This page is the archived News Page from the July to September 2015 period. All contents have been dispatched in the respective stamp description pages. However there may still be open questions. Any complementary information remains welcome. As soon as an information is archived, the text will not be changed anymore. So if additional information are linked to the below, this will be displayed as a new heading in the currently open News page.

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September 30, 2015
Mansoor Moazzeni (Iran) asked about the status of PMR Transnistria stamps. This question was related to the Europa CEPT joint issue from 2000 to which Transnistria participated. Actually Mansoor found also an interesting site specialized in the Transnistria stamps. This site is quite clear and one should follow its advice:

"PMR is not now, nor has it ever been a member of the Europa/CEPT organisation. Therefore the country is not entitled to issue stamps using their devices or emblems. ALL issues for PMR purporting to be "Europa" issues are, in fact, bogus and manufactured by private concerns for speculative purposes only. The postal administration of the PMR denies the validity of these issues and they may not be used for postal services within the borders of the PMR"

So officially the 2000 Europa stamps are not part of the joint issue. Iin the catalogue we provideall information that is available about a certain issue, which included the PMR Transnistria stamps, but the collector must know himself what he really wants to collect. And we prefer introduce information in excess than having to answer to questions explaining the absence of certain stamps. In the catalogue we mention however this point with the following explanations:

"Transnistria is the Russian speaking area of Moldova (DMR Dnestr Moldavian Republic). Stamps from this country are only for local use and therefore usually not reported in classical catalogues. The country is not recognized by the UPU. These Europa stamps were printed in Latvia (Tipografie Spindulys - Kaunas) and produced in a same booklet design as in this country. PMR post office report that these stamps are to be considered as pure private and were not available at post offices or valid for postage. The stamps from Latvia were printed in Budapest (Hungary) and not in Latvia."

Date of issue of the PMR Transnistria stamps was September 2, 2000. If you are still interested to acquire these stamps, just go to the PMR web site. Here are some pictures.

Mansoor discovered also a series of stamps related to the 2013 Diamond anniversary of the coronation of QEII and issued by Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha released on February 6, 2013. These souvenir sheets look like joint issues, but as these three islands are connected, the series was supposed initially to be reported as territorial. In the meantime we discovered that other countries have issues the same set of similar stamps, i.e the souvenir sheet depicted below, a miniature sheet with nine stamps and a set of five different stamps.
So far we have identified the following countries having also participated to this issue: Bahamas, Isle of Man.
This list is not yet exhaustive, but this series will definitely be filed as an omnibus joint issue [O].

In the same vein, and concerning almost the same countries, an omnibus series of stamps related to Britain's longest reigning monarch (QEII) was issued on September 9, 2015. We have not yet collected all information about this issue. Each country issued four similar stamps. For the time being this list includes Ascension - Bahamas - British Antarctic Territory - Falkland Islands - South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands - Tristan da Cunha.

September 30, 2015
Discovery of Michael Rehling (Germany) in the October issue of the Michel Rundschau in which it is claimed that a joint issue between the two Bosnia Herzegovina postal administrations (Sarajevo and BH Croatia/Mostar) was released on June 6, 2015 at the occasion of the visit of pope Francis to Bosnia-Herzegovina. So far nobody has noticed this issue and the two postal administrations have not claimed the joint character. However the same picture was used and the date of issue is the same. The web sites of the two postal administrations describe items that have been produced by different authors (no collaboration). Unfortunately we will have to consider this issue as an accidental (coincidence) joint issue that was created the same day (the pope visited the two areas on the same day) and based on the same picture (that was probably provided by the Vatican State, i.e. the official portrait) and as a consequence will be filed as non-joint [N] unless or until some new information becomes available. Bosnia Herzegovina (Sarajevo) stamps were issued in miniature sheets of 10 stamps [5x2] and Bosnia Herzegovina Mostar (Croatia) stamps were issued in miniature sheets of 8 stamps with central label [3x3]. FDCs are available for both stamps.

