April 2026 News

Adam Paish (UK) did send a first complement of information relative to the 100th anniversary of QEII described in the previous page and involving the British Overseas Territories : “The enterprising Isle of Man Post Office is no doubt anticipating another profitable venture with the release of a pair of Queen Elizabeth II Birth Centenary stamp sheets, one featuring previously-issued Isle of Man stamps, the other incorporating a selection of the British Overseas Territories stamps with royal portraits by Marcus Adams (Ascension Island, BahamasFalkland IslandsSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and Tristan da Cunha) and one commemorative stamp, repeated twice, from the Isle of Man itself. The pair of sheets is being marketed as a “limited release collectable” at GBP35.00, and the image has been provided by the Isle of Man Post Office for illustrative purposes only.  The Isle of Man stamp is one of a series of six celebrating the Fashion Legacy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, with the 93 pence denomination (based on 1941 portrait by Marcus Adams) reworked to fit into this multi-territorial commemorative sheet. The sheet concept is not dissimilar to the Devoted to Your Service souvenir released in 2021 to mark the late Queen’s 95th birthday which is illustrated in your 2019-2021 catalogue”

With the release of this souvenir sheet containing 12 stamps, i.e., 2 stamps per territory taken from the original blocks of 4 miniature sheets, this issue becomes a se-tenant series. However, this does not change the omnibus character and these stamps will remain being considered as non-approved joint issue [N]. Date of issue is April 21, 2026.

On April 27, 2026, Japan and Singapore will release a twin issue to celebrate their 60 years of relationship. To honour this journey, stamps features both national flowers: Japan’s cherry blossom and Singapore’s Vanda Miss Joaquim (orchid). Japan will release stamps in miniature sheets containg 5 of each of the stamps and produced at 400,000 samples (total of 4,000,000 stamps. The stamps of Singapore are available in miniature sheets of three pairs, but also in a souvenir sheet containing a pair of stamps.

A surprise came from Iran, a country presently in war, which finally released a stamp that was supposed to be joint with the pair of stamps issued by Oman on August 26, 2025. The exact date of issue of the Iranian stamp remains unknown, but it appeared at the beginning of April 2026 and became available in sheets of 8 stamps [2×4]. This series can now be attributed the entry code [C20250826] and is described in the 2025 year catalogue page (Information provided by Kazem Alamdari, Iran).

On the other hand, we are still missing information about potential counterparts of the Uruguayan diplomatic relationship stamp with Mexico (Uruguay stamps released on March 26, 2026), while the joint issue announced between Indonesia and Uruguay for March 30, 2026 has not been released. Also, it seems that the Laos stamp issued on March 20, 2026 celebrating the 70 years of relatioship with India will remain unilateral. Any additional information from these three countriues is welcome.

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