India

October 2025 News

by Richard Zimmermann

First of all, we have to thank Kenneth Sequeira, Dubai, who discovered a China PR-Indonesia joint issue from August 30, 2025, that we completely missed. This twin issue celebrates the 75th anniversary of relationship between both countries and is illustrated with landscapes of lakes and pagodas: the West Lake with Jingzi Tempel in Hangzhou, China PR and Lake Bratan with the Pura Ulun Danu Beratan, Hindu tempel in Bali, Indonesia.

The Bosnia Herzegovina (Bosnia) – Indonesia joint issue was finally relased on October 3, 2025. This issue was originally scheduled to be released on October 4, 2024, but was finally postponed by more than one year. The stamps issued in miniature sheets of two se-tenant stamps represent the Istiklal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia, and the Istiklal Mosque in Sarajevo, Bosnia. The Indonesian souvenir sheet is available perforated and imperforate. The word “Istiklal” in Arabic stands for ‘Independence’. The Jakarta Mosque was opened in 1978. The Sarajevo Mosque was a gift from the Indonesian people and Government of Indonesia for Bosnia and Herzegovina as a token of solidarity and friendship between the two nations. This Mosque was opened in 2001 (Information provided by Kenneth Sequeira, Dubai)

On October 7, 2025, France and Japan celebrated the Week of Letter Writing with a twin issue depicting gardens. On one side the French Vaux-le-Vicomte castle and gardens were represented, on the other one, the Gingaku-ji tempel or Silver Pavilion near Kyoto, Japan, was shown. France issued the stamps in two miniature sheets of 10, while Japan produced a single miniature sheet with 5 se-tenant pairs. Mixed official first day documents and a mixed folder with all four stamps, mint, became also available (This information was first provided by Dominique Josse, France).

Mongolia and India celebrated on October 14, 2025, the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic relationship with identical souvenir sheets containing two stamps showing the Mongolian Biyelgee dance and the Ramlila theatrical performance (India). The margins show both national flags, the anniversary logo, national animals (horse and elephant), folk arts, Mongolian ger (yurt) and the blue sky (information provided by Kenneth Sequeira, Dubai, and Robert Schrijvers, Mongolia).

China (PR) and Monaco are celebrating the 30 years of diplomatic relations (1995-2025) on October 15, 2025, with two stamps showing identical flowers, i.e., Canterbury bells, Campanula medium and an orchid, Cymbidium.

The Cat stamps related to the Laos – Russia joint issue from October 15, 2025, were presented in the previous page. Kenneth Sequeira was able to provide the illustration from Laos which is producing both perforated and imperforate stamps and souvenir sheets. The stamps show the Marbled cat (Pardofelis marmorata) and the East Siberian lynx (Lynx lynx wrangeli). Russian stamps are self-adhesive, sold in miniature sheets of 4 pairs, chessboard ordered. Laos stamps are available as perforated or imperforate souvenir sheets containing the pair of stamps.

The Gibraltar – Liechtenstein issue announced for December 2025 will in fact be released on November 10, 2025. It design is already available on the Liechtenstein postal administration web site (information provided by Kenneth Sequeira). Surprisingly this issue will be available in form of two souvenir sheets containing each a stamp from each country (different stamp designs), which defines this issue as Se-tenant joint issue [S2]. Stamps show falcons and are dedicated to the migration of these birds. Stamps are also available in sheetlets, and mixed FDCs are available.

Catalogues Vol 1 and Vol 16 have been updated with all this information covering the months of September and October 2025.

Arab Post Day update and more to come

by Richard Zimmermann

Both previous blog pages triggered attention from collectors and resulted in additional information that help complete the catalogue:

Regarding the Arab Postal Day issue [T20250803], two additional countries have to be added to the already reported list (Algeria, Iraq, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates) namely, Egypt and Oman which issued their stamps respectively on August 3, 2025 and August 10, 2025 (Information provided by Mohamed Achour Ali Ahmed, Algeria and Ali Allawati, Oman).

The 80th Arab League anniversary issue from March 22, 2025 [T20250322] was also completed by two stamps issued in miniature sheets of 3 pairs from the United Arab Emirates. These stamps were issued on August 18, 2025 (Information provided by Kenneth Sequeira, Singapore).

The previous blog page was also missing the image of the Russian stamp jointly issued with North Korea on August 15, 2025. Illustration was provided by Kenneth Sequeira, Singapore, confirming the twin character.

I also made a comment earlier that embroided stamps are never used postally. Henri Aronis (France) provided a proof that this can happen with a Swiss stamp (year 2000), although not part of a joint issue. As expected, the thickness of the ‘stamp’ makes cancellation illegible. This cover was sent from Switzerland to Niger. Thanks Henri.

