The London 2012 Games commences on 27 July and concludes on 12 August. The Paralympic Games commences on 29 August and concludes on 9 September. Royal Mail will commemorate London’s hosting of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games by issuing three sets of 10 x 1st Class stamps in the run up to the London 2012 Games in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
The concept is to issue 30 stamps to mark the 30th Olympiad and London 2012 Paralympic Games. Each of the sporting areas celebrated in these Games will have its own stamp. And each of the 30 stamps will be created by a different contemporary artist, illustrator or designer. The first set of 10 was issued in 2009, with retail booklets earlier this year.
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 Sheet 1: Paralympic Rowing, Shooting, Modern Pentathlon, Taekwondo, Cycling; Sheet 2: Paralympic Table Tennis, Hockey, Football, Paralympic Goalball, Boxing |
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Sports from each of the Olympic disciplines were selected to illustrate the subject of each stamp. The Olympic Games comprises 26 different sporting disciplines, such as Cycling. Cycling includes several different events where medals are won – including road racing, various time trials and velodrome races as well as mountain biking events and BMX. Many gold medals can be won in different events, and all will be symbolised by one Cycling stamp symbolising the sport of Cycling.
The Paralympic Games features 21 sports, such as Judo (which is also competed in the Olympic Games), as well as Paralympic specific events such as Goalball.
In all, 29 different sports are played at the Olympics and Paralympics. There will be one stamp design for each sport with the exception of athletics which will be presented across two stamps as Athletics: Track and Athletics: Field, hence 30 sport stamps.
Royal Mail’s design team with David Hillman, from Studio David Hillman, set to work allocating each sport to one of the quality image makers who agreed to work on this three-year project. Royal Mail also consulted with the sports’ governing bodies and specialist clubs for each stamp. Each stamp has the London 2012 Olympic or Paralympic logo in the lower corner.
The Commemorative Sheet contains all ten stamps with se-tenant labels, and the illustrated folder contains interviews with Olympic hopefuls including Goalball players Anna and Michael Sharkey by Richard Rae. The sheet is A4 size with braille printing on the back of the folder.
The retail booklet contains 4 Machin 1st class definitives and the Rowing and Table Tennis Olympic stamps.
Technical
details:
The
stamps' designers are listed below. The overall design
task
was by Studio David Hillman, and the 35mm square stamps are printed in
litho by Cartor Security Printing, perf 14½ with all-over
phosphor. The stamps are printed in two sheets of 25 (5 each
of 5 designs in vertical columns), enabling
collectors
to buy vertical strips of any single sport/discipline.
The Presentation Pack and FDC are designed by GBH. The pack, printed by Walsall Security Printers, has information about each of the sports by Ian Cole, former News Sports Editor of the Daily Mail, who also wrote the text on the FDC filler card.
The Commemorative Sheet is designed by True North. We expect that the Commemorative sheet will be printed by Cartor.
Designers:
Rowing:
Marian Hill; Shooting: David
Hillman; Modern
Pentathlon:
Katherine Baxter; Taekwondo:
James Fryer; Cycling: Matthew
Dennis, Table
Tennis:
Michael Craig Martin; Hockey:
Darren Hopes; Football: Alex
Williamson; Goalball: Tobatron,
Boxing: Stephen Ledwidge
Mint Stamps
Presentation Pack
First Day Cover
Set of 10 Stamp Cards
Retail booklet
Commemorative Sheet
Special postmarks available for the day of issue are shown here (not to scale). More may be added later.
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| Ref FD1029 Official Philatelic Bureau FD postmark |
Ref FD1030 Official Rowington FD postmark |
Ref FD918NP Official Rowington non-pictorial FD postmark will be as above, dated 27.07.2010 | Ref L11517 Countdown to London 2012, Stratford E16. Games of the XXX Olympiad |
Ref L11799 London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, London |
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| Ref L11797 Sporting Disciplines Retail Booklet, Dorney, Windsor | Ref M11806 Sporting Disciplines, Raleigh Close, Birmingham | Ref M11807 Sporting
Disciplines Stamp Book The Tennis Court, Birmingham |
Ref M11808 Tribute to Rebecca Adlington, Double Olympic Gold Medallist, Mansfield Nottingham | Ref W11812 Tribute to Nicole Cooke, World & Olympic Champion 2008, Wick Vale of Glamorgan |
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| Ref L11804 Sporting Disciplines, Wembley, London | Ref L11801 Sporting Disciplines, London | Ref L11802 Sporting Disciplines, London | Ref L11803 Sporting Disciplines, Greenwich Park, London SE10 | Ref L11798 International Mountain Biking Association UK, London. |
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| Ref L11557 