India

2002 Japan joint issue revisited

by Richard Zimmermann

For few months now, there is a discussion going on if the stamps issued in 2002 by India Post and Japan Post with the title “50th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between India and Japan” is really a joint issue or not. 

Our friend Souvik Ghatak (India) filed an application to India Post under the Right to information (RTI) act of 2005. He asked them, to confirm the joint issue status and to provide a copy of memorandum of understanding signed between both postal departments.

Indian Post provided the following information about the issue presently referenced in the catalogue under [P20020412a]: 1) This is not a joint issue and 2) since it was not a joint issue they could not provide a copy of memorandum of understanding between India Post and Japan Post (see copy of answer below). 

Thank Souvik for providing this information confirming this is not a joint issue. As a consequence, it will also apply to all other stamps issued on April 12, 2002 by Japan Post and involving Bangladesh [P20020411], Pakistan [P20020412a] and Sri Lanka [P20020412c].

Actually, in the catalogue, these issues appear already with the mention ‘controversial’ and the classification PX, which stands for doubtful. Accordingly, the wording in the catalogue will be modified and eventually these series will be switched from PX to N section. The stamps will remain described in the catalogue as numerous collector do own them already, but as for all the ‘N’ (non-accepted) joint issues, the collectors have to decide if they want to keep them within their Joint issue collection. The catalogue will just tell them the real status of these issues, which will now respectively be [N20020411] for Bangladesh-Japan, [N20020412a] for India – Japan, [N20020412b] for Japan – Pakistan and [N20020412c] for Japan – Sri Lanka.

Joint celebrations of diplomatic relationship does not necessarily mean that the stamps issued at this occasion are joint. The joint character comes from the will of both administrations to work together on a specific topic. Administrations define date of issue and design. However, even if discussions have started, administrations may finally decide that they will not issue the stamps jointly, resulting in absence of common stamps, no exchange of products, no common joint FDCs, etc. even if the topic remains the same.

There are several countries issuing regularly diplomatic relationship stamps without any connection with the other country. Brazil for example, is issuing several times a year, stamps related to other countries and very seldomly transforms them in a joint issue. These isolated stamps are not even to be considered as unilateral issue, as this vocabulary applies only in the case production of stamps eventually failed for any reason on one side.

Update April 2023

by Richard Zimmermann

Don Birschel (USA) confirmed the existence of the Albania – Kosovo joint issue by providing the first picture of the Albania souvenir sheet. Unfortunately, so far no official information is available from the Albanian side. By exploring further, we found out that a cover looking like a first day and dated April 27, 2023 became also available on eBay. The Kosovo stamp was issued in miniature sheets of 4 on February 17, 2023. Even if this cover does not bear the words ‘First Day’, it could at least confirm that this issue must be considered as Concerted and not Twin [C20230217]. Any additional information is welcome.

Jaap Sarelse (The Netherlands) continues to create mixed FDCs and recently he was able to provide a mixed cover from the [C20221207] Georgia – Italy mixed first day cover and the one involving Armenia and Russia corresponding to the issue [T20220830].

We learned also that in 2024, at the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the UPU, a joint issue will be produced with an identical design (competition is open) and the date of this issue will probably be centered around October 9, 2024. Knowing the number of member countries of the UPU (192 so far), this could become the largest joint issue ever. Call to participant countries was launched.

Still waiting for news from the India – Vietnam joint issue supposed to be released on April 23, 2023 (local fighting sports. We just had access to the design of the Vietnamese stamps. Any additional information is welcome.

Update March 2023

by Richard Zimmermann

Additional information provided during this month, not reported so far in other posts:

Eventually, both Don Birschel (USA) and Souvik Ghatak (India) found the Indian counterpart of the Luxembourg souvenir sheet of the joint issue between the two countries, already described in an earlier post. The Indian souvenir sheet was released at the same date, namely March 14, 2023.

From Adam Paish, UK: The discovery in March 2022 of the wreck of the Endurance, the barquentine that carried Ernest Shackleton and his crew on the ill-fated 1914-1917 Trans-Antarctic Expedition, is commemorated on a series of joint British Antarctic Territory – Falkland Islands – South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands Territorial/Parallel [PD] stamp issued on March 27, 2023. The ship sank in October 1915, having been crushed by sea ice in the Weddell Sea before the expedition could begin. There are two stamps (issued in sheets of ten) and one souvenir sheet for each territory. 

Also from Adam Paish, UK: On March 13, 2023, the British Antarctic Territory and South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands each released four stamps and a single-stamp souvenir sheet with images from the BBC’s Frozen Planet II television documentary series. The standard sheet stamps are issued only in pictorial single-denomination sheetlets of four. These stamps are also filed as a Territorial/Parallel [PD] issue. The BBC logo remains the only common item linking all stamps.