Jaap Sarelse (the Netherlands) reacted on the comments provided earlier about the July 5, 2025 Cape Verde – Portugal joint issue and at the same time provided information about Angola, a third country joining this issue, with the following:

“The text suggests that it is a joint issue in which only Cape Verde and Portugal are involved. However, Angola is also involved with an identical stamp. Not to commemorate Angolan independence, but purely focused on the independence of Cape Verde. Some evidence:

  • In the leaflet of the Portuguese Post (6 pages) the text on page 5, 7th and 8th line from the bottom reads: ‘To help consolidate the historic memory of the founding of the Republic of Cabo Verde, a joint stamp issue is being released by Angola, Cabo Verde and Portugal’.
  • On page 5, one can find the stamps of Angola on the top row. Cabo Verde is also mentioned on this stamp at the bottom right.
  • Finally, only Cabo Verde is mentioned in the logo on page 1. I suspect that in the context of ’50 anos Independência Nacional’ Angola will get its own joint issue and that the name Angola will then adorn below the stars in the logo“

Thanks, Jaap for this complement. Catalogue will be updated. Here are the additional illustrations (Angola stamp illustrations provided by Kenneth Sequeira):

Additional information relative to issues to come include the following:

  • The Oman – Russia originally scheduled for April 22, 2025, is now postponed to September 26, 2025 (Oman source) or October 15, 2025 (Russian source), not clear at this stage. It will show maps and honour Omani explorer Ahmed bin Majid and the Russian traveler Afanasy Nikitin
  • Kenneth Sequeira reported also two modifications in the Russian philatelic programme for 2025: a) the RCC stamps will be issued on August 23, 2025, but over the past years these stamps involving all CIS countries were not anymore considered as joint and there is no hint that this will change this year; b) the anniversary of the liberation of Korea will be celebrated by overprinting the August 15, 2025 joint issue with North Korea. These stamps will be issued on September 2, 2025
  • On October 7, 2025, the France – Japan is also confirmed. Japan stamp designs became available (information provided by Dominique Josse, France)

  • On August 15, 2025, Argentina issued a stamp to celebrate 60 years of immigration from Korea. No stamps related to the same topic was seen so far in the South Korea philatelic program. This issue may remain unilateral (information provided by Enzo Cafaro, Italy)

  • Our friend Luis Alejandro Malanco Reyes (Mexico) is working on a Mexican stamp catalogue (which of course includes also joint issues involving Mexico) and brought on line the first part of his work (years 2001-2025) with free access: Catálogo Filatélico México . Congratulations Luis and keep doing the good job.

Finally, some information about the next joint crypto-stamps issue (not recommanded to include in the joint issue collection as explained earlier): This will be the fourth crypto joint issue after the 2022 Austria-Netherlands (Ox), 2023 Austria-Luxembourg-Netherlands (Lion) and 2024 Austria-Belgium-Luxembourg-Netherlands (dragon) issues. The theme for this fourth issue is the Greek world of the gods. Five countries will participate and they made the following choice: Portugal – Poseidon, Austria – Zeus and Hera (2 stamps), Belgium – Athena, Luxembourg – Artemis and the Netherlands – Hermes.

Jaap Sarelse has succesfully created joint stamp covers with the previous crypto stamps and will try again this year with the six stamps. He provided the picture of the copy from year 2024. Such documents are close to unique.

The catalogue was update with all above new data. See updated Vol 1, Vol 15 and Vol 16

August 2025 News

by Richard Zimmermann

Enzo Cafaro (Italy) completed the information about the dove issue described in a previous post and enhanced the list of participating countries. He provided also the picture of all to be produced items. The country list includes now : Aland, Armenia, Austria, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Greenland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Switzerland and United Nations (offices of Geneva, New York and Vienna, as well as UPU). By adding all the denominations we reach a total of about 75 Euros for 13 stamps that will never be used on real covers ! Our friend Jaap Sarelse (the Netherlands) will try to create some mixed FDC covers when stamps will be available. We wish him good luck as even the cancellation on such thick stamps (embroidery) may be tricky. If he succeeds, we promise to show results in these pages 😉

Luis Malanco (Mexico) provided some additional information regarding the Ecuador stamps issued on July 28, 2022, together with Mexico [T20220728] and honoring Leona Vicario and Manuela Saenz. The Ecuadorian stamps were issued at a much lower number than initially announced. The stamp was produced at only 2,000 samples, while the souvenir sheet only at 450 units. Those are the figures appearing in the official leaflet published by the “Servicios Postales del Ecuador”.

By coincidence, a forgotten issue was discovered recently by comparing data in the Michel Rundschau Catalogue. On December 29, 2022, Cambodia and Colombia issued twin stamps at the occasion of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relationship between both countries. The stamps show a view of Ankor Wat and the Grave in the Archeological National Park of Tierradentro. This issue has not been reported so far and will of course be integrated in the catalogue. The difficulty will now be to find the stamps and not only reproductions.