A similar situation has been discovered by Wayne Chen (USA). The post of Macao announced that this postal administration will release by December 10, 2015 a series of 9 stamps showing "Mountains and rivers of the Motherland - Yellow River". It happens that these same stamps had already been issued by the Peope's Republic of China on August 23, 2015.
In this case Macao, a dependency of PRC is simply using stamp designs from its mother country, but there is no joint character. There is no common event to celebrate either as this would justify a concerted issue. So these stamps will also be considered in the [N] category.

September 29, 2015
On September 22, 2015 the Azerbaijan Russia stamps have been issued. Stamps became available in miniature sheets of four pairs organized in a [3x3] sheetlet around a central label.

September 28, 2015
Wayne Chen (USA) did send us an exchange of mails with maximaphilists and relative to the definition of maxi cards.
We all, as collectors of joint stamp issues, like to demonstrate the true joint character of an issue by creating mixed first day issues bearing the two (or more) stamps of the issue that are individully first day cancelled from their respective issuing countries. If the stamps are affixed on an illustrated postal card, we even consider these items as maxi cards. In the catalogue I used the term mixed maxi-cards to define these items.
Wayne wanted to get a true definition and confirmation of this definition and wrote to George Constantourakis the Chairman of the FIP Maximaphily Commission in Canada. He illustrated his request by sending a recently created maxi card of the Ingrid Bergman issue bearing the two first day cancelled stamps from USA and Sweden. The answer of George was unambiguous and confirmed Wayne's speculations:

"These Cards with  joint issue stamps are Philatelic items, but definitely NOT Maximum Cards. (...) Only one stamp can be affixed on a MC. (...) I know the stamps are relevant but only one stamp should be applied. (...) For issues earlier than the mid 1950's we can accept (tolerate) two stamps on the Card provided one of them is directly related [to the topic]. Sometimes we collect items we like even if they break the rules, but for our own enjoyment".

This statement is quite clear. I would add that in the definition of maxi card, and next to the fact that MCs are a combination of one card, one stamp and one first day cancellation all related between them, the card itself must have existed prior to the issue of the stamp. Therefore the new mixed first day cards especially created by postal administrations at the occasion of this joint issue event break the rules of MC definition twice.

Let us simply say that our mixed first day covers open a new area in philately. Let the pure maximaphilists continue collecting their very specific items. There are already so many "philatelic items" available as mixed FDCs available, i.e. almost as many as joint issues which are estimated now at almost 1,500, that we can create our own specialty. I suggest to call it "maximagemellophilately" and collectors specialized in mixed joint first day covers and mixed joint first day cards should be called "maximagemellists" or "maximagemellophilists" based on the (never used) definition of joint issue collectors coined about ten years ago which were called "gemellophilatelists" or "gemellophilists" ;-) . Just let us keep collecting funny and not be too serious.

This remembered me the answer I got in 1988 from a "philately expert" from the German philatelic federation to whom I suggested to create a division for Joint Issues within the federation and based on my first evaluation of the potential of this collection: "There is no future for joint issues. Don't loose your time, not more than 20-30 collectors will be interested in the world". At about the same period I also tried to show my first joint stamps in an exhibition and I could cover 36 pages with all joint issues known by that time and released before 1990. The jury excluded the presentation from the evaluation with the words "It is out of the standards of official philately, we cannot evaluate this presentation". I never exhibited since, but other did later and fortunately start getting nice prices. A couple of years later I published my first catalogue which reached 350 pages. There are more than 1,000 cumulated pages today in the latest version of the catalogue.

I just had fun during the past 30 years. Please have fun too, that should be the major (and probably only) reason to continue collecting stamps.

September 28, 2015
In Vaccari news from September 23, 2015, Fabio Bonacina (Italy) could announce that Italy and San Marino would release on October 23, 2015 joint stamps celebrating the San Marino Techno Science Park. Here are the first images of the San Marino stamps and cancellation:

September 28, 2015
Gabriele Gatti (Italy) pointed out that we have forgotten to reported about a souvenir sheet issued on August 14, 2015 including the three stamps from Australia, Singapore and New Zealand. As a consequence this issue will have to be reported as a Siamese issue [S]. Mixed first day covers with individual first day cancellation were also available.

