AIDS on Stamps

AIDS on Stamps showcases how the AIDS epidemic has been seen on stamps from around the world.

News

June 10, 2009: A new set of stamps to report, this time from Guinea-Bissau Only one is about AIDS, the lower-left one featuring Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. Like the Sao Tome stamps that have come out in recent years, I have my doubts about the legitimacy of most of the Guinea-Bissau ones. I am about to do something to find out whether they are valid or not, which I will explain to you shortly.

In the meantime, here are the 2009 Guinea-Bissau stamps. I have left together the photo of the entire set for context.
June 3, 2009: I have been continuing my research on the Rwandan AIDS stamps (more on that in a day or two) and made an interesting discovery. The Zimbabwe 2000 AIDS stamp (pictured left) is not the only one in the set having to do with AIDS. The stamp on right, although it makes no direct mention of HIV or AIDS, should be considered an AIDS stamp as well. It promotes the success of the country's New Start program (.pdf file), in which 20 HIV testing and counseling centers were opened around the country. Sure enough, some of the the writing on the stamp says "counseling and testing centers".

I checked the rest of the set over just to make sure none of them were AIDS stamps. One was on maternal and child health, another was on Rotary, a third was on RAPT (an anti-TB organization), and the fourth was Riders for Health, some sort of motorcycle health group.
June 2, 2009: On a whim I took a peek at Zazzle today to see what new personalized AIDS stamps they had. To my surprise they had over 70 new designs. About a third of those are by two artists who are clearly making a small business out of it, but many others are original in their design.

As always, I am on the lookout for personalized stamp designs, particularly from countries outside the USA. If you have access to images of personalized AIDS stamps from other countries, please do send them my way.

All of the new designs have been added to the personalized stamps page. Here are a sampling of the more interesting ones.
June 2, 2009: A few bits of news for you today. First, this new AIDS stamp from Sao Tome y Principe (St. Thomas and Principe). As with their other recent releases, I am highly suspicious that this is not an authorized stamp. It's hard to tell. St. Thomas engages in "excessive stampage" in which they release mass numbers of stamps that are sold to foreign collectors and not used domestically. As a result, it's ripe for counterfeiting as no one can reasonably be expected to keep track of what is and isn't an authorized stamp.

In this particular case, I am extra-suspicious because the stamp says it is for World AIDS Day 2009, but that won't roll around for another six months from now. Postal agencies often unveil stamps on World AIDS Day that aren't released for several more months, but this is the first time I've ever heard of a postal agency releasing a stamp six months early to celebrate an event.

Either way, here's the image I found.

As I wrote a few weeks ago, the UN Economic and Social Council is releasing on August 6 a set of six stamps. Gwen was kind enough to send me a photocopy of the announcement. Here is the scan of the stamp that I made. The set contains two stamps representing each of the three international branches of the United Nations. The AIDS stamp is in German for the office in Vienna, Austria.

Finally, I have an addition to the not about AIDS page. This is a stamp from Bosnia & Herzegovina (Sarajevo administration). It is being advertised on Delcampe.net as an anti-AIDS stamp. The larger writing is clearly an anti-drug message though. I asked the seller what the smaller writing said, to which he responded "droga nema poslijednju rije" ("drugs haven't the last word"). Seeing as this stamp appears to have no connection to AIDS, I am sticking it on the "not about AIDS" page.
May 13, 2009: A bit of news that deserves its own entry. Gwen writes that the UN Economic and Social Council is releasing on August 6, 2009 a six stamp set. One of the stamps is about HIV/AIDS, malaria, and cancer. Gwen writes describes it as, "an odd design but the red ribbon is there with the wording." This represents our first confirmation an AIDS stamp to be released in 2009.
May 13, 2009: I'm working on the site again. A few new things. First, here's a picture of the Nigeria (2003) AIDS stamps as part of a souvenir sheet.

Second, another version of this set of Guine-Bissau (2007) stamps. I have long been suspicious that they are counterfeit but have not been able to establish their validity eithe rway. Note that all four stamps have a border made up of smaller versions of the pictures of each of the four stamps. So there are a series of tiny AIDS ribbons in the border on all four stamps.

