Many new stamp designs reveal remarkable imagination in presentation. A recent sheetlet from Turks and Caicos Islands serves to illustrate.

The sheetlet of 24 different 20-cent stamps depicts the magnificent beauty of the Coral Gardens of these islands. The sheetlet surpasses color degrees with every superlative, but the layout is what captivates.

The top row of four stamps presents objects on the water and earth surface, while succeeding rows move downward to explore under-water life to the ocean floor. It is like descending in a glass-fronted elevator five levels below the surface.

A pair of flying Flamingos, two sail boats, a lighthouse, and a beach scene adorn the stamps in the specially designed top-row backdrop. One level down, the drama (left to right) has two Yellowtail Snappers swimming out of the Pillar Coral, one of the Yellowtail Snappers crosses the border into the next stamp to encounter an Elliptical Star Coral. Three Porkfish travel in formation on the third stamp, and a Spotted Eagle Ray is at full throttle at the sheetlet's edge.

In the third scene, the sea has an interesting dimension with the Large Ivory Coral, the Mustard Hill Coral, the Blue Crust Coral, and the Fused Staghorn Coral. Each formation boasts it own stamp, but the Mustard Hill shares with a Shy Hamlet. This little fish is nicely cast peeking out from the coral.

The sea bed is now fully established with a Queen Angelfish facing the Massive Starlet Coral, the Pinnate Spiny Sea Fan Coral, a Squirrelfish dodging the Knobby Star Coral, and a Juvenile Porkfish circling the Lowridge Cactus Coral.

On the next level, an Orange Telesto Coral reaches upward as a Spanish Hogfish dashes across to the next stamp above a Knobby Ten Ray Star Coral. A Clown Wrasse and the Boulder Brain Coral share the third stamp while the Rainbow Parrot-fish and the Regal Sea Fan get top billing on the last stamp.

The final scene in this Coral Gardens drama features a Great Star Coral and the Bluestripped Grunt, the Stinging Coral and the Blue Tang, the Lavender Finger Coral, and the Brilliant Sea Fingers Corals on respective stamps. A Juvenile French Grunt straddles the perforations on the last two stamps.

What a journey! These Turks and Caicos Islands stamps are available from a dealer or Inter-Governmental Philatelic Corporation, 460 West 34th Street, New York, NY 10001.

Michael O. Nowlan was born in Chatham, New Brunswick Canada. He grew up on a nearby farm, was educated, and became a teacher. In retirement, he follows his life-long avocation of writing. His credits include 16 books (four books of poems, two children's titles, and anthologies for schools). In recent years, he has written extensively about stamp collecting for CANADIAN STAMP NEWS, GIBBONS INTERNATIONAL STAMP NEWS, and other philatelic publications.