September 27, 2015
An answer to a question raised by Grzegorz Omelanczuk (Poland).
On October 10, 2010, the Dutch Caribbean Islands (Dutch Antilles) have been split in three additional entities namely Bonaire, Saba, and Saint Eustatius on top of the already existing Curaçao, St Maartin and Aruba (see detailed information in the archived news dated October 10, 2014). Since October 10, 2014 these three new entities have the possibility to issue their own stamps. After almost one year, we observe that all stamps from these islands are issued systematically by the three entities, sometimes with simple color modifications. So far stamps reported in the catalogues include:
- on October 10, 2014, two stamps each representing a stylized fish symbolizing the three islands and the logo of Flamingo Express Dutch Caribbean N.V., the private post company in charge of this area. Except for the background color of the stamps, all 6 stamps are identical
- on November 10, 2014, a souvenir sheet each with five stamps representing silhouettes of birds. Birds are all different and there is a primary color for each sheet symbolizing the island (red for Bonaire, yellow for Saba, green for Saint Eustatius)
- on April 30, 2015, ten stamps each issued at the occasion of the visit of King Willelm-Alexander, all identical, just differing by the flag behind the king

These stamps must all be considered as local issues that have no relation with joint issues and will not be reported in the catalogue. Here are just three samples:

September 27, 2015
On April 2, 2015, the German post issued a postal stationery (cover) bearing the 20th World Youth Day stamp (joint issue with Vatican from 2005) [T20050602] and an additional ATM stamp of 0.07c to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the death of Pope John-Paul II and the election as pope of Joseph Ratzinger. The cachet is illustrated with the picture of both popes, multicolored.

September 20, 2015
Anthony Raynaud (France) continues exploring older joint issues and, in particular, became interested in items and folders that are sold in parallel to the isolated stamps. Here are his discoveries from the past months:

New Zealand and France issued identical stamps related to birds during the year 2000 [T20001104]. We have not seen so far a limited edition folder (printed 2,000 samples) that contains all New Zealand stamps from this series, a FDC cover with the same stamps, a limited edition of a special miniature sheet (see below) and the single color prints (colour separation) of the common New Zealand stamp. One of these folders became recently available on the Delcampe site at a starting price of US$ 399.

The colour separation series of stamps is sometimes available in separate offers but it comes from these special folders issued at 2,000 samples.

Anthony found also a series of mixed FDCs involving China and Japan that have not been reported in the catalogue so far:
The August 12, 1988 issue [P19880812]:

The September 29, 1982 issue [P19820929]:

Another mixed FDC involving Japan and Thailand, with stamps issued on September 26, 1987 [P19870926] was also found:

And the issue from September 16, 1989 between Belgium and Japan resulted also in a mixed FDC [P19890916] that has not been mentionned so far (the Japanese stamp was issued on September 18, 1989).

Next to the Klaipedia issue involving the Soviet Union and East Germany and celebrating the opening of this ferry-boat link with stamps issued on September 23, 1986 [P19860923], Soviet Union released also a postal stationery (cover) illustrated with a related cachet design. This cover is described in the catalogue but has never been shown so far. Exact date of issue is unknown, but cancelled samples tell us that this cover was issued between January 28, 1986 (printing date appearing on the cover and usually not the first of issue date) and October 10, 1986 (a sample in Anthony's hands is cancelled from this date and bears also the Soviet Union joint stamp).

Finally Anthony discovered also a perforation error in the German stamp from the August 20, 1998 issue involving Germany and PR China [T19980820]. Thanks Anthony for all these information.

September 20, 2015
Some news about issues to come.

Additionnally to the already planned France - South Korea issue for 2016, a joint issue from France with Portugal is also planned in 2016. The French - South Korean issue is apparently linked to the 130th anniversary of the relationship between the two countries and could be released around the dates of this anniversary (information provided by Eric Contesse, France). On the contrary to the 2015 joint issue involving these two countries, the 2016 issue is already endorsed by the French authorities. The multiplication of events linking these two countries may also be related to the presence in the French government of Fleur Pellerin, minister of culture, who is of South Korean origin.