During the year 2021, Colombia celebrated the 200th anniversary of its independence. Numerous stamps related to this event were issued during this year, which correspoded also to the first recognition of Colombia by other countries. By end of 2022, a first joint issue with Mexico was released (December 20, 2021). Surprisingly, during the following year of 2022, Colombia created a series of different stamps celebrating diplomatic relationships with different countries (not necessarily based on 200 years, but at least on rounded numbers): Egypt (February 23, 2022), USA (May 2), South Korea (May 6), Peru (May 27), Germany (August 5), Cambodia (December 29) and Chile (December 29. This type of issues continued the following year with Barbados (December 18, 2023), Canada December 22) and Argentina (December 23). During the year 2024, only stamps celebrating relationships with Sweden were released (exact issue date is unknown). Among all these stamps, and to our knowledge, only four translated in true joint issues, including Mexico [20211220], Peru (T20220527], Cambodia [C20221229], and Argentina [T20231223]

The design of the North Korean stamps to be released jointly with Russia on August 15, 2025 has been released. We have not seen yet the Russian stamps, but this country confirmed stamp issue in this honour at the same date. Design could be similar.

Last minute information: Kenneth Sequeira just provided information about stamps released by the Philippines on August 5, 2025, jointly with India, celebrating the 75th anniversary of their relationship. Each country issued a pair of identical stamps showing flowers. Note that despite being issued in 2025, the stamps celebrate an anniversary that took place in 2024.

Maldives – India – Singapore 2025

by Richard Zimmermann

On July 25, 2025, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldives’ President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu jointly released commemorative postage stamps marking 60 years of diplomatic relations between India and the Maldives. The stamps show local boats. For India, an Uru, i.e., a wooden dhow built by hand in Beypore, Kerala. For the Maldives, a Vadhu Dhoni, i.e., a traditional fishing boat widely used for reef and coastal fishing in the Maldives. Detailed pictures from the Maldives are not available yet (Information provided first by Kenneth Sequeira, Singapore)

Maldives intends also to issue twin stamps with Singapore on August 29, 2025. A pair of identical stamps will be produced by each country, with an additional souvenir sheet containing both stamps for Singapore. The stamp design was unveiled during a ceremony that was held on June 30, 2025. So far, only bad quality images were available (Information provided by Don Birschel, USA).

June 2025 news

by Richard Zimmermann

Complementary information came from diverse collectors over the past three weeks. They are reported here, without any sense of priority.

Wayne Chen (USA) came across a vast number of se-tenant sheets fabricated and sold by Stampera. The full list is available through the companies’ site using the search tool and the word ‘siamese’ (reminder: in the joint issues definition, this word has to be replaced by ‘se-tenant’) https://stampera.eu/stamps?search=Siamese&page=1. As mentioned several times in the past in these pages, products released by this company are true stamps, but produced only for collectors in small amounts, without topic related to the country, and at a very high number of sub-types (souvenir sheets, miniature sheets, perforated and not) also with very high denomination. They are not called cinderellas, just because they show a denomination. A collector who wants to buy the complete set of these ‘se-tenant’ products (35 different products have been identified so far) will have to spend at least € 1,900 (souvenir sheets, perforated and non-perforated, both mint or FDC, without taking in account individual isolated stamps). All these products are simply made to fool collectors and cannot be approved as true joint issue. With the new printing technologies, they are also suspected to be printed upon demand only, i.e., sheet by sheet, so there is no limitation in terms of printing runs. In this case, they will not be reported in the catalogue, but we wanted to bring this information to your attention.

All described products have been printed by associating in a same miniature sheet, stamps from up to 6 different countries, available normally in panes. Some examples are provided below.

Robert Schrijvers (Mongolia) talked with Mongol Post about the potential joint issue between India and Mongolia intended to celebrate the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations (December 1955 ?). These relations were initiated on December 24, 1955. Robert has seen the Mongolian version, but was not allowed to take a picture. It depicts Mongolian (biyelgee) and Indian dances. Decision to release and date of issue are pending upon Indian Post agreement.  

Milan Csaplár (Slovakia) provided the design of the joint issue to be released in August 2025, by the Slovak Post and the Luxembourg Post, which is dedicated to King Sigismund of Luxembourg (640 years of the crowning of Sigmund of Luxembourg in Hungary).

Ali Allawati (Oman) points to an error in the catalogue regarding the image of the Oman stamp from the Oman–Singapore joint issue [T20250221]. This mistake appears in both the blog and the catalogue.
The image of the stamp currently shown is taken from the souvenir sheet, which does not display a denomination. The actual stamp is priced at 500 Baisa. The stamp on the souvenir sheet does not display a price. The souvenir sheet price can be seen in the bottom left corner of the souvenir sheet. Below, in the reproduction, you can see the differences between the two stamps, the second one taken from the souvenir sheet, next to the complete souvenir sheet with denomination in the margin. This mistake was corrected in the catalogue. Thanks Ali. 

