Tuesday 1 September 2015

628. Completist's Nightmare - Malta's Sterling Silver Stamps Valid For Postage.


  MaltaPost is to issue a set of 28 sterling silver stamps, each with a face value of €14.15c, which reproduce the designs of the set of stamps issued during 2014 on the subject of Grandmasters of The Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Usually such items are non postally valid but this collection of items will be postally valid though why anyone would dream of attaching such an item to a letter or parcel to be sent through the post is a mystery to me. 
 The "issue" is limited to a total of 650 sets and each set is housed in a customised presentation box which also includes the 28 stamps on paper plus a sterling silver foil map of the Maltese islands. 
  For anyone who wants to maintain a complete collection of postally valid Maltese stamps these items are the cause of a dilemma - do they really want to pay €398 (£292.14p) for the complete collection and therefore ensure that their Maltese collection is complete or, if only on the grounds of common sense, do they think that can miss out this set from their collection since, even if the stamps are postally valid, are they ever going to be used on genuine mail as an indication of postage paid? With the pound so strong against the euro at present these near-fantasy items might be worth considering obtaining in Britain though not in the Eurozone. Myself, I think I've got better things to do with £292 though I have felt twinges of feeling that I just could take a punt on these items. 
  The Norfolk Island postal administration issued 5 stamps on 13 July 2015 to commemorate the "Christmas in July" Festival being held on the island. Various performers were depicted on the stamps. Rating:- ***.






  





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