Russia

2025 Catalogue update and new Catalogue 2026

by Richard Zimmermann

On December 19, 2025, Morocco has issued two stamps completing earlier joint issues with identical stamps to the series of the 80th Arab League anniversary [T20250322] already involving 6 countries, and to the joint Arab Postal Union stamps [T20250803], involving now in total 9 countries. Both these series are probably not yet complete and we may expect additional countries to be added with stamps probably to be issued during the year 2026. Both Moroccan stamps became available in miniature sheets of 10 stamps [2×5] printed at 10,000 sheets each (Source: Eric Contesse, France).

Also, among older issues, the design of the stamp of Libya from the World Post day series from October 9, 2022 [B20221009] became available, but there is no proof yet that this stamp really exists. It is reported in the Michel catalogue, but no one has seen this stamp. Can some one help here?

The Laos-Russia From October 15, 2025 issue showing lynxes needs to be corrected. On a recently released mixed FDC, it appears that the Laos stamps are cancelled from October 7, 2025 and not October 15, 2025, on the contrary to the Russian stamp. The issue reported so far as [T20251015] needs to be modified in [C20251007].

There are two postal entities active in Andorra, Spanish Andorra and French Andorra, that provide stamps for this small entity created back to 788. Since the year 1278, this enclave is under the control of Spain, through the catalan Bishop of Urgell, and France, via, originally, the Count of Foix, later the French King, now the French President, which are both co-princes of Andorra. By 2026, an agreement has been reached with La Poste (France) and the Spanish postal service (Correos) for greater coordination on the themes and dates of issue for stamps from both postal entities, Spanish Andorra and French Andorra, strengthening collaboration between the two postal administrations. Among the most noteworthy initiatives is a special issue involving Correos (Spain), La Poste (France), and the Principality of Andorra, with two complementary issues reflecting their shared identity and cultural heritage. More to come, but probably this may translate in more joint issues between Spanish Andorra and French Andorra starting in 2026 (Information provided by Kenneth Sequeira, Dubai).

It looks that we almost missed a joint issue, but it appeared eventually that it was based on a wrong message printed in the margin of a souvenir sheet. Liechtenstein issued on June 2, 2025 a souvenir sheet including three stamps and entitled “Gemeinschaftsblock Liechtenstein – Österreich” which means “Joint stamp block Liechstenstein – Austria”. However, in this context this text is not meaning that this souvcenir sheet is part of a joint issue between the two countries, but simply that Liechtenstein honors the relationship through philately with Austria with this souvenir sheet that was released during the philatelic exhibition Överbria’25 in Hihenems, Austria. Obviously, it was not expected that Austria would issue a counter part for this item. So, this is not a unilateral joint issue, not even a joint issue at all, despite the wording used on the souvenir sheet. Liechtenstein is used to release similar souvenir sheets containing three stamps dedicated to the locality or even country in which philatelic events are taking place.

The Cyprus – Vietnam issue announced earlier with a first day cancellation on the Cyprus stamps from December 1, 2025, appears to be a personal stamp issue and there will be no Vietnamese counterpart. This issue is therefore removed from the catalogue.

Ali Allawati (Oman) pointed a couple of errors in previous editions of the catalogue: Regarding The Oman Singapore joint issue [T20250221], there was an error in the souvenir sheet’s image with the denomination error “Rail” instead of “Rial”. The stamp with the mistake was of course never issued and the picture came from an advertisement document. Also, the “Muscat Street” is illustrating these stamps is a street located in Singapore and not in Oman. Both mistakes were corrected. Thanks Ali.

Information about the Uruguay, part of the Uruguay – Romania stamps became available (thanks to Jaap Sarelse, the Netherlands). Uruguay stamps were released on December 5, 2025 (same date as Romania) and stamps are similar to the Romanian stamps (although with some additional flowers), confirming Twin status. Some illustrations are provided below.

Eventually, the catalogue of joint issue was updated, and a new version 2026 for all volumes, also including a new volume 17 for stamps issued since January 1, 2026, was created. All new volumes are available from the Catalogue page.

