Community Affairs Minister Randy Horton bristled yesterday when asked if Government was planning to participate in the 50th anniversary of the Queen's coronation.

Asked the question at a press conference to announce Bermuda's participation in 30th anniversary celebrations of Caricom, Mr. Horton said: "Nothing is being done in relation to your question."

Yesterday was the actual anniversary of the coronation, but even in the UK it was a scaled-down affair from Golden Jubilee festivities a year ago.

Asked pointedly what Government was doing to mark the Queen's anniversary of the coronation, Mr. Horton said: "Right now we are looking at Caricom." Asked if that meant that celebrations would not take place, Mr. Horton said: "Nothing is being done in relation to your question."

But the Bermuda Philatelic Bureau yesterday released first-day covers of a new express mail stamp to mark the occasion and the Bermuda Monetary Authority advertised a new Bermuda $50 note.

The new $25 stamp uses an official portrait of the Queen by Lord Litchfield. Also released were a 35 cent stamp with the Queen in a gold stage coach and a 70 cent stamp featuring her in Westminster Abbey. A special souvenir sheet shows a $1.25 stamp of the Queen in the gold stage coach and a $2 stamp features her again in Westminster Abbey.

The 50th anniversary coronation commemorative stamp issue is the fifth of seven new stamp issues to be released this year. The next, a commemorative marking the 30th anniversary of Caricom, will be released on July 4.