Norvic Philatelics - GB New Stamps and Special Postmarks

Post boxes miniature sheet & Smilers Sheet; Treasures of the Archive PSB - 18th August 2009

We’ve been using post boxes, for more than 200 years and research has discovered that the earliest known post box was installed at Wakefield Post Office® in 1809. To celebrate this anniversary Royal Mail is releasing a Miniature Sheet of four stamps featuring iconic wall mounted Post Boxes.

A post box is the overall title for any kind of posting box whether it’s standing proud on the pavement (pillar box), a smaller freestanding version (pedestal box), on, or in, a wall (wall box), or on a pole (lamp box).    The first Post Boxes, often just slots into the office, appeared over 200 years ago at Post Offices® for the convenience of people posting unpaid letters (the letters were paid for by the recipient).   Wall boxes as we know them today were installed from 1857 as a cheaper alternative to pillar boxes, and have established themselves as a national icon, serving the needs of smaller
communities. The first pillar boxes were installed in 1852 in the Channel Islands and 1853 on the mainland.  Now, around 100,000 Post Boxes of all kinds exist across the UK,

miniature sheet of 4 stamps showing postboxes.

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Designs:
1st class - George V type 8 wallbox; 56p - Edward VII Ludlow wallbox; 81p - Victorian Lamp Box (here inserted in a wall); 90p - Elizabeth II Type A Wallbox.


The Miniature Sheet

1st Class – George V Type B Wall Box
This example with the royal cipher of George V was cast by W T Allen & Co Ltd, London, between 1933-36, and is from Cookham Rise near Maidenhead.

56p – Edward VII Ludlow Box
Introduced in 1887 this type of standardized box derives its name from the foundry where many of them were made. This example is from Bodiam, East Sussex.

81p – Victorian Lamp Box
The lamp box could also be attached to lamp post or other such structure. This example is from Hythe in Kent and was installed in 1896.

90p – Elizabeth II Type A Wall Box
This Elizabeth II Wall box is located in Slaithwaite near Huddersfield and would have been made between 1962 and 1963.


Prestige Stamp Book - Treasures of the Archive

On the same date Royal Mail will issue a Prestige Stamp Book entitled 'Treasures of the Archive'.

Some of the amazing artefacts held in trust for the nation by the British Postal Museum and Archive are shown in the booklet - including a stamp pane featuring all four of the Post Boxes stamps. The book contains four exclusive stamp panes unavailable anywhere else.   All the stamps are printed by Walsall SP in litho so producing new stamps.  (The 62p stamps are the normal red, not orange as shown in these pubblicity images.)

Booklet panes:

Pane 1: four 1st and four 20p Definitives, both stamps bearing the double image of Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria from the 150th anniversary of the Penny Black stamps, set around a Penny Post label first issued in 1990, with the Penny Black portrait of Queen Victoria in the background.

Pane 2: four 20p stamps featuring the Royal Mail Coach from the 1989 Lord Mayor's show issue, showing the door of the Bristol - London Mailcoach in the backgound..

Pane 3: all four of the Post Boxes stamps in a block of 4, rather than a strip.  The background shows a Penfold hexagonal Victorian pillar box.

Pane 4: four 17p Machin Definitives, two 22p Machins and two 62p Machins around a GPO logo label, the background showing images of the proposed 1937 coronation issue for King Edward VIII.

4 panes from the Treasures of the Archive Prestige Stamp Book issued 18 August 2009.


Smilers Stamps

A generic sheet consisting of 20 x 1st class Postbox stamps from the miniature sheet, with 20 labels depicting postboxes or details from them.

Click on the image to display a larger one in a new window.
Royal Mail Postboxes commemorative Smilers Sheet 18 August 2009.

Details of the postboxes etc shown on the labels:


Column 1:
1883 Wooden Bracket Box, Llandrindod Wells, Powys; 1861 Wall Box in a Brick Pillar, Kimberley, Wymondham, Norfolk;  Edwardian Children post a letter to Granny;
1892 Moulded plastic POPS (Post office Posting Suite); George V Ludlow Wall Box, Kingweston, Somerton, Somerset.
Column 2:  
Early 19th Century Stone Post Box, Spilsby Lincolnshire;  1896 Lamp Letter Box formerly on the Fosse Way near Radford Semele Warwickshire;  Edward VII Wall box near Bolney, Haywards Heath, West Sussex;  Royal Cipher of George VI;  Early 19th-Century Wooden Post Box, the old Post Office, Lyme Regis, Dorset.
Column 3:
1857 First National Standard Wall Box, Tintagel, Cornwall;  'First and Last Post Box', Land's End, Cornwall;  Elizabeth II Ludlow Wall Box, East Chinnock, Yeovil, Somerset; Wall-mounted George VI Lamp box, Pitlochry, Perthshire;  Scottish Crown used instead of EIR Cypher, 1952.
Column 4:
1861 Wall Box in a 'Waside Shrine', Rous Lench, Evesham, Worcestershire;  'Carpenter's Box, Lowsonford Post office, Warwickshire, Photographed in 1987;  Royal Cipher of Edward VII;  1887 Eagle Range & Foundry Company, sub-Post Office Box, Sherborne, Dorset;  a village Postman clears a wall box, Norfolk 1910.