In the French 2017 philatelic program, Eric reported also the initiative of a Canada - France joint issue.

Jaap Sarelse (The Netherlands) could also report that the Laos - Russia joint issue initially scheduled for September 30, 2015, will be postponed to November 11, 2015.
Jaap got also information about the date of issue of the next joint stamps involving Russia:
- September 22, 2015 confirmed with Azerbaijan
- October 5, 2015 with Macedonia, but apparently postponed from initially planned September 30.
- October 6, 2015 with Argentina, but also postponed from initially planned September 3
- October 16, 2015 with Mexico, six weeks earlier than so far planned December 1, 2015 issue
Jaap contacted also the Azerbaijan postal administration to enquire about the joint character of the May 27, 2015 Brazilian stamps celebrating the relationship between the two countries. He was confirmed that this Brazilian issue (image below) will remain an unilateral issue.

The July 9, 2015 Euromed issue was completed by a stamp issued by Morocco on August 12, 2015. Libya has also issued its stamp in this series on the same day as the other nine countries (July 9, 2015). In 2016, there will be another Euromed stamp series issued based on the topic "Fishes from the Mediterranean Sea" to which France has already announced its first official participation (Information Eric Contesse, France).

Niket Bubna (USA) discovered that India and Singapore will release a joint issue before end of the year 2015. Designs and exact date of issue have not been disclosed yet. However a bilateral summit will take place during the month of November 2015 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their relationship and the stamps could be released at this occasion.

Niket Bubna provided also additional information about the Sweden USA joint issue celebrating the 100th anniversary of Ingrid Bergman and issued on August 20, 2015.
While the USA issued a single stamp in a pane of 20 stamps [5x4], Sweden released two stamps but in three different forms. The stamp similar to the US stamp was issued in miniature sheets of 6 units [3x2]. These sheetlets bear plate and counting numbers (and combinations of them) in the same way described for the 2005 Greta Garbo joint stamps [T20050923]. This stamp was also issued as part of a se-tenant pair printed in coils. The difference between the two similar stamps lies in the margin which is either white or black. Sweden mixed FDC bear all four stamps, but the US mixed FDCs have only three stamps (Swedish stamps are the two from the coils). Sweden also released a collector's sheet with mint stamps in addition to the regular items.

Carolina Gómez-Zarzuela Irigoyen from the Subdirection for Philately of the Spanish Post informed us that Spain will issue joint stamps with Israel in 2016 on the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of diplomatic relationships between the two countries.

September 20, 2015
Among our collector friends we have also some non-professional authors that publish (irregularly) papers in philatelic journals. Wayne Chen had recently the opportunity to publish in Linn's Stamp News (July 13, 2015, Vol 88, N°4524 pages 24, 25 and 33) a three-pages article entitled "What to look for and what to expect at a USPS first day ceremony". This article is nicely illustrated with the mixed products available in Washington DC at the occasion of the first day of issue ceremony of the April 10, 2015 Japan - USA joint stamps. A summary of the article is available under this address. Subscribers of Linn's Stamp News will have access to the full paper and illustration. Congratulations Wayne.

September 9, 2015
This was a long summer without any news due to a very busy schedule (and no vacations yet ;-) ). About 40 mails of collectors accumulated over time with information about new issues. I will try to summarize this new information in this list and if necessary come later back if some additional details and descriptions will be required.

The following information has been provided by Sergio Ruz Andrade (Mexico), Fabio Bonacina (Italy), Enzo Cafaro (Italy), Peter Ruznak (Germany), Grzegorz Omelanczuk (Poland), Dominique Josse (France), Jaap Sarelse (The Netherlands), Ahmad Omar Arbain (Malaysia). Thanks to all of them.

