Isle of Man

FACEBOOK - STAMP THING - ISLE OF MAN

Currently listing (though to be fair most are selling as soon as they go on!) are stamps from the Isle of Man, a small island in the Celtic Sea which lies close to England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. The island had UK regionals from 1958 and became postally independent in 1973. There are earlier revenue stamps specifically for the island as well.

Reasonable amounts of stamps are issued each year and most issues are relevant to the island, which is distinct in many ways (from cats to trams) as is not part of the UK but a self-governing territory - in fact it has the world's oldest continuing parliament (Tynwald). Its distictive flag (the treskillion) shows the symbol of the island on a red field, the island issues its own currency (sterling, but with a Manx theme), it has its own language (Manx, a Celtic language, similar to Cornish, Welsh etc) and has a fantastic network of narrow gauge trains and trams, including steam, electric and horse-powered. It is an intriguing mix of the best of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, but is also distinctively Manx.

All in all a fascinating country to collect, and there are few if any expensive stamps. 

Isle of Man stamps for sale.

Bermuda

FACEBOOK - STAMP THING - BERMUDA

A very popular collecting area is Bermuda. This small group of islands off the east coast of the USA are still a colony of the UK rather than an independent nation. They have a conservative stamp issuing policy and all stamps are relevant to the islands.

I'm currently uploading a lovely unmounted mint collection from 1953 almost to date so this area will be well covered, although several of the better definitive sets sold almost as quickly as they went on.

BERMUDA FOR SALE 

Luxembourg

FACEBOOK - STAMP THING - LUXEMBOURG

I am currently listing Luxembourg, mainly modern issues. The country follows a fairly conservative stamp issuing programme with few stamps over €1 face value. Most stamps have a local or European theme.

Luxembourg for sale 

The British Regionals

FACEBOOK - STAMP THING  GREAT BRITAIN

The United Kingdom has always been a country of at least four nations but this wasn't really reflected in stamps until the regional issues of 1958 were issued. These Wilding designs were for the three larger countries of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and also for the much smaller regions (not part of the UK) of Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man.

There were not many stamps issued in these first sets as postage rates were fairly stable. Guernsey and Jersey both got their own postal authorities in 1969, so these areas never issued decimal regionals. In fact Guernsey now has regionals of its own for Alderney.

The Isle of Man just reached the decimal era with a set of 4 Machin values, but the island also gained postal independence in 1973 so now issues stamps of its own. 

The regional stamps were valid throughout the UK, whereas the stamps of the independent postal authorities are not.

There was of course one huge anomaly - the largest country of the UK, England, did not have any regional stamps! These were finally issued in 2001. England never had Machin issues, the first issues being of the new 'Emblems' style. These are illustrated above, the English stamps being the oak and rose.

There is now a growing sense of regional identity in England, with Cornwall (never technically part of England) leading the way in calling for more regional powers. Other areas of England, Wessex and Mercia in particular, are following the Cornish path. So the regional story is only really just beginning!

GB REGIONALS FOR SALE

Montserrat

FACEBOOK - STAMP THING  MONTSERRAT

Montserrat, a British Overseas Territory, formerly issued stamps concurrently with the Leeward Islands until they were withdrawn in 1956. However, the first Montserrat issue, in 1876, used the 1d. red and 6d. green stamps of Antigua overprinted MONTSERRAT.

Montserrat is a mountainous Caribbean island, part of the Lesser Antilles chain and a British Overseas Territory. Its Soufrière Hills volcano erupted in the 1990s, causing significant damage to the south of the island and leading to the creation of an exclusion zone. The north of the island is largely unaffected, and has black-sand beaches, coral reefs, cliffs and shoreline caves.

MONTSERRAT FOR SALE

Andorra

FACEBOOK - STAMP THING - ANDORRA

I recently found a really nice collection of Andorra (French and Spanish POs) and I've just started listing these as well as setting up a Facebook page for the country. These are very well produced stamps and both POs have a conservative issuing policy. I'll be listing these over the next week or two.

I was really only looking for stock sheets to send stamps out to customers so the Andorran material was a bit of a bonus.

I visited Andorra in 1981 and remember a difficult climb over a mountain pass to reach there with the car almost shuffering to a halt on the way. I haven't returned since and only stayed one night. No doubt I will go back one day!

Andorra (French POs) for sale.