Royal Mail is issuing a Miniature Sheet on
Wednesday, 9th September to commemorate the historic landmark of Her
Majesty Queen Elizabeth II becoming the longest reigning UK monarch, with
Queen Victoria’s reign of 63 years and 216 days being exceeded by The
Queen on that day. Whilst there is some debate about whether the actual
date on which this milestone is reached is the 9th or 10th it is worth
noting that Royal Mail chose the 9th as the issue date after consultation
with the Palace
The Miniature Sheet will comprise five stamps including a specially created purple coloured First Class Definitive which will also appear in a Retail Stamp Book of six. In accordance with our policy and as a tribute to this extraordinary and historic achievement, the Amethyst Purple stamp will also be included in the Retail Stamp Books of six stamps being issued from September 2015 to April 2016.
In mid-August PO branches received supplies of a new Machin definitive stamp in counter sheets, printed in 'Amethyst Purple'. For details of early sales and other pre-release information sent to me by blog readers, see in this blog-post. The stamp designs, from left to right 1st class William Wyon’s City Medal, featuring the head of Queen Victoria. 1st class Dorothy Wilding’s three-quarter profile photograph of Queen Elizabeth II. 1st class The classic Machin definitive. £1.52 The Badge of the House of Windsor. £1.52 The Queen’s Personal Flag, created for use in Commonwealth countries. The stamps in the sheet have the wording LONG TO REIGN OVER US repeated in an iridescent layer of printing not only on the 1st class Machin definitive but also on the other four stamps. This makes them the first commemorative stamps to have an iridescent security printing. The source code on the miniature sheet stamp, to the right of The Queen's hair, shows GM instead of GN (see illustration at right). The year code below The Queen's chin, shows O15R instead of OVER. |
Detail showing (REI)GM |
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Counter
Sheet 1st class stamp. |
The Counter Sheet stamps
are produced in sheets of 50, in two panes of 25, so with a gutter
strip. The cylinder numbers are D1 x3. The source code on these, to the right of The Queen's hair, shows (REI) GN. Unfortunately this position coincides with the security cuts in the self-adhesive stamps. The mint stamps are easily distinguished as the only other two self-adhesives are booklet stamps. Used stamps will be more difficult to distinguish, especially with heavy postmarks. |
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Retail
Booklet of 6 x 1st class |
The source code on the 6 x 1st booklet stamp, to the right of The Queen's hair, shows GS instead of GN, following the principles established with the 1st class gold and red. Cylinder numbers are W1 Amethyst purple W1 iridescent W3 phosphor The numbers are concealed by the front cover of the book. The books are wrapped in packs of 50. |
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Mixed
Content Retail Booklet of 6 x 1st class stamps. The first of these will be for the Rugby World Cup, and will be issued on 18 September. We don't yet have these, but would expect the source code to be (REI)GC following the principles established with the 1st class gold and red. |
These may not be to scale. As usual for late announcements or secret issues, collectors have 28 days to have covers and cards cancelled at Handstamp Centres from the date of announcement of the postmarks.
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Ref FD1521TH Official Bureau postmark |
Ref FD1521PL Windsor official first day of issue postmark |
Ref FD1521NP Windsor non-pictorial first day of issue postmark |
Ref L13557 London SW1 | Ref S13574 Her Majesty Queen
Elizabeth II Britain's longest reigning monarch opens the new Borders
Railway Edinburgh. |
Ref L13554 Long To Reign Over Us, London SW1 |
Ref L13555 HM The Queen Long to Reign Over Us, London SW1 |
Ref L13556 Westminster Abbey Deans Yard, London SW1 |
Ref L4666 Buckingham Palace, London SW |
Ref L4680 Windsor Castle |
Blank for any further postmarks. | ||||
Ref L13577 Long To Reign Over Us London SW1 |
Ref L13578 Long To Reign Over Us London W1 |
Ref L13579 Long To Reign Over Us London SW1P |
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If you have any questions about these stamps please email
us.
This page updated 9 September 2015
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Norvic Philatelics, PO Box 119, Dereham, NR20 3YN, GB. UK Phone: 08450 090939 -- Skype:ian.billings-norvic |