The France - Mexico joint issue was released on July 16, 2015. Our correspondent Sergio Ruz Andrade from Mexico stated this is for the first time in more than a decade, that the Mexican post is selling the mint foreign stamps through the philatelic window, and for the first time ever, both FDC and folder are presented in form of mixed issue items with stamps from both countries and corresponding postmarks and available also locally. Here is the picture of the mixed FDC:

Guatemala and Paraguay have issued two identical stamps representing the main post offices. No information yet available about the exact date of issue, but they were apparently issued during August 2015. Here are the first images:

All pictures of the 10 stamps of the ASEAN countries participating to the August 8, 2015 joint issue became available (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippinas, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam). Myanmar issued two stamps at K100 and K500.

On August 14, 2015, the 50th anniversary of bilateral relations between Singapore and Australia, and Singapore and New Zealand was marked with the release of a joint stamp issue representing the parlament house of each country. Australia and Singapore issued three stamps and a souvenir sheet integrating the three stamps. New Zealand released only one single stamp representing the New Zealand parlament house. FDCs, maxi cards, mixed FDC covers and presentation packs are also available.

In the frame of the joint issue involving Russia an North Korea celebrating the 70th anniversary of the liberation of North Korea, Russia issued on August 28, 2015 a stamp representing the Arch of Triumph, which was built to commemorate the Korean resistance to Japan from 1925 to 1945. It is the second tallest triumphal arch in the world, after Monumento a la Revolución in Mexico, standing 60 m (197 ft) high and 50 m (164 ft) wide. The same arch illustrated a North Korean stamp issued on January 1st, 2015 but not related to this joint issue.

Earlier in the year, apparently on May 15, 2015, North Korea issued a stamp representing the Russian orthodox church in Pyongyang (issued in miniature sheets of five stamps, perforated and imperforated) and around the same date, Russia released a postal stationery with the same illustration as a cachet on the left side. Because there is no Russian stamp related to this North Korea issue and because there is no official announcement related to this stamp, we will not consider this part as a joint issue. However, this is a nice add-on to the previous official joint issue.

September 15, 2015: complementary information provided by Jaap Sarelse (The Netherlands) - the Russian post cards has been issued on August 13, 2015.

Additionally, Jaap Sarelse (The Netherlands) found three special items issued by North Korea probably at the same date of August 28, 2015 (to be confirmed). On the contrary to the above, those are definitely part of the joint issue - or previous joint issues - as they are based on the original North Korean stamps issued previously with Russia from respectively June 1, 2005 [T20050601] and October 14, 2014 [T20141012]. They contain a supplementary stamp dated 2015 and also representing the flags of both countries.

North Korea is used to release reprints of older stamps in a new form. Here is another example of a booklet including the 2005 stamps issue, not reported so far:

The 2014 visit of Pope Francis to Israel was commemorated by Israel and Vatican by identical stamps in souvenir sheets issued on September 2, 2015. The stamp represents the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Vatican souvenir sheet's margins show the portrait of Pope Francis while Israel souvenir sheets's margins show a view of the town of Jerusalem. Folder, souvenir leaf and mixed FDCs are available.

The Liechtenstein - Slovenia stamps have been issued on September 7, 2015 as scheduled. The issue focuses on the Alps as a habitat. The two stamps show the Malbuntal in Liechtenstein and the Velika Planina plateau in Slovenia. The Slovenian stamp will apparently be issued only on September 25, 2015 but the mixed first day cover is already available from the Liechtenstein Post (!).

September 9, 2015
We received also some information about new issues to come before end of the year or during 2016. The page "Upcoming Isues" has been updated accordingly but we preferred providing this information in the following list too.

This information has been provided by Enzo Cafaro (Italy), Grzegorz Omelanczuk (Poland), Dominique Josse (France), . Thanks to all of them.

- September 18, 2015: Singapore - Thailand: the images and the information about this next joint issue have already been released. The stamps are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the relationship between the two countries which will produce two stamps each representing local desserts.

- September 22, 2015: Azerbaijan-Russia joint issue; Architecture of Moscow and Baku

- The France - Mauritius joint stamps will finally be released on September 25, 2015. Each country will issue a single identical stamp that will be available in form of panes, FDCs, mixed FDCs and the standard official French "Pochette" with two mint stamps from both countries.