Horses, map and traditions

by Richard Zimmermann

On December 5, 2025, Uruguay and Romania issued joint stamps at the occasion of the 90th anniversary of their diplomatic relations establishment. The commonly accepted topic was horse breeding illustrated by two stamps showing the Romanian Lipizzan horse and the South American Criollo horse. The Uruguayan stamps have not been seen so far, but their issue confirmed by an announcement describing a se-tenant pair of stamps printed at 2,500 samples in miniature sheets of 4 pairs (so, only 625 miniature sheets available). At the other end, Romania is still complicated in terms of proposing different sub-types and their limited number of prints. In this country the following items are available: the two stamps, issued in panes of 32, within which the next to last row is printed upside down to allow creating tête-bêche samples (printed 2×5,472 stamps, i.e., 2×171 sheets only – a part was taken to create first day covers), 2 miniature sheets with 3 stamps and one label at the top right position (122×91 mm – printed 2×1,550 miniature sheets), one illustrated souvenir sheet with a pair of non se-tenant stamps (120×164 mm – printed 3,150) and another illustrated souvenir sheet with the non-se-tenant stamps, same size, but imperforate and numbered, available only in a folder produced at 277 (!) samples.

The 40th anniversary of the relationship between Oman and Russia was finally released on December 10, 2025 (after 5 successive announcements of changes of issue dates). The issue initially intended to celebrate the Omani explorer Ahmed bin Majid and the Russian traveler Afanasy Nikitin, led finally to a common stamp showing an old map, taken from the manuscript Kharīdat al-ʻAjāʼib wa Farīdat al-Gharāʼib, or ‘The Pearl of Wonders and the Uniqueness of Things Strange’ (written 1419), by Oman scientist Umar ibn Muẓaffar al-Wardī (died 1447). In both countries, the stamps have been released as miniature sheets [3×3], containing 9 stamps for Oman, but with central label for Russia, so, only 8 stamps in the Russian miniature sheet. Oman released another souvenir sheet, showing the two explorers, with a perforation centered over the portrait of the Omani traveler. This item shows a design which could have been used by Russia, simply by shifting the perforations, but this was not translated in a Russian product. The choice of the map as common design, may also explain the delays, probably upon reluctancy of the Russian post to use the Omani proposal (which is not a standard Russian stamp printing form).

On December 11, 2025, Indonesia and Serbia surprisingly issued stamps to celebrate relationship illustrated with typical local houses and a couple dressed in local costume. For both countries, the stamps are issued se-tenant, in miniature sheets of 4 pairs.

The first images of the December 19, 2025, Laos Thailand joint issue have been made available, but details for Laos are still missing. The Thailand stamps were issued in miniature sheets of 5 se-tenant pairs, chessboard ordered.

We are still missing information from Vietnam about the joint issue with Cyprus issued on December 1, 2025. So far we had only access to the FDC cover from Cyprus.

Most of this information was provided by Kenneth Sequeira (Dubai) and Enzo Cafaro (Italy). Thanks to both of them.

                                                                                                       –

November 2025 update

by Richard Zimmermann

Latest issues:

On November 6, 2025, PR China joined Samoa to issue stamps related to birds. Two identical stamps were issued by each country, showing the white horse chicken (Crossoptilon crossoptilon) and the tooth-billed dove (Didunculus strigirostris). Detailed information from Samoa is still missing and the Samoan stamps depicted below may only be a design and not the final one.

From November 9 to 21, 2025, China (PR), Hong Kong and Macau organized the 15th Chinese National Games held in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. These games were celebrated with stamps from each postal entity that became available on the opening day on November 9, 2025. China released three stamps representing artistic (synchronized) swimming, fencing and table tennis, in panes of 12 each (3x[3×4]), but also as a souvenir sheet containing two strips of the three stamps. Hong Kong issued four different stamps depicting rugby sevens and track cycling, fencing and beach volleyball, golf and triathlon (swimming, cycling, running), handball and basketball. These stamps were issued in panes of 25 stamps (4x[5×5]). Macao released four different stamps showing rugby sevens, basketball, table tennis and volleyball in form of blocks of 4 printed in panes with 4 blocks each, also in four different orders, so that the four se-tenant stamps can be collected either in blocks or in strips of 4 ([2b4x2]. Additionally, all these 11 stamps were printed also within a souvenir sheet, which leads to consider this issue as a Se-tenant issue [S20251109], similar to the Chinese astrological signs stamps issued by these same three postal entities at the beginning of each year (Eric Chan, USA).