Then there's these two souvenir sheets of a Sao Tome (2005) stamp. Again, I am suspicious these might be counterfeit. Both Guine-Bissau and Sao Tome release massive amounts of stamps that have nothing to do with their country (and indeed, aren't sold within the country for postage) to raise capital from stamp collectors. Unfortunately, unscrupulous businesspeople have released any number of fake stamps allegedly from both countries. Since neither country bothers with any sort of "official" list of their stamps they are ripe for impersonation.

That being said, here are the souvenir sheets.
May 13, 2009: I have added several images to the website that may interest you.

First up is this 2002 Cameroon souvenir sheet. These stamps are previously known, but this is the first time I have had an image of their souvenir sheet. The Scott Catalogue states that other stamps in the series may exist, but I do not think any do. I have seen no evidence of them in all of my AIDS stamp research and am quite sure I would have seen something, somewhere if that was true.

Next, I have updated several pages on this site with new images. The counterfeit stamps and not about AIDS pages have both been updated with several fake Chadian stamps as well as a number of stamps that dealers commonly confuse with AIDS issues. I have updated the cinderella stamp page with a bit more information about the Lion's Club of Khumalo AIDS stamp.

Also a correction. The stamp I listed yesterday from Ghana is really from Tanzania. I got it confused with a similar 2008 souvenir sheet from Ghana that also featured George Bush.
May 12, 2009: Another update, this time about India. Although the country has only released one AIDS stamp, it has arguably done more to promote AIDS awareness than any other postal service in the world. Much of this has been done through their "Meghdoot" series of pre-paid postcards (I'll have an update about those soon), but also in the form of AIDS awareness information on stamp booklets.

In honor of the number of contributions that they have made (along with a few other countries), I have created a new stamp booklet page to promote AIDS awareness on stamp booklets. I urge you to check it out -- there are a number of new booklets you may not have seen before.
May 12, 2009: I have been horribly overdue in writing updates for this website. Never fear, it isn't abandoned. There simply hasn't been all that much to report. I have compiled enough interesting things though that it's time to post some updates. It's 4am as I write this so I'm off to bed in a moment, but I wanted to give you a quick look at this 2008 stamp from Ghana.

I'll post more tomorrow. There's a fair amount to report, even if this is the only new stamp.

Update: This is from Tanzania, not Ghana as I originally said. Oops!
January 11, 2009: No new stamps to report, but I have been doing a lot of work on the new AIDS checklist. I have added a column for Stanley-Gibbons numbers, and have filled in a ton of SG stamp numbers. I have also researched and added numerous Yvert and Michel numbers. So if you're not into Scott catalog numbers, this document will be of great help.

At times I will be updating this document more often than I am updating this website. Accordingly, I have added a last revised date to the top of the document, so you can always tell when it's a new version. You can find this last revised date on the AIDS on Stamps page.
January 6, 2009: I forgot to mention in my last update -- I have created a new page dedicated to Cinderella stamps. These are stamps that are designed to express a message, but are not intended to be used as valid postage. Often they are sold to raise money for charity although that is not always the case.

Starting off the list, I moved the Gay Kingdom (2004) stamp to the Cinderella page, since I don't think the activists ever actually intended to make a working postal system on a deserted island, nor be recognized by any foreign government. I have also added these two issues as well.
January 6, 2009: I took a long overdue trip to the library today to update this site based on the Scott 2009 catalogues. I filled in quite a few missing Scott numbers and release dates. In particular, the new downloadable AIDS checklist and People with AIDS page were signficantly updated.

I have observed is that pre-printed postcards (ie; those from a postal service with pre-printed postage on them) are not catalogued by Scott. Anyone have any idea how they are normally catalogued? Do the Michel, Stanley-Gibbons, and/or Yvert catalogs have numbers for them? If not, perhaps it is time I come up with my own system for cataloging AIDS postcards.

The same can be said for booklets of stamps as well. The Scott catalogs do mention booklets of stamps, but they only describe the stamps inside, and don't discuss the cover of the booklet at all. Accordingly, if five different covers of the same stamps were released on the same day, they'd only list it once. Methinks we're going to need some sort of system for keeping track of these. Hrm.

On a lighter note, I made a development on a minor mystery today. I've mentioned lately that I remember seeing a few years back a Netherlands stamp sheet that said "Stop AIDS Now" in the margin. I'm not talking about the Netherlands (2005) set either. This one was mostly white and had angels on it. Well, I spotted it in the Scott guide today. The stamps are definitely their 2006 Christmas set (Scott B749a-j, I think. Or was it 750?) of children dressed up as angels. The Scott guide said, "Surtax went to various organizations named in the sheet selvage." Since selvage means margin, I may be on the verge of confirming another AIDS issue. I can't find a picture of the set on the web though, and the picture in the Scott guide was rather small. I'll keep you informed what I discover.

