Stamp News Australia June 2024

Royal Mail under siege 1 Reported at www.euronews.com Shares in IDS, the owner of Royal Mail, rose after reports that it has received - and rejected - a bid from Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský. UK postal and courier service, Royal Mail, has received a takeover bid from Daniel Křetínský, a Czech billionaire who has also invested in Sainsbury’s and West Ham United Football Club. Royal Mail has reportedly rejected the offer and apparently Křetínský is now renegotiating. Křetínský’s EP Group has already acquired a 27.5% ownership share in Royal Mail through his investment entity, Vesa. “EP Group recognises that Royal Mail is in a challenging situation,” Křetínský’s company said in a newly released statement. “EP Group also recognises that Royal Mail is an important national asset that would benefit from…

Fig. 1) 1914. ½d Green Kangaroo on colour PPC of George St. Sydney, cancelled by Telegraph Branch R of Sydney cds 28 JA 14. Fine & fresh, minor faults to card. Value approx. $75 Following on from last month’s article I am now going to suggest to those interested, a new sideline. Choosing a country, or period from a country, or theme…. solo usage commercial (i.e., non-philatelic) covers. For today I will give illustrations of solo use Australian 1913 – 1945 Kangaroos on card or cover. Wrappers, tags or parcel labels are equally valid. Collecting all of the watermarks, on all of the values right up to £2 would be well-nigh impossible. Starting with the lowest denomination, ½d Green to the 2/- maroon, here is a run-down of the values,…

philatelic news Split Enz was New Zealand’s first internationally recognised band. Revered and influential to this day, they were true originals who created their own sound and style of performance from the time they formed as Split Ends in 1972. In 1975, Split Enz recorded their debut album Mental Notes, now seen by many as an early masterpiece. But it was with 1980’s True Colours that the band truly arrived on the world stage. Tim Finn’s songs Shark Attack, I Hope I Never and Poor Boy became staples of the live set, while Neil Finn contributed the band’s biggest hit, I Got You. True Colours also ushered in the era of Eddie Rayner’s instrumentals, which featured on all subsequent Enz albums. True Colours was in heavy rotation on college radio…

Welcome to the postal stationery column for June 2024. This month’s column looks at Australia Post new issues, a new section on view cards for the online Handbook and Catalogue of New South Wales postal stationery and the first exhibition results for 2024. Marine Emblems Postal Cards On 6 March 2024, three postal cards were issued depicting marine animals. The three animals depicted were the Leafy Seadragon (Figure 1), Eastern Blue Groper, and the Barrier Reef Anemonefish. Special Occasion 2024 Postal Cards Eight postal cards were issued on 3 April 2024 as part of the 2024 ‘special occasions’ issue. The cards depicted: Rose, Tulips, Cake, Kangaroo (Figure 2), Wattle, Ring, Champagne glasses, and Dahlia. Picturing War Postal Cards On 16 April 2024, three cards were issue showing wartime photographers: Herbert…

SG Ireland 2023 Edition Paperback, 135 pages, 8th edition RRP A$ TBA I always get a little bit extra excited whenever a new Irish catalogue or handbook arrives on my desk and this new SG edition is no exception. It’s been almost five years since the 7th edition was published and we find that this new volume has increased by 29 pages over the last one. Of course new issues take up several pages as the do with any catalogue, but in this case it’s only around a third of the total page increase, with the September 2023 Cancer research issue being the last ‘regular’ set included and the second ‘Art on a stamp’ series issued the same month being the last ‘SOAR’ set covered. So, I hear you ask,…

2024 SEPAC Åland Post Åland have produced a stunning SEPAC issue this year, with an equally stunning first day cover. The stamp shows a summer panorama of the Åland archipelago with its bare rocks, leafy skerries, bridges, sailboats, and sparse settlements. The archipelago attracts thousands of tourists to Åland every year, and this unique island world in the Baltic Sea is formed by many islands, shallow bays, and bay systems. In the Archipelago Sea between the main group of islands – called Fasta Åland – and “Skiftet”, which constitutes the border with Finland, we find an estimated 6,700 islands with an area of over 2,500 m² and around 20,000 islands and islets smaller than 0.25 ha. ABBA – 50 years of Waterloo PostNord Sweden Fifty years ago on 6th April…