Morocco

Update May 2024

by Richard Zimmermann

While the month of April 2024 remained relatively quiet in terms of new joint issues (Israel-Romania on April 17 and Italy San marino on April 20), the month of May saw some interesting releases which are now listed below.

May 9, 2024: This is the official date of this year’s PostEurop issue. The topic is related to ‘Underwater fauna and flora’. A large number of countries issued their stamp(s) on the anniversary date of May 9, but as the design and dates of issue are remaining within the hands of each postal administration, similarly to previous years, the 2024 issue is not considered as joint, on the contrary to last year. This series is just reported in the catalogue for information for collectors of Europa / Europa CEPT / PostEurop stamps. So far, 57 countries have already released their stamp(s) or have announced their participation. Information is missing only for Albania, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine [N20240509].

May 21, 2024: Morocco and Romania celebrate cultural relations between both countries through a pair of identical stamps related to folk art. This is a twin issue [T1] representing traditional costumes and ceramic or porcelain objects from the regions of Vâlcea and Horezu (Romania), or from Fez (Morocco) [T20240521].

May 21, 2024: The 150th anniversary of the birthday of Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937) is celebrated by the Vatican State and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM) through a twin issue representing the Italian inventor in front of dedicated equipment. Unfortunately, as the UPU does not recognize SMOM a an official postal administration, this issue remains described in the catalogue, but under the heading non-approved/twin issue [N/T1] [N20240521]. Each individual collector to decide if he/she wants to keep this issue in his/her collection.

May 26, 2024: The accession of Frederic X to the Danish throne is celebrated through joint souvenir sheets issued by Denmark, Faroe Islands and Greenland. Due to the direct link between these three postal administrations, this joint issue is considered as a Territorial twin issue [TD] and will be referenced as [D20240526]. The identical souvenir sheets with one stamp showing the portrait of King Frederic X were issued at the date of the anniversary of the King (born on May 26, 1968). King Frederic X is officially reigning since January 14, 2024.

May 31, 2024: as a last minute issue, we were informed that China PR and Malaysia have issued a joint pair of stamps at the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship between both countries (Source: Adam Paish, UK). The stamps represent two local large trees (Pine and Merbau/malaka teak) from both countries.

The potential Mongolia – Switzerland joint issue expected at the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship between both countries resulted in a souvenir sheet issued unilaterally by Mongolia on May 20, 2024 (see https://montsame.mn/en/read/344262), so, not a joint issue.

The Tunisia – Russia joint issue initially scheduled for May 24, 2024 (Art – Painter Roubtzoff) is now postponed to September 9, 2024 (Russian philatelic program).

We are still missing information about the Indian stamps linked to the already announced Israel Purim souvenir sheet that was supposed to be released on May 7, 2024.

The catalogue Part 1 and Part 15 have been updated accordingly.

Morocco – Oman 2024

by Richard Zimmermann

On February 13, 2024, Barid Al-Maghrib and Oman Post launched in Muscat, on the sidelines of the Postal Leaders Forum, a joint issue of a souvenir sheet of two postage stamps celebrating deep fraternal ties and history common cultural which unites the Kingdom of Morocco and the Sultanate of Oman.
The designs highlight the first place where the sun rises in the Arab world in the Sultanate of Oman and the last place where the sun sets in the Kingdom of Morocco. The Oman design shows the main gate of the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, the historic Sohar Ship, the sunrise view at Ras Al Hadd, as well as the ancient Sohar Castle and the Royal Opera House Muscat. The Moroccan design includes, in addition to the Al-Khair Mosque located in the locality of El Guergrat, which represents the last sunset viewpoint in Morocco, the exquisite architectural style, evident in the models of Moroccan doors.

Morocco issued 5,000 pairs of stamps and 3,000 souvenir sheets, while Morocco issued 10,000 pairs of stamps and as many souvenir sheets. The stamps are produced in miniature sheets of 4 pairs of stamps [2px2]. Details of this information was provided first by Ali Ahmed Med Achour (Algeria).

