To promote understanding about Chinese classical literature, Chunghwa Post released today a series of stamps based on Outlaws of the Marsh or sometimes known as The Water Margin.

The first set of four stamps features “Demons Released”, “Slaying the Tiger on Jingyang Ridge”, “Mountain God Temple on a Stormy Night” and “Knocking the Lord of the West Dead”.

The stamp designs are:

1. Demons Released (NT?5): Seeing the plague raging, the Song emperor Renzong sends Marshal Hong to Dragon and Tiger Mountain to summon the Divine Teacher to come and pray for the plague to go away. When Marshal Hong sees the inscription on the stele in the Hall of the Subdued Demons, which reads “open when Hong is here” he orders the stele to be pushed over and the ground dug open. Suddenly, a puff of black air rises from underground. Thus transpires the birth of the 108 heroes of the Liangshan Marsh and the start of the novel.

2. Slaying the Tiger on Jingyang Ridge (NT?5): A tiger shows up on Jingyang Ridge. Cocky Wu Song crosses the ridge alone. Suddenly, a huge tiger with a white forehead and fierce-looking eyes leaps out at him. Though in a state of shock, Wu Song bravely fights the tiger and eventually paralyses it.

3. Mountain God Temple on a Stormy Night (NT?10): Lin Chong is sentenced to face-tattooing and exiled to Cangzhou to manage a fodder depot. But who would guess that the grand marshal would send Lu Qian after him? On one stormy night, Lin Chong stays in a mountain god temple instead of the fodder depot which Lu Qian sets fire to, so as to get out of the murder. After that, Lin Chong gets mad and kills them and eventually becomes an outlaw of Liangshan Marsh.

4. Knocking the Lord of the West Dead (NT?25): Butcher Zheng Tu, a.k.a. Lord of the West, is a bully in Weizhou. To save Jin Cuilian and her father from his clutches and to uphold justice on their behalf, Lu Da intentionally pisses Zheng Tu off while pretending to purchase meat from him. A fight breaks out, and Lu Da punches Zheng Tu to death.

The fishes depicted are:

1.Formosania lacustre (NT?5)
2.Tanakia himantegus (NT?5)
3.Channa asiatica (NT?12)
4.Sinogastromyzon puliensis (NT?25)

The founding partners in this initiative include the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum ((www.postalmuseum.si.edu/) and Smithsonian Libraries (www.sil.si.edu/), Washington, DC, the Royal Philatelic Society London (www.rpsl.org.uk), United Kingdom, and the American Philatelic Research Library (www.stamplibrary.org), Bellefonte, PA.

Philatelists around the world will be able to search, locate, and access philatelic research from partner libraries in real-time, from any computer. Major pre-1923 publications, including The Stamp-Collector’s Magazine, Illustrated, London, from 1865–1874, have been digitized and will be made available at no charge.

More details can be found here at the APS site.

The winning stamp was a stamp of a beautiful scenery based on a photo by author and photographer Ivars Silis, born 1940.

Even though Ivars Silis has reached 71 years of age; this is actually his stamp debut.

The stamp G472 was issued on 28th September 2011 and was POST Greenland’s contribution to last year’s joint issue with the SEPAC-countries in the cooperation between the Small European Postal Services, of which Greenland is a member.

The first set of stamps depicting wild mushrooms were issued 25 March 2010. On 23 March 2012, Taiwan Post will issue a second set of 4 stamps depicting the same subject. A souvenir sheet containing the same designs as the single stamps will also be available.

The mushrooms depicted are: Amanita rubrovolvata, Entoloma murraii, Geastrum sessile and the Clavulinopsis miyabeana.

The Royal Mail is to issue 10 stamps on 20 March 2012 featuring comics. This issue also commemorate the 75th anniversary of The Dandy which was first published in December 1937.

The set of 10 stamps will be available as 2 strips of 5. The usual first day cover, presentation pack  and stamp cards will be available.

Classic Locomotives of Scotland Miniature Sheet

This is the second of a series of Miniature Sheets that illustrates steam locomotives in use in each of the home countries.

