XANTHE'S
STAMP MAGAZINE

After writing something last year about the worst ever British stamps, I have been thinking about what the world's worst stamps might be. I've explored the internet and I've managed to find some that are far worse than anything Royal Mail has produced! We'll start with something from the USA. The Alcoholism Stamp - USA (1981) This stamp was supposed to send out a positive statement but it failed miserably. No-one wanted to use them on a letter as the person receiving it might

Here is a new issue that isn't quite so new - these stamps showing "American Icons" was issued two months ago. I have heard today that this was quite a controversial issue so I decided to take a look for myself and make my own mind up. Why controversial? Well, some people thought that these stamps are a terrible example of "corporate commercialism" while others have asked whether it was a good idea to let a fashion icon (Ralph Lauren) "brand a milestone national celebration

It is my birthday today (I'm now 14). I wanted to write something for my birthday about stamps and I knew about some of the Greetings stamps Royal Mail created in the 1990s and of course the Smilers stamps. Very few of these were actually about birthdays, but I really liked this set from 2025 (the year my sister was born). There were also happy general celebration stamps like this one from 2006... ...but there is something special about having the words "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" on

I recently reviewed the World Cup issue from Monaco, which I thought was quite good. I'm taking a look at some other World Cup stamps today, and the first is from Curaçao. Unlike Monaco, Curaçao actually has a team playing at this World Cup. In fact, it is the very first time they have ever qualified for the World Cup finals and Curaçao is the smallest country ever to qualify. So all in all that's a pretty great achievement and it's no surprise that the country is proud of th

It's World Puffin Day today, so what could be better than to take a look at some of the best stamps showing pictures of puffins? Puffins are fantastic birds but they are also endangered so International Puffin Day helps to remind us that we need to protect and appreciate them. I don't know a lot about puffins but I have been lucky enough to see some and they really are remarkable birds. So, what about the stamps? There are more than you might think, and these are just some

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

Tomorrow is Hallowe'en... so what could be better than talking about Hallowe'en stamps? I'm afraid I don't have many of them in my collection, but I had a chat with Michael Burzan on e-mail a few weeks ago and he gave me some ideas. I decided to take a look at some of the Hallowe'en stamps from around the world. Did you know that Royal Mail once created a Hallowe'en stamp? Not so long ago in fact - in 2019, as part of a set celebrating events and festivals. One of the £1.55 v

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