- On September 30, 2015, Poland and Ukraine will jointly issue stamps with the topic "UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Wooden Tserkvas of Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine".  Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region are a group of wooden Orthodox (and some Eastern Catholic) churches located in Poland and Ukraine which were inscribed in 2013 on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The stamp depicts St. George's Church in Drohobych (Ukraine) and St.Paraschewa Church in Kwiatoń (Poland).

The Belarus Post 2016 Stamp programme informed about two joint issues: in May 2016 with Azerbaijan and in September 2016 with Moldova.

Emirates Post (United Arab Emirates) and Kazpost (Kazakhstan) signed an agreement that will come to the production of a joint issue featuring both countries' presidents, respectively HH Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Nursultan Nazarbayev. Details about the date of release is not yet known but it should take place ahead of the Expo-2017 which should take place in Kazakhstan from June to September 2017 nd probbly still during 2015.

Enzo Cafaro (Italy) found the following document potentially linked to an issue between Egypt and Uruguay. Date of issue is July 23, 2015. So far we have seen only the Uruguay document. Help is needed here.

September 9, 2015
We would like to provide the information that Dino Bettaglio, Italy, is looking to sell his entire collection of Joint Stamp Issues, a quite complete collection including stamps, souvenir sheets, miniature sheets and FDCs. If someone is interested, we can bring you in contact with Dino for details and discussion.

September 9, 2015
In the mails some collectors raised also some questions regarding recent or older series with potential joint issue character. Here are some details and some answers we already provided to the collectors, but could be of interest for others (also other requests will be answered in the course of the next weeks as plenty of questions came from collectors during this Summer):

From Roland Montagne (France): On June 18, 2015, the Czech Republic commemorated the 200th anniversary of the Waterloo battle with the release of a souvenir sheet based on the joint stamp with France from May 4, 2005. This is just an additional item to be included in the description of this earlier joint issue [T20050504]. Details and explanations can be found on the blog of Eric Contesse (France). This commemorative sheet was issued at only 1,700 samples. Note that the 2005 issue commemorated the Austerlitz Battle which is a victory of Emperor Napoleon the first, while this issue is commemorating the Battle of Waterloo, which a defeat, explaining the lack of interest of France to participate ;-)

From Grzegorz Omelanczuk (Poland): On September 22, 2015, the Jersey Post is planning to issue six stamps and a miniature sheet with the topic "Links with China - Garden Flowers". The stamps designs suggest international character of this issue as they were created by Wang Huming (China) and Martin Morck (Norway). Additionaly the China Post plans for September two stamps at the occasion of the 10th China International Garden Exposition. This could be the joint issue announced unilateraly by Jersey at the beginning of the year. We still need to wait to see the Chinese stamp pictures to confirm that these are the expected stamps for the planned joint issue.

September 9, 2015
Our friend Ahmad Omar bin Arbain (Malaysia) wrote directly to the UPU to enquire about the status of the "150th anniversary of the ITU" stamps and obtained the following answer: "These stamps don’t meet the requests for a joint issue or an omnibus. They have to be only considered as a commemorative issue. Thank for following the recommendations of the circulars of the UPU". This confirms the status we have given previously to these stamps and they will remain as "non-accepted joint issue" [N]. The situation is the same for all the stamps related to the 175th anniversary of the Penny Black.

July 11, 2015
We just received the stamps from the Singapore - France issue and have now more information, although still not complete, that should help to decide whether this will be filed as joint or not.

