
Tag: United Arab Emirates
This is the first part of what I hope will be a comprehensive listing of new stamp issues as they are released throughout the year. This project began as a simple spreadsheet on which I tabulated every release I could track down. It soon became a “mission” to make the listing as complete as I could make it without access to the catalogues (which are published long after the stamps are issued). I then intended to create an end-of-the-month illustrated blog article but that proved to be too massive of a project, especially with my work schedule and other activities. I have since decided to post the information as a page that I constantly update throughout the year (and, as such, will always be accessible from the top menu on the page). I will announce progress on the page through my “Weekly Phila-Bytes” columns.
The listings are chronological by date, and then alphabetical by stamp-issuing entity. The images come from a wide range of difference sources, some are high-quality scans, others are low-resolution promotional mock-ups. Those latter images will be replaced by better ones as soon as I can. If you own any of these stamps, I would appreciate any upgrade in scans of your actual stamps via email. Occasionally, there are links that lead to additional information, including technical details, of the various stamp issues.
I hope you find this compilation useful.
January 1, 2019
France
January 1, 2019: Definitive Stamp — Marianne (International Rate)




Israel
January 1, 2019: ATM Labels — Fighter Jets in the Israeli Air Force



Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
January 1, 2019: Happy New Year 2019


Thailand
January 1, 2019: Year of the Pig



January 2, 2019
Algeria
January 2, 2019: International Year of the Periodic Table

Andorra (French Administration)
January 2, 2019: Coat of Arms Definitive (International Rate)

Belarus
January 2, 2019: 100th Anniversary of Byelorussian SSR


Belgium
January 2, 2019: Mourning Prior Philippe


Denmark
January 2, 2019: National Flag


January 2, 2019: Life of Vikings


January 2, 2019: Definitive Stamp — Wavy Lines & Hearts


French Southern and Antarctic Lands
January 2, 2019: American Bay Cabin

January 2, 2019: White Tern

January 2, 2019: Minerals — Sapphire

January 2, 2019: French Cruiser Colbert

January 2, 2019: Antarctic Horsefish

January 2, 2019: Kerguelen Island — Bras Jules Laboureur

January 2, 2019: Kerguelen Island — Lake Sediment Sampling Program

January 2, 2019: B2M Champlain

January 2, 2019: Insects — Neomaso Antarcticus

January 2, 2019: Yves Valette, 1920-2014

January 2, 2019: Mario Zucchelli, 1944-2003

January 2, 2019: Birds

January 2, 2019: Seashells

January 2, 2019: Restoration of Phylica Arborea Trees on Amsterdam Island

January 2, 2019: Photovoltaic Plant, Tromelin Island

Germany
January 2, 2019: Treasures of German Museums — “The Lonely Tree” by Caspar David Friedrich


January 2, 2019: Young Animals — Racoon


January 2, 2019: 100th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage



January 2, 2019: Endangered Animals – Harbor Porpoises




Netherlands
January 2, 2019: Beautiful Netherlands — Texel


January 2, 2019: Experience Nature



Spain
January 2, 2019: Engineering — Panama Canal

January 2, 2019: 12 Months, 12 Stamps — Huesca

January 2, 2019: Tourism

January 3, 2019
Moldova
January 3, 2019: National Emergency Service



January 4, 2019
Andorra (French Administration)
January 4, 2019: The Legend of the White Horse of Solana

Andorra (Spanish Administration)
January 4, 2019: Andorran Flag Definitive


Jersey
January 4, 2019: Year of the Pig





Lithuania
January 4, 2019: Symbols of the State — Flags




Maldives
January 4, 2019: Birds — Ibis

Monaco
January 4, 2019: International Circus Festival



January 4, 2019: 10 Years of the Fédération Mondiale du Cirque



Mongolia
January 4, 2019: Year of the Pig




Myanmar
January 4, 2019: 71st Anniversary of Independence


Norway
January 4, 2019: European Green Capital — Oslo


January 4, 2019: Antarctica



Romania
January 4, 2019: Council of the European Union Presidency



Singapore
January 4, 2019: Year of the Pig




January 5, 2019
People’s Republic of China
January 5, 2019: Year of the Pig



Sri Lanka
January 5, 2019: Theravada Tripitaka

January 5, 2019: AFC Asia Cup

January 6, 2019
Myanmar
January 6, 2019: Equestrian Festival

January 7, 2019
France
January 7, 2019: African Inspiration: Fabric

January 8, 2019
Christmas Island
January 8, 2019: Year of the Pig






Italy
January 8, 2019: 30th Anniversary of the Pitti Immagine Foundation


January 9, 2019
Croatia
January 9, 2019: 100th Anniversary of the Medjimurje Liberation

Russian Federation
January 9, 2019: Collection of Christmas — Omsk



Spain
January 9, 2019: International Year of the Periodic Table

Turkey
January 9, 2019: Precious Stones


January 10, 2019
People’s Republic of China
January 10, 2019: Chinese New Year Greetings Stamp