Ali provided additionally, a corrected version of the image used for the Oman–Iran joint issue from May 27, 2025. In the previous blog page, the illustration contains an error at the level of the title at bottom right, in which ‘Grand’ was mistakenly spelled ‘Ground’. This is corrected in the final version and to our knowledge, no stamp with the mistake was released. Both souvenir sheets (design left with mistake and final, corrected, right) are reproduced below.  We are still missing information from Iran.

On the other hand, we are also waiting information about the Oman – Russia joint issue announced in the press for a release on April 22, 2025.

Kenneth Sequeira (Singapore) found the design of the next Peru –Türkiye joint issue to be released in the second half of 2025, to commemorate the 75 years of relationship. No idea if both stamps will show the same design.

The issues involving Bosnia Herzegovina (Croatia) and Bosnia Herzegovina (Serbia) commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Herzegovina uprising, translated in two different stamps, issued at two different dates respectively June 15 and June 19, 2025, but above all, without any joint character, i.e. not claimed as joint by the two postal authorities. These stamps are to be considered as a simple anniversary commemoration, around the same date, and will not be included in the catalogue.

The catalogues Vol 1 and Vol 16 have been updated accordingly.

Train, medals and cows

by Richard Zimmermann

Belarus and Russia finally released the stamps celebrating the “Memory train cultural and educational project”. This issue that was announced several times with date of issue that changed from May 6 to April 17, 2025. Finally stamps became available on April 18, 2025. The identical stamps represent the train and are produced in miniature sheets of 12 [3×4] for Russia and miniature sheets of 6 [2×3] for Belarus.

‘The Memory Train is a Russian-Belarusian cultural and educational project aimed at uniting young people from different countries, forming a respectful attitude and understanding of the significance of the heroic feats of previous generations, and introducing them to the culture and traditions of neighboring countries. Participants of the Memory Train set off on a journey along a route that includes visits to hero cities, memorial complexes, museums, places of military glory and other memorable places. The Memory Train helps to preserve the connection between generations, passing the baton of memory from veterans to young people who will become the guardians of this history in the future’.

The second Belarus-Russia joint issue of April 25, 2025 is dedicated to the ‘80th Anniversary of the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War’. Both souvenir sheets have a completely different design. Russia has also released the souvenir sheet in a numbered embossed version (Jaap Sarelse, the Netherlands).

On May 7, 2025, Liechtenstein and Switzerland issued a series of new crypto stamps as a joint issue (information provided by Jaap Sarelse, the Netherlands). The stamps of both countries are different but form a continuous image when placed next to each other. They represent landscapes of both countries with half a cow head each. The cow is available in 6 colors, green issued at 7,500 samples in each country among which 2,500 were used in combined mixed FDCs, blue at 3,250 samples (with 1,250 for FDCs), yellow 1,250 (250 FDCs), orange 300 (100 FDCs), pink 150 (30 in FDCs) and rainbow issued at 50 samples in each country among which 10 were taken to create mixed FDCs. Digitally, from the QR code, both stamps can later be combined into a whole that results in a moving cow on the screen. Sales prices are also proportional to the scarcity: while the official denomination is CHF 8.50 for all items, miniature sheets with green cows are sold at CHF 9.90 (about 10.60 €), blue at € 29, yellow at € 99, orange at € 199, pink at € 299 and rainbow at € 499. Mixed FDCs with the same color cows are sold between €29 for the green pair and €1,999 for the rainbow pair. A full series of mint stamps would amount to about € 2,000, and the full series of mixed FDCs would reach about € 4,200, but this is already impossible to complete as only green, blue and yellow stamps remain available for purchase, consequence of the very low printing runs.

These stamps will be reported in the catalogue for the completeness of information, but the high prices and the low levels of production exclude them from being considered as ‘normal’ items for collection, like for all previous crypto stamps issued so far. We do not recommend to buy them as they have been produced mainly for speculation purpose. They are more to be considered for coin/currency collectors than for stamp collectors, also as they will never be found on a mail that will have really circulated (for which they are normally intended). The fact that at the time of writing, all 7,500 samples of the green cow stamps have not been sold, demonstrates clearly the absence of interest of philatelists for these products which eventually should not be labelled as ‘stamps’.

Just as a reminder: one can find on the net a mixed cover with Panama (April 3, 2024) and Vatican (May 21, 2024) stamps that is presented as a mixed joint issue. While being a nice joint cover, the stamps on this item have not been accepted as joint issue and are filed under ‘non-accepted issue’ [N20240403] in the catalogue.

Enzo Cafaro (Italy) could confirm that the Argentina – Qatar issue is joint on the basis of an identical stamps., Argentina had issued its stamp on January 31, 2025 and Qatar released a souvenir sheet with one stamp on May 7, 2025. The issue is to be considered as Concerted and described in the catalogue under [C20250131].

If you are looking for updated information from India, our friend Rakhel Dash holds a blog “Indian Philately Watch – April 2025 Highlights – The Philatelist” that provides information about the latest issues from this country.