On March 29, 2023, Liechtenstein and Switzerland issued as scheduled the stamps related to the 100th anniversary of customs agreement binding both countries. Each country issued two stamps representing either the first lines of the contract text or the flags of both countries separated by a zip fastener. Liechtenstein issued also three postal stationeries (postal cards), but without common design. Mixed covers and mixed cards became available.

From Souvik Ghatak (India) and Kenneth Sequeira (Singapore): A surprise issue was announced involving India and Vietnam that were planning to release a joint stamp issue on traditional martial art, Kalaripayattu (India) and Vovinam (Vietnam). The original date of release was supposed to be February 28, 2023 but the issue was postponed to a later stage. In the meantime, a copy of the Vietnamese side of the joint issue became already available. A new release date was set at March 29, 2023, but no news is available from India and this date was postponed again to April 23, 2023. More details will come soon.

Eric Contesse (France) and Jaap Sarelse (The Netherlands) were wondering if the two stamps illustrated below have to be recognized as joint. They were issued at the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the declaration of independence of Kosovo and are identical. The Kosovo stamp was issued on February 17, 2023 in miniature sheets of 4 stamps [2×2]. Unfortunately, no information is available from Albania so far. Any help is welcome.

The following information has been added to or modified in the new version of Volume 15 (Vol 15 V4.04):

  • Update of the list of older issues i.e., Cuba – North Korea from August 29, 2020 [T20200829] (integrated in Volume 14 V4.02),
  • The above mentioned British Antarctic Territories – South Georgia [D20230313] and British Antarctic Territories – Falkland Islands – South Georgia [D20230327] stamps, as well as India – Luxembourg [T20230314] and Liechtenstein – Switzerland [T20230329] have been integrated in the catalogue

The information related to complete descriptions (Table of topics, table of countries) of new sets of joint issues is also dispatched in Vol 1 V4.03. Note that the page “Philatelic resources” is constantly updated to maintain the most accurate level (which is not easy, corrections and additions are welcome) and changes will not be reported here.

Update February 2023

by Richard Zimmermann

On February 28, 2023, the joint issue between Armenia and Slovakia was released as scheduled. It celebrates the 30th anniversary of relationship and the stamps depict the Tatev Monastery, in Syunik region (Armenia) built during the ninth century, included now in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list and the St George’s Church, in Nitrianska Blatnica (Slovakia) also from the ninth century. The particularityy of this issue comes from the way the stamps are produced. The stamps are printed in a pane size [5×9] containing both stamps, type A in the top half, type B in the bottom half, together with 5 central labels forming a central cross. The overall structure looks the following: 3 rows of 5 stamps A, a row containing 2 pairs of stamp A separated by a label, then a row with one stamp A, three labels and one stamp B, and a row containing 2 pairs of stamp B separated by a label, and at the bottom 3 rows of 5 stamps B. This structure leads to a sheet containing 20 stamps A, 20 stamps B and 5 labels. Each sheet can contain vertical pairs of se-tenant A-B stamps, but limited to two units per pane. Knowing that the total printing of stamps is 2×20,000 for Armenia and 2×100,000 for Slovakia, only respectively 1,000 and 5,000 panes have been printed containing a maximum of 2,000 and 10,000 vertical pairs respectively.

These miniature sheets could be cut a different way, by keeping in one piece the five central labels with the 2 stamps A and 2 stamps B in the four corners. Only a maximum of 1,000 units for Armenia and 5,000 for Slovakia of these cut outs of printed panels can theoretically exist. The central labels represent the flags of both countries, and the coat of arms of Armenia, respectively Slovakia. The two other labels contain the words ‘Armenia – Slovakia joint issue’ in English and Armenian for Armenia, in Slovak and Armenian for Slovakia.

Jaap Sarelse (The Netherlands) provided some information about the potential Cambodia-South Korea joint issue that was supposed to be released on February 10, 2023. The original source was the South Korean Philatelic Service. However, Jaap learned from two Cambodian sellers that no such an issue is mentioned in the 2023 list of Cambodian stamps. Also a seller from South Korea confirmed this is not a joint issue. The top margin of the souvenir sheet printed by South Korea is entitled “Protecting Endangered Species in Korea – Cambodia REDD+ Joint Project Area”, meaning the ‘joint’ character is refering to an area between both countries, and a common project, but not to this stamp issue. This entry is removed from the catalogue.

