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Stamp Magazine Staff  |  Apr 13, 2022  |  0 comments

Royal Mail issued a set of 10 stamps on the theme of Migratory Birds on April 7, showcasing the diversity of spring and summer avian visitors to Britain.

About one in seven birds worldwide make annual, seasonal migrations along well-defined routes between their breeding and non-breeding grounds.

Often this involves travelling remarkable distances over land and sea.

Stamp Magazine Staff  |  Mar 17, 2022  |  0 comments

Royal Mail’s set of eight stamps entitled Heroes of the Covid Pandemic, issued on March 23, features colourful designs by children aged between 7 and 14.

These were selected following a nationwide competition, launched last spring with the support of the Prime Minister, which attracted 606,049 entries, recognised by Guinness World Records as the most ever for a competition of its kind.

Entrants were invited to design postage stamps featuring their own heroes of the Covid-19 pandemic, which first hit the UK in the early months of 2020 and has brought death, illness and hardship to many.

Stamp Magazine Staff  |  Mar 07, 2022  |  0 comments

Royal Mail celebrated the 150th anniversary of the FA Cup, the world’s oldest and most prestigious domestic football competition, with a special issue on March 8.

A set of six counter-sheet stamps are based on historical photographs highlighting some of the elements that make the annual contest special, while a miniature sheet of four stamps features a selection of FA Cup artefacts from the National Football Museum.

The Football Association inaugurated the famous competition in the 1871–72 season, when just 12 teams took part.

Stamp Magazine Staff  |  Feb 14, 2022  |  0 comments

On February 18, Royal Mail will release a miniature sheet of six stamps celebrating The Stamp Designs of David Gentleman.

The stamp-on-stamp issue is timed to coincide with the London 2022 international exhibition, and a limited edition of 10,000 numbered sheets bearing the logo of the exhibition will be produced for sale at the event only, at the same price.

Gentleman, who will be 92 years old in March, is the most famous designer of British stamps in the modern era, credited with more than 100 designs between 1962 and 2000.

Stamp Magazine Staff  |  Feb 04, 2022  |  0 comments

Royal Mail celebrated the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with a set of eight stamps on February 4, all based on photographs of official functions over the past seven decades.

This is the first time a Platinum Jubilee has been celebrated in the UK, as Queen Elizabeth II is the longest-serving monarch in British history; she is also the fourth longest-serving in verifiable world history, and the longest-serving head of state in the world today.

The Queen came to the throne following the death of her father, King George VI, on February 6, 1952.

Stamp Magazine Staff  |  Feb 02, 2022  |  0 comments

Royal Mail has declared that Britain is entering ‘a new era for stamps’, as it introduces data matrix codes (also known as 2D barcodes) across the full range of self-adhesive Machin definitives.

Digitally coded 1st class, 2nd class, 1st Large and 2nd Large stamps were issued on February 1, in a new range of colours.

The existing make-up values of 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, £1, £2, £3 and £5 will also be replaced with barcoded stamps on April 4.

Stamp Magazine Staff  |  Jan 17, 2022  |  0 comments

Royal Mail issues a set of stamps and a miniature sheet on January 20 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of The Rolling Stones, one of Britain’s most successful rock bands.

Unlike previous issues in the Music Giants series, from 2016-21, the eight counter sheet designs do not reproduce album covers but focus on the Stones as a live act, from archive photographs.

Of the four stamps in the miniature sheet, two feature posed photographs of the band and two reproduce promotional posters for their tours.

Guy Thomas  |  Nov 02, 2021  |  0 comments

Royal Mail issued a set of eight stamps on October 19 to celebrate the passion of rugby union, marking the 150th anniversaries of the formation of the Rugby Football Union and the first international match.

The dynamic designs feature famous players and iconic moments in key international matches within living memory, giving equal billing to the four nations of the British Isles.

They also give equal coverage to the men’s and women’s games, even though the first Women’s Home Nations Championship was staged as recently as 1996.

Guy Thomas  |  Nov 02, 2021  |  First Published: Sep 02, 2021  |  0 comments

Royal Mail issued a set of eight stamps and a miniature sheet on September 2 featuring British Army Vehicles.

The counter sheet designs follow the development of tanks since their introduction during World War I.

They are illustrated by military artist Mick Graham, who served with the Royal Tank Regiment for 15 years.

Guy Thomas  |  Nov 02, 2021  |  0 comments

Royal Mail released 12 gummed stamps and a six-stamp self-adhesive miniature sheet on September 17 featuring the superheroes and supervillains created by DC Comics, an American comic book publisher.

The latest in a series of issues driven by lucrative licensing agreements rather than a desire to celebrate British culture, it was produced in partnership with Warner Bros Consumer Products.

Along with the Star Wars issue of 2015 and the Star Trek issue of 2020, the DC Collection issue means that the three biggest sets in Royal Mail’s history (comprising 18 stamps each) have all been dedicated to American fiction franchises.

Guy Thomas  |  Nov 02, 2021  |  0 comments

This year’s Christmas stamp issue from Royal Mail, released on November 2, differs significantly from those of recent years to allow for the inclusion of ‘barcoded’ stamps for the first time.

Their designs follows that of the large-format 2nd class Machin definitive issued in business sheets in March.

The digitally scannable element (technically not a barcode but a data matrix code) is to the right of the pictorial element, separated from it by a line which resembles a perforation.

Guy Thomas  |  Aug 10, 2021  |  0 comments

The latest issue from Royal Mail, released on August 12, celebrates Industrial Revolutions, highlighting the pioneering spirit behind some of the most ingenious scientific and engineering advances made in Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries.

A set of six stamps in counter sheets features ground-breaking inventions during what may be called the first industrial revolution, based on the exploitation of water and steam power, the use of new materials in construction, improvements in the efficiency of textile manufacturing, and the development of canal and railway transport networks.

A miniature sheet of four entitled The Electric Revolution recalls how these advances were built upon by harnessing the power of electricity, to improve standards of living and speed up communications.

Guy Thomas  |  Jul 27, 2021  |  0 comments

The Wild Coasts special stamp issue, released on July 22, celebrates the surprising and beautiful diversity of marine life found in British coastal waters.

Nowhere in the UK is more than 70 miles from the coast,andthe British Isles provide unique or ideal habitats for a multitude of species.

A set of 10 counter-sheet stamps showcases a wide variety of wildlife, from mammals, fish and birds to crustaceans, molluscs, anemones and coral.

Guy Thomas  |  Jul 01, 2021  |  0 comments

Released on July 1, the Dennis & Gnasher special stamp issue celebrates the 70th anniversary of one of Britain’s best-loved comic-strip characters.

Tagged as the world's naughtiest boy, Dennis made his debut inDC Thompson’s comic The Beano in March 1951, as ‘Dennisthe Menace’; since 2009 the strip has been named ‘Dennis & Gnasher’.

With his distinctive red-and-black-striped jersey, knobbly knees, messy hair and devilish grin, Dennis is the archetypal badly behaved schoolboy, who takes pride in breaking rules and causing mayhem.

Guy Thomas  |  Jun 09, 2021  |  0 comments

On June 24 Royal Mail will issue a miniature sheet of four stamps in memory of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who died on April 9 at the age of 99.

Having married Princess Elizabeth in November 1947, Philip gave up a stellar career in the Royal Navy when she ascended the throne as Queen Elizabeth II in February 1952.

He would become the longest-serving royal consort in British history, supporting the monarch in all her work until his retirement from royal duties in 2017.

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