Two new sets of stamps will be issued this month – commemorating Historical School Buildings in Macao and the 120th Anniversary of Banco Nacional Ultramarino (BNU).
Due to be issued tomorrow, Historical School Buildings in Macao comprises six stamps showing Colégio Mateus Ricci Primary School, the Macao Portuguese School, Santa Rosa de Lima Secondary School (Chinese Section), Lingnan Secondary School, Pooi To Middle School, and Pui Ching Middle School.
The historical buildings are the epitome of the preservation of Macao’s precious cultural heritage, Post and Telecommunication Bureau (CTT) Commercial Department Chief Ng Mei Kei said.
The collection, which was designed by Wong Ho Sang, will be sold for MOP 25, with the first-day cover being sold for MOP 31. The album with cover and information leaflet written by Tam Chi Kuong will be priced at MOP 32.
The 120th Anniversary of Banco Nacional Ultramarino album, which was designed by Wilson Chi Ian Lam and goes on sale on 20 September, consists of a set of four stamps and a souvenir sheet. The design of the stamps incorporates elements such as the bank’s 120th-anniversary logo, its historical headquarters, the patterns of banknotes issued by BNU and different kinds of ships. BNU is Macao’s oldest bank, and is fully owned by Lisbon-based bank CGD.
The whole set of four stamps will be priced at MOP 17, with the first-day cover with stamps being sold at MOP 23, while stamps with only a first-day cover souvenir sheet will cost MOP 20. Ng added that MOP 24 will be charged for the stamps with an information leaflet written by BNU, while the information leaflet with a souvenir sheet will be priced at MOP 21.
Asked about Macao’s stamp sales this year, CTT Director Derby Lau Wai Meng said that apart from local philatelists, stamp dealers and overseas agents, most Macao stamps are sold to mainland Chinese.
She noted that in the past on every first day of the issue of Macao stamps, mainland Chinese stamp collectors would come to buy them. However, Lau said, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, especially during the recent outbreak that began on 18 June, Macao’s visitor numbers decreased greatly, so local stamp sales remained static for quite a while, which had a certain impact on sales.
According to Lau, the stamp sales in the first half of this year were a third of what they were in the same period last year, and income from stamp sales was down 40 per cent. Last year’s annual philatelic revenue was about MOP 41 million, she said. Lau said she hoped that with more tourists visiting Macao again in the future, the sales will gradually increase to reach last year’s sales volume, The Macau Post Daily reported.