1. Singapore issued two stamps in panes and one souvenir sheet containing both stamps se-tenant, officially on May 18, 2015, but the Singapore Post web site tells us that “due to unforeseen circumstances this product [was] delayed to June 5”
2. Singapore miniature sheets have an imprint stating “Printer: La Poste” meaning that even the Singapore stamps have been printed in France (?). The Singapore stamps bear the 6 grey squares on the left and the bottom that are typical of French personalized stamps.
3. This issue was not announced in the official French philatelic program and was apparently prepared in a last minute action therefore not designed to be printed as standard stamps
4. In France two items became available, both being considered as  “personalized stamps” (Montimbramoi = in English, “My own stamp” or “Moncarnetamoi” = “My own booklet”) also called “collectors” when printed in larger amounts
1. A kind of booklet with four self-adhesive French stamps, of two types based on the designs as the Singapore stamps (that were in fact available on June 5, 2015). It was told that this item was printed only at 3,075 samples !
2. A similar booklet with four self-adhesive stamps, two Singapore stamps and two French stamps. We have seen this item only as cancelled item with a Singapore cancellation on the Singapore stamps (stating “Joint Stamp Issue”) and a French cancellation on the French stamps (from Paris, with the title “Singapore in France”). Both are dated May 18, 2015 but none is stating first day. Despite the fact that the cancellation is from May 18, these items became available only after the full French collector was issued, i.e. after June 5, 2015, without more precision about the real date of issue. Other important point: we have never seen this item non-cancelled which could confirm the fact that Singapore accepted production by France of Singaporean stamps under the condition that they will never be available on normal mail. So only cancelled self-adhesive Singaporean stamps and cancelled mixed collectors can be found. Source of the mixed collector seems only to be in Singapore. Note also that this 'collector' is the first known example of an item of this type that bears non-French stamps. Or it can be considered as the first foreign collector printed in france, with pre-cancelled French stamps ???
5. The cover pages of both items bear the logos of the French Post and the Singapore Post (which means that these are official and not private items) with on top of it a special mention stating that these items were produced in collaboration with the two postal administrations (as well as two designers paid by both postal administrations. The difference between the content is confirmed by a statement that the stamps included in the collectors are valid for postage, (i.e. the two Singaporean stamps in the mixed collector have a value, one for “1st Local postage” and the other of S$2.00)  
6. We know there is still possible to get first day cancellations from the French Post dated May 18, 2015 but not anymore from the original issuing center “Le Carré d’Encre” in Paris. The request must directly be addressed to Phil@poste, Service des obliterations, 3 - 5 Avenue Gallieni, 94257  Gentilly Cedex, France. In France one can obtain first day cancellations on personal mails by sending stamped covers to this address up to two months following the official date of issue, in this case up to July 18, 2015). We haven’t tried, so we do not know if it works here (Thanks to Dominique Josse, France, for this information).

From the above we can already come to the following deductions:

1. The “collector” production was the fastest way to compensate the lack of time to prepare a true joint issue
2. The major problem came from the fact that initially the French post did not intend to be involved in a joint issue
3. Official French issues are always presented in form of folders that contain the stamps from both countries. As a consequence of the lack of time for preparing this joint issue, such folders will not be available and we do not know at this stage if French catalogues will consider this issue as joint
4. Unfortunately, the limited number of printed French stamp will limit also the possibilities for collectors
5. In the definition of joint issues, we include the fact that stamps must be available at normal post offices which is not the case here. The stamps will however be considered as joint, but a note will be added to mention this fact and to warn collectors. It may be possible that there will be reprints and we will know this only by end of the year. .
6. This issue will therefore be considered as joint, and as a consequence of the existence of mixed booklets, will even have to be considered as a Siamese issue. However at this point we have to consider that the French Post was not fair with French philatelists in the sense that they did not make the French items available to a large public. It may be possible tht the French catalogues will not include these stamps in the next print out.

This however opens additional questions:

1. The Singapore stamps appearing on the French mixed collector are slightly different from the officially issued Singapore stamps. On the collector they seem to be really valid Singaporean stamps, but we haven’t seen such stamps on a cover from Singapore. Should we consider all pre-cancelled Singapore self-adhesive stamps as cinderellas?
2. Singapore should also recognize these stamps as Singaporean stamps. Where can we find such a statement or proof? Actually we also have been told that these mixed collectors were available in Singapore only. Any confirmation? Will the French stamps and the 'collectors' be refered to in Singapore stamp catalogues?
3. Collectors are usually limited in number of printings. We have absolutely no information about the number of mixed collectors that have been printed, but this is probably not larger than the full French collectors, i.e 3,000 or below? Will French Post reprint new ones if demand increases? If not and if these self-adhesive stamps are reported in catalogues, the value of these items will soare.
4. It is difficult to find comments about the French stamps on Singaporean web sites. We would be really interested in information coming from this part of the world, including the official reaction of the Singapore post.

