Sao Tome e Principe

Waterscapes, costumes and UPU

by Richard Zimmermann

The Waterscapes stamps involving Australia Antarctic Territory – Christmas Island – Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Norfolk Island were issued on October 13, 2026, in form of a souvenir sheet (se-tenant) including the four stamps from the four Australian territories. This issue will be filed as a Territorial (Dependency) Se-tenant issue [SD]. The isolated stamps were issued in panes of 50 units [(5×5)+(5×5)].

The pictures of the Algeria Portugal joint issue became also available. Portugal issued a souvenir sheet with 4 stamps on October 20, 2026. The Algeria stamps, also in form of a souvenir sheet with 4 different stamps, were available during the presale period from October 16 to 23, hence the first issue date of October 16, 2026, but on post counters only from October 24, 2026, on.

KC Tee (Malaysia) pointed at a stamp from Thailand celebrating the World Post Day on October 9, 2026. By exploring further, it appeared that the logo of the 2026 World Post Day (provided by the UPU) illustrates several stamps issued around the same date, from different countries. So far, we found the following countries: Central African Republic – Djibouti – Guinea – Indonesia – Sao Tome – Saudi Arabia – Sierra Leone – Sri Lanka – Togo. Some other countries issued fragments of the logo (Thailand – Bangladesh) or added it in the margins of panes or on the illustrations of postal cards (India). At this stage we are just trying to complete the list of countries and collect data about the exact dates of issues. In absence of an official announcement from one of these postal administrations or from the UPU, this issue cannot be considered as a true joint issue. It will however be reported in the catalogue as a Borrowed Design Twin Issue [BT] under [B20261009]. Additional information is needed here for completion.

Kenneth Sequeira (Dubai) discovered a new series of stamps issued by Papua New Guinea at the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the UPU. These stamps were apparently issued on October 9, 2024 (even if some sources claim September 10, 2024).

November: discoveries and complements

by Richard Zimmermann

Madagascar finally joined the countries celebrating the 150th anniversary of the UPU from October 9, 2024 [T20241009] with the same common stamp. This country issued its stamp on December 30, 2024 (actually printed by the Tunisian Post Printing Office, on November 4, 2024) and produced stamps in panes of 20 [4×5] and a souvenir sheet containing a block of 4 stamps [2×2] (Source: Benjamin Busch)

The stamps from Iran so far reported in the catalogue in this same UPU anniversary series are described as customized personalized stamps, not officially recognized and hence, not part of the series. On July 7, 2025, Iran issued an official stamp that was only reported recently. Iran integrates officially this UPU series listed under [T20241009]. The new (horizontal shape) stamp is shown below next to the first customized (vertical shape) stamps.

On September 5, 2022, several countries dedicated at least one stamp to the International Forum on Tiger Population Preservation in Vladivostok, Russia. This Issue reported under [P20220905] involved all countries that are the tiger’s habitat, including Cambodia (September 22) – India (September 1) – Korea (North) – Laos (September 1) – Malaysia – Myanmar – Russia – Vietnam. Among them, Myanmar issued three stamps in panes. This country re-issued recently (2025, exact date unknown) these stamps in a leaflet/souvenir sheet as a triplet of se-tenant stamps. Illustrations of the original stamps and the new reprint are provided below (Source: David Caleb, Enzo Cafaro).

Libya is a new country to be added to the Post day issue “Towards more innovative postal services” from August 3, 2025, which included already Algeria – Egypt – Iraq – Oman – Tunisia (August 4) and the United Arab Emirates (Kenneth Sequeira, Dubai).

An older series of stamps dedicated to the Covid pandemy was discovered recently (Costas Mengoulis). These stamps produced by Stamperija on behalf of Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Niger and Sao Tome and Principe have not been reported so far, and their exact date of issue remains unknown. Each country proposes a pane with 16 different stamps, identical from one country to another. Knowing the source and the reason of this issue (mainly to fool collectors), we do not recommend to buy and to include them in your collection. However they need to be reported in the catalogue, but without details, with the same purchase recommendations. In absence of details, these stamps have been added to the description of [B20200427].

The catalogue pages have been updated accordingly. Thanks to all the contributors mentionned between brackets in the text.

Lubrapex 2012 now complete

by Richard Zimmermann

Incredible discovery from Wenchao Chen (PR China) who could provide the first images of the Timor Leste stamps issued in the frame of the AICEP Lubrapex 2012 writers series. The stamps from this series were issued in 2012 but the existence of some participating countries such as Guinea Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe or Mozambique was confirmed only years after. Now, in 2023, meaning 11 years later, we can confirm the completeness of the series reported in the catalogue under [P20121009], including also Angola, Cape Verde and Macau. Of course, the exact date of issue of the Timor Leste remains so far unknown but we can confirm that the stamps were issued in sheets of 50 units in the same style as the other stamps of the series and bears the words “Lubrapex 2012”.

The new stamp represents Francisco Borja da Costa (October 14, 1946 – December 8, 1975), an East Timorese poet and the writer of “Pátria”, the national anthem of East Timor. He was executed by Indonesian forces the day after the beginning of the Indonesian invasion of East Timor.

Congratulations Chen!