets, the moons of Jupiter and tell you all about the Apollo missions. On th

Jersey's latest issue is a set of six stamps celebrating the Royal Air Force Association of Jersey' 100th Anniversary. There is also a £5 miniature sheet. Both were illustrated by Harry Milburn, who was inspired by historical RAF recruitment posters. Jersey Post's website states that "each stamp reflects an important element of RAFA Jersey's work". It is interesting that RAFA Jersey was founded in 1925, 18 years prior to the creation of the national RAFA organisation in 1943

A new French stamp came out last week but it is a very unusual one. Xanthe wasn't interested in reviewing it but I definitely am! The stamp shows a picture of a butter croissant ("Croissant au beurre"). Do you like croissants? I do, and I like stamps with pictures of croissants on them although I haven't seen one before. I like the details in the picture. But even better, this stamp actually smells like a croissant! If you rub it then it will smell like a Paris bakery! Lovely

It seems I have been reviewing a lot of new issues for the Isle of Man recently. I have checked and it looks like this is the fifteenth new issue this year, and there will be another one next week! Is Isle of Man Stamps & Coins trying to compete with Royal Mail? Do they need this many commemorative stamps? This set was released on 10th October and the theme is "Brewed on Mann". The Isle of Man Stamps & Coins website tells us more about these stamps: "Brewed on Mann capture

Children's Welfare stamps in the Netherlands are charity stamps sold with a surcharge to fund projects for the Stichting Kinderpostzegels (Children's Welfare Stamps Foundation), which supports "developmental opportunities" for children in the Netherlands and abroad. They have been created annually for many, many years and are called Kind postzegels in Dutch. They first appeared in 1924 and have been issued every year since apart from the war years. They have a specific des

Norway released a new issue on 4th October. Most of my reviews are about stamps from Great Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel...

Yesterday, Jersey issued a new set of stamps. This one is to celebrate the history of Black Butter. You might be asking "what is black...

The next issue for Royal Mail is Monopoly and will be released on 16th October. This is to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the board...

On 25th September the Isle of Man released a new issue, in which "Rick Wakeman’s iconic musical legacy, brought to life through Roger...

My reviews of new issues are normally focused on GB, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, but yesterday the United States Postal...

I try to review all of the new issues from Royal Mail, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands but it seems this is one I missed. Four weeks ago Jersey issued a set commemorating the island's historic witch trials and somehow it escaped my notice. However, it's still quite a new issue and I don't think anyone will mind too much if my review is a bit late. There haven't been too many stamp issues about witch trials. The only ones I can find are a 50c stamp from Grenada in 2000

The Royal Mail has released its latest issue today - the thirteenth (!) set of special stamps this year. This issue depicts steam...

Why is it that Jersey issues far more stamps dedicated to our Royal Family than Royal Mail does? They have had 24 Royal-themed stamp sets...

The Isle of Man has today issued a new set marking the 25th anniversary of the Manx Aviation and Military Museum. The museum was opened...

Royal Mail's next issue, due to be released in Thursday, depicts British ducks. A GB issue dedicated to ducks is long overdue. While...

Sark's first commemorative issue has been released. These stamps celebrate the 80th anniversary of Sark's liberation from German...

Åland - an autonomous region of Finland that has issued its own stamps since 1984 - has announced it will be issuing its first textile...