Questionnaire on how your Post Office releases your stamps

Postcards & Mail Mail, stamps & postal info
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Hi Everyone, I need your help.

I’ve noticed many countries’ Post Offices seem to be very good at releasing lists & photos of their yearly stamp releases either ahead of or at the beginning of the year which I think is great! They often add their release dates too to these lists.

I want to collect this info by country with your help.

All in the hope of lobbying Canada Post which does not do this at all!

We used to get a partial list with release dates but no pictures. This year you had to hunt to find a partial list but there were no specific release dates published in advance at all & it was very frustrating to keep track of new stamps coming out. I think Canada Post can do better but I want some data about other countries do to help persuade them.

So please answer the following questions below & thanks so much for your help.

I will compile the answers into a summary post in a few weeks. (And I’ve done it this way as I couldn’t quite figure out how to do this as a poll given that I want the info specific to each country)

QUESTIONNAIRE:

Tell us what country you’re in please:

CHOOSE WHICH OPTION BEST DESCRIBES WHAT HAPPENS IN YOUR COUNTRY:

Option A - Post Office publishes full list at the beginning/ahead of the year with pictures of the stamps WITH their release dates

Option B - Post Office publishes full list at the beginning/ahead of the year with pictures of the stamps WITH NO release dates

Option C - Post Office publishes full list at the beginning/ahead of the year WITH NO pictures & with or without release dates

Option D - Other - please describe what your Post Office does

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USA - A
We get a beautiful quarterly catalog with all the stamp release dates and photos.

Latest USPS Philatelic Catalog

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3

So you get appoximately 3 months notice on new stamps - is that correct?

4

Singapore - D

Every year Singpost releases a number of stamps
Certain stamps are known to be released for sure (Zodiac, the year’s stamp collection) while others are slowly made known to philatelists

Every quarter, the post office publishes a small magazine, Miniature World (MW) that details the upcoming issues.

Pictures of the stamps are published in MW.

Of course, as you proceed on in the year, MW gets longer (since there are actually more stamps and events to talk about :rofl:)
And the list of (tentative) stamp issues also gets longer (last page of MW)

The post office also plays a short video (1-2 mins) every month that loops, and shows the new stamps on it (which is where I sometimes get my stamp info)

Here are the issues from this year

136: Jan to March 2023
https://m.facebook.com/albums/859416458453396/
137: April to June 2023
https://m.facebook.com/albums/922868042108237/
138: July to Sept 2023
https://m.facebook.com/albums/989892108739163/
139: Oct to Dec 2023
https://m.facebook.com/albums/1044429129952127/

Depending on when the stamps come out, it’s usually a 2 week to a month’s notice.

The FB page releases info about 2 weeks in advance, while if I visit the post office in early November, I will know what the stamps for Bird Paradise (15 Nov) and Horoscope III (22 Nov) look like as it will be playing the November video

Actually I do know what Horoscope III looks like because it was shown in MW139 but you get what I mean

Sometimes the post office also decides to drop bombshells on us :joy:
For example, National Monuments (30 June) was a last minute drop, no mention of it in MW137. Only found out about it from the post office video, maybe about a week before issue.

So not really a full list - best you can say it’s a quarterly list (sometimes with pictures), and subject to last minute additions

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In Serbia stamps are issued as option C - no pictures and no dates, just list. The list also changes during year and usualy a few more issues are added. Stamps are issued usualy in order shown on the list, but there are many exceptions.

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The USPS is Option B with an asterisk leading up to the new year (press release), then turns into Option A with an asterisk with quarterly details (catalog). *Asterisk is because they never have the full lineup. Always room for a few additional designs to be added throughout the year.

The upcoming year’s picture preview in the prior fall, typically late October to mid November. These fall announcements do not have the release dates. Their disclaimer every year is a variation on “This is a partial list, with more to be revealed in the weeks and months ahead. All stamp designs are preliminary and subject to change.”

Then, as @WrenAtTheBeach mentioned, upcoming release dates are published in the catalog, with the selection of stamps closest to the release date, plus some already available.

https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2020/1117-usps-announces-upcoming-stamps.htm
https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2021/1101-usps-reveals-new-stamps-for-2022.htm

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Here in Australia we get a Stamp Bulletin every second month which announces the upcoming stamps as well as some other items (collector coins etc). The website says:

The Stamp Bulletin is a free publication, produced on a bi-monthly basis. It contains details of upcoming stamp issues by Australia Post, including background information, product listings, technical specifications and special features. Licensed products and coins (numismatics) are also a feature of each edition, as well as an order form for Mail Order customers.