Don Birschel (USA) reports also about stamps released at the occasion of the Kuwait 62nd national day by both Kuwait (February 22, 2023) and the United Arab Emirates (February 25, 2023). Even if the Kuwait 62nd national day is celebrated by the UAE, there are no hints of collaboration between both countries and stamps are different. These cannot be considered as a joint issue.

A surprising joint issue between India and Luxembourg will be released on March 14, 2023. The information was first provided by Souvik Ghatak (India) and Kenneth Sequeira (Singapore). The Luxembourg post made the announcement as early as March 2, 2023, but it took some time for India to confirm, despite the fact that the designer of the miniature sheet is of Indian origin. The stamps relate to the 75th anniversary of the relationship between both countries and is illustrated by sculptures by Amar Nath Sehgal (1922-2007), an Indian sculptor, painter and poet who spent a large part of his life in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

Up to now, there are no news from the Israel-India issue supposed to be released in the course of the month of February. In the meantime, however, the first image of the Israel stamp to be realeased on April 4, 2023 jointly with Cyprus was released. Topic is aerial firefighting. The Cyprus stamps has not been seen so far.

The following information has been added to or modified in the new version of Volume 15 (Vol 15 V4.03):

  • The above mentioned Armenia – Slovakia issue [T20230228] as well as the Poland – Slovenia [T20230306], the Poland – Vatican [T20230227] and the Ascension – British Antarctic Territories – Falkland Islands – South Georgia – Tristan da Cunha [D20230215] stamps have been integrated in the catalogue
  • Confirmation of the existence of mixed FDCs for the 2022 Argentina – Spain Juan Domingo Peron issue [C20220914]
  • Update of the list of new issues including Pakistan – Sri Lanka (2023), Japan – Peru (August 21, 2023), Japan – Vietnam (September 21, 2023)

The information related to complete descriptions of new sets of joint issues is also dispatched in Vol 1. Note that the page “Philatelic resources” is constantly updated to maintain the most accurate level (which is not easy, corrections and additions welcome) and changes will not be reported here.

Japan 2002 questionable Joint Issue

by Richard Zimmermann

Upeka Indeewary from India did ask: “The joint issue catalogue describes a joint issue from the year 2002 involving Japan and four other countries, namely India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. It appears that in Japan this issue is not considered as joint. Can you clarify? “

Indeed this joint issue could be considered as questionable. In the catalogue Vol 8, it is already described under four different entries [P20020411 and P20020412a-c]. While Japan issued all stamps the same day, April 12, 2002, the four other countries’ stamps from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan were released with 1 to 14 days interval..

None of these countries claim a joint character, and indeed we also had some questions regarding the true status of this issue. This is the reason why these issues are filed in a category called [PX] and the catalogue uses specifically the word ‘controversial’ to describe them (See also in Catalogue Vol I for the definition of [PX]).

It happens some time that even in case of same data and same design, stamps were issued by two countries with one denying the joint issue status. In fact, in almost all these cases, and this Japanese stamps probably included, a first contact between the authorities took place and topic as well as day of issue were agreed. But during the process, it came to a disagreement and finally each country decided to pursue on its own. For this reason, considering at least the situation of starting the collaboration, we report such stamps in the catalogue.

Obviously, it was not per chance that all four countries came together with Japan and launched almost at the same date each a stamp with the same topic (not the same design) also appearing on the Japanese stamps (relationship). We leave to the collector to decide if such items have to be include or not in their own collection. If these stamps are not described in the catalogue, other collectors would ask why such series are not reported. The [PX] status became the alternative. In any case, present or not in the catalogue, questions would arise. It is possible to definitely state about these Japanese stamps, if someone can bring the real story behind the creation of these stamps.

Can someone help here?

International tiger preservation forum (2)

by Richard Zimmermann

The second international tiger preservation forum took place as scheduled on September 5, 2022 and, also as scheduled, most of the participating countries issued at this occasion a stamp related to this forum illustrated with tigers. A first list had been provided earlier. This is now a complementary information page with new details provided mainly by Enzo Cafaro (Italy).

Eventually, 10 countries are participating to this joint parallel issue [P20220905]. Among the 14 countries where tigers still live in the wild, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Russia, Thailand, and Vietnam, we already know that Thailand decided not to participate. No information is available from Bangladesh, Bhutan and Indonesia.

Myanmar, Russia and Vietnam have issued their stamps on September 5, 2022. India issued its stamp already on September 1, 2022, while Cambodia will issue it stamps only on September 22, 2022. Exact dates of issue for Laos, Malaysia, and North Korea are still to be confirmed, but seem to be September 5 as well. In parallel, Russia is preparing a mixed folder containing the mint stamps from (almost) all 10 countries.

