In 2024 Correios de Macau ended the long-running annual variable value stamp series first released in 2013, dedicated to the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac (see article). Many of us wondered what would happen next … CTT has followed a very conservative issue policy in recent years. This included an annual special or festive design available only on some machines, for a few weeks and only until sold out, and definitive issues with reprints issued over several years from all its postal kiosks.
In 2025 Correios de Macau finally announced the release of a new “Label Stamp” design commemorating the 20th anniversary of the inscription of the Historic Centre of Macau on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The new issue is illustrated with a colourful image of the gate pavilion of the A-Má temple, one of the three major ancient temples in Macau … and, by the way, my favourite place, a must-see on all my trips to Macau.
This variable value stamp issue previews a 20th anniversary commemorative “traditional” stamp collection by the same designer, to be released on July 15th. The collection is made up of four stamps (pictured) and a mini sheet featuring other prominent buildings in Macau’s historic centre; a magnificent and unique mélange of Portuguese and Chinese styles.
The design is by Wilson Chi-Ian Lam, a graphic designer working for the local agency Macau Creations Ltd. Micro printed on the bottom edge of the labels we find the name of the designer on the left and on the right, there is the reference number of the issue and the stamp (S334 1/1), followed by the printer and year (CARTOR Imp. 2025). As a curiosity, the face value decimal point is also printed along with the design, as can be seen in the image on the left.
Cartor Security Printers produced the rolls of labels, using gummed paper with security fibres and offset printing. Every fifth label has a 4-digit number preprinted on the back to indicate the number of labels remaining on the roll. The total print run was 1.000.000 labels.
The A-Má temple, also known as Templo da Barra, is built into a hill at the southern end of the historic centre, facing the sea. It is dedicated to the goddess A-Má, also known as Mazu or Tin Hau, revered in traditional Chinese beliefs as the guardian of maritime activities, and patron saint of fishermen and sailors.
The new issue was available mainly for collectors from March 1st 2025, at only five selected postal kiosks. However, a month later it replaced the “Grande Baía Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau” definitive design (see article and VARIABLE 54) in all postal kiosks installed in Macau, so can also be considered as a definitive issue.
In 2024 it had been announced that the Klüssendorf and Nagler machines would be permanently decommissioned in 2024 after the completion of the Chinese zodiac series, at the end of February 2025. However, as a complete surprise Macau Post made it known that the ‘20.° Aniversário do Centro Histórico de Macau como Património Mundial‘ design would be available from the three Newvision Elite postal kiosks and also from the two Klüssendorf 631 machines installed at the General Post Office and the Communications Museum (pictured right).
Of course, there was less interest in this issue than in the Chinese zodiac series, but even so, on the first day of issue Correios de Macau restricted customer use of the kiosks to five minutes.
Thus, variable value stamps of the new design were available for a few days from the two Klüssendorf machines, and much more widely and for an unlimited time from the Newvision postal kiosks installed in post offices, public facilities and areas all over the city (photos below); two types of kiosks, two printing varieties.
The Klussendorf 631 kiosks enable direct purchase of stamps with 11 programmed values – 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, 8.0, 10.0, 12.0, 30.0 & 50.0 patacas (see article).
Newvision Elite & Prestige postal kiosks enable the purchase of stamps with 15 values – 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 8.0, 10.0, 12.0, 14.0, 21.0, 30.0 & 50.0 patacas (article).
The philatelic service prepared a special postmark and sold sets, maximum cards (below, left), first day covers (right) and ‘pagelas’ or information leaflets, with the four-value set 2.5, 4.0, 4.5 & 6.0 patacas. All the stamps for these products were printed using a Newvision machine.
(English edition rewritten by J. Gareze – July 2025)
Access to this site, and to the website in general, is monitored and its contents are protected by copyright.
The unauthorized copy of the text and / or images is prohibited