Festival of Stamps: Miniature Sheet

08.05.2010

Festival of Stamps: Miniature Sheet Postmarks Festival of Stamps: Miniature Sheet Postmarks
The image above is shown for reference only, and is not for sale.
© Reproduced with the permission of Royal Mail Group Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Date:
8th May 2010
Stamp Type:
Stamp Details:
2 x 1st Wembley Exhibition ...      ▼ expand stamp details
2 x £1 Seahorses
Reference Images:
Miniature Sheet PHQCards (336) Postmark illustrations
The numbers alongside each of the postmark images relates to the entry in the catalogue Collecting British First Day Covers Published each year since 1980, it is regarded as the ‘bible’ by collectors of British FDCs click here for more details.

Royal Mail provided background information for this issue
click on titles to view details.

Miniature Sheets

Royal Mail will mark the launch of the Festival and the Exhibition, with two new Miniature Sheets and a number of additional products developed specially for the Exhibition. The Accession of King George V Miniature Sheet comprises of a Miniature Sheet featuring one 1st Class stamp and one £1 stamp. The King’s Stamps Miniature Sheet, features two 1st Class stamps and two £1 stamps (visual on page 5).

Reason and inspiration

Royal Mail marks the London 2010 Festival of Stamps and its biggest event – the London 2010 International Stamp Exhibition – with two new Miniature Sheets.

The first, The Accession of King George V, celebrates the centenary of the accession of the philatelist king, and is issued on the exact anniversary date, 6 May.

The second sheet, The King’s Stamps Miniature Sheet, is issued on 8 May to mark the start of the eight-day exhibition, during which thousands of collectors from around the world will descend on the capital for this major decennial exhibition.

The London 2010 Festival of Stamps is a year long programme of exhibitions, activities and events to celebrate stamps and philately and its theme is the reign of King George V.

Stamp design and background

The Accession of King George V Miniature Sheet

The First Class stamp on The Accession of King George V Miniature Sheet features the familiar Machin profile of Queen Elizabeth II, superimposed over the profile of George V designed by the Australian sculptor Bertram Mackennal and used on the stamps of King George V from 1912 onwards. The stamp features both royal ciphers and the text London 2010 Festival of Stamps along the lower edge.

The £1 stamp shows the Mackennal profile on the right while the left hand side shows the three quarter profile of George V engraved by JAC Harrison from a photograph by W & D Downey, the court photographers, which was used on the first definitive stamps of the reign, until the Mackennal head supplanted it in 1912. These are contained within wreaths with a crown centre top, and a couchant lion on the lower edge.

The border features a detail inspired by the engraving of St George and the Dragon by Bradbury Wilkinson & Co from the 1929 ninth Universal Postal Union Congress stamps. The sheet will be printed by lithography.

The King’s Stamps Miniature Sheet

The King’s Stamps Miniature Sheet reproduces classic stamps from the reign of George V. It features two reproductions of the 1924 British Empire Exhibition stamps designed by Harold Nelson set within a contemporary border with the present value (1st) and Queen’s head profile and two reproductions of the “Seahorses” design by Bertram Mackennal, high value definitive originally issued between 1913 – 1918 again set within a contemporary border with the value (£1) and Queen’s head. The Miniature Sheet will be printed by a combination of lithographic and intaglio printing techniques.

The top of the Miniature Sheet’s plain border contains the text: London 2010 Festival of Stamps with a crown.

Stamp by stamp

The Accession of King George V Miniature Sheet


1st Class
The Elizabeth II Machin head is superimposed above a Mackennal profile of King George V together with both royal ciphers. This stamp will also be available as sheet stamps.
£1
The one pound stamp features both the Downey and Mackennal profiles of George V that were used on stamps between 1910 and 1936.

The 1st Class stamp will also be printed in sheets and on sale in Post Offices from 6 May.

The King’s Stamps Miniature Sheet


1st Class
Red One Penny British Empire Exhibition from 1924, originally designed by Harold Nelson.
1st Class
Brown Penny Halfpenny British Empire Exhibition from 1924, originally designed by Harold Nelson.
£1
Green One Pound Seahorses first issued in 1913, originally designed by Bertram Mackennal.
£1
Blue Ten Shillings Seahorses first issued in 1913, originally designed by Bertram Mackennal.

Product portfolio

Presentation Pack No. 441

The Presentation Pack designed by Sedley Place, written by Douglas Muir, Curator, Philately, at The British Postal Museum and Archive and contains both London 2010 Festival of Stamps Miniature Sheets.

The Accession of King George V, Press Sheet

An uncut sheet of 20 Miniature Sheets. There is a limited edition of 2010 available.

The King’s Stamps, Press Sheet

This uncut sheet of nine Miniature Sheets is printed intaglio to be as faithful as possible to the original stamps. There is a limited edition of 2010 available.

Stamp Cards

A complete set of enlargements of all six stamps from the two 2010 Festival of Stamps Miniature Sheets and the Miniature Sheets printed on eight postcards will go on sale a week prior to the issue date.

Prestige Stamp Book

The Prestige Stamp Book has been designed by Silk Pearce and written by Douglas Muir. It contains unique stamp panes unavailable anywhere else. The intaglio/lithography panes were printed by Joh Enschedé Stamps, The Machin pane was printed in self-adhesive gravure by Walsall Security Printers, while the rest of the book and the purely litho stamp pane was printed by Cartor Security Printing.

The Accession of King George V – Technical Details:

Feature Type/Detail
Number of stamps Two
Size of Sheet 140mm x 74mm
Design Sedley Place
Acknowledgements 1st Class definitive – detail from George V profile head by Bertram Mackennal based on photographs by W & D Downey and engravings by JAC Harrison, bas-relief portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Arnold Machin; £1 definitive – three-quarter profile of George V head (Downey head) and profile head by Bertram Mackennal based on photographs by W & D Downey and engravings by JAC Harrison; St George and the Dragon illustration by Sedley Place based on the £1 Postal Union Congress stamp of 1929 designed by Harold Nelson
Stamp format Landscape
Stamp size 33mm x 24mm
Printer Cartor Security Printing
Print process Lithography
Perforations 15 x 14
Phosphor All over
Gum PVA

The King’s Stamps – Technical Details:

Feature Type/Detail
Number of stamps Four
Size of Sheet 115mm x 89mm
Design Sedley Place
Acknowledgements 1st Class definitives – original British Empire Exhibition stamp designed by Harold Nelson based on engravings by JAC Harrison; £1 definitives – original ‘Seahorse’ stamp designed by Bertram Mackennal based on engravings by JAC Harrison
Stamp format Landscape
Stamp size 45mm x 34mm, 60mm x 34mm
Printer Joh Enschedé Stamps
Print process Intaglio and lithography
Perforations 15 x 14
Phosphor Bars
Gum PVA
Text © reproduced with the permission of Royal Mail Group Ltd. All rights reserved.