I do have one "new" stamp to confirm. A few AIDS stamps over the years have been overprinted with new values. Cameroon (1991) and Cameroon (1993), for example. Today I am posting another one, Namibia (2006).

Finally, a request. Can someone look in a Michel catalog and describe to me (or better yet, scan and e-mail me) South Africa #1115; MH. Not sure what the MH stands for. It's a note about a possible AIDS stamp booklet I have from the AIDS stamp list I am now editing. I don't have access to a Michel catalog so whatever you can tell me would be appreciated.
January 4, 2009: I'm in the mood to work on this site so I have made a few more updates and have a few announcements to make.

I am officially putting out a call for people to e-mail me all of their scans and information about AIDS-related government-issued postcards and postal cancellation marks. Also, first-day covers for AIDS stamps. At some point in the future I would like to create pages to showcase these, so I figured I'd start gathering information now. I won't catalog them in the same way as I catalog stamps, as there are half a zillion different FDCs, cancellation marks, and postcards. So e-mail me whatcha got, folks.

I have also worked out a deal with the Gay and Lesbian History on Stamps Club to host their Excel spreadsheet (.xls) of AIDS and HIV stamps on this website. I have been maintaining it anyway for a while now, and since this website catalogs everything that is in their list it has ceased to be a draw to get people to join GLHSC. It does have a few minor advantages over this site though, in that it catalogs Michel and Yvert numbers. I have also added a column to it for Stanley-Gibbons numbers, although right now the column is entirely blank. (Perhaps some of you would like to add the Michel/Yvert/S-G numbers to the chart? I'd be most grateful.)

Anyway, it is now listed on the AIDS on Stamps and chart pages.

I also spent some time working on the PWAs on stamps page. I sync'ed it with the GLHSC stamp list and found a number of errors. It's really a work in progress at this point, and hasn't had nearly the amount of love and attention that the main stamp list has received. Still, it's coming along. I'll be taking a library trip this next week and should have more corrections for it then.

Finally, I found an interesting page on AIDS postcards in India. Most long-time collectors of AIDS stamps have at least a few of them sitting around their collection. India prints more of these than, I'm guessing, every other country in the world put together. Someone took the time to put together a list of these postcards as of late 2005. He deserves a link, so I have added it to the links page.
January 2, 2009: The new year has been celebrated and the festivities have come and gone. While the 2009 AIDS stamps are yet to be released, there's still more from 2008 and before to be documented.

First up, an interesting story told to me by Norman, a reader of this site. A while back he learned that the United Nations was holding an auction on eBay of various items. The auction did not use keywords, so a search of AIDS Stamps would not have found it. You'd have to have done a search for the specific auction item number to find it. While searching for a number of items, he found for sale the original artwork used on the United Nations (1990) stamps. Cheap, too he tells me. What a find! Kudos to him on his purchase.

Second, I discovered something interesting on the Internet the other day. Rep. Barbara Lee from California has introduced a resolution in the US House of Representatives calling upon the postal service to issue a postage stamp commemorating the struggle to prevent and treat HIV in the US and around the world. This was initially introduced in 2007 and referred to the House Committe on Oversight and Government Reform, where I believe it died in committee for lack of support. I have not found a list of other Representatives who have signed on to the bill, nor have I found a Senate counterpart bill. Nor have I heard anything of it being introduced since. I suspect it's a pet project of hers, but not something likely to be passed anytime soon.

Third, I have begun a new project on AIDS on Stamps for all of you. I am beginning the Great Rwandan AIDS Stamp Project. What is this, you ask? It's simple -- a project to track down a source where we can obtain the more difficult to find AIDS stamps in the world -- the Rwanda issues.

Since these stamps came out in 2003 I have yet to find a dealer or collector who has these stamps. Over a dozen of you have mentioned that you'd like to add them to your collections. Not surprising, since non one has them! In all of my hours spent searching for these stamps I have located exactly one stamp from this series. Someone had posted it on a French-language stamp trading website. I don't speak a word of French, but with the help of an online translation website I was able to read the website, contact him, and ask if he still has it available. Unfortunately he had already traded it away, and there went my only hope of ever finding it.

