AIDS on Stamps

People with AIDS on stamps

Special thanks to Paul Hennefeld and the GLHSC for their assistance with this page.

Please be aware that this subspecialty of AIDS stamps is not my expertise. There is a lot of missing information and I am sure this is not a complete list. Any assistance you can give me with stamps, better scans, Scott numbers, and the like would be greatly appreciated.

Alvin Ailey (dance choreographer) - USA, 2004

Scott 3841

Anthony Perkins (actor) - Gambia, 1993

Scott 1351a

Anthony Perkins is not on the stamp, but he is on the souvenir sheet.

Anthony Perkins - Sierra Leon, 1997

Scott 2062i

Yup, he's really in the picture. He's the tiny figure standing next to the building. He's still quit forbidding for looking so small though.

Arthur Ashe (tennis player) - Dominica, 1998

Scott 679h

Sorry, no picture yet.

Arthur Ashe - Grenada, 1998

Scott 2799

Arthur Ashe - Lesotho, 1998

Scott 2040g-h

Arthur Ashe - Tanzania, 1993

Scott 1079a

Sorry, no picture yet.

Arthur Ashe - USA, 2005

Scott 3936

Cazuza (rock star) - Brazil, 1991

Scott 2298

Freddie Mercury (rock star) - Batumi, 199?

Scott 1094

The legitimacy of these stamps is in limbo. Batum (also known as Batumi or Batoum) is the capital city of the province of Ajaria in the country of Georgia. During the political instability that wracked Georgia in the 1990's, Ajaria issued numerous(!) stamps under the label of Batum. Georgia declared these stamps illegal issues, but the province was fairly autonomous at the time. Since that time the province has lost considerable autonomy and has, I believe, stopped issuing stamps. But should the province ever achieve independence these stamps may be retroactively declared legitimate. Although what Freddie Mercury has to do with this part of the world is beyond me. Quite possibly a counterfeit issue.

Freddie Mercury (rock star) - Central African Republic, 1995

Scott 1094

Freddie Mercury - Chad, 1999

Scott 810i

Freddie Mercury - Dominica, 2000

Scott number unknown

Sorry, no picture yet.

Freddie Mercury - Guinea-Bissau, 2005

Scott number unknown

Guiea-Bissau is associated with excessive postage and counterfeit stamps, so this may or may not be legit.

Freddie Mercury - Malagasy Republic (Madagascar), 1995

Scott 1224

Freddie Mercury is not on any of the stamps, but is rather in the middle of the souvenir sheet.

Freddie Mercury - Mordovia, 199?

These are counterfeit stamps. The Republic of Mordovia is a province in Russia. It can no more release postage stamps than Montana can. The UPU has released a circular about Russian stamps regarding the issue as well.

Freddie Mercury - Tadjikistan, 2000?

I can't for a moment imagine these are valid stamps. Tadjikistan is a small landlocked country to the north of Afghanastan that isn't particularly interested in British rock groups. The pictures on one sheet are also identical to the pictures on the Moldovia sheet. Tadjikistan also put out a UPU circular in 2002 warning about counterfeit sheetlets with popular themes like musicians. Queen was not mentioned specifically but the connection is clear.

Freddie Mercury - Turkmenistan, 199?

Scott number unknown

These stamps are almost certainly counterfeit.

Freddie Mercury - United Kingdom, 1999

Scott 1859

This one is (gasp!) actually valid postage in the UK.

Freddie Mercury - Zaire, 1997

Scott number unknown

This is a counterfeit stamp.

Freddie Mercury - Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo), 2001

Scott number unknown

Quite possibly a counterfeit issue.

Freddie Mercury - unknown, ?

This are certainly counterfeit stamps, but I can't read the name of the "country" on them. If I'm wrong on this issue I'll eat my shorts.

Greg Louganis (Olympic diver) - Antigua & Barbuda, 1995

Scott 1892

Greg Louganis - Antigua & Barbuda, 1995 (again!)

Scott 1980d

Sorry, no picture yet.

Even though the country and year are the same, this is not the same stamp as the previous one.

Greg Louganis - Dominica, 1996

Scott 1852

Greg Louganis - Gambia, 1995

Scott 1646

Greg Louganis - Ghana, 1992

Scott 1376

Greg Louganis - Grenada (Grenadines), 1989

Scott 1037

Greg Louganis - Guinea, 2006

Scott numbers unknown

I am not convinced these stamps are legit.

Greg Louganis - Kenya, 1996

Scott 667a

Greg Louganis - Palau, 1992

Scott 309

Greg Louganis - St. Vincent, 1994

Scott 2105

Greg Louganis - Tanzania, 1995

Scott 1359e

Howard Ashmun (Composer) - Antigua & Barbuda, 1995

Scott number unknown

Howard Ashmun composed the soundtrack for the Disney movie, The Little Mermaid.

John Curry (figure skater) - Central African Republic, 1976

Scott C149, C174

C174 is the same stamp with a new overprint from 1977 that says "Empire Centrafrican".

John Curry - Azerbaijan, 1998

Scott 667g

Liberace (pianist) - Dominica, 1998

Scott 1097

Lucille Teasdale-Corti (surgeon) - Canada, 1999

Scott number unknown

This should have been listed in Scott long ago. Could it be a postcard or somesuch?

Sorry, no picture yet.

Lucille Teasdale-Corti - Canada, 2000

Scott 1824b

Magic Johnson (basketball player) - Guyana, 1996

Scott 3085h

Magic Johnson - St. Vincent, 1992

Scott 1744b

No picture yet, sorry.

Magic Johnson - St. Vincent, 1995

Scott 2202

Magic Johnson - Sao Tome and Principe (St. Thomas), 1992

Scott 1055c

No picture yet, sorry.

Ofra Haza (musician) - Israel, 2009

Scott 1773i

Ondrej Nepala (figure skater) - Slovakia, 1997

Scott 289

Richard Hunt (puppeteer) - Belgium, 2005

Scott numbers unknown

Richard was the pupeteer behind Scooter, Janice, Beaker, Statler, and Sweetums. He also shared Miss Piggy with Frank Oz until Season 2 of The Muppet Show (when she was still a very minor character). He also performed many characters on Sesame Street, including Forgetful Jones, Placido Flamingo, Don Music, and an early Elmo. On Fraggle Rock he performed Junior Gorg and Gunge.