Eventually, the Philippines conterpart of the Moroccan joint issue fron April 10, 2025, was also discovered. The quality of this first image is not as good as expected, but at least it confirms that the issue can be considered as twin (or concerted, as the date of issue of the Philippines stamps needs to be confirmed). The Philippines stamps were issued as se-tenant pairs available in a miniature sheet containing two pairs. Any additional information about this pair of Philippines stamps is welcome.

A China PR – Indonesia 75th anniversary of relationship commemorative joint issue whad been announced to be issued during April 2025. The Indonesia souvenir sheet was released, but, by beginning of May 2025, China had not announced anything in relation with Indonesia. Taking in account the shape and type of the Indonesian product, there are great chances that this will not translate in a real joint issue on the Chinese side. In the meantime, here is already the picture of the Indonesian souvenir sheet that was recently released.

All the above information has been integrated in the updated version Vol XVI V6.03 of the catalogue.

April 2025 update

by Richard Zimmermann

On April 7, 2025, Portugal and India issued, as planned, a souvenir sheet each, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the re-establishment of their diplomatic relationship. The two common stamps feature the traditional costume from Viana do Castelo, Portugal, and the Kalbelia dance costumes, India (information first provided by Kenneth Sequeira, Singapore and Souvik Ghatak, India).

On April 10, 2025, Morocco issued a pair of stamps representing airports (Mectan – Cebu and Menara – Marrakech) and celebrating 50 years of relationship with the Philippines. So far, information from the Philippines is not available, although the stamps of this country have been announced, and taking in account the structure of the Moroccan issue, it could become a twin or concerted issue.

Med Achour Ali Ahmed (Algeria) provided complementary information about the Arab League 80th Anniversary stamps. The Egyptian issue is not a stamp in pane, but a souvenir sheet, size 120×85 mm, issued on March 22, 2025, at 7,000 samples only among which 700 were used to prepare first day covers. The denomination is 20 Egyptian Pounds. In the meantime, no information about an additional country participating to this issue became available.

Tolga Caglayankaya (The Netherlands) provided information about a new 150th UPU Anniversary country srtamp (T20241009). South Sudan issued two stamps and one souvenir sheet containing these two stamps, displaying the basic design. Apparently only 500 samples of the souvenir sheet were printed. The exact date of issue seems to be March 27, 2025.

Jaap Sarelse (The Netherlands) reported also about a stamp issued by Nigeria on October 10, 2024 but bearing the design of the October 9, 2022, World Post day issue. This stamp has of course been added to the T20221009 series.

India – Israel, eventually

by Richard Zimmermann

The Holi (India) and Purim (Israel) Festivals’ stamps involving India and Israel were originally scheduled to be released on February 13, 2024, but India was not ready to participate at that time. The new date of May 7, 2024 was set as second possibility, but the Indian stamp was still not released and the Israel sheetlet remained an unilateral issue, described as such in the catalogue under the entry [N20240507]. Surprisingly, on this February 11, 2025, we learned from several sources (Souvik Ghatak, India; Kenneth Sequeira, Singapore; Dov Lask, Israel – thanks to all of them) that finally, the two souvenir sheets became available, proven through first day covers bearing both the same issue date of February 11, 2025. The Israel souvenir sheet described so far was printed and ready since February 2024. It appeared on different blogs, but was not available for sale. No Israel cancelled cover dated before February 2025 has been seen so far, and therefore this new date of February 11, 2025 becomes the official day of first issue, leading this issue to be identified as Twin. Obviously, this issue deserves now a full description in the catalogue under the entry [T20250211].

Catalogue 2025 updated

by Richard Zimmermann

The new catalogue of Joint Stamp Issues 2025 is now on line with the section of the stamps issued during the year 2024 fully updated. In order to keep an average of about 100-130 pages per volume facilitating a quick downloading, the year 2024 needed to be separared from the 2022-2023 period (Volume XV) and a new volume numbered XVI, containing years 2024-2025 was created.

This new updated catalogue, the 2025 version in 16 volumes, has now reached 1,900 pages. It contains over 2,280 entries among which more than 1,580 can be considered as true joint issues (unique, se-tenant, twin, concerted or parallel). It describes in total more than 16,100 items, and it is illustrated with above 8,900 pictures, providing also more than 35,100 quotations. This upgrade allowed also to make a comparison of the evolution of the number of issues of joint stamps for statistical purpose, which leads to a graph looking as follow:

It appears that after a strong progression over the years 1980-2010, the number of new yearly issues reached a kind of plateau over the past 15 years, with an average of 40 issues per year. The progression affected only the twin joint issues while the number of parallel/concerted issues remained stable over the past 50 years. However, the number of different products for each issue such as additional souvenir sheets, booklets, miniature sheets or mixed cancelled products, or the number of total stamps per issue did progress as well. In parallel, we have also to observe that the number of abusive joint issues (issues involving a high number of countries not fully controlled by the local postal administrations, but printed centrally) has increased. We will still continue to identify those issues separately, and even if we continue to have them described in the catalogue for the sake of completeness (gray color and italics characters), it will remain up to the individual collectors to decide if they want to include and purchase them. Typically, these stamps will not gain value over time, will be difficult to resell and are usually not accepted in exhibitions.

