THE BAHAMAS
One of the Christian church's oldest traditions is the ringing of bells on Christmas Eve to announce the arrival of Christ. The 15¢ and 65¢ stamps in this set of four from The Bahamas feature cow bells, which are used along with horns, whistles and drums by musicians during the annual Junkanoo Parade. This spectacular event winds through the downtown streets of Nassau on Boxing Day and New Year's Day in a celebration of Christmas and freedom from slavery. The 25¢ stamp shows bells used for decoration in homes and on Christmas trees. The 50¢ is a more traditional bell used to ring out the joy of the season. The set was issued on December 5, 2019, and is available online from the Bahamas Postal Service.
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Four of the 356 known species of turtles are shown on a set of four issued by Bosnia and Herzegovina in a sheet of 16 se-tenant stamps. Whether they prefer warm areas on land, fresh water, or live in the sea, all the many species of turtles belong to the order of reptiles. Their most distinguishing feature is their shell. Included in the set is the Land Turtle (Testudo hermanni), sporting an olive-yellow shell; the Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas); which can grow to 1.5 meters; the Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta), whose shell is reddish-brown in color; and the Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis), which can retract its entire head inside its shell. The stamps were designed by Ante Marić, issued on November 1, 2019, and are available for purchase online from www.epostshop.ba.
BRITISH ANTARCTIC TERRITORY
The centenary of the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) was commemorated by British Antarctic Territory with a pair of stamps depicting the origins of SPRI and the Institute as it is today. The Institute was founded in 1920 as part of the University of Cambridge, and is the oldest international center for polar research within a university. The first £1.75 stamp (left) depicts Captain Robert Falcon Scott, the leader of the Terra Nova Expedition, which took place between 1910 and 1913 and was named after its ship, also shown on the stamp. The expedition had a number of scientific and geographical objectives, including journeying to the South Pole. The second stamp (right) features a bust of Scott and the Scott Polar Research Institute. The building, which houses the Institute, its Polar Library, Archive, and Museum was completed in 1934 specifically for polar research. Today, the Institute is a center of excellence in the study of the Arctic and Antarctic. The SPRI stamps were released on November 18, 2019, and are available from www.falklandstamps.com
New worldwide stamps are presented for information and are not necessarily shown at the correct scale. The quality of images available at the time of release varies widely and we resize to achieve the best possible reproduction.
Editor's Note: This article was published in the February 2020 issue of The American Philatelist. Read the full issue online at stamps.org/the-american-philatelist and read parts two and three in coming weeks.