Topics

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.

Railway opening anniversary 2022

by Richard Zimmermann

The history of Košice–Bohumín Railway track dates back to as early as the 19th century when the only railway lines within the Kingdom of Hungary were the steam-powered Vienna–Pest–Debrecen railway and the horse-drawn Bratislava–Trnava railway. As early as 1839 the Diet of Hungary debated an Act which may be considered to be the foundations of Hungarian traffic policy. The project of the construction of a track that would connect Silesia via Jablunkov, Žilina, Liptovský Mikuláš, Poprad, Spišská Nová Ves, and Košice, led to a first real design to be implemented that dates back to 1864. The railway was intended to speed up the transport of iron ore from deposits in Spiš and Gemer to the Třinec ironworks, to make it more effective. It was also expected to provide the same benefits to the transportation of coal from the Silesian mines to northern and eastern Hungary. The initial works finally began on October 15, 1867. However, the construction was suspended or postponed several times due to financial problems, until the situation finally improved with the involvement of a new investor, the Anglo-Austrian Bank.  The Košice–Kysak–Prešov section was completed first and put into operation on September 1, 1870.  Further sections followed in 1871, and the last section, Spišská Nová Ves – Kysak, was put into service on March 12, 1972. The entire line from Bohuním to Košice went into regular operation, with a single pair of mixed trains, on March 18, 1872.

On March 18, 2022, so 150 years later, Czech Republic and Slovakia celebrate this date with a souvenir sheet showing nicelly designed steam machines (twin issue with one stamp and two labels).  The background of the souvenir sheet shows an older map depicting the railway line.   

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton

by Richard Zimmermann

On January 5, 2022, the British Antarctic Territory, the Falkland Islands and the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands have issued a series of stamps in honor of Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton at the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his death. Shackleton is well known for several Antarctica expeditions including an heroic behavior to save his team stuck in the ice. He died on January 5, 1922 at age 47 from a heart attack while starting a new Antarctic expedition and he is buried on the South Georgia Island. The twelve pictures used for these stamps are based on black and white or colorized photographs of Shackleton taken at different ages, with team, with ship or map, including also some pictures of his grave. This issue is considered as a territorial parallel issue [D/PD].

Adam Paish (UK) mentioned very recently that these three countries associated to Ascension, Bahamas and Tristan da Cunha will issue four stamps each and a souvenir sheet to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the reign of Queen Elisabeth II. Exact dates of issue are not known yet, but Bahamas seems to be the first and plans to issue stamps on March 17, 2022. This issue will be considered as an omnibus parallel issue [O/OP].

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.

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.

Gibraltar – Israel 2022: finally

by Richard Zimmermann

This issue was expected to be released on February 26, 2022 and surprisingly came out two weeks earlier, on February 15, 2022. Uri Barlev (Israel) could confirm that Gibraltar and Israel released on the same day identical stamps showing interiors of churches. Stamps depict the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth and the Nefosut Yehuda Synagogue in Gibraltar. Mixed covers as well as the usual Israel mixed Souvenir Leaf became also available. We are still waiting for additional data from Gibraltar.

This Gibraltar – Israel joint issue eventually reaches the market after a first attempt made during the year 2011, more precisely for an issue planned to be released on June 27, 2011, when a first common design was proposed. In Israel, the stamps reached even the printing stage. Despite agreement from both countries, Gibraltar forgot to get in time approval of the design from the British Authorities. Not a recommendation, but a request came from the British Foreign Office to remove the illustration of the Jerusalem’s David Citadel and to substitute it with a landmark from Tel-Aviv. When this request came, it was too late, and the whole print run was destroyed while Gibraltar accepted to reimburse all costs. So, finally, ten years later, we can welcome a now politically acceptable Gibraltar – Israel joint issue. But why having waited so long ?

China – Mexico 2022 architecture

by Richard Zimmermann

At the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the People’s Republic of China and the United States of Mexico, both countries have issued a set of two commemorative stamps on February 14, 2022. The first stamp represents the Star Observatory located in Gaocheng Town, Dengfeng City, Henan Province. It was founded in the early Yuan Dynasty by astronomer Guo Shoujing. It is the oldest existing and well-protected astronomical observatory in China. The second stamp represents the Kukulcan Pyramid located in the northern part of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, the ancient city of Chichen Itza. Both sites were included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage. 