We are still not understanding everything with this issue and hope to known more within the next months. Any additional comment or information is welcome.

July 11, 2015
A series of new joint issues have been released during the past month. Here is a summary:

Several questions arose from different collectors about the statute of the recently issued stamps relative to EuroMed 2015. Following the issue of the 2014 EuroMed common stamp [T20140709], this entity decided to issue new commemorative stamps on July 9, 2015. The topic is "Boats of the Mediterranean Sea", but stamps are different. Of course with a common date of issue these stamps will be considered as joint, and more precisely as a parallel issue [P] and will be filed under the catalogue number [P20150907].
So far we have seen stamps issued by Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Lebanon, Malta, Palestine and Slovenia, but also by Portugal and Tunisia as newcomers. If the same countries as last year remain involved we should also expect stamps from Egypt, Jordan, Libya and Morocco (perhaps even Syria which ws supposed to participate to the 2014 issue but never did). Here are the first pictures provided by Fabio Bonacina and Enzo Cafaro (Italy) and Don Birschel (USA).

The information concerning the potential Belgium Netherlands joint issue reported earlier needs to be corrected: at the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the battle of Waterloo both Belgium and the Netherlands have issued commemorative souvenir or miniature sheets. It appears that one portrait (Willem, Prince of Orange) is common for both items. Belgium stamps were issued on June 1, 2015 and the Netherlands issued its miniature sheet on June 22, 2015. Netherland Post claims a joint character for these items and therefore we could consider them as Concerted [C] stamps. Mixed documents have so far not been seen and information is still not clear. Can anyone help to clarify if we should attribute the subtype [C] or [N]? Even if it is [N] i.e. non-joint, it will be reported in the catalogue, as questions about it status may be raised at a later stage.

On June 15, 2015 several countries issued similar stamps related to the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta. Each country issued four stamps, in a similar design, but none are identical. Taking in account the number of countries involved, the number of stamps, the common printing site of the stamps and above all the fact that none of the countries claim a relationship on this topic with one of the other countries, we have to come to the conclusion that this series has to be considered as an omnibus series [O]. So far involved countries include Ascension Island, Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Falkland Islands and Tristan da Cunha. This list may not be complete yet. Here are some pictures:

The Japanese stamps from the expected Japan and South Korea joint issue have been issued on June 22, 2015 at the occasion of the 50th anniversary of their relationship (information provided by Roland Montagne, France). Unfortunately so far we haven't seen the South Korean stamps. Not sure that this will become a joint issue.

The Bolivian stamps, counterpart of the joint issue with South Korea released on April 24, 2015 finally became available on June 25, 2015 (Information discovered by Jaap sarelse, The Netherlands). This issue becomes therefore another Concerted issue [C].

Note also that in parallel to the May 7, 2015 joint issue between Germany and Israel, Germany produced also stationeries in form of covers, of two types, illustrated or not.

July 11, 2015
New issues to come and not reported so far:

A new joint issue between Australia, New Zealand and Singapore is scheduled for August 14, 2015, celebrating 50 years of bilateral relations and depicting the three parliament houses. Pictures of Australian stamps are already available (information provided by Grzegorz Omelanczuk, Poland).

Ingrid Bergman will be the 19th artist represented on a US stamp celebrating Legends of Hollywood. The date of issue corresponds also to the 100th anniversary of Ingrid Bergman. This stamp will be issued by the USA jointly with Sweden on August 20, 2015 (information found by Grzegorz Omelanczuk, Poland). Sweden will issue two different stamps. The common portrait of Ingrid Bergman will also be available in Sweden in form of a miniature sheet with 6 stamps. Mixed covers will be available as well..

July 1, 2015
The News from the period April to June 2015 have been archived.

All previous information reported in this section is to be found in the News Archives.