On November 25, 2025, as scheduled, Luxembourg and the Vatican State joined to celebrate the 100 years of the Pontifical Institute for Christian Archeology – Pontificio Istituto di Archeologia Cristiana (PIAC), with an identical stamp showing the portrait of Bishop Jean-Pierre Kirsch (1861-1941), the building of the historic headquarters on Via Napoleone III in Rome and the seal of the Institute showing the ‘Christ shepherd’. The PIAC was founded on December 11, 1925, by Pope Pius XI with the Apostolic Constitution Ad providentiam of March 2, 1925, and with the motu proprio “The Primitive Christian Cemeteries,” thanks also to the dedication of the Luxembourgish prelate Johann Peter Kirsch, who was its first Director (Eric Contesse, France and Enzo Cafaro, Italy).

At the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the relationship between Indonesia and the Vatican State, the Vatican issued a stamp on November 7, 2025, that has not yet found a counterpart in Indonesia. This stamp description is reported here primarely to obtain information out of Indonesia and to confirm that it will probably not lead to a joint issue.

From Jaap Sarelse, the Netherlands: On May 7, 2025, Liechtenstein and Switzerland each issued a crypto stamp (Crypto CHLI) as a joint issue showing a cow and mountains, forming a continuous image when placed next to each other. The cow was available in 6 colors, with the rainbow cow having the lowest circulation (50) and the green cow the highest 7500. FDCs were also available, but in limited circulation: 10 copies with rainbow cows; 2500 copies with green cows. This issue was reported earlier.

Liechtenstein and Switzerland decided to extend this series with a similar crypto joint issue. On November 19, 2025, the so-called world’s first Christmas Crypto Stamp was released as an exclusive joint issue of Liechtenstein and Swiss Post (Crypto CHLI 2.0). The same six crypto cows from May 7, 2025 are now presented in a winter landscape. The stamps are embellished with glittering snowflakes. As you can imagine, these items, considered more as numismatic items than philatelic ones, even if they really can be used as stamps, look again like a lottery and have been created to fool collectors. Prices for individual items vary between 10 and 500 Swiss Francs (CHF) for stamps and between 30 and 2,000 CHF for mixed FDCs. We do not recommend to buy them, but they will be reported in the catalogue in the same way as the original items were described [P20250507], with the usual purchasing warning.

On September 16, 2025, San Marino issued a series of four stamps dedicated to UNESCO sites in Andorra, Cyprus, Malta, and Portugal. None of these stamps was associated with stamps issued at the same date by one of these countries. On November 4, 2025, however, the post of Spanish Andorra issued a stamp related to ‘about’ 30 years of diplomatic relationship (1993-2023), without any counterpart from San Marino. There is no link between these two stamps and therefore, also no joint character for these issues. They are reported here simply for information purpose (Enzo Cafaro, Italy).

Issues to be released soon:

On December 1, 2025, Cyprus and Vietnam will celebrate their fiftieth anniversary of diplomatic relations with a twin issue. The Cyprus FDC became available recently (Kenneth Sequeira, Dubai).

The joint issue between Russia and Oman, originally scheduled for April 22, 2025, postponed to September 26, 2025, then successively to October 15, November 14, and December 5, 2025, is now planned to be issued on December 10, 2025.

The Barbados embroidery dove stamp associated to the [T20250919a] issue is apparently expected to be issued on December 8, 2025.

All this information was introduced in the updated catalogue sections (Vol 16). A great thanks to all the contributors mentionned in the text between brackets.

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.

September 2025 update

by Richard Zimmermann

Sorry for this long time of silence. A lot of new information was gathered over this past month, in addition to the “Dove of Peace” series described in the previous page. The data are summarized hereunder, thanks to Kenneth Sequeira (Dubai), Ali Allawati (Oman), Adam Paish (UK), Enzo Cafaro (Italy), Dominique Josse (France), Sim Tng Kwang (Singapore), Mohamed Achour Ali Ahmed (Algeria), and Marci Jarvis (USA).

The official day of issue of the Oman stamp related to the Arab Postal Day from August 3, 2025, initially announced as being released on August 10, 2025 for this country, has to be corrected to August 3, 2025, according to FDC images provided by Ali Allawati.

The Oman stamps from the Oman Iran issue initially scheduled to be released on May 27, 2025, became available only on August 26, 2025 (date shown on the Oman FDC cover). However, information from Iran is still missing and we do not know if it will become a real joint issue, despite the clear indication on the stamp itself.

The Maldives-Singapore joint issue which design was revealed on June 30, 2025, was finally released on September 5, 2025. This issue includes two stamps featuring fishes, turtle, corals, the Lazarus Island (Singapore) and Hulhudhoo (Maldives), which were also included in a souvenir sheet (Singapore). Good quality images and final product description from the Maldives are still missing.

