Egypt: Suez Canal by Postcard

When Egypt became a Republic in 1952, understandably its government wanted to regain control of the Suez Canal and secure the associated financial benefits. In 1956, Egyptian President Nasser revoked concessions granted to the predominantly French and British controlled Suez Canal Company – an act that led to conflict and the subsequent nationalisation of the

British Virgin Islands: Restoration of Legislative Council

The featured postage stamp is one of a set of four issued in 1951 to commemorate the restoration of the Legislative Council of the British Virgin Islands – an event that had taken place as a result of the re-introduction of democracy in 1950. The British Virgin Islands are a British Overseas Territory (self-governing with

Egypt: 1921 French Overprint Variations

In an earlier blog, we introduced the French issues of the Egyptian Ports of Alexandria and Port Said. The blog explored the postal issues of the British and French Post Offices and in particular, considered the French key plate designs of ‘Blanc’, Mouchon’ and ‘Merson’. The French continued to use French currency on these stamps

Puerto Rico: Spanish Definitives

Puerto Rico is today recognised officially as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and an unincorporated territory of the United States of America. As such, it adopts the US federal stamps for postal services. However, between 1873 and 1900, Puerto Rico issued distinctive stamps unique to the island. Puerto Rico is the most easterly of the

United Kingdom: Commonwealth Games

Monday 8th August will be the last day of the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, England. The featured image is of a stamp from an issue commemorating the sixth running of the event, then referred to as the British Empire and Commonwealth Games held in Cardiff, Wales in 1958. The Commonwealth Games is a

France: Tour de France

Like many who have an interest in cycling, this time of year is rather special. July is when the most prestigious of the Grand Tour cycling events takes place and arguably one of the worlds greatest annual sporting events – the Tour de France. Therefore, as a philatelist, the featured stamp has to be one

Jamaica: Mail Packet Boats

The featured image is of the mail packet boat Thames which is one of four vessels that appear on stamps issued by Jamaica in April 1974 to commemorate those that frequented Jamaica and neighbouring British embassies, colonies and outposts in the 19th century. The issue was accompanied by a miniature sheet included a depiction of

Thematics: Day of the Stamp

The ‘Day of the Stamp’ is typically a day of the year set aside by postal stamp-issuing authorities to publicise, and in some cases subsidise, philatelic events and exhibitions. The issues were popular in many European countries during the mid 20th Century including Germany, Austria, France, Spain, Netherlands, Italy and Hungary. The Day of the

Guide: First Impressions of Philatelic Social Media

OK, first things first, let’s be clear on one important caveat before I make a fool of myself … I am not a social media expert, I’m new to the world of online philately and my kids would be the first to point out that I’m far from cool! I know a little about Philately