Joint issues are a mirror of the political state of the world. The increasing number of conflict situations is not in favor of a progression of the number of joint issues. Several planned issues were cancelled during the past five years, due to political concerns. My wish for the next year(s) is to be able to report soon a first joint issue e.g., involving Israel and Iran, North and South Korea or Ukraine and Russia, which would become the best sign of a progression toward world peace.

Among the major improvements, note that at least 25 new items describing mixed FDCs have been added over the period 2021-2024. We own a huge thank to Jaap Sarelse (The Netherlands) for his great work and time spent over the past 30 years in providing this information, finding the items and even trying to create such mixed products whenever possible. The existence of mixed first day cancelled products remains the ultimate proof of the joint character as both postal administrations must have agreed for the production and existence of such items.

On top of the additions of new 2024 issues described in previous blog pages, one has to note the following:

On September 14, 2024, Bangladesh re-issued an older stamp from 2001 with a handstamp “DHAKAPEX”. This issue is now described in the catalogue under the original stamp heading [T20011009] together with all the other stamps of the same series. This gave the opportunity also to update the texts and images of these stamps in the catalogue as this entry was only partially illustrated. As much as 75 new images over three pages were introduced to illustrate this entry.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is celebrating during the year 2025, its 160th anniversary. The UPU did send on October 28, 2024 a circular to all its members, asking that if they want to commemorate this anniversary, they can use the new logo of the event. The way this letter is presented clearly shows that this is not a call for a joint issue. So, at this stage and in absence of further notice, stamps that will be produced during the year 2025 and bearing the below logo will not be considered as joint, as they are simply commemorative stamps based on individual initiatives.

On the contrary, the design of the 2026 PostEurop stamps to be issued at the occasion of the 70th anniversary of PostEurop, was released by beginning of January 2025. A common stamp will be used at this occasion, based on a contest that a Finnish group did win.

One has also to note a small modification regarding the December 20, 2021 issue involving Colombia and Mexico. The Mexican stamps were issued on December 20, 2021, but the Colombian stamp became only available on January 25, 2022. However, it appears that the Colombian FDC and the mixed FDC are still cancelled from December 20, 2021. This issue which was initailly considered as a Concerted one under the heading number C20211220 is now reported as the twin issue T20211220.

The same modification affected the stamps issued on October 16, 2023, involving Vietnam and India. Small amounts of Vietnam stamps became available at one post office at the original day of issue (April 28, 2023), but stamps were retrieved after sale of the first batch of 4,000 units. India announced three times the release of their stamps until they became eventually available on October 16, 2023. These delays led to consider initially this series as Concerted. However, the mixed FDC of this issue is cancelled with dates from October 16, 2023 for both countries and therefore these stamps are filed as twin [T20231016]. Covers with Vietnamese stamps cancelled before October 16, 2023 are rarities.

Unilateral issues update

by Richard Zimmermann

The previous page on Unilateral Issues triggered a lot of answers leading to some new joint issues to be confirmed for the end of the year 2024.

Let us first start with the Kazakhstan – Morocco issue. A Kazakhstan stamp, in miniature sheets of 8 units, was released as early as September 30, 2024 with a topic related to the 30th anniversary of relationship depicting local Gastronomy (camel milk, kumis, dates), but above all with a stamp bearing the words “Joint issue Kazakhstan – Morocco”. Eventually, the Moroccan stamp was released on December 25, 2024, in sheetlet of 10 stamps. This issue can now be reported in the catalogue as a Concerted issue with the entry code [C20240930].

Similarly, the Egyptian counterpart for the Hungarian souvenir sheet issued on November 28, 2024, was discovered. We can therefore confirm that these two sheets from Egypt and Hungary form a joint issue that is described in the catalogue under the heading [T20241128]. The Egyptian souvenir sheet was issued at only 7,000 samples from which 700 were taken to prepare first day covers.

There is an interesting on-going discussion about a potential Italy – Peru joint issue related to the 150th anniversary of diplomatic relations between both countries. On August 28, 2024, Peru issued two stamps, so far without counterpart from Italy. In the 2025 Italian philatelic program, we discover now that Italy intends to issue stamps on January 30, 2025, celebrating the same event, but even claiming it should be joint. Italian Post just informed that there was a delay as they were not ready by the time of issue of the Peruvian stamps. As Peru issued their stamps unilateraly (without joint character claim), this announcement looks surprising. We have not seen the design of the Italian stamp and we will probably have to wait until January 30, 2025 to define the real characters of this stamp and decide afterwards how to consider them. There is one important point however to take in account: there should be no confusion between joint stamps and a joint event. So, decision to integrate these stamps in the catalogue, is still on hold.