Technical details:

The Miniature sheet was designed by Elmwood and is printed in litho by Walsall Security Print.  Royal Mail have confirmed that the MS was also printed by Cartor.
The Smilers Sheet was designed by Elmwood, and is printed by Cartor Security Print in litho.   
The Prestige Stamp Book is designed by Silk Pearce, with narrative by Douglas Muir, and is printed by Walsall Security Print in litho.  The Book has the imprint of Cartor SP.  Information previously shown was provided by Royal Mail before issue.
All stamp and other images are copyright Royal Mail 2009.

ROyal Mail first day cover for postboxes miniature sheet. Royal Mail first day cover for Treasures of the Archive PSB.

Products issued:
Miniature sheet 
Smilers Sheet
Prestige Stamp Book
Presentation Pack 
Set of 5 stamp Cards unused 


Special Postmarks
Postmarks available for the day of issue are shown below - these may not be to scale.  
These postmarks cannot be obtained after the date of issue.

Official Bureau postmark with text as shown. Official Wakefield pictorial postmark with text as shown. Wakefield first day of issue non-pictorial postmark. Wakefield postmark 18 09 Aug illustrated with imitation information plate. Wakefield postmark illustrated with letter box apperture.
Ref FD919
Philatelic Bureau Official Postmark  
Ref FD920
Wakefield Official  Postmark 
Ref FD920n
Wakefield Official non-pictorial Postmark
Ref N11432
Wakefield Postboxes
18 August 09
Ref N11431
Bicentenary 1809 Post Boxes, Wakefield
postmark illustrated with hexagonal pillar box. postmarkshowing postman collecting letters from box. postmark showing letter being posted in box. postmark illustrated with profile of young Queen Victoria. postmark showing profile of King George VI
Ref N11428
Postboxes, Hill Street, Birmingham.
Ref L11432
Farringdon Road,
London EC1A
Ref L11422
Bicentenary Post Boxes
Windsor
Ref L11421
London WC1
(shows Queen Victoria)
Ref L11424
Southampton
(shows King George VI)
postmark showing cartoon postbox. postmark showing letterbox aperture. Official Bureau postmark showing mailcoach. Official London postmark showing postmark on early cycle. London EC1 non-pictorial postmark.
Ref L11419
Box, Corsham (Wiltshire)
Ref L11418
Letter Box Lane, Sevenoaks, Kent
Ref FD921
Philatelic Bureau Official Postmark (shows mailcoach)
Ref FD922
Official postmark London SW7 (shows early delivery cycle)
Ref FD922N
London EC1 non-pictorial Official Postmark
postmark with profile of Queen Victoria. postmark illustrated with Sheridan Coat of Arms. Postmark showing logo of Bath Postal Museum.
postmark showing pillar-type postnox (not wallbox as on the MS).

Ref M11429
Birmingham Philatelic Society 125 Years.
Ref N11433
10th Anniversary Sheridan Philatelic Covers, Widnes
Ref W11446
Bath Postal Museum, Cnr Green Street, Bath *
Ref N11459
Post Boxes, Wakefield
* We apologise for the quality of this image.


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This page updated 8 September 2009. 

2007 - 2008
2009 stamp issues
Visit our online shop!
January
13
Design Classics
22 Robert Burns
February
12
Charles Darwin
17 Machin Definitives with Security Features I
26 Dathlu Cymru - Celebrating Wales
March
2 Design Classics Concorde Smiler Sheet
10 Pioneers of the Industrial Revolution
10 Design Classics Retail Booklet - Phone & Bus
17 Northern Ireland Castles Smilers Sheet
31 Machin Definitives with Security Features II
31 New Rate Machin & Country Definitives

April
21
Kings & Queens II (Tudors)
21 Design Classics Retail Booklet - Mini-car
23 Castles of England Smilers Sheet
30 Smilers for Kids II

May
19
Endangered Plants & Kew Gardens MS
21 Flowers retail booklet

June
16
Mythical Creatures

July

21 40th ann of Moon Landing Commemorative Sheet
August
3 Thaipex Smilers Sheet
18 Wall Mounted Post Boxes MS & Smilers Sheet
18 Treasures of the Archive PSB
18 Design Classics Retail Booklet - Concorde
September
1 Fire Service
17 British Military Uniforms (III - Royal Navy)
17 Design Classics Retail Booklet - Mini-skirt/Quant
18 Commemorative Sheet - Big Ben 150th Anniversary

October
7 Commemorative Sheet - Cambridge University 800th anniversary
8 Eminent Britons (Europa)
21 Italia 2009 Smilers Sheet
22 Pre-Olympics 2012 Issue
November
3
Christmas
30 Castles of Scotland Smilers Sheet

December
4 MonacoPhil 2009 Expo Smilers Sheet


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Norvic Philatelics, PO Box 119, Dereham, NR20 3YN, GB. -- UK Phone: 08450 090939 -- Skype:ian.billings-norvic