Indian stamp pays tribute to ‘Collarwali’, a tigress from Pench Tiger reserve, Madhya Pradesh, who gave birth to 29 cubs in her life time, among which 25 survived to adulthood. She passed away in January 2022.

Below, additional pictures of stamps released or to be released by these countries are depicted.

On September 5, 2022, China PR issued a set of stamps entitled Tiger cultural relics. The 6 stamps represent a) the Shang-Fu double-tailed bronze tiger, b) a spring and autumn jade tiger-shaped pendant, c) the Han Baihu ’tiledang’ with tiger (grey pottery), d) the Bronze Tiger Festival object with Cuojin inscription of Han dynasty, e) a white glaze brown flower crouching tiger pillow and f) a puppet flying tiger. There is no hint about a relationship with the tiger preservation forum, but if no other stamp is issued by China PR, we will have to consider that the stamps released at this same date may be part of the joint issue (same date of issue, same topic). However, more information is needed here.

The site from Yonhap News refers also to another souvenir sheet issued by North Korea on September 5, 2022, next to the souvenir sheet with different 4 stamps. Here also, more details are needed.

International tiger preservation forum

by Richard Zimmermann

The second International Forum for the Preservation of the Tiger Population is supposed to take place in Vladivostok, Russia, on September 5, 2022. About one year ago, JSC Marka, the Russian postal administration initiated the creation of a joint issue related to this event with all participating countries. Officially, it is announced that 10 countries will participate to this joint issue that is supposed to be released on September 5, 2022, and a few of them have already shown the designs of their stamps.

Taking in account the present international situation, it is time to make some review of the different announcements, but also to use this opportunity to ask the local collectors to provide as much as possible reliable information on top of what is described below. None of the stamp designs seen so far are identical. Most of the information described here has been provided by Enzo Cafaro (Italy).

The forum runs a web site and has a dedicated logo. Decision to held this second international meeting in Vladivostok was taken on September 3, 2019. The 1st International Tiger Forum took place in St. Petersburg on 21–24 November 2010. The Forum web page explains that today, there are only 14 countries where tigers still live in the wild: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Russia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

So first let us start with the countries that have already announced their participation and provided the design of their stamp. Russia is of course the first with a single stamp issued in miniature sheets of 8 stamps and bearing the logo. Vietnam will issue two different stamps, North Korea a souvenir sheet containing a block of 4 different stamps and Malaysia a souvenir sheet with one stamp. All of them will bear the logo but the exact date of issue of September 5, 2022 is only confirmed for Russia, even if JSC Marka claims all participants will release the stamp the same day.

Some other countries have provided the design, but the stamps are missing the logo. We should not forget that the year 2022 is the Chinese Lunar year of the Tiger and dozen of countries have issued stamps depicting tigers, without any link to this forum. So, most of the tiger stamps issued in 2022 are not part of this joint issue. In the following cases, Cambodia (one stamp and one souvenir sheet, available perforated or not, but only one to be confirmed for release on September 5) and Laos (2 stamps) show either within the stamp or within the margins of the miniature or souvenir sheets a text referring to the preservation of the species.

Lastly, there are a few other countries that have been announced by Russia (JSC Marka) as being participant to the joint issue, but have not released information themselve, nor confirmed participation on their side. These countries include China PR, India, Myanmar and Nepal. On top of these ten countries, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia and Thailand could also participate. Information from these additional countries are also missing.

Roughly, we have now one full month to confirm if this joint issue will really exist and which country will participate. With the information we have collected so far it should become a Parallel [P] issue. Any additional detail is of interest. Thanks in advance.

Mid-year review

by Richard Zimmermann

The release of joint stamps is still affected by the coronavirus pandemic situation and, additionally, more recently, by the Ukrainian-Russian war. The situation of the specific program involving Russia was already reported here. How about the other joint issues?

The Japan – Mongolia issue, 50 years of diplomatic relations, eventually proved not to be a true joint issue. Mongolia released a souvenir sheet on May 19, 2022. For Japan, the date of issue was shifted from originally February 14, 2022 to June 15, 2022 and a souvenir sheet with 10 stamps in a different design was released (information provided by Robert Schrijvers, Mongolia).

The Bosnia Herzegovina stamps related to Family Remittances was issued as planned on June 16, 2022 with a design identical to stamps produced earlier and in miniature sheets of 10 stamps (printing run 1,000 miniature sheets). This stamp will simply be added to the original series [B20200716] which was already filed as a Borrowed Design [B], so not a true joint issue. 2020 Catalogue section has been updated with this information. There is no indication of the issuance this year by another country of other stamps related to this topic so far.