So I am starting this new project so we can compile all of our information and leads about this stamp set in the hopes that someone will someday be able to obtain it. Ideally enough sets so that it can be distributed around to the more dedicated collectors in the community. So join in the Great Rwandan AIDS Stamp Project and contribute to our body of knowledge of this stamp set.

Side note: Those of you who have signed up for the AIDS on Stamps directory will receive "high priority" on the stamp sets if/when I am able to obtain them. And those people in the directory who contribute to the stamp project will get "first dibs" on them. So if you're not listed in the directory, e-mail me with your first name and AIDS-related collecting interests to be placed on the list.

Fourth, I found an article that mentions an AIDS cinderella stamp (ie; not valid postage) issued in Enotria, Italy. I puttered around the web a bit following this up but did not find anything more. I have added this to the under investigation page.

Fifth, for the past year I have been searching for this Austrian stamp. It has not been widely available, and I have seen this stamp available only on rare circumstances. Over the holidays it dawned on me why. Note the blue bar on the bottom -- that is the mark of a personalized stamp in Austria. Well, that or a yellow bar. This was not an official release by the postal service, hence its scarcity. Unfortunately, that means it is of limited value in a collection unless you enjoy collecting personalized stamps as well. Accordingly, I have removed this stamp from the 2007 page and added it to the section on personalized stamps.

Sixth (lots of news today, eh?), I have a number of new French personalized stamps available on the personalized stamp page as well.

Seventh, I found a new AIDS stamp from the Netherlands (2005). Well, not a stamp per se, but the souvenir sheet mentions AIDS. This Christmas set has "Stop AIDS Now" written in the margin, along with a number of foundations, charities, etc. The red square has been added by me, as this isn't a very good scan and the words are hard to make out.

As a side note, I seem to recall seeing another Christmas sheet on stamps from the Netherlands that also said "Stop AIDS Now" in the margin. This one was white in color and had angels on this. I saw this several years ago

Eighth, We have this new stamp booklet from India. The stamps are not new, consisting of the 2006 World AIDS Day stamp along with a stamp on breastfeeding. The booklet is new though and may interest collectors.

Finally, we have nine new AIDS stamps from Papua New Guinea. We knew they had held a contest and issued stamps for the winners in 2008. Now we have pictures. Look for them at your local dealers in a few months.
December 24, 2008: Due to a multi-car collision on the highway today I missed my flight to visit relatives for the holidays. That's bad for me, but good for you, as it means I can dedicate more time to this website. So as I begin, let my start by thanking Phillip for a bunch of updates I'm about to make to the website. I rely on readers like you to keep me informed as to what's happening in the world of AIDS stamps and what I may have missed, and Philip did a great job of sending me scans and more.

First up, we have this booklet released from South Africa all the way back on May 15, 1996. The stamps themselves have nothing to do with AIDS, but the outside and inside covers sure do.

If you try to purchase this booklet, be sure you are buying the correct one. South Africa also released several other rhino booklets around the same time that did not have the same inside and outside cover.

Next, we have another similar situation with this booklet from South Africa. Released August 7, 1998, the booklet features ten stamps of five animals (blue wildebeast, eland, impala, kudu, and waterbuck), none of which have anything to with AIDS. The best description of them I can make for those not familiar with plains animals is that one looks something akin to a yak while the other four look like antelopes. Again, if you are buying the booklet, make sure you are buying the correct one, as there are versions released that year that do not have the AIDS cover.

As we know, South Africa released two stamps in 1999 with beadwork patterns of an AIDS ribbon, one on a blue and one on a green background. I am not sure if they were available individually, but I know they were also sold in booklets of ten. I now have images of the booklet inside and outside covers.

And in case you have forgotten what the stamps look like...

We also knew in Portugal (2007) there were vending machines that gave predetermined values on printable AIDS stamps. I have never been able to figure out exactly how many values of this stamp were made, but the picture here shows (in euros) .30, .45, .48, .52, .60, .75, and 1.8. Some of them appear to be printed with just the value, while others are printed with a specific date and other technical information on them. I am guessing that the ones without a date were available from public vending machines, while the ones with a date were printed at the counters inside post offices. Either way, I'd like to learn more on this issue. If you have any scans of other values on any of these Portugal stamps, please send them my way.

