XANTHE'S
STAMP MAGAZINE

Monaco has create a new stamp to celebrate 50 years of the Larvotto Marine Protected Area (MPA) in 1976. Larvotto was the first MPA in the world located in an urban environment. The WOPA website tells us that "it shelters a rich and diverse biodiversity and serves as a veritable natural laboratory" and is a base for important "scientific monitoring programs". We see from the stamp how close the MPA is to the city of Monte Carlo. The protected sea area is basically right nex

I don't review every set of new stamps but I try to review everything from Royal Mail, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Apart from those, I review stamps I either like or find interesting. This is one of those that I like. I have always been interested in prehistoric animals and this new set from Kyrgyzstan shows three very different animals. Rhamphorhynchus: a long-tailed pterosaur, this flying reptile hunted fish and small animals. Unlike the other two animals show

Here is another really good new issue from France! Last year France created a stamp that smelled like a croissant. Well, that was obvious quite successful so they've gone away and now created a stamp that smells of perfume! It makes sense as the stamps are celebrating the 100th anniversary of Fragonard Perfumery. Maison Fragonard is very famous and has been making perfume since 1926. It is based in the small town of Grasse in the South of France, not far from Nice. The WOPA w

Royal Mail's next new issue will be released on 19th February. It commemorates Hornby Railways. Hornby is a very famous brand of model railway, which has been made in the UK since 1920. The first trains were clockwork but later this changed to electric. The original business was based in Liverpool and founded in 1901, not so far from where I live. This year is Hornby's 125th anniversary, but to start with it made Meccano so their trains are only 106 years old! There are eigh

Just a few days before Guernsey issued its new issue celebrating the island's parishes, Jersey brought out its own set. Is this a coincidence? Like Guernsey, this is named "Part I", meaning there will be another set in the future. Unlike Guernsey, these parish-themed stamps are "Post & Go" stamps. We no longer have these in the UK but I remember them, and clearly Jersey still finds them useful. I always thought "Post & Go" was a bit of a silly name. What did people do befor

Guernsey has today issued a new set of stamps for Guernsey parishes. It is named "Guernsey Parishes Part I", so I guess there will be more of these appearing later this year or perhaps next year. The Guernsey Stamps website helpfully provides some information on the five parishes shown in these stamps. In addition to the five parishes, there is a sixth stamp with a map showing where they are on the island. Vale – 69p: Once separated from the island by Le Braye du Valle unt

Alderney has issued this set of six stamps to celebrate the work of Alderney Bird Observatory, which will go on sale tomorrow. The Guernsey Stamps website tells us a lot about the observatory. "Bird observatories across the British Isles provide a unique window into the lives of our feathered visitors. From remote islands in the north to coastal headlands in the south, these centres monitor bird migration, breeding, and population trends, revealing how species respond to ch

Last month the Netherlands issued this stamp, celebrating The Bull - a famous painting by Dutch artist Paulus Potter. The Bull - sometimes called The Young Bull - is a classic work of art and the full painting can be seen below. The stamps have been designed by Frank Janse from Gouda. There are five stamps and they show sections of the original painting, placed in a strip through the middle of the painting. Design Quality - I don't understand why the designer has created

France has issued another new set today. This one is the signs of the Zodiac and looks loud, colourful and... well, fun! La Poste's website explains the design: "Colorful, pop, and resolutely contemporary, the 'Zodiac' booklet reinterprets astrology through the graphic universe of Clémence Gouy , a French illustrator and art director based in Biarritz. Committed, inclusive, and passionate about representing femininity, she creates vibrant works where diversity and freedom ar

I have already reviewed the recent Winter Olympics issue from Estonia , but in the last few days there have been several other Olympic-related issues from various countries. I have decided to review these together. The first one is this from Liechtenstein. It is a single stamp and reminds me of some of the historic Olympic posters. Design Quality - This feels like a classic poster from history. The Olympic flame stands out boldly against a dark nighttime background. It emp

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

Belgium has issued three new sets of stamps today and I may have a look at the others later this week, but I really wanted to review this really extraordinary miniature sheet! This issue celebrates Elvis Pompilio , who is a Belgian hat designer. Mr Pompilio is 65 years old this year and is world famous. How do you begin to review a miniature sheet like this? It is so different to anything I've ever seen before. The sheet is in the shape of someone's head and shoulders (they

Yesterday Estonia released a new stamp to celebrate Team Estonia's participation in the Winter Olympics next month. There is just one stamp in this issue and it shows a figure skater, some curlers and a slalom skier. I don't know if these represent actual Estonian athletes or whether they are just generic pictures. Team Estonia has been quite successful at the Winter Olympics in the past and since 1992 it has won eight medals including four golds (in cross-country and freest

Monaco's first issue of the year celebrates opera singers. This is not the first year Monaco has done this - in fact, this is part of a series that goes way back to 2020. Below are the stamps from last year. The 2025 set featuring Lina Cavalieri and Lucien Muratore The WOPA website very helpfully gives some information on the two opera singers shown on this year's stamps: Jean-François "Francisque" Delmas (1861–1933) was a renowned French bass-baritone. Trained at the Pari

As I have reviewed two other Chinese New Year sets from New Zealand and the Isle of Man, Xanthe has said I should also take a look at this one from Jersey. It will be released next week, on 27th January. This is quite different to the other two and goes to show how different artists are inspired in different ways. The stamps are designed by Wang Huming and are inspired by traditional Chinese paper cutting and artwork from the time of the Qing Dynasty. The horse is the Fire Ho

Today Royal Mail has released its second new issue of 2026 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Concorde's first commercial flight on 21st January 1976. Before I review this new issue, I will briefly take a look at the history of Concorde. Obviously I am not an expert in engineering and Concorde was before my time. I know that there are a lot of people who admire Concorde especially people who lived through the 1970s and 1980s when Concorde really was the ultimate flying

An issue you may have missed last week is this from Finland, celebrating 100 years of the Yle. What is the Yle? It is basically the Finnish national broadcaster, a bit like the BBC in the UK. WOPA's website tells us this: "Yle will celebrate its 100th anniversary in September this year. The theme of the anniversary year is moments spent together. Posti will celebrate the event with stamps designed by Anna-Mari Tenhunen that showcase different aspects of Yle’s operations – c

Here's another Chinese New Year issue, and this one is from the Isle of Man. I looked at the New Zealand issue a few days ago and I was quite impressed with it. So, what do I think of these? Design Quality - The horses really dominate the stamp, which is good. They feel very alive, as if the artist wanted to show the horses' personalities. Unlike the New Zealand set they don't look magical and as first glance there isn't anything particularly Chinese about them - if it wa

Here's another new issue, this time from Finland. It celebrated friendship and shows people doing different things together. The pictures speak for themselves. These have been issued with Valentine's Day in mind (maybe a bit early?) and you can see why. They were designed by Pietari Posti, who says: "The stamps are cheerful and warm images of friendship, spending time together and shared moments. The themes of the stamps center around the different dimensions of friendship