The recent flap over the Queen Mother's Century issue has shown both the depth of support that the monarchy in general, and the Queen Mother, in particular, enjoys within this country, while also demonstrating that Canada Post can move quickly to produce a stamp, if it so desires. The Canadian stamp is lovely! It is truly one of the nicest put out by this country for sometime. The yellow of her dress and hat, and that lovely yellow rose-- a very fitting depiction. The lager souvenir sheet, which depicts the three Canadian requirements (the Toronto Scottish, the Black Watch of Canada and the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps) of which she is Colonel, is also very lovely indeed. Since Canada deos not issue that many souvenir sheets, this is a very special issue indeed. The photo on the inside of the cover is of the 1939 Royal Visit to Canada (a very Canadian and topical theme).

Britain is issuing a stamp sheet, which depicts 4 generations of the family (the Queen Mother, the Queen, the Prince of Wales and Prince William). Britain is also issuing a Philatelic/Numismatic cover (the stamps plus a commemorative coin), and a banknote/Numismatic/philatelic cover (the above plus a 5 pound note). Stamp cards and a regular F.D.C. complete Britain's issues.

New Zealand is issuing a couple of stamps depicting the Queen Mother's life. Austrailia issued a stamp last year for the Queen Mother's 99th Birthday. An omnibus issue of Commonwealth countries is also in extent (some issued last year, some issued this year). What a lot of stamps to commemoratate the remarkable life of a remarkable person.

Your executives are doing their bit too. We are sending a congratulatory letter, and commemorative stamp to H.M. the Queen Mother on behalf of our club. Our Crown Sponsor, All Nation's Coin and Stamps Ltd. is issuing a special commemorative cover for the Queen Mother's Birthday (limited to 100), and I have it on good authority that are also despatching a copy to Clarence House, London. You, too, can send H.M. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother your best wishes on her birthday. You can write to Lane of Clarence House, London, SW1, England, Great Britain.

The once a decade London Stamp Show has come and gone. A significant number of the Vancouver stamp collecting community went. I was not among them. I had to content myself with purchasing the many products for the show.

The most interesting project undertaken by Great Britain over the course of two years was the Productioin of Prestiege Stamp Booklets on the history of Queen Elizabeth's definitives, including upadted reproductions of the original "wilding Definitives" and some new values of the current "Machin" issue.

A colour palette of "Machin" shades was produced (a stamp sheet depicting an artist's palette with a different colour dots on them, which just happens to be the base colours of the Machin Definitives, which complete the sheet).

A special book with the colour palette on it, and several special F.D.C.'s complete philatelic portion of the British Philatelic Bureau's offerings.

The Bureau also offered a range of China (Mugs,etc) and T-shirts which depicted famous British Stamps from the Post. A special range of framed stamps (stamps issued in picture frames) completed the offerings from the Bureau. That's just the British Offerings. Other participants sold their own stuff at the show.

All in all, quite a collection! A person could go bankrupt buying all of these things! But they are nice and the official F.D.C. is worth having, as are the special Prestiege Stamp Books (all three of them). Perhaps you or I can get to the next show to see the lovely stamps for ourselves.

Besides hanging out at the beach, or going on holiday, or doing whatever you like to do in the Summer, many people like to spend part of their summer with their nose in a book. For those wishing to learn more about coins and stamps, you can find some interesting information in the oddest of places. The most recent issue of The Beaver Canada袏 History Magazine, 80:4 (August/ September 2000) has an interesting article on some forms of money used in New France (before 1745). Especially if you don𤢂 know much about these types of money, it is a very interesting article.

There are a large number or magazines and periodicals dedicated to coins and stamps. Two magazines of my recent acquaintance come in for special mention. These are both British publications, which give you a different perspective than some of the Canadian or American publications you might encounter. The first is Stamp Magazine, which has a large number of colour articles on various International issues. There is a significant amount of information dedicated to British stamps, but there is a wide and diverse number of articles. There are a large number of colour illustrations, so you can get a good idea of what them stamps depicted look like. A further attraction of this magazine, is the fact that free souvenir sheets of mint stamps are included with each issue (January 2000 had a Jersey ₤1 Year of the Ox Chinese New Year issue). I purchased this magazine in a shop in Vancouver, but Chapters will order it for you, if you ask.

The second magazine, Gibbons Stamp Monthly, also provides each purchaser with a free souvenir sheet (a sheet of Gibralter Dog stamps accompanies the June 2000 issue). This publication, from the world first and most famous stamp merchants, covers a wide range of topics. It has several regular columns, which deal with such Gibbonesque topics as Catalogue Column, Catalogue Supplement, (Stanley Gibbons publishes one of the world two major general catalogues [ the other being Scott] and a significant number of specialized ones), and News desks and Postal stationery matters columns. The June issue featured a special, in-depth study of Austrian stamps. There was also an exhaustive article on Queen Mother 100th Birthday stamps. Being a Gibbons publication you also get ads from some of the world袏 finest stamp merchants, auctioneers and providers of stamp collecting supplies.

All of these publications are well worth the time and expense. If you?e got a few moments this summer, check them out. Better yet, give us a list of new publications you?e found. A prize for the first list received.