From South Korea we head to North Korea. I knew they had released an AIDS stamp in 2002 on a souvenir sheet, but I never knew that it was also available as part of a set on the Red Cross in a stamp booklet. Here are some pictures from the booklet. You can't see all of the non-AIDS-related stamps in the second picture as I selected an image that would show you inside of the booklet better. I am not sure what the brochure-looking thing is next to the AIDS stamp. Perhaps a picture of a Red Cross information brochure of some sort? I really don't know (but would love to find out if any of you know).

Switching continents, we find ourselves in Canada. Those of you who know the history of the Canadian stamp know that the late AIDS stamp collector Blair Henshaw was instrumental in pressuring Canada to release their AIDS stamp. What you may not know (and I did not know until recently) is that prior to its release the Canadian postal service was tinkering with the color for the right bar on the stamp. They sent Blair Henshaw at least one contact sheet of various colored proofs. Blair cut up one sheet and sold the different colored proofs to various collectors.

Unfortunately, the bird brains at the Canadian postal service had the bad idea of mounting them on corrugated cardboard. The cardboard has a high acid content which will eventually destroy the proofs. Perhaps a professional restorer can remove them from the cardboard, but not having any of the proofs it is not something I can investigate. Either way, I now have pictures of two of the proofs. You will also note that the postage amount is two Canadian cents less than the final stamp release. I assume postage increased during the design period for this stamp.

The first stamp is the final release. The second and third are two proofs. If anyone has scans of any other color proofs I'd love for you to send them my way.

Finally, the People with AIDS on stamps page has been updated with numerous new scans and entries.
December 23, 2008: Hello and happy holidays! I have lots of gifts for you this year -- new pictures and information about AIDS stamps.

First up, Macedonia has released two new AIDS postal tax stamps in 2008. The right one was released on March 8, 2008. The left one was released on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2008.

Second, we knew Papua New Guinea was doing an art contest to raise awareness about AIDS, with winning entries to appear on stamps. I still don't have any scans of the finished stamps, but I did find this picture in a New Guinea newspaper of the top winner next to her entry. Watch for this stamp and the rest in the set to be available from dealers sometime in early 2009.

Third, whatever you may think of the policies of President Bush, his record on AIDS has been at the very least respectable. Earlier this year he visited Africa and spoke out regard the AIDS epidemic. To commemorate his visit to Ghana, they have released this souvenir sheet.

Next, we go back a few years to 2004 with this Netherlands stamp, also found on this souvenir sheet. I have only been able to fund used copies for sale on Delcampe, but I'm sure there are mint ones out there somewhere. According to one friend of the site this is Stanley-Gibbons 2402 from a larger block of 10 Christmas charity stamps.

Thanks to Paul for telling me about this 2002 stamp from Trinidad & Tobago (Scott 659-662, Stanley-Gibbons 946-949). It's part of a four-stamp set about the centennial anniversary of the Pan-American Health Organization. If you look closely at this stamp though, in the upper-right yellow "splotch" you will see a small red AIDS ribbon. Although it cannot be seen in this picture Paul tells me there is a small "AIDS" printed there as well.

Then there's this 2002 first day cover from Albania. It is currently being sold on eBay as an AIDS-related issue, but in fact it appears to have nothing to do with AIDS. The ABO on the cover are, I assume, referring to blood types. So this is likely a stamp on blood donation.

Just in case I was missing something, I sent a message to the seller asking what this cover has to do with AIDS. He wrote back that the person he bought it from said it is an AIDS issue, although he conceeded he didn't see what it had to do with AIDS. He'd leave it up to the buyer to decide. In the meantime, unfortunately, he is still advertising it as an AIDS-related issue. So I have added this to my "not about AIDS" list in the hopes it'll save some of you a few bucks.

Here are another two old personalized stamps that were used to raise money for the Global Fund about AIDS. They are no longer available, but I thought you'd still want to see their pictures.

I want to thank Phillip for also sending me a big(!!) pile of information about famous PWA's on stamps. It's going to take me hours to go through it all and add it to the website. Unfortunately I don't have time to get that done before I head out on vacation for the holidays, but I'll try and get it done in the first couple of weeks of 2009.
October 28, 2008: Just wanted to let you know that I have added a new directory page. Its purpose is to create a small directory of collectors of AIDS stamps. Right now there are only two names on the list (including mine), but e-mail me if you'd like to be added to the list.

