"Rule Britannia" Smilers - 27 July 2004
"All about Britain" : summer pastimes and British
icons
The flag stamp was first issued as part of a miniature sheet in October
2001..
Now the design is used for the first Smilers TM stamps in
this [41 x 26mm] format. As is usual when stamps are made available for
personalisation, Royal Mail has produced a sheet for collectors, which
is sold at a premium over face value.
Click here for larger picture (195k).
Coinciding with the Athens Olympics, this colourful sheet celebrates
the traditions associated with the great British culture, featuring the
nation's favourite summer pastimes and great icons such as the post box,
telephone box and red London bus. The images and slogans on the labels
are:
"Britain produces more than 68 million pints of milk every day" / milk
bottles on doorstep
"In the UK there are 115,000 Royal Mail Post Boxes" / double-aperture
post box (2 labels)
"There are 12,429km of Coastline in Britain" / deck-chair on beach
"There are 700 Bus routes with 6,500 buses in London" / London Transport
red bus No 13 to Aldwych (2 labels)
"2,400 Red Telephone Boxes are listed as Heritage Sites, and as such are
legally protected" / Telephone box (2 labels)
"On average British people drink three and a half cups of tea per day" /
tea kiosk
"An average of 25,200 umbrellas are lost on British transport each year"
/ patriotic umbrella (2 labels)
"In 2002 the British took 101.7 million holidays in the UK" /
'seaside-rock' (confectionary)
Technical details:
Following the take-over of the House of Questa these have been printed
by De La Rue in litho, but this sheet is printed by Walsall Security
Print so this produces a new stamp as the original stamps were printed
by Questa in gravure.
Sheet image is Copyright 2004 by Royal Mail.
Postmark images are taken from Royal Mail's Postmark Bulletin, and are Copyright 2003 by Royal Mail.
Norvic Exclusive First Day Covers
The stamps shown here are to illustrate the appearance on the covers only. Different covers will be used for different stamp strips.
Cover with a single stamp and label - price £2.50 each
Cover with a split strip of 5 stamps and labels - price £5.50 each
Set of 4 covers with 4 split strips of 5 stamps & labels - price £17.50
There will be no Royal Mail FDCs for these stamps.
Also available for thematic or topical collectors who want something other than FDCs:
Mint sheet - £7.85 Any single stamp £0.55
This is a popular sheet - we have seen bids over £15 on eBay already!
All prices exclude postage & packing, which will be at cost. For prices in foreign currencies - please email us.
Postmarks for use on the day of issue:
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| Ref L9180 Union Jack Generic Issue, London SW1 |
Ref N9182 Smilers - The Union Jack, Flagg, Buxton |
Ref L9203 Rule Britannia, London W1 (Bulldog) |
Ref L9204 Rule Britannia, London SW1 (Britannia) |
This page updated 26 July 2004 [16.1.05]
Any questions? please
e-mail us.
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| 13 January Classic Steam Locomotives | 30 January Hong Kong Stamp Expo 2004 Smilers Sheet | 3 February Occasions/Greetings stamps and Smilers sheet | 26 February Lord of the Rings | 16 March Letters by Night
Prestige Book (TPOs) A British Journey - Northern Ireland |
| 1 April New definitives, including airmail postcard book of stamps | 6 April Centenary of the Entente Cordiale | 13 April Ocean Liners | 11 May 40p Country definitives | 25 May Royal Horticultural Society |
| 15 June British Journey - Wales | 29 July Rule Britannia Smilers Sheet | 10 August Royal Society of Arts | 16 September Woodland Animals | 5 October Scottish Parliament Building |
| 12 October Crimean War | 2 November Father Christmas |
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