Sweden
January 10, 2019: Tulips





January 10, 2019: King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia



January 10, 2019: The Power of Handicrafts






United States of America
January 10, 2019: Hearts Blossom





Uruguay
January 10, 2019: Definitive Issue — José G. Artígas, 1764-1850




A fairly active week for me in my hobby of philately capped off by purchasing the year’s second Thailand stamp issue and some successful bids on eBay (where I’ve been looking at some classic U.S. stamps trying to fill gaps in my 1893 Columbians and 1869 pictorials sets as well as much more recent first day covers). I received a few purchases made in December and am continuing to seek out news of upcoming releases for 2019. Canada recently revealed its first designs of the year, the first of which were issued on January 14, and Great Britain releases its Stamp Classics sheet today. I’ve also begun creating what I am calling my “Virtual Album”, placing scanned images upon digital pages. All of this amidst daily additions to the A Stamp A Day blog (and my day-job of teaching) has made for a very busy week indeed.
It wasn’t until last night that I had a chance to read a few philatelic news sites, learning that the National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C. is yet another victim (as are all of the other Smithsonian Institution facilities) of the current U.S. government shutdown that began on December 22. The postal museum closed on January 2 and suspended all on-site programming and events. The Smithsonian Institution is about two-thirds federally funded, with the rest of the funding coming from other areas; including donations, endowments and revenues from product development and sales, concessions and other sources. The Smithsonian Institution reports that its federal appropriation for the 2018 fiscal year was $1 billion.
Ajman (1964-1972)
LOCATION: Oman Peninsula, Arabia, on Persian Gulf
AREA: 100 sq. mi. (260 sq. km)
Population: 4,400 (est. 1970)
GOVERNMENT: Sheikdom under British protection
CAPITAL: Ajman
FIRST STAMPS ISSUED: 20 June 1964
LAST STAMPS ISSUED: 1972 [those issued after 18 December 1965 are unlisted in Scott]
CURRENCY:
100 Naiye Paise = 1 Rupee (1964-1966); 100 Fils = 1 Dinar (1966-1972)
Ajman is the smallest of seven emirates, centrally located on the western coast of the present-day United Arab Emirates in eastern Arabia. It is the smallest of the emirates by area and had an estimated population of 4,400 in 1970. Today, the population is more than 360,000. Ajman City is the capital and the port is situated down a short creek. The emirate is bordered by Sharjah and is only 10km away from Dubai in the south and Umm al Quwain in the north.
British influence in the region increased in the early nineteenth century. Following the capture of Ras al Khaimah by a British force, the sultan of Sharjah sighed the General Maritime Treaty with Great Britain on 8 January 1820, surrendering the towers, guns and vessels of Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al Quwain and their dependencies. Ajman initially refused the primacy of the sultan of Sharjah but capitulated in 1823. A British maritime survey in 1822 had noted that Ajman had one of the best backwaters on the coast and was a small town with a single fortified building, the ruler’s house.
Ajman town and its date groves were attacked by the Bani Yas tribe in 1831. Forces from Ajman subsequently attacked Sohar and Muscat which prompted a British naval force being sent to curb the raids in 1832. Ending conflicts between Sharjah, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Ajman, a Maritime Treaty was signed in 1835. Forces from Al Heera invaded Ajman in 1840 which prompted further reprisals and another Maritime Treaty between the Trucial sheiks and the British in 1843. A “Perpetual Treaty of Peace” was entered into by the coastal sheiks on 4 May 1853; a further treaty bound the Trucial States to Britain in 1892.
In 1948, the British Postal Agencies in Eastern Arabia were set up to provide postal services to countries in the region with mail processed in Dubai using stamps issued for the Trucial States. The first post office in Ajman was opened on 29 November 1963 by the Agencies. The first stamps inscribed with the individual emirate name of Ajman were issued on 20 June 1964. The sheikdom released 64 stamps – 46 general issue, nine airmail, four airmail official, and five official stamps – in 1964 and 1965.
On 5 July 1966, Ajman opened a post office in its small dependency of Manama. The first Manama issue appeared soon afterwards and the two postal agencies released thousands of stamps designed solely with the worldwide collector in mind. As these had little to no postal validity, the Scott catalogue does not list any Ajman stamps released after December 1965, nor any of the Manama issues. To identify these unlisted stamps, the Oh My Gosh website is useful. I believe that the Michel and Stanley Gibbons catalogues list some of these disputed issues, but I don’t have the pertinent volumes available to check.
Ajman agreed to join the independent United Arab Emirates on 2 December 1971 and the UAE took over postal operations on 1 August 1972. Ajman stamps were allowed to be used for postage until the following April. Numerous Ajman-inscribed stamps continued to be released throughout 1972 and beyond but these weren’t recognized as valid by the government. In addition to the sixty-four listed in Scott, it has been estimated that an additional six to seven thousand different Ajman stamps came onto the philatelic market between 1964 and 1972. It’s been reported that the Ajman postmaster, without consulting the government, sold “exclusive” stamp-printing contracts to at least two separate agencies during this time.
The majority of the Scott-listed stamps are valued at less than US $1 with the most expensive being Scott #18, priced at US $4.30 in my 2009 edition of the catalogue. Most of the postally-disputed unlisted stamps are considered to be practically worthless but can offer nice additions to certain topical collections. It is probably impossible to aim for completeness, however…
I currently have twenty-nine stamps from Ajman in my general worldwide collection, one of which will be earmarked for my A Stamp From Everywhere album. I own all nine of the Scott-listed airmail stamps, C1-C9. The first six values were released on 15 November 1965 and the remaining three high-value stamps appeared on 18 December 1965, about two weeks after my birth. I also have twenty tiny unlisted airmail stamps picturing various countries’ military uniforms and carrying the date 1972, along with the inscription “Ajman State and its Dependencies.”