Also, I have updated my wanted list, the investigations page, and made a few additions and corrections to the famous PWAs on stamps list Thanks to Satesh for pointing out several errors in the famous PWA listings and sending me useful scans.

Finally, you may want to take a few moments to check out Philip Stager's award-wininng exhibition, Ailments of Venus Revisted. It is impressive to say the least. You can use this link to jump directly to the section on AIDS.
October 28, 2008: It's been over two months since my last update and there's much to report.

First up, congratulations are in order to Luc Montagnier and Francoise Barre-Sinoussi have won the 2008 Nobel Prize for medicine. They are the researchers who discovered the AIDS virus. Montagnier has previously been featured on at least one stamp I can think of (a French stamp), and will may be featured on several more because of the award. Montagnier and Barre-Sinoussi will share the award with Harald zur Hausen who discovered the virus that causes cervical cancer.

And now the new stamps. First off, let me show you what is NOT an AIDS stamp. These are currently being sold on eBay as AIDS stamps, although looking at the writing clearly reveals they are not.

From "not" to "might", next we move on to what might be an AIDS stamp. This is a 1998 Namibian stamp that showed up on eBay a few days ago. The seller said it was about AIDS, but as we have just been reminded you can't always trust a seller's description.

What makes this stamp so interesting is that we just don't know whether it is about AIDS. It certainly could be, but then again it might be about the welfare of the cheetah (or whatever that animal is) in Namibia. Oh, and in case you are wondering, the writing in the lower-left corner says "Namibian Stamp Awareness Programme." And lest I forget, this stamp is being placed on our under investigation page.

Update: It turns out this stamp was meant to raise awareness about endangered wild animals in Africa.

While on the subject of investigations, I am pleased to report that we have closed up an ongoing question about this German stamp. I actually tracked down the graphic designer of this stamp to ask whether there is a connection between this stamp and AIDS. According to the designer, the virus on the lower-right corner of the stamp is an AIDS virus.

Now for the new stuff. Do these look familar? They should. The style of design of the brown stamp is the same as the Sao Tome 2004 AIDS stamp. I have seen that style of stamp cropping up a lot lately. I don't have any evidence to suggest they are counterfeit, although I do find it a little unusual that odd vendors on eBay have this stamp before reputable dealers that I know and trust. Hopefully these will eventually have Scott numbers so I can feel a bit more assured they are valid.

I also completed an investigation and can verify that these are AIDS stamps. These are 2007 Cambodia stamps released in honor of the "National and Asia Pacific Leadership Forum Champion". I suspect that the word "champion" is a mistranslation and was supposed to be "conference". According to one person that wrote me, the Asia Pacific Leadership Forum is an inter-governmental organization dedicated to fighting AIDS in Asia.

I have also verified that these new stamps are also valid. These are Tanzania stamps. They are 2007 stamps, although one of the stamps lists a 2006 printing date on it. They can be found on the Tanzanian postal service website.

Finally, a 1996 stamp from Botswana. I have it in my collection and put it on the chart of AIDS stamps, but somehow missed putting it in our general listings. The oversight has now been corrected.
August 8, 2008: Yet another confirmed AIDS stamp, this time from North Korea (DPRK) with a release date of September 2, 2002. I have known about this stamp for a while, but thought it was a false rumor after being sold an incorrect set of North Korean stamps. North Korea's lackluster AIDS policy didn't help either. Why would a country that denied it had any HIV-positive people in 2001 release an AIDS stamp in 2002?

Maybe they had a policy change. Maybe it was an unusual gesture of humanity in regards to AIDS in other countries. Whatever the reason, this stamp is confirmed and real.
August 6, 2008: I have confirmed the existence of two AIDS stamps from Bosnia-Herzegovina (Sarajevo) in 2001 and/or 2002. A full explanation of these stamps is on the under investigation page.

Finding these old stamps makes me wonder just how many others I may be missing.

Update: I have replaced the poor scans with these better versions.
August 4, 2008: I added two new personalized stamps from Austria. A full explanation of these stamps is on the personalized stamp page.
August 3, 2008: I am beginning a new upgrade on the site that will take several weeks to complete. I want the images on this site to link to a larger version of the picture. As I have done my research on AIDS stamps I have often be annoyed by poor quality scans and tiny pictures. This will make your own research easier and add to the quality of this website.

