In response to public interest and in support of significant national activity, Royal Mail issued the first in a series of three miniature sheets to align with Remembrance Day in 2006. The second sheet in the series will be issued on the 8th November 2007, and there will also be a Commemorative Generic Smilers Sheet.
The Miniature sheet features another new special Poppy stamp. After last year's flowers blooming on barbed wire stems, the Passchendaele stamp uses the pattern formed by the black stamens and inner edges of the petals - although based on photographs of real flowers, it dramatically suggests the silhouetted forms of struggling soldiers which were some of the most striking images of the long muddy battle. The miniature sheet also includes a block four 78p country definitives, one for each of the countries of the UK.
Technical details:
The sheet is designed by hat-trick design and printed by De La Rue
Security Print in lithography (creating more new country stamps). The
background photo is from the Imperial War Museum collection.
The Poppy stamp is perforated 14½x14 and the definitives 15x14.
The sheet size is 124x71 mm. On the poppy stamp in both the miniature
sheet
and the Generic Sheet the year 2007 is 'reversed out' of the phosphor
band at the lower left of the stamp.
Stamp and postmark images are Copyright 2007 by Royal Mail; other
images are copyright Norvic Philatelics.
Now that we have the actual sheets we can report that, as with 2006, the 'labels' are not separately perforated, that is, the description and memorial image form one complete label the equivalent of 5 normal labels, as shown more clearly on the enlarged image. The sheet borders and description 'labels' (but not the memorials) are printed with silver ink. These sheets require very careful handling as the silver ink rubs off!
A generic sheet consisting of 20 x 1st class poppy stamps will also be available, designed by hat-trick design and printed by Cartor Security Printers.
The border incorporates extracts from the poem "For the Fallen" by
Laurence Binyon.
"As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,
as the starts that are starry in the time of our darkness,
to the end, to the end, they remain."
The labels show images and details of personnel from the front-line
with typographic copies of
original letters they wrote to their loved ones. The people depicted
are:
- Private Harry Brown 2nd King's Royal Rifle Corps
- Second Lieutenant Percy Boswell 8th Battalion the King's Own
Yorkshire Light Infantry
- Dorothy Field Voluntary Aid Nurse
- Private William Bowen Stephens Lancashire Fusiliers
Norvic Philatelics limited edition First Day Covers for this
issue:
Please note that the postmarks shown have been digitally applied to
these images and may be a slightly different size and in slightly
different positions.
Miniature sheet on Norvic 'Poppies' first day cover - Price
£8.95 (postmark L10760)
Set of 4 Norvic 'Letters From the Front' first day covers
carrying a complete set of Generic Smilers stamps - Price
£18.50 (postmarks L10758 & L10573).
Products issued:
Mint sheet
Generic Smilers Sheet
Min Sheet on Royal Mail FDCs
There are no stamp cards (PHQs) for this issue.
Special postmarks available for the First Day of Issue are shown here:
Ref FD737 Official Bureau FDI postmark "They Fell with their faces to The Foe" |
Ref FD738 Official London SW1 FDI postmark "Guns Fall Silent". |
Ref FD738N Official London SW1 FDI non-pictorial postmark |
Ref L10758 Lest We Forget, Passchendaele, The Cenotaph, London SW1 |
Ref L10760 Lest We Forget, ... there's some corner of a foreign field That is forever England, London SW1 |
Ref L10573 Menin Gate, Grosvenor Street, London W1 |
Ref N10773 The Western Front Association, Stockport |
Ref M10770 Monument Road, Birmingham |
Ref L10759 Lest We Forget, London SW1 |
Ref L10756 Whitehall London SW1 |
Ref L10757 Remembrance 2007, Lord's London NW8 |
Ref L10755 Chelsea London SW3 |
Ref L10754 The Strand, London WC2 |
This page updated 20 November 2007 If you wish to receive an email when this page is updated, please e-mail us, or use the ChangeDetection facilty alongside. |
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January 9 The Beatles 16 Definitive LOVE booklet |
February 1 Sealife of the British Coast 13 The Sky at Night |
March 1 World of Invention 1 Glorious Wales Smiler Sheet 22 Abolition of the Slave Trade 27 Definitive & Country stamps |
April 23 Celebrating England miniature sheet and Glorious England Smilers Sheet |
May 15 Beside the Seaside 17 Wembley Stadium MS and Smilers |
June 5 Machins 40th Anniversary miniature sheet, PSB & Smilers |
July 3 Motor racing Grand Prix 17 Harry Potter books 26 Centenary of Scouting (Europa) |
August |
September 4 Endangered Species - birds 20 British Military Uniforms (I - Army) |
October 16 60th Wedding Anniversary of HM the Queen |
November 6 Christmas 8 Lest We Forget 30 Glorious Scotland Smilers |
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