Guernsey 1999 - focus

Guernsey

27th April 1999 - "Nature reserves and Parks"
design: Colleen Corlett
printer: Walsall Security Printers

This Summer I’ve visited for the first time the Channel Islands. As a Europa stamps collector I learnt to know very well the islands of Jersey and Guernsey through their stamps issues. This I decided to see it all in real !

The Channel Islands are an archipelago composed by five main islands. The three biggest islands issue stamps : Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney. The first two also issue Europa stamps but Alderney don’t. The other two main islands: Sarq and Herm don’t issue stamps… or better said, don’t issue stamps anymore.

In 1999 Guernsey issued a set of four stamps, two bearing the Europa logo featuring the nature of the island of Herm. It’s one of the rare Europa issue featuring a stamp on stamp !


The island of Herm is part of the bailiwick of Guernsey and is rent to a tenant ! During twenty years, from 1949 until 1969, the tenant of Herm decided to produce the island's own stamps. You can see some of those stamps on the 1999 Europa stamps of Guernsey. Those private issues from the islands of Herm were available with or without perforation and were triangular.



One more intersting thing about Herm stamps is that they also issued Europa stamps ! Well, not official ones but stamps with the word "Europa" written on it. Those "bogus" Europa stamps were issued in 1962 and 1963. They also over printed stamps with the word "Europa" in 1961, 1964, 1966


If you are interested in those Herm stamps, you can find them on auction websites are at around 7€ for a full set of 12 (you can find other Herm issues as well). You can also visit this website dedicated to Herm's stamps (sell also some sets).

source of the images : http://www.ibolli.it/indexes/cept/index.php & http://www.hermstamps.co.uk