If you have any large-size images of AIDS stamps, feel free to e-mail them to me. Otherwise, I'll be grabbing them off the web for the next couple of weeks. That way I will save myself considerable effort when it comes time to scan the remaining stamps.
August 3, 2008: On a whim I counted the number of countries that have issued stamps about AIDS. So far I count 124, plus the United Nations, plus Gay Kingdom (a "country" a group of activists founded). Not a bad number at all.

Next up: count the stamps. But that's a project for another day.
August 1, 2008: A new page for personalized stamps has been created with 42 stamps that you may not have ever seen. Although they do not appear in stamp catalogues or on postal service websites, people have created some very interesting designs, both humorous and moving. Here are a few examples:
July 31, 2008: What do hunky firefighters and September 11 have to do with the three red ribbons on the top of this sheet? Check out the counterfeit issues page to find out.
July 31, 2008: Another AIDS stamp found from 2004. This is Scott 1641j, part of a set on the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). It says in Spanish, "El condon prot�g� vidas".

I also spent over four hours at the library today pouring over the latest Scott volumes (3 x 2009, 3 x 2008). I filled in a whole mess of missing Scott numbers as well as confirmed the Venezuela stamp. I also found a lot of information for some of the current research projects on the investigation page.

I also found some interesting information about these old 1989 classics from Guyana. It seems that there are five Scott #'s in this set, not just three. Scott 1984 refers to the top row of stamps. Scott 1985 is the middle row. Scott 1986-8 is the bottom three stamps left to right. They are all overprints on three old stamps, Scott 288, 289, and 289a. Observant viewers will notice that while the three overprints on the bottom ones are all the same, the overprints vary a bit on the top two rows.

These stamps are actually worth a bit too. The two rows are worth $18.50 each according to the 2009 Scott Guide. The bottom three are worth $12, $14, and $16 respectively.
July 30, 2008: I confirmed another AIDS stamp tonight. This is a 1997 Macedonian tax stamp, Scott number RA95. The writing in white says: LEARN US TO LIVE PROTECTED FROM AIDS. Sorry for the lousy scan. It's the only one I have been able to find so far.
July 29, 2008: I have created a new under investigation page to focus on stamps that require more research. Some stamps may or may not be AIDS-related, while others may be counterfeit. New information will often make it here before there is enough to make it worthwhile to post on the news page, so this is a good place to start exploring if you're trying to keep on top of the very latest news.
July 29, 2008: Although it isn't my interest, some collectors of AIDS stamps like to collect stamps of famous people with AIDS. Toward that end, I have created a new PWA page for your enjoyment. It needs a lot of work though, so please help out if you can. New stamp listings, images of stamps, and Scott numbers are greatly appreciated.
July 27, 2008: There are several new additions to the counterfeit stamps page from Chad. I will not do them the dignity of reposting them on this page, but suffice to say they feature Nelson Mandela, Gahndi, Pope John-Paul II, Ingrid Beckancourt, and David Beckham. Collectors are urged to avoid these stamps as they are a complete waste of money and only benefit shady dealers and the even shadier characters behind the counterfeit stamp industry.
July 27, 2008: I have solved a small mystery concerning these four 2001 AIDS stamps from Honduras (Scott C1090-3). Over the past several years, I have often found vendors selling them as AIDS stamps in spite of no evidence to support that claim. They do contain the word "monogamous" which is suggesting, but nothing concrete. Until I found something, I elected not to include them on this website or in my collection.

Yesterday was my breakthrough. I learned that every year UPAEP, a Latin American and Spanish developmental program, chooses a different theme for their work. It is, as I understand it, customary to release a stamp from each country about this issue along with the UPAEP logo. In 2000 the UPAEP's theme was about fighting AIDS creating a sudden flurry of activity. Honduras, for whatever reason, didn't do a very good job. Instead of a stamp grandly opposing AIDS and urging understanding, research, support, or whatever, they came out with this lackluster set of stamps.

So these are technically AIDS stamps if weak and minimally effective ones. They do make an interesting story for your collection though and give you a story to tell your friends.

