There has been some confusion (in my mind, at least) about the Dutch islands in the Caribbean. These islands were formerly parts of the Netherlands Antilles which was dissolved in 2010. Now, St. Maarten, Aruba and Curaçao are autonomous countries and along with the Netherlands make up the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba are now “special municipalities” of the Netherlands. Still confused? Don’t worry. What this means is that St. Maarten, Aruba and Curaçao now issue stamps under their own names while Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba issue stamps under the name of Caribbean Netherlands. See Wikipedia if you want to try to figure this all out.
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The Caribbean Netherlands issues very few stamps and on 17 October 2016 it issued the first series that show lighthouses. It is a set of three sheetlets each with a single stamp perforated in the shape of each of the “BES” islands. The lighthouses shown are stylized and show the location on the islands.
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The St. Eustatius stamp shows the location of
Oranjestad lighthouse located at the west central part of the island and is the only lighthouse on that island.
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The location of
St. John’s lighthouse is shown on the Saba stamp. It is located on a communications tower at the southwest part of the island.
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Kralendijk, Klein Bonaire, Punt Verkant, Ceru Bentana, Boca Spelonk and Lacre Punt L/H | 17 Oct 2016 | J6408.3, J6406, J6409, J6416, J6414, J6411
St. John's L/H | J5667.3 | 17 Oct 2016
Oranjestad L/H | J5668.5 | 17 Oct 2016
Fort Oranje L/H | 3 Mar 2017 | J6408.3
Seru Bentana L/H | 3 Mar 2017 | J6416
Boca Spelonk L/H | 3 Mar 2017 | J6414
Willemstoren L/H | 3 Mar 2017 | J6411
