Science

Update August 2026

by Richard Zimmermann

The Croatia – Spain stamps that were originally announced to be issued on June 18, 2026, were finally released on August 10, 2026. They show two types of sailing boats (Betina – Crotia and Baleares – Spain). The Croatian stamps were issued in miniature panes of 6 pairs [2px3]. Spanish stamps were printed in panes of 14 pairs, i.e., [3px5] with the central pair replaced by two labels with flags.

The France – Thailand twin issue was released as announced on August 28, 2026, with general sale at post counters in France on the following Monday, August 31, 2026. The stamps represent the Eiffel Tower and the Seine River in Paris and the Wat Arun Tempel and the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok. Thailand stamps are produced in miniature sheets of 5 se-tenant pairs (printed 65,000 pairs), while French stamps became available in two miniature sheets of 10 stamps each (printed 2×350,000 stamps. Additionally, France released also a souvenir sheet of 200×90 mm containing both French stamps, produced at 15,000 samples.

The postal administrations of Ascension Island, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and Tristan da Cunha have teamed up once again with a joint stamp issue reminiscent of that issued by these territories in November 2021.

The commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the United Kingdom’s Blue Belt Programme includes four stamps from each territory: these are issued both in individual sheets of ten stamps with a white edging and as souvenir sheets (with the design bleeding into the sheet border). This design is very close to the 2021 issue. The release date is scheduled for September 9, 2026. The territories currently involved in the initiative on top of the three countries listed above include Saint Helena, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory and Pitcairn Islands. Additional participation from some of these countries could be announced within the next days or weeks but nothing has been published so far (information provided by Adam Paish, UK).

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.