1st Class – BR D34 Nos. 62471 & 62496
Two former North British Railway 4-4-0, “Glens”, LNER and BR Class D34, 62471, Glen Falloch and 62496 Glen Loy at Ardlui on 09 May 1959, the West Highland Line from Glasgow to Fort William and Mallaig. They were built by the NBR at Cowlairs in 1920/21 to the design of W P Reid.

68p – BR D40 No. 62276
Former Great North of Scotland Railway, Number 48 and LNER// BR class D40, 4-4-0 62276 “Andrew Bain” in July 1950. The GNSR used 4-4-0s for most of its traffic. “Andrew Bain” was built in 1921 by The North British Locomotive Company to the design of T E Heywood.

£1 – Andrew Barclay No. 807
Andrew Barclay Sons and Company of Kilmarnock, manufactured industrial locomotives. They could be found at collieries, shipyards and industrial sites. Number 807, Bon Accord, was built in 1897 and belonged to the Aberdeen Gas Works and is seen working along Miller Street, Aberdeen in June 1962.

£1.10 – BR 4P No. 50767
Highland Railway, 4-6-0, LMS and BR, No 54767 Clan Mackinnon is seen at Kyle of Lochalsh on a fish train. These locomotives were among the last Highland Railway locomotives to remain in active service.

Date of issue: 8 March 2012

The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) is celebrating 75 years of service, and New Zealand Post is commemorating the anniversary with a special stamp issue on 15 March 2012.

The Royal Mail issued a miniature sheet on 6 February 2012 to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of HM Queen Elizabeth II.

The miniature sheet contain stamps that feature six different portraits of the Queen taken from stamps, coinage and banknotes issued during her reign.

Chunghwa Post will issue a set of se-tenant gutter pair of stamps and a souvenir sheet featuring roses on 14 February 2012.

The souvenir sheet contain a single stamp in the shape of a heart and will be printed with scented ink.

Finland celebrates the opening of the Sami Cultural Center Sajos with a special sheet shaped like the center.

The sheet contains four free form self adhesive stamps that follows the contours of the Laland’s mountains. The sheet is priced at €3.

Released date 23 January 2012.

Five iconic New Zealand native trees will be featured on five gummed stamps to be issued 1 February 2012.

Each of the beautiful species is depicted in a detailed illustrative style and the scientific name of each species is included in the design.

The individual stamps in this issue are as follows:

60c – P?hutukawa
The p?hutukawa is a species of Metrosideros, and is often referred to as the New Zealand Christmas tree due to its display of bright red, pollen-producing stamens in summer. The undersides of the leaves and flower buds are densely furry with white hairs. Although it is widely cultivated throughout the country, in nature it is restricted to the northern North Island, mostly in costal habitats.

$1.20 – Cabbage Tree
The cabbage tree (Cordyline australis) or tï kouka is found throughout New Zealand in moist soils and swamps. It is a tall, much-branched tree, and has long, narrow leaves with many parallel veins. The abundant small white flowers are attached to the branching stems of large inflorescences, and the fruits are white to purple berries.

$1.90 – K?whai
The vibrant k?whai tree is most conspicuous in spring, with its large golden-yellow flowers. Its flowers are bird pollinated and the petals are arranged in a sort of tube to contain a sufficient quantity of nectar. Sophora microphylla is widespread and grows near streams and at lake edges.

$2.40 – N?kau
The n?kau (Rhopalostylis) is the furthest south palm in the Southern Hemisphere. It is impressive in height, and the top of the trunk is crowned by a spreading cluster of enormous leaves divided into leaflets. Flower clusters arise below the crown of leaves and form bright red berries. Where the n?kau is plentiful it gives the feeling of a tropical forest.

$2.90 – M?nuka
The m?nuka (Leptospermum scoparium) is a widespread shrub that sometimes grows to a small tree. Its leaves are very small and quite sharply pointed, and it is abundant with small white flowers (although pink and red varieties are cultivated). The m?nuka is well known for the dark, strongflavoured honey it produces.

The Royal Mail will for the first time have a stamp issue to mark the Lunar New Year. A generic self-adhesive Smilers Sheet with the Fireworks stamps will be released on 20 January 2012.

No first day cover will be available as Royal Mail does not regard this as a new issue.

The Disneyana on Stamps Society is the 90th study unit affiliated with the society during its 62-year history.