The situation is clearer with the Peruvian – Dominican Republic issue. On November 13, 2024, Peru also issued stamps at the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the relationship between both countries. It appears that Dominican Republic issued a single stamp the same day, reproducing the buildings that are reproduced on the Peruvian stamps. In this case we are in presence of a real twin issue that will be described in the catalogue under entry number [T20241113]

In the meantime, a Mauritius – India mixed FDC became available. This item is based on an illustrated Mauritius first day cover celebrating the 200th anniversary of Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati (1824-2024), on which was added an India stamp with exactly the same design itself cancelled from December 12, 2024. By further inquiries about this document, Jaap Sarelse could confirm that this stamp release is not a joint issue. The design was made available by the Organization supporting the anniversary events, which any post office could use to issue a stamp. It happens that both countries used the logo alone to fill the space within the stamp which resulted to very similar items. Collectors created mixed FDCs only on the basis of the stamp similarities, but postal administrations never collaborated. Suriname issued also stamps at this occasion, using only the same portrait but not the full logo.


During this search activity, a new joint issue appeared that has been forgotten so far: Morocco and the United Arab Emirates celebrated historical relationship through identical stamps and souvenir sheets. These stamps were released on November 13, 2024. they represent symbols, flags of both countries, the “Hassan II” Mosque in Casablanca and the “Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque” in Abu Dhabi.

For all this information, thanks to Ali Ahmed Med Achour (Algeria), Don Birschel (USA), Tolga Caglayankaya (the Netherlands), Enzo Cafaro (Italy), Fabio Bonacina (Italy), Kenneth Sequeira (Singapore), Jaap Sarelse (the Netherlands), Cesar Ittmann (The Netherlands), Eric Chan (Hong Kong) and Eric Contesse (France) through his Facebook blog Joint Stamp Issues (and of course all the collectors participating to this blog).

Unilateral issues 2024

by Richard Zimmermann

By end of this year 2024, we have to come to the conclusion that some originally announced joint issues will probably remain unilateral, meaning that the partner country dropped from the collaboration. Here is the list:

  • India – Israel : 2024 (May 7) – Purim Festival -This stamp was originally scheduled to be released on February 13, 2024, but India was not ready to participate. The new date of May 7, 2024 was set, but the Indian stamp was still not available and information about the final decision from India is missing
  • China (PR) – Russia : 2024 (August 24) – Diplomatic relations – Panda. The issue was moved to August 24 from originally August 4, 2024, but no associated Chinese stamp was issued
  • Korea (South) – Uruguay : 2024 (September 10) – Uruguay issued two se-tenant stamps; [2px5] printed at 2,500 pairs, but no information is since available from South Korea
  • Kazakhstan – Morocco : 2024 (September 30) – Topic: 30th anniversary of relationship – Gastronomy. Despite the fact that the Kazakh stamp bears the words “Joint issue Kazakhstan – Morocco”, no information is available so far from the Moroccan side
  • Indonesia – Serbia : 2024 (November 4) – Topic: 70th anniversary of relationship – The Serbian stamp was issued, but no news from Indonesia

These stamps will remain in the catalogue with short description, with limited details and under the category ‘Unilateral – Not approved [N]’. THis is to avoid further questions in the future, but also as space-keeper in the case these issues transform into Delayed Concerted [C] issues during the year 2025.

An interesting story is linked to the expected Oman – Switzerland joint issue: On November 30, 2023, Oman and Switzerland were supposed to issue joint stamps celebrating the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relationship. The Omani stamps were issued as expected, but Switzerland never made their stamps available, despite one existing copy in Oman Post Office archives, documented by the picture provided below and entitled “Celebrating 50 years of diplomatic ties between the Sultanate of Oman and the Swiss Confederation, we are pleased to announce the launch of the joint stamp. The stamp was launched under the patronage of Dr. Alain Berset, President of the Swiss Confederation, during his visit to the Sultanate of Oman.”(Information and pictures were provided by Tariq Al Lawati, Oman).

Through direct contact with the Swiss Post customer service, we received recently the following explanations : “I am pleased to inform you about the joint issue Switzerland-Oman. Unfortunately, the request from Oman for a joint issue arrived too late. Swiss Post nevertheless wished to support and pay tribute to this 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship. Therefore, Swiss Post has informed the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). A meeting with the Omani Embassy and Swiss Post regarding this matter has taken place, during which it was stated that an official stamp issue was no longer possible, but that we could offer a corporate stamp instead. The FDFA has expressly renounced any official issuing of the stamp.” Thanks to Ylenia Minesso, Swiss Post Customer Advisor, for this extensive answer. This issue will be reported in the catalogue, as mentioned above, with a short description and under the category unilateral.

A souvenir sheet from Iran appeared on the net. This item showing the Minsk City Gate and the Azadi Tower, dated 2023 (but issued August 22, 2024), includes the word “I.R. Iran – Belarus Joint Stamp”. No information is available from Belarus.