Singapore was involved a second time this month, on September 19, 2025, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Thailand-Singapore diplomatic relations. As previously, Singapore issued also both stamps in a form of a souvenir sheet. The Thai stamps has been printed in se-tenant checkerboard-formatted sheets of ten stamps.

On September 16, 2025, the 640 years of the crowning of Sigmund of Luxembourg in Hungary was supposed to be celebrated by Luxembourg and Slovakia with a common stamp which design was released earlier this year by the Slovak Post. It happened that this issue disappeared from both postal administration philatelic programs. Explanations are needed here.

The Mythical heroes crypto-stamps series was issued on September 18, 2025 (see detailed description under previous page). The final illustrations given below show small changes compared to initial illustrations provided earlier (e.g., new denomination for Luxembourg). The series includes Austria (2 units, Zeus and Hera, 2×150,000), Belgium (Athena, 20,000), Luxembourg (Artemis, 15,000), Netherlands (Hermes, 25,000) and Portugal (Poseidon, 25,000). The digital twins are stored in the blockchain in five different colors. The likelihood of getting a particular color depends on the color: for Luxembourg stamps, there are 150 red, 1,005 yellow, 1,995 blue, 4,005 green and 7,845 black stamps; for the other countries the exact number of colored subtypes has not been published but the figures remain probably close to the same ratio, i.e., 1% (red), 6.7% (yellow), 13.3% (blue), 26.7% (green) and 52.3% (black). The digital twin of the crypto stamp is randomly generated. By scanning the QR code on the stamp with a smartphone, one will find out which color is linked to the crypto stamp.

As an example, the Luxembourg stamp digital twins in the blockchain look as follow:

On September 25, 2025, the Embassy of the Republic of Peru in Kuwait hosted an event to present a commemorative postage stamp marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Kuwait and Peru. The postage stamps are featuring Kuwait’s Red Palace and Peru’s Real Felipe Fortress. Unfortunately, to our knowledge, this Peruvian stamp will remain unilateral.

The Oman-Russia joint issue, originally scheduled for April 22, 2025, postponed to September 26, 2025 (Oman source), then, a few weeks ago to October 15, is now scheduled for November 14, 2025. The date of October 15, 2025 remains unchanged for the issue of the joint stamps involving Laos and Russia and the first illustration of the Russian stamps became available recently.

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.

AICEP, UPU and dolls

by Richard Zimmermann

Upon a proposal from Portugal, the five lusophone countries Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Macau and Portugal came together to celebrate with a twin issue the 35th anniversary of AICEP (Associação Internacional das Communicaçóes de Expressão Portuguesa – International Association of Portuguese Expression Communications). Stamps with the same design were all released on May 13, 2025, during the XXXII AICEP forum.

This AICEP anniversary issue could include the other countries members of the association, namely Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe and Timor, but so far no information is available from these countries (images provided by Enzo Cafaro, Italy and Kenneth Sequeira, Singapore – Image from Angola is still missing, although participation is confirmed).

In the previous blog page, we described souvenir sheets released on April 25, 2025 by Belarus and Russia to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945). Kenneth Sequeira, Singapore, reported stamps issued by Kazakhstan and Mongolia at the same occasion. The Kazakhstan souvenir sheet including a round stamp was issued also at the same date of April 25, 2025 and must be added to the previous countries. This souvenir sheet, printed only at 2,500 samples, became also available with a “PCC/RSS” overprint (Regional Commonwealth in the Field of Communication) within the stamp, not related to this joint issue. Mongolia produced a completely different stamp in sheetlets of 4 [2×2] released on April 30, 2025. It is not clear if this fourth country participated to a joint effort with the three other countries, and for the time being these stamps will only be described as a footnote in the same entry.

Enzo Cafaro, Italy, was able to provide the preliminary sketches of the joint issue between the Russian Federation and the Dominican Republic planned for July 17, 2025. The final design may still change slightly but illustrations show that it will be almost identical for both countries.

Some surprising self-named joint issues appeared over the past months. The first one is related to the 90th anniversary of the relationship between Egypt and Switzerland. Egypt issued a stamp, but nothing was produced on the Swiss side. This Egyptian stamp will definitely remain an unilateral issue.

Also, Cambodia and Cyprus revealed by mid May (19 or 20) a so-called joint issue commemorating the 25th anniversary of their relationship. This information appeared on a UPU Facebook blog page (confirming a kind of postal commemoration), but the design that is shown looks like a stamp only through the perforations: there is no identified single country mentionned on the stamp, nor a denomination. As additional information from both countries is missing, it may be possible that this picture is just the symbolic design of the anniversary framed with perforations, and not a stamp, or at least not the final design. More information is needed here.

