Stamps of Bruce Henderson

Fortunately, my fisherwoman pal on the island was able to prevail on Miss Smergley to sign some covers.  Mine just arrived in the post, looking good:



Waikoa Island 2020 Stamp Collecting Month set,
on first day cover, and signed by the designer.

It is great news to hear that the Waikoa Island Post Office is planning a new issue to promote philately. They just announced this new issue last Friday:

Waikoa Observer newspaper wrote: Stamp Collecting Month to be honoured Waikoa Island will issue a special set of two commemorative stamps to celebrate the month of October as Stamp Collecting Month, announced the Postmaster, Mr Whetu Ngatai, today. "The two stamps, valued at 35 tanos and 1.70 reis, each show a view of a stamp stockbook page with a magnifier and some stamps thereon. Date of issue will be Tuesday 1st September 2020, and the stamps are being issued in small minisheets comprising five of each value, at Rs 10.25," he added. Millions of philatelists The president of the Waikoa Stamp Club, Mr Rasjid Grvanch, explained: "Stamp collecting is an important aspect of the modern world, and philatelists worldwide number in the millions.  In fact, were it not for philately, many small islands such as Waikoa, Pitcairn, Tuvalu, and St Kitts, would hardly be known at all in the wider world.  Despite much communication being done by email, philately still has a vital role to play in the modern world, and philatelists remain valued humans in every land." The sheets of stamps carry messages on the side-selvedges urging folks to join their local stamp clubs, and mentioning that Waikoa Island's first stamps appeared over half a century ago, back in 1965.  Most stamps have widely-accepted valuations, and exhibitions are held around the globe.  Exchanging duplicate stamps by mail with friends from other lands is a great way to build up an interesting collection, and meet fellow collectors. The new stamps were designed by Miss Millicent Smergley of Takavau, and printed by Chan Hui Shudian Printers in Minaue.  They are printed in full-colour on 100 gram security paper, and perf 12. Spice of philately Asked about the recent stamps celebrating Letter-Writing Week (some of which had a spelling error), Mr Grvanch said that errors are the spice of philately.  "Collectors enjoy finding stamps with errors on, and the fact that the Post Office continues to sell both the stamps with and without the error makes life more interesting for us," he concluded.

Waikoa Island 2020 Stamp Collecting Month, minisheet.

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Penguin on Marijuana ‽

Or Marijuana on Penguin?


Mevu 2020 Marijuana Tax overprint on 2019 fiscal stamp.

Panterra wrote: Mevu 2019 fiscal stamps, showing the Mevu crest with a penguin on iceberg. Mevu has used a standing penguin on its crest since independence 50 years ago. Visit their website.

The 7¼ reis stamp (mainly used for Marijuana Tax) was recently issued with an appropriate overprint.

Rs 7.25, Orange & green . . .    Marijuana tax. (Must be affixed to every half-ounce bag of cannabis sold.)

The basic stamp is printed in fluorescent orange, which does not take kindly to being scanned, and here seems a pale pink.  If you recall the bright fluoro orange supplied to paint model aircraft, it is the exact match!

Should we describe this as a Penguin on Marijuana?

Or Marijuana on Penguin?  

Upper Yafa celebrates the 70th birthday of its much-loved ruler, Sultan Bogdo the second, on 19th July 2020 (or 28th Dhul Qadah, 1441, in Hijri calendar.)


The stamps show His Majesty the Sultan, and a Piper Warrior aircraft, a small plane that His Majesty learned to fly back in 1978 (= 1398 A.H.)

Wikipedia wrote: The Islamic calendar, also known as the Hijri, Lunar, or Arabic calendar, is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to determine the proper days of Islamic holidays & rituals, such as the annual period of fasting & the proper time for the Hajj. Dhu al-Qa'dah is the 11th month in this calendar. It is one of the four sacred months in Islam during which warfare is prohibited, hence the name "Master of Truces". The most correct transliteration of the month according to the thirteenth century Syrian jurist al-Nawawi is Dhu'l Qa'dah. The Piper PA-28 Cherokee is a family of two-seat or four-seat light aircraft built by Piper Aircraft and designed for flight training, air taxi and personal use. The PA-28 family of aircraft comprises all-metal, unpressurized, single-engined, piston-powered airplanes with low-mounted wings and tricycle landing gear. They have a single door on the right side, which is entered by stepping on the wing. The first PA-28 received its type certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration in 1960 and the series remains in production to this day. Current models are the Warrior, Arrow, and Archer TX and LX, and the Pilot 100 and i100. The PA-28-161 Warrior II is a 4-place, fixed landing gear landplane, Lycoming O-320-D3G engine of 160 hp (119 kW), gross weight 1,055 kg. First certified on 2 November 1976. Changes from the PA-28-160 include a tapered wing. Certified in 1982 for gross weight of 1,107 kg.

Panterra wrote:                                                    Two tee or not two tee. That is the question.

If you think the Maggie Mailbox stamp is complicated, it has nothing on other Waikoan issues:


                                  Waikoa Island 2019 postal-fiscal issue, 300 reis.


                                          The controversial "yellow" fiscal stamps.
Note the lemon shade of the 300 reis stamp, and compare this with the scan of the same stamp shown above in my earlier post.

Waikoa Observer newspaper wrote: Scandal at the Post Office over yellow stamps! A row has erupted at the Minaue Post Office, which sells fiscal stamps for tax purposes as agent for the Department of Finance. One of the main stamps purchased in big bulk is the 4¼ reis stamp for entertainment tax.  These are affixed to all cinema and sporting event tickets, and now that cinemas have re-opened following the pandemic lockdown, large quantities are being used. But the fiscal stamp series includes two yellow stamps: the aforementioned 4¼ reis, and also the 300 reis stamp, which is also yellow, though in a lemon shade.  Far fewer of that stamp are sold, as it is mainly used for tax on land transfer. Last week, a postal assistant got a request from a customer for two dozen "yellow stamps for cinema tickets", and accidently handed over twenty-four of the yellow Rs 300 stamp, and only charged the client 102 reis, assuming it was the 4¼ reis stamp. When it was time to balance the books at the end of the day, it was noted that the discrepancy  was Rs 7,098, and after much re-checking, the source of the error was identified. The assistant was ordered to reimburse the Post Office the shortfall, but distraught, she went home and took an overdose of drugs in a suicide attempt.  Fortunately she was able to be revived in hospital, and the Post Office has agreed to write off the amount. However, it highlights the problem of the stamp colours being so similar.  To solve the problem, the Rs 300 lemon stamps have all been withdrawn, and the printers instructed to print a new supply of Rs 300 stamps in red.  Most of the withdrawn Rs 300 stamp have now been overprinted "Official" for government office use. A spokesman for Chan Hui Shudian Printers, Mr Jiang Malingshu, said that the original instructions for printing the fiscal stamps were that each stamp should be a distinctive different colour, and that black must not be used.  He thought that the orange and lemon stamps were sufficiently different to comply with that directive, and pointed out that each had the value inscription in a different colour so they looked nothing like each other.  And the suggested stamp colours were all signed off by the Governor.

Yesterday the new Rs 300 stamp in red shade was released, and my fisherwoman pal on the island kindly organised a few FDCs. Luckily the fish have been biting lately, so she had a glut of cash to fork out the huge cost (= US$300!) per FDC:


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