PAPU 2023

by Richard Zimmermann

Our friend Med Achour Ali Ahmed (Algeria) was the first to report about this unexpected joint issue: The 41st ordinary session of the Board of Directors of the Pan African Postal Union (PAPU), a specialized agency of the African Union responsible for the coordination and development of postal services in Africa, took place between August 24 and 30, 2023 in Arusha, the Tanzanian city. This meeting was followed by the festivities linked to the inauguration by President Samia Suluhu Hassan of the new PAPU headquarters called “PAPU Tower” on September 2, 2023.
To mark the commissioning of this emblematic 17-story building, PAPU proposed the issue on this date of a common commemorative stamp “presenting the image of the PAPU tower, juxtaposed with an emblematic place, an artifact national or natural at the choice of each participating Member State”.
The Tanzanian Post was the first showing the design of its stamps and souvenir sheets that were issued on September 2, 2023. At the same time we learned about the first stamps issued by other countries including so far Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Zimbabwe. As the PAPU involves 45 countries, there are high expectations that other African countries will join over the following weeks. So, at this stage, we just confirm that this issue has to be considered as a Twin issue under the entry code T20230902. Additional countries will be reported later in the catalogue and for the time being we are just providing illustrations from the first identified products.

Euromed 2023

by Richard Zimmermann

The yearly Euromed issue was released on July 10, 2023 with the common topic “Festivals”. So far, all participating countries have issued their stamps on this same date, with the exception of Tunisia which released its stamps on July 11, 2023. There are 13 countries participating, including Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Tunisia. Other potential countries, having participated to Euromed issues in the past years, could also include Albania, Algeria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Turkey, but no information is available from these countries at this stage.

The scope of festival is quite large and each country selected one specific topic including film, dance, theater, music or photography festivals, but also food, fireworks or even the very specific Moreska Sword Dance Festival.

Euromed stamps 2022 now available

by Richard Zimmermann

Don Birschel (USA) collected all information relative to the Euromed 2022 stamps, topic submarine archeology, which started to appear at different countries’ post offices since July 8, 2022. The collection is not complete yet, but he was able to provide most of the illustrations of the following countries:

Croatia (July 11 – 1 stamp, issued 30,000; ancient city of Pula-Pola, amphitheater) – Cyprus (July 11 – 1 stamp) – France (July 8 – 1 stamp, [5×3], 495,000; West Giraglia 2, submarine excavations, Cap Corse) – Greece (July 11 – 2 se-tenant stamps and souvenir sheet with 2 pairs of stamps, as well as a booklet with two pairs; [2px4], [1px2] and [2px1]) – Malta (July 11 – 2 stamps, 100,000 and 30,000; Citadella Victoria, Gozo and Phoenician shipwreck site, Xiendi Bay, Gozo) – Montenegro (July 12 – 1 stamp printed 40,000, in miniature sheet of 8 stamps [3×3] with central label; coin of King Ballaios (2nd century BC) – Morocco (July 11 – 1 stamp; view of Titwan) – Portugal (July 11 – 2 stamps; 2x[5×4], 2×75,000) – Slovenia (July 11 – 1 stamp, ancient city of Ajdovscina; [5×5]) – Spain (July 11 – 1 stamp; [4×4]; 134,000) – Tunisia (July 11 – 2 stamps; [5×4] and [4×5]; child paintings of Tastur and Takruma) – Turkey (July 9).

Although normally issued at time of printing this page, we are still missing detailed information from Cyprus , Morocco, Spain and Turkey. We know that Bosnia Herzegovina will issue its stamp only on November 15, 2022. Eventually, compared to previous years, we could also expect participation from the following countries: Albania, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine.

On top of this, the Albania Euromed 2021 stamps were issued on May 11, 2022. (block of four, issued 4,000, [b4x2]). Albania Euromed 2022 may become available only in 2023.

Moroccan and Serbian bridges

by Richard Zimmermann

Diplomatic relations between the Republic of Serbia and the Kingdom of Morocco were established on March 2, 1957. So, 65 years later, why not celebrating this anniversary with joint issue illustrated with bridges? The two architectural structures shown on the stamps represent the new Road-Railway Bridge over the Danube in Novi Sad, built in 2018 (474 m long and 31.60 m wide) and the cable-stayed Mohammed VI Bridge in Rabat, opened in 2016 (947 m long) which is the largest cable-stayed bridge in Africa, with the tallest concrete and steel viaduct in the world. The stamps were issued on March 1, 2022.