The stamps have a design showing the buildings in the dark and are quite difficult to represent on the screen. In fact, with the Chinese stamps, the design is improved by combining the pictures with light effects. The text of the stamp “Star Observatory” is made of extra-bright silver ink, the background halo and stars use colorless white fluorescence to highlight the night scene effect. In the “Chichen Itza temple” stamp, the text is made of extra-bright gold ink, and the background light is colorless orange fluorescence, which highlights the radiant effect of the sun. Additionally, both stamps are perforated on both sides with special star- or sun-shaped holes.

Czechia – Slovakia – 150th train anniversary

by Richard Zimmermann

On March 18, 2022, a joint issue of stamps between Slovakia and the Czech Republic will be released on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the opening of the railway line between the cities of Košice (Slovakia) and Bohumín (Czechia). The document on the construction of the railway was published in 1864 in Vienna (during the Austro-Hungarian Rise). Construction began in 1869 and ended in 1872. Approximately 95% of the line runs through present-day Slovakia and 5% through Czechia.

Milan Csaplar (Slovakia) pointed to the first information published by the Slovakia postal administration which is also one of the rare postal entity providing designs of stamps much ahead of issue date. Slovakia will issue a souvenir sheet with one stamp representing a train and two labels. This souvenir sheet will be available at 50,000 units. There is little information available about the Czech stamps but the joint character is confirmed and it is confirmed that the Czech item will also be a souvenir sheet with one stamp and two labels.

Iran – China 2021

by Richard Zimmermann

Kazem Alamdari (Iran) was able to provide information about and pictures of the Iranian stamps issued on December 11, 2021 jointly with China PR [T20211211]. The Iranian stamps were issued as se-tenant pairs with a printing run of 60,000 pairs.

This modification led to the change of version of Vol 14 (to V3.02). At the same time Vol 15 was also updated with the description of the first joint issue of the year (China – Macau Tiger year issue).

2022 Year of the Tiger

by Richard Zimmermann

On January 5, 2022, appeared the first joint stamps of the year. As for previous years, China PR issued two stamps at the occasion of the change of Lunar calendar, in 2022 Year of the Tiger, at the same date as Macau, issuing four stamps and one souvenir sheet with a round stamp. A high number of countries are issuing stamps at this occasion, but Macau and China are the only postal administrations which got used to produce a mixed first day cover with the stamps from both countries (not including the souvenir sheet).

Rindert Paalman (the Netherlands) noticed that the issue of 2021 (Year of the Ox) was missing in the catalogue. This will be corrected within the next days and will correspond to an important addition which will affect for the first time the upgrading of one catalogue volume. As Macau and China PR are politically dependent countries, these issues will be filed in the category [D].

By checking for earlier issues reported in the catalogue, it appeared that for the year 2019 (Year of the Pig), the entry was mistakenly filed as [P20190105] which has to be renamed as [D20190105].

A check of Lunar Year stamps issued by China and Macau before 2019, showed that both countries issued stamps usually on January 5 of each year, since at least year 2000, but we have not seen mixed FDCs for such products. So, earlier Lunar Year stamps from these two countries will not be reported in the catalogue, unless someone provides proof of the existence of mixed FDC covers corresponding to these stamps.

Pakistan -Thailand 2021 last minute

by Richard Zimmermann

Don Birschel (USA), Kenneth Sequeira (Dubai) and Adam Paish (UK) provided at the same time the latest information of the year 2021 from Pakistan which devoted on December 31, 2021 a stamp related to the 70th anniversary of the relationship with Thailand. Two stamps have been issued in panes of 20 se-tenant pairs and represent Buddha heritage. Actually, these stamps are joint of identical stamps issued by Thailand on November 15, 2021 and that remained unnoticed so far. Thailand issued miniature sheets of five pairs of se-tenant stamps. as such, this joint issue is reported in the catalogue (Vol XIV) as a concerted issue [C20211115].