Our most recent issue was released on the 16th of October and covers stamps for the rest of the month and to December, it includes release dates and prices! You can click here to see it if you like!

We also have a digital archive of all previous issues which is handy if you ever want to look back at anything!

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8

In UK ,Royal Mail release a stamp calendar:

https://shop.royalmail.com/download-stocklist

But only the ones that are released or close to release can be viewed. People who follow philatelic sites see them a little earlier than can be seen on the general Royal Mail site, I think.

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9

The UK does a stamp calendar as said above. They normally announce this in the last week of the year. It will only have the titles of the issues, and some will be “TBC”.

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Germany - D

The Ministry of Finance is responsible for new stamp releases. At first we will get a list of all issues for the upcoming year:

This is not fix though and might be changed in some parts.

They will publish pictures of the upcoming stamps a few weeks ahead:

In addition the German Post issues a philatelic magazine where upcoming stamp issues are shown. The downside is that in the free digital version all stamp images are in terrible quality. In the print version everything is fine.

https://shop.deutschepost.de/sammeln/philatelie/philatelie-service/sammlerkataloge

edit: stamps are released monthly, always on the first Thursday of the month :slight_smile:

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Russia is C. They publish a complete list with the release dates of the stamps and what topic they will be devoted to, but without photographs.

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Netherlands is D, they publish the list with descriptions WITH release dates but don’t actually reveal the design until the stamps are released.

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13

Malaysia is D - our post office only releases dates a few week before (not all at the start of the year), without pictures (those come around a week in advance). They come with release dates but are only tentative and are known to change or have the release completely cancelled.

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14

Poland is C/D - we do get a theoretically complete list ahead of time, no pictures - these will be published sometimes only a few days before actual release. The list changes, though - there are always issues that get cancelled and other ones added.

At the end of the list there is always a note saying that definitive stamps can be issued “as needed” and we can’t be sure which stamps on the list might actually turn out to be definitives (small size, published in big sheets of 100 stamps and more - not necessarily a part of any predefined series).

Some stamps are usually issued every year - like the EUROPA stamp - but I wouldn’t say anything is truly fixed, that we know this stamp will be there every year. I would expect even an ongoing series could be discontinued suddenly.

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Add on to Malaysia’s:

Here’s to let yall know how it feels like hearing announcements from Pos Malaysia:

Some dates issued in September, including the 10th issue which is stated to be released on 20th of October (today)

Then on the 18th of October they issued a new tentative list…

img_1_1697705552059
img_1_1697705552059720×605 36.9 KB

Also note items 7 and 9, those “sale dates” are the actual dates that these stamps are sold. The previous tentatives we had only includes the bolded dates on the right, and Pos Malaysia announced to us like just a few days before that these issues will be delayed (yup, even world post day stamps can be delayed)

We also do not know the stamp denominations until the stamp designs are published, this year most of them are released within 3 days before the issue date.

It’s honestly harder to arrange buying new stamps in Malaysia nowdays that I skip buying several of them already lol

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It is so terrible that the official Pos Malaysia site only post the new stamp release announcement (with poster) on the actual day of the release (around noon time or later). And no one like to get last minute announcement. Not even a 24 hours prior notice before the release date.

We have to depend on stamp collector blog for early announcement.

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17

We get much longer than that…. @valdavid explained it best.

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18

Unfortunately , these can only be purchased online, spend £ 50.00 to get free postage.

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Thailand :thailand: is Option D.

Thailand Post announces stamp plan for the next year with the release date, but it maybe announce with month (with no exact date) for some issues. Some issues may be postponed for some circumstances or canceled issuing later.

Pictures of some featured stamps issues are shown at the beginning of the year, but it may be changed later.

Describe in easy way — Have a plan, but plan may be changed.

The best way to catch up Thailand newly issued stamps is seeking the latest and updated data from “Thai Stamp Museum” fanpage on Facebook — Thailand Post official fanpage for philatelic service.

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Norway = C

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