Observers will note that the stamps say 2001 although every other country in the UPAEP program came out with theirs in 2000. Alas, Honduras was late with their release and it came out in 2001. Was Honduras having an emotional debate as to what this stamp should consist of? Could it be AIDSphobia that delayed this release? Was it simple disorganization that caused the delay? Would the birds not hold still for the photos? We may never know.

Whatever the reason, I have included the Honduras stamps in the 2001 section of this website instead of 2000 with all the other UPAEP stamps.
July 27, 2008: A few months ago I reported the release of these stamps. Since then, I have become highly concerned that they may be counterfeit and not duly authorized or ever released by the government of Guine-Bissau. When I purchased them on eBay, I was unaware that the seller has a known track record of selling counterfeit stamps. Since then they have been showing up on a number of stamp sites, including some by reputable dealers. Unfortunately, I have found no evidence that these stamps are valid. To be fair, I cannot yet prove they are counterfeit. But I am looking into the issue.

Because these stamps are so widely available, they should not present a challenge for collectors to obtain in the future. I am therefore recommending collectors of AIDS stamps to hold off on buying this stamp until I can finish my investigation either way.

If you have any information on the subject or ideas on how I can prove or disprove my theory, please e-mail me your thoughts. Evidence that any of the four major stamp guides have given this a number would be a good start.
July 27, 2008: I added a not about AIDS stamp page to help dispel some of the confusion surrounding what is an AIDS stamp and what is not.
July 26, 2008: I just finished some revisions of the site. I have updated my wanted list a bit (although I'll be adding more to it in the next couple of days). The for trade/sale list has been updated as well. The collecting AIDS stamps page has been completely rewritten and is now actually quite interesting. A page about counterfeit AIDS stamps has been added as well. Finally, the links page has also been redone.

I also filled in a number of Scott numbers around the website that were missing. (Still a lot of blanks though - if you know Scott numbers that I am missing please write and tell me.)

Still more new to report, but am in need of sleep. Watch for more information tomorrow.
July 26, 2008: Thought I forgot about you, eh? I admit I have been busy on other projects. But rest assured, I have been keeping active with AIDS stamps and now have a LOT to report. So let's get started.

El Salvador and Mongolia have introduced the first stamps for 2008.

There was also another late release in 2007 for World Health Day from Bangladesh. Note the little ribbon symbol in the upper-right corner of the stamp. (Egypt has a similar ribbon on its World Health Day stamp.)

I have posted a few new ones from 2006 as well. The first is from Sao Tome and Principe (St. Thomas) and is from an 8-piece set on the 50th Anniversary of the First Issue of Europa (whatever that is). Unfortunately, there is an chance that this stamp is an illegal production. I have only found it for sale on eBay by two vendors with a history of selling counterfeit stamps. I'm really not sure on this one though (as the subject matter and design of the stamps at large doesn't fall into the today's popular counterfeit theme), so they may be legit. Stay tuned for details.

Update: I wrote a long report on the Sao Tome stamp on the investigation page. It also appears this stamp is from 2005, not 2006.

The second is from Belgium and features Lise Thiry, an AIDS researcher who helped develop a method of tracking and screening the AIDS virus. (Thanks to Gwen for tipping me off to the extistence of the Belgium stamp.)

Update, I botched the date on this one too. It's from 2007, not 2006.

Tanzania got a little carried away in 2006 when it came to AIDS stamps. For World AIDS Day and the World AIDS Campaign, they released four individual stamps and two souvenir sheets.

Update: In spite of my initial suspicions, these are valid stamps. You can find them listed on the Tanzanian postal service philatelic website. Also, the stamps are from 2007, not 2006 as I initially thought. The stamps are to commemorate World AIDS Day 2006, but weren't released until July of 2007.

Going back a bit further, this 2004 stamp is from a sheetlet entitled "This is Belgium: Belgians in the World". It features Peter Piot, director of UNAIDS and an all-around bigwig when it comes to AIDS services across the globe.

Harking back to 2001, I have found this German stamp about AIDS. I can't read the German, but if someone sends me a translation I will post it on the site.

Lastly, we revisit 1991. These Cameroon stamps aren't a new discovery for me, but when I built this site I somehow missed them in my collection and failed to add these stamps to the listings.

Update: Turns out there are two versions of these stamps. The first was released in 1991 with a value of 15 (red) and 25 (green). The second was released in 1993 with a value of 100 (red) and 175 (green). The two versions both have different Scott numbers.

This website went online September 15, 2007.