We are still missing information from Turkmenistan related to the Turkmenistan-India joint issue. The Indian stamps were released on April 2, 2022.

The commemorative Brazilian stamp featuring the 100th anniversary of James Joyce’s work ‘Ulysses’ was issued within the Brazilian ‘Diplomatic Relations Series’ and dedicated to Ireland. The stamp was issued as scheduled on June 16, 2022, but not as a joint issue. There is no counterpart produced by Ireland at the same date and this issue can be removed from the catalogue.

In the same way, the Italian – Mexico issue initially planned for July 23, 2022 to celebrate diplomatic relations between both countries will probably not take place. On June 28, 2022, Mexico issued a stamp dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the building of the Mexican embassy in Italy. There are no counterparts reported in the Italian philatelic program and there is a great doubt that Italy will change its program within the next weeks.

The Ecuador-Mexico joint issue in honor of the heroes of independency Leona Vicario and Manuela Saenz was not issued on June 1, 2022, as scheduled. It seems the issue of these stamps will again be delayed, as the date had already been changed twice this year. Any information is welcome.

The Cyprus-Israel joint issue that was once listed on the Israel program has disappeared from this list. No stamp was issued on the originally scheduled date of June 28, 2022.

On the positive side, names of countries involved in the next Euromed issue are now accumulating. The present list of countries having guaranteed participation to this issue include: Bosnia Herzegovina (November 15) – Croatia (July 11) – France (July 8) – Greece (July 11) – Portugal (July 11) – Slovenia (July 11) – Tunisia (July 11) – Turkey (July 9). More are to come and, compared to last year, we could expect participation from the following countries as well: Albania, Cyprus, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco and Spain. The complete list will be published in Volume 15 of the catalogue, after July 11, 2022, the most common and new reference date for this issue. In the meantime, some pictures of the already disclosed projects.

Finally, take a look at this web link of interest, the site of Mark Joseph Jochim, Philatelic Pursuits, which provides information about the stamp issue programs of all countries. It needs to be updated, but it represents a unique and very interesting starting point.

2022 UAE-India issue delay to be explained

by Richard Zimmermann

Jaap Sarelse (the Netherlands) just provided a sample of the first day cover of the UAE stamps, dated June 30, 2022. Stamps from this country were supposed to be released at the same date as the Indian counterpart, namely on February 18, 2022. Actually, a long unexplained delay affected the release of this UAE issue. As a consequence, in the catalogue, this joint issue has to be re-attributed the category of Concerted [C] issue and is now filed under [C20220218] instead of [T20220218]. By looking closer it appears that the design of the final UAE product is also slightly different from what was presented in the February 2022 project, in particular regarding the building depicted in the margin of the souvenir sheet. Take a look below on the illustrations to see the differences in lengths and position of texts in the margin (four lines instead of three) but also on building representations and compare them to the issued Indian souvenir sheet. The delay was probably not only due to logistics issues, but also to the agreement needed from India regarding the depicted buildings. In other words, it may be possible that the UAE stamps had to be reprinted due to this design mistake. We do not know if the first design was printed on time and needed to be destroyed. There is a need to dig further and any information is welcome.

UAE FDC cover dated June 30, 2022
Original February 2022 UAE project – not released (wrong building on the bottom right side)
Final design of the UAE souvenir sheet issued on June 30, 2022
Indian souvenir sheet issued on February 18, 2022, for comparison

India – Turkmenistan 2022

by Richard Zimmermann

A large joint issue involving India and several countries from the former Soviet Union had been announced recently intended to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the relationship between them. Souvik Ghatak (India) was first to provide information about an issue actually involving only India and Turkmenistan. The Indian stamps was supposed to be released on April 2, 2022, but for unknown reason, stamps and souvenir sheet became avilable only one day later, so first day cancellation bears the date of April 3, 2022. Unfortunately, so far we are lacking information about the Turkmenistan stamps. The Indian stamps representing traditional dances from each country, as well as the FDC cover, refer to this specific 30-year relationship and a potential identical issue from Turkmenistan. Any information is welcome to confirm if this issue can be considered as joint.

Unexpected UAE – India relationship issue

by Richard Zimmermann

Discovered by Don Birschel (USA) and confirmed by Kenneth Sequeira (Dubai), here is an unexpected joint issue linking the United Arab Emirates with India and released on February 18, 2022 at the occasion of the 50th anniversary of their relationship. Both countries offer a nice souvenir sheet with flags, but also governmental buildings. Actually, this souvenir sheet refers to the celebration of the Year 2022 of the 50th anniversary of the UAE’s formation and the 75th anniversary of the independence of India.

This was also the occasion to update Catalogue 15 – 2022-2024 V3.04.