Ali Allawati, Oman, provided information from his country: next to the recently issued joint issue between Oman and Singapore reported under T20250221, Ali describes first an Iran-Oman issue (see illustration below), announced on May 27, 2025, issued in honour of the official Visit of His Excellency Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, to the Sultanate of Oman. The Oman stamp is not yet available for purchase, and information is missing from the Iranian side.

On April 22, 2025, Oman Post had also annnounced the issuance of a joint stamp celebrating the enduring relations between the Russian Federation and Oman, coinciding with the state visit of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik to Russia. At this stage this is the only information available.

To the already very large October 9, 2024 UPU joint issue, one has also to add Aruba as a new country, which released a souvenir sheet containing a triangular shaped stamp, showing the UPU 150th anniversary logo in the margin. The souvenir sheet was issued on October 9, 2024, but was discovered only recently.

For those interested in the 2025 Europa stamps, this is the status of the issuing programme. The stamps with common topic National archeological discoveries (which topic was postponed to 2025 from originally 2024), were issued with a date centered around May 9, 2025. This year, these stamps are not considered as joint and will be reported under a simple list entitled [N20250509]. In the following list, empty bracket represent countries that announced their participation but from which data and in particular issue date are still missing, while absence of date means that those stamps were issued on May 9, 2025: Aland – Albania () – Andorra (French) (May 11) – Andorra (Spanish) – Armenia (April 29) – Artsakh (Armenia) () – Austria (May 1) – Azerbaijan (May 5) – Azores – Belgium (April 7) – Bosnia Herzegovina – Bosnia Herzegovina (Croatia) (April 5) – Bosnia Herzegovina (Serbia) (April 24) – Bulgaria – Croatia – Cyprus – Cyprus (Turkish) (May 8) – Czech Republic (May 7) – Denmark (May 28) – Estonia – Faroe (May 26) – Finland (May 7) – France – Georgia – Germany (May 8) – Gibraltar (May 8) – Greece (May 7) – Greenland (May 26) – Guernsey (May 1) – Hungary – Ireland (May 8) – Isle of Man (April 8) – Italy – Jersey (May 5) – Kazakhstan () – Latvia – Liechtenstein (April 1) – Lithuania (April 25) – Luxembourg (May 6) – Macedonia (North) (May 7) – Madeira – Malta – Moldova (April 11) – Monaco – Montenegro – Netherlands – Norway (April 24) – Poland (April 28) – Portugal – Romania (April 29) – San Marino (February 11) – Serbia (May 6) – Slovakia (April 30) – Slovenia – Spain – Sweden (April 24) – Switzerland (May 8) – Türkiye (Turkey) – Ukraine (August) – Vatican (May 27)

Eventually, we learned also that a new crypto-stamp joint issue involving Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Portugal. Details will be known during the summer.

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.

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.

Update December 2024

by Richard Zimmermann

Over the past weeks, two new joint issues became available:

The 40th anniversary of the Peace treaty between Argentina and Chile “1984-2024”, was celebrated by identical stamps issued on November 25, 2024 by Chile and November 29, 2024 by Argentina. Stamps represent the figure “40” with the colors of the national flags. In 1984, the Vatican State played the role of mediator during the process that led to the signature of this treaty. This is the reason why Vatican is also involved in this joint issue, but with a different stamp issued on November 25, 2024. The Vatican stamp represents Pope John-Paul II signing the treaty on November 29, 1984.

On December 6, 2024, Belarus and Russia commemorated the 25th anniversary of the signature of the Union State Foundation Treaty with an identical stamp showing both flags. For each country, stamps were produced in miniature sheets of 8 stamps and one label [3×3] and one souvenir sheet containing a single stamp.

Among the issues that were postponed, we have to note the Bosnia Herzegovina (Bosnia) – Indonesia stamps celebrating the 25 years of the Istiklal Mosque in Sarajevo, originally scheduled for October 4, 2024, now expected to be released on October 3, 2025.

Additionally, I would like to share with you that, during the Chicagopex Exhibition 2024 (November 23), this blog obtained the Large Vermeil medal in the Literature Palmares (category Digital). In the same category, the on line Joint Stamp Issues Catalogue obtained another Large Vermeil medal. This result was achieved also thanks to all the remote contributors and joint issue enthusiasts who participated to the collection of information.

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.