Head of State

QEII commemoration

by Richard Zimmermann

The postal administrations of Ascension Island, the British Antarctic Territory, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and Tristan Da Cunha have scheduled a joint commemoration of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the form of a set of two stamps in sheet format and one miniature sheet containing the two stamps from each territory. The initial press release indicates a planned release date of February 15, 2023 (information provided by Adam Paish, UK). It is to expect that around the anniversary date of her death, several countries will issue commemorative stamps. It is not unlikely that joint issues or at least common or borrowed design stamps could be created on that occasion and this one is just the first example.

Arab League countries latest issues

by Richard Zimmermann

Kenneth Sequeira (Singapore) was the first to discover and provide all pictures from the most recent GCC Arab countries stamps. Starting on December 12, the six countries Bahrain (), Kuwait (December 21), Oman (December 13), Qatar, Saudi Arabia () and the United Arab Emirates (December 12) issued the same souvenir sheet portraying the 6 Heads of States and a stamp showing the flags and one building from these states. These stamps were issued to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

In a previous blog, we announced the issue of a common stamp created by the Arab Postal Union on the basis of a Qatar model to celebrate the FIFA Soccer World Championcup organized in Qatar. Only little information came through so far, but Mohamed Essawy (Egypt) and Ali Ahmed Med Achour (Algeria) could provide the first pictures of stamps from Jordan and Oman, apparently issued on December 18, 2022. We have to continue looking for similar stamps issued by other countries belonging to the Arab Postal Union, as this series is definitely not complete.

Retorno 50th Anniversary

by Richard Zimmermann

This issue was anticipated, but it is so difficult nowadays to get information from Argentina Post (their web site is only occasionnaly updated with news while the chapter stamps is on hold since 2017). Any suggestion of good link is welcome.

Anyway, Don Birschel (USA) and Enzo Cafaro (Italy) provided at the same time the confirmation that Argentina had eventually released at the expected date of November 17, 2022 the counterpart of the stamp released by Spain on September 14, 2022. The date of September 17, 2022 corresponds to the 50th anniversary of the return (Retorno) from Spain of Juan Domingo Peron to Argentina, his home country. Both countries have issued a same design stamp (portrait), hence a Concerted issue [C1], in miniature sheets of 16 stamps.

200 years of Brazil independency (2)

by Richard Zimmermann

On June 29, 2022, Brazil issued unexpectedly a stamp at the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the independence of the country and claimed joint character with a to-be-issued Portugal stamp. The design of the Portuguese stamp was missing at the date of the first announcement, but Enzo Cafaro (Italy) was able to provide it, ahead of release on September 7, 2022. This issue is definitely a concerted [C] issue as designs are identical [C20220629].

200 years of Brazil independency

by Richard Zimmermann

Brazil issued on June 29, 2022 a stamp that ends up a series of six postage stamps, entitled “Brazil, 200 Years of Independence”, produced through a partnership between the Chamber of Deputies and Correios Brasil (Brazilian Post) that began back in 2017. The stamp shows the painting “Sessão do Conselho de Ministros” (Ministry Council Session) by Georgina Moura Andrade de Albuquerque (1885-1962). It depicts also in a medallion the portrait of “Dom Pedro I” (1798-1834) painted by Simplício Rodrigues (1785-1839). Independency was eventually accepted by the King of Portugal, Dom Joao VI (1767-1826), in 1825 through the signature of a first international treaty. Above all, the stamps shows the words ‘Joint issue Brazil Portugal’.

This Brazilian stamp is unexpectedly issued jointly with Portugal. Brazil issued 96,000 stamps in miniature sheets of 12 stamps [4×3]. Portugal will issue its stamp only on September 7, 2022 and there is so far no information available regarding the design.

TGM (2021)

by Richard Zimmermann

Tomas Garrigue Masaryk (1850-1937), familiarly called TGM, co-founded Czechoslovakia at the end of WWIO, in 1918, together with Milan Rastislav Štefánik (1880-1919) and Edvard Beneš (1884-1948). He served as its first president from 1918 to 1935. He is the first head of state to visit the Mandate for Palestine in 1923 and 1927. Czech Republic and Israel issued identical stamps on November 30, 2021. The stamps represent the portrait of the politician and an artistic mosaic of the Kfar Masaryk kibbutz in Northern Israel (founded by Jewish immigrants from Czechoslovakia and Lithuania). The tabs show the flags of both countries. Mixed FDCs, mixed souvenir sheets and mixed maximum cards became available.