The Disneyana on Stamps Society is an organization of topical philatelists collecting stamps, first day covers, meters, cancels, and other philatelic items relating to Walt Disney and his legacy.

Membership is free! Members have access to the newsletter Disnemation, which will be published online six times a year.  For more information, check out the website:

http://www.disnemation.8m.com/home.htm

The AmericanTopical Association’s 162nd handbook entitles Handbook of Disney on Stamps by William Silvester is scheduled for publication by March 1.

To be released in a pane of 12 self adhesives on 23 January 2012. This will be the first day of the Dragon Year.

The first day ceremony will be held in San Francisco, CA.

UPDATE: I received notice that the stamps will be released 20 January 2012 in Washington, D.C.

Kazakhstan issued  a se-tenant block of eight stamps on 14 December 2011 featuring urban birds.

The birds featured are: black thrush (merula furdus), titmouse (parus major), magpie (pica pica), grey crow (corvus cornix), myna (acridotheres tristis), rook (corvus frugilegus), blue pigeon (columba livia), sparrow (passer domesticus).

The USPS will issue six nondenominated Spectrum Eagle coil stamps on 3 January 2012.

The stamps will sell for 25¢ each in the self-adhesive format.

Singapore Post will issue on 5 January 2012 a set of 3 stamps to celebrate the Year of Dragon. A special collectors sheet containing two stamps and a self-adhesive sheetlet of 10 stamps will also be made available.

New Zealand Post will issue a set of 4 stamps and a miniature sheet on 5 January 2012 to celebrate the Chinese Lunar Year of the Dragon which begins on 23 January 2012.

The Republic of Belarus will release a set of 3 stamps featuring Pigeons. A sheetlet containing 2 sets of the 3 stamps will also be available. Special cancellation for the first day cover will be available at the main Post Office in Minsk.

Date of issue: 28 November 2011

Taiwan Post will issue a set of 2 stamps and a souvenir sheet to commemorate the Year of Dragon which starts 23 January 2012.

The two stamps have denominations of NT$3.50 and NT$13.00, and the souvenir sheet has a denomination of NT$12.00. They will be released on 1 December 2011.

The 27th Asian International Stamp Exhibition will be held in Wuxi, China for 5 days from 11 November 2011.

There will be 1300 frames of exhibits and 100 dealer stands all in the spacious Wuxi Taihu International Expo Centre.

New Zealand Post will be issuing a miniature sheet containing 3 circular kiwi stamps with a picture of a panda.

Azerbaijan issued on October 28 a set of 4 WWF stamps featuring the Short-toed Snake Eagle. The stamps are available in miniature sheets of 4 and 8 stamps. The 8 stamps (2 sets) miniature sheets comes in 2 different design versions.

The Macau Post Office will issue a set of 4 bird stamps on 11 September 2011. The birds featured are:
Light-vented Bulbul / Pycnonotus sinensis
Spotted Dove / Streptopelia chinensis
Yellow Bittern / Lxobrychus sinensis
Greater Coucal / Centropus sinensis

As with all WWF stamp issues, there will be first day covers and maximum cards.

The United Nations Postal Administration will be issuing the 2011 Endangered Species stamps on 7 September 2011.

The issue consist of 12 stamps, 3 maximum cards and a special silk cover.

New Zealand Post will be issuing a $15 3D stamp on 7 September 2011 to commemorate the Rugby World Cup. The stamp will depict the Tournament’s prize, the Webb Ellis Cup.

The 3D stamp will be protected forever inside a sealed plastic case, which is mounted within an attractive display card.

The first post office in Hong Kong was opened on 25 August 1841. Hong Kong Post will be issuing a souvenir sheet this August 25 to celebrate the 170th anniversary.

The $10 stamp depicts a red Victorian pillar box and a modern posting box. The background of the sheet show images of the old and current general post office.

The hummingbird on the right of the sheet “symbolises innovation and improvement in our service delivery to the world”.

Niue issued a set of 3 bird stamps on 6 July 2011.

Also released was a miniature sheet produced in the shape of two hega (Vini australis).  Bright green in colour, these parrots are adorned with a blue/purple crown and a red chin, throat, cheeks and upper belly.