Two stamps from Laos, bearing the Laos and India flags were supposed also to introduce a joint issue, celebrating common cultural heritage. The Laos stamps and souvenir sheet were issued on August 15, 2024, but no information is available from the Indian side..

Peru released on August 29, 2024 a pair of stamp related to diplomatic links with Italy, and on November 13, 2024, a similar pair related to links with the Dominican Republic. No counterpart stamps have been seen so far from Italy or the Dominican Republic..

We are also waiting for the Egyptian counterpart of the Hungarian souvenir sheet (130×100 mm) issued on November 28, 2024 and clearly entitled “Hungary-Egypt Joint Stamp Issue”. Knowing the difficulty in obtaining information from Egypt, it may be possible that this souvenir sheet translates in a true joint issue. We still have to wait.

Same situation for the Serbian stamp, entitled “Serbia – Russia” and dedicated to Colonel Nicolay Raevsky, issued on November 18, 2024, without Russian counterpart so far. However Russian Post web site is usually up to date and we should have the information. This stamp may remain unilateral.

Any additional information or change to this list is welcome.

News November 2024

by Richard Zimmermann

We missed to report the China (PR) – France joint issue released on October 18, 2024 at the occasion of the 60th anniversary of their relationship . Stamps are identical and represent the Mont Saint-Michel (Saint Michael’s Mount) in France and the Mount Tai (Taishan) in China. The Chinese stamps were released in miniature sheets of 12 stamps 2x[3×4], while the French stamps became available in miniature sheets of 15 stamps 2x[3×5]. A mixed ‘pochette’ with all four stamps became available from the French postal administration, and as usual with China, mixed FDCs will probably be easy to find.

On November 14, 2024, Italy and the Vatican State celebrated the 25th anniversary of Venice Foundation for the Search for Peace through a twin issue. The identical stamps are reproducing the logo of the Foundation highlighted on an ancient map called “Perspective map of the city of Venice and the lagoons“, published by Benedetto Bordone in 1534. A large figure “25” and a dove, logo of the Foundation, complete the illustration. Italian stamps were printed in panes of 50, while Vatican stamps became available as miniature sheets of 10.

On November 29, 2024, a series of Arab states will issue a common stamp in solidarity with Gaza. So far, countries that have committed to participate include Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine and Qatar. This list is not complete. On October 7, 2024, Syria had already issued a stamp and a souvenir sheet with the common design. Stamps in panes of 50 units [5×10] were printed at 5,000 samples and souvenir sheets at 1,500 samples, among which 500 units of each were already used to prepare FDCs. The information was provided by Med Achour Ali Ahmed (Algeria).

Eventually, since beginning of the year, we still have to report missing counterparts of the following stamps that were initially announced as joint:

  • Israel, missing India: Purim Festival – This stamp was originally scheduled to be released on February 13, 2024, but India was not ready to participate. The new date of May 7, 2024 was set, date at which the Israel stamp was unilaterally put on sale, but the Indian stamp was not released and information is still missing since. There are great chances that this issue will remain unilateral.
  • Russia, released on August 24, 2024, missing China (PR): Russian stamp release moved to August 24 from originally August 4, 2024, but Chinese stamp were not issued yet. There are also great chances that this issue will remain unilateral.
  • Uruguay, released on September 10, 2024, a stamp related to the 60th anniversary of relationship with Korea (South). Uruguay made two se-tenant stamps available , printed in miniature sheets of ten pairs [2px5] (printed 2,500 pairs). No information from South Korea is available at this stage and this issue may remain unilateral as well.
  • On September 30, 2024, Kazakhstan and Morocco were supposed to release jointly a stamp at the occasion of the 30th anniversary of their relationship, illustrated with the topic Gastronomy. The Kazakh stamp became available on that date, but despite the fact that the it bears the words “Joint issue Kazakhstan – Morocco”, no information is available so far from the Moroccan side. We still have open that it could become a concerted issue.
  • Bosnia Herzegovina (Bosnia) and Indonesia were supposed to release stamps on October 4, 2024, at the occasion of the 25 years of the Istiklal Mosque in Sarajevo. The issue disappeared from the Bosnia Herzegovina philatelic program for 2024, while no information is available from Indonesia. This issue could be postponed to 2025.
  • On November 4, 2024, Serbia issued a stamp at the occasion of the 70th anniversary of relationship with Indonesia. We are missing any information from Indonesia on that topic. Actually we are missing a lot of information about the real program of Indonesia, and we have no idea which country will be really involved in a joint issue with this country.
  • The Belarus – Russia joint issue initially scheduled for November 15, 2024 is now postponed to December 6, 2024.

Any additional information is welcome. In absence of information regarding the issues already reported as potential unilateral series, these entries will be removed from the catalogue by end of the year. The catalogue pages have been updated with all these information.