Tree

Update Septembre 2026

by Richard Zimmermann

Romania issued on September 18, 2026, the stamps related to the Kazakhstan – Romania joint issue that was initially announced to be released in June 2026.

This issue illustrates the relationship between both countries with the topic Biospheres reserves. Romania issued four different stamps in a diamond shape. These stamps represent natural species to be found in the West Altai Biosphere Reserve in Kazkhstan or the Radnei Mountain Biosphere Reserve in Romania. The stamps are illustrated with a Chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), the Western capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), the Brown bear (Ursus arctos), or the Siberian pine (Pinus siberica). Again, like for most of the Romanian stamps, the number of issued stamps remains very limited. The stamps are sold either in panes of 28 units with 4 labels (only 4×152 panes were printed totalling 4,256 stamps from each type out of panes). These same stamps were also printed in miniature sheets containing 3 stamps and a label each, and 4×3,375 miniature sheets became available (so, a total of 4×10,125 additional stamps. Then, these four stamps became also available in souvenir sheets of 4 different stamps, printed at 2,300 samples. A special folder containing this same souvenir sheet in a non-perforated numbered form was also made available, but only at 251 unit !

Unfortunately, at this date we have no information at all about Kazakhstan. However, it appears that Kazhakstan issued over the past years and at regular intervals, several blocks of stamps dedicated to specific local Biosphere Reserves. It would not be surprising if the Kazakhstan post has tried to adapt this series to the joint issue. Let us wait a little bit, but any information from Kazakhstan is welcome.

On this same September 18, 2026, the Dominican Republic and Honduras have launched a joint postal issue dedicated to lakes and lagoons, an initiative that brings together four stamps on natural areas of both countries and commemorates 102 years of uninterrupted diplomatic relations. The series, called “Lakes and Lagoons”, is part of the America UPAEP 2026 theme. Two stamps will circulate in Dominican territory: one is dedicated to the Gri-Gri Lagoon, located in Río San Juan, María Trinidad Sánchez province, and another to Lake Yojoa, one of the main bodies of water in Honduras. The other two pieces will be distributed in Honduras, one portraying the Cacao Lagoon, while the remaining one is dedicated to Lake Enriquillo, the largest lake in the Dominican Republic (This is an excerpt translated from the original reporting paper published by Infobae and provided by Fabio Bonacina, Italy).

As a result this joint issue has to be considered as Parallel (same date and different design) [P20260918]. Honduras issued 2×15,000 stamps and Dominican Republic 10,000 pairs. At this stage, better quality images are needed.

Mekhitar of Sebaste was an Armenian Catholic monk, scholar and theologian who founded the Mekhitarist Order, which has been based on San Lazzaro Island near Venice since 1717. On September 28, 2026, Armenia and the Vatican State celebrated the 350th anniversary of Mekhitar’s birth with a twin issue. Armenian stamps were issued in miniature sheets of 8 stamps with two labels [(2×2)+(2×2)] and Vatican stamps became available in miniature sheets of 10 stamps [2×5].

The 400th anniversary of the birth of Francis of Assisi will be celebrated on October 4, 2026 by Italy, San Marino, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the Vatican State with a souvenir sheet identical for each country. These items represnt a work by Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337) taken from the “Stories of St. Francis”, detail of the painting of the “Farewell of St. Clare from the remains of St. Francis”, preserved at the Upper Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi as well as sentences from the Canticle of the Creatures.

On Facebook, Kazem Alamdari posted an interesting souvenir sheet from Iran, dated 2026, on which the words “Joint Stamp” and the country name Iraq are printed. At this stage, no more information is available and help is needed here.

Also on Facebook, Luis Alejandro (Mexico), presented a summary of all joint issues involving Mexico. A nice presentation, showing also, how, over time, international relations had an impact on philately for this country. By checking quickly in the Joint issue catalogue, starting with the Country Index on page 65 of Vol 1, there are 52 issues listed, and not 32. Actually, this list is obviously integrating also the Parallel [P], Concerted [C] and Omnibus [O] series, while the list in the document below is limited to Twin issues involving only two countries each time.

Update July 2026

by Richard Zimmermann

On June 30, 2026, Romania and Türkiye celebrated relationship with joint stamps depicting local gastronomy. Both countries issued two stamps with the same design. The postage stamp with the theme of Romania reproduces three representative products with European recognition: Topoloveni Plum Jam, Ibănești Telemea and Smoked Bighead Carp from the Land of Bârsa. On the stamp background are illustrated Corvin Castle located in the southwestern part of Transylvania, in the centre of Hunedoara County, and a miniature image of the Arch of Triumph in Bucharest, bearing the Romania’s flag. The postage stamp to the Republic of Türkiye, depicts the world-renowned Döner kebab, alongside a serving of eggplant moussaka and the traditional dessert known as baklava, set against an iconic view of Istanbul featuring the Galata Tower with a Turkish flag.

Turkiye issued the pair of stamps as se-tenant included in a souvenir sheet produced at 100,000 samples. As usual, Romanian production is more complicated with both stamps produced in panes of 32 units (2x[8×4]) (2×8,768 stamps corresponding to 2×274 panes), but also in two miniature sheets containing three stamps each above three different labels (2×2,925 miniature sheets issued), as well as a souvenir sheet with both stamps se-tenant (4,500 souvenir sheets).

Big surprise with the Indonesia Uruguay joint issue scheduled initially for release on March 30, 2026 and remaining without news since: both designs appeared now on the web. Both countries issued a miniature sheet with 8 different stamps, showing as announced, handicrafts with jewelry. The stamps were issued on July 20, 2026, and for Indonesia apparently only at 3,000 samples.

The stamps do show the items displayed based on the original proposal, but the overall design has been greatly modified. Below is a reminder of the image we had in hands since beginning of the year.

Regarding the 2026 Europa series [T20260508], Bosnia Herzegovina issued stamps on June 25, 2026 (and not on May 8 as initially scheduled). Bosnia Herzegovina issued two stamps, one with the common design, in panes of 10 stamps (2x[2×5]) and in a souvenir sheet containing both se-tenant stamps.

On July 10, 2026, Ukraine‘s Europa stamps were also released in forms of two different designs, available in miniature sheets of 4 stamps (2x[2×2]), a booklet with a souvenir sheet containing both stamps (issued at 1,700 samples) and a similar souvenir sheet with both stamps, issued at 4,400 samples (and available only for yearly Ukrainian stamp subscribers).

On August 6, 2026, Germany and Lithuania will celebrate with a joint issue, the existence of the Nida Colony, a Lithuanian coastal village that hosted numerous of artists since the end of the 19th century (at that time part of Prussia). The designs of the stamps became already available and show a painting from Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (1884-1976).

In the most recent issue of the the journal Pacifica (July 2026, Vol 64 N° 256), from the Pacific Islands Study Circle (PISC), B. Allen Shaw, a specialist of Norfolk, describes over two pages (p43-44) a surprising constant error in the panes of the Norfolk stamps from the July 22, 2014 joint issue with Australia [catalogue Vol 12, D20240722]. On that date, the Norfolk Island Philatelic Bureau, and Australia Post, produced four stamps of two designs featuring the emblematic Norfolk Island Pine. Endemic to Norfolk Island. The two designs featured were: a view of the Norfolk Island Pines on Cottesloe Beach, in Western Australia; and a view of the Norfolk Island Pines surrounding the Old Military Barracks, on Norfolk Island. The values of the Norfolk Island stamps were: 20c for the Cottesloe Beach design; and 70c for the Old Military Barracks design. The Australian counterparts were 70c and $1.40 respectively. The stamps were printed by RA Printing Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia, on Tullis Russell gummed paper in sheets of 50; two panes of 25 separated by a gutter, and the gutter having the printers colour dots only. The quantity of Norfolk Island stamps printed was 12,000 for each
value. This equates to 240 sheets of 50 stamps each.

An error occuring on each sheet of Norfolk Island 70c stamps was discovered: stamp #21, located in row 5 and position 1, was actually the Australian counterpart of this joint issue. The stamp is inscribed “Australia”, with the value of “$1.40”, in error. The remaining forty-nine stamps are correctly inscribed “Norfolk Island”, with the value of “70c”. The items (full panes) were discovered in the archives of the Norfolk philatelic offices. With the very low number of printed sheets (240) and the late discovery, it is possible that this archive sheet will remain unique. So, do not lose time to try finding another sample, but if so, do not hesitate to tell us.

Mario Moni (Italy) enquired about an explanation regarding the absence of description of some colonial Italian issues in the catalogue, while others, such as the 700th anniversary of the death of Saint Anthony of Padua [D19310507], the Graf Zeppelin’s airship journey [D19330505] or the Naples Colonial Exhibition [D19341016] are present. Mario’s additional list includes the following: Dante Alighieri Society, March 14, 1932 with additional value issued on August 6, 1932; Giuseppe Garibaldi, April 6, 1932; 10 years of Rome March, October 27, 1932; Balboa Cruise, May 20, 1933; Football championship, May 24, 1934; 100 years of the Courage Gold Medal, September 6, 1934 and 2000 years of August Emperor on September 23, 1937.

By re-checking the Italian colonies that have used the similar topics and stamps as basis (including Aegean Islands, Cyrenaica, Eritrea, Italian East Africa, Italian Ethiopia, Italian Libya, Italian Somalia and Tripolitania), it appears that none of the rare stamps issued at the same occasions as listed above can be considered as joint. Stamps issued at different dates with different designs (e.g. Balboa Cruise) are excluded on the basis of the definition of joint issues. Also, overprints of existing stamps from another country are not to be considered as joint as well. In particular, this is the case for the Aegean Islands stamps which are all overprinted Italian stamps. As a conclusion, the list of Italian territorial series [D] from the period 1927-1937 described in the catalogue seems to be complete already.

Catalogue pages were updated accordingly.

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.