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January 7, 2009

A flood of Obama stamps

It's not surprising that a lot of countries are issuing stamps showing President-elect Barack Obama, but I've been a little surprised at some of the other subjects on the stamps picturing him. I understand that the countries hope to sell the stamps to collectors of topical stamps, and U.S. presidents are a popular topic, so it makes sense to have as many popular people on the stamps as possible, but some of the combinations are striking.

The Jan. 12 issue of Linn's Stamp News has a three-page ad showing Obama stamps from Chad, Liberia, Sao Tome e Principe, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and Easdale, which the ad identifies as a British local post.

Most of the sets have single stamps and souvenir sheets, which add up to a hefty price tag if bought at the ad's prices of just over $6 to about $16 per sheet. Most of them also come in perforated and imperforate versions. The necessary album is getting bigger, right along with the price.

Chad's set of Barack Obama and Famous Personalities of Historic Note includes John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., Bill Clinton and Malcom X and four other souvenir sheets with such personalities as the Dalai Lama, Pope John Paul II, Ingrid Betancourt, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.

Guinea issued a main sheet of Obama with U.S. presidents and landmarks, Jesse Jackson, Marilyn Monroe and Malcom X, and other sheets showing Bruce Springsteen, Obama's family, Oprah Winfrey, and Mohammed Ali.

Guinea Bissau issued a sheet featuring Barack and Michelle Obama with a peace dove, Obama with Al Gore, Obama with Bill and Hillary Clinton and Obama and his children.
The Easdale local post sheet pictures Obama with John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King.

Liberia issued a sheet of stamps showing just Obama and one with Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden.

Sao Tome e Principe's International Celebrities sheet shows Obama and other family members, Haile Selassie, Harry Belafonte, Sammy Davis Jr., Kwame Nikruma, Bob Marley, Denzel Washington, Martin Luther King Jr. and others.

A second sheet shows Obama in front of the White House, with American Indians, with Afro-Americans and with the Statue of Liberty, while a third sheet shows Obama with Confederate soldiers in a battle scene, the Statue of Liberty, the World Trade Center and broken shackles.

Mozambique covered the History of the 21st Century with a sheet showing Obama and his family, George and Laura Bush, Michelle Obama, Obama and Bush in the Oval Office, Obama addressing crowds, Obama with Superman and the International Space Station.

And these are only some of the issues listed.

Other stamps are planned by Antigua, Gambia, Grenada, Grenada Grenadines, Maldives, St. Vincent Grenadines Bequis, Nevis, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and St. Vincent Grenadines. And more will be issued as Obama visits other countries during his presidency.

While I can't in good conscience recommend the stamps as investment items, they will certainly make an interesting collection. The advertiser, Marlen Stamp & Coin Ltd., is offering these and expected Obama stamps as a new issue service (buyers will receive packages of stamps as they're issued for as long as they remain subscribers to the service). The company's Web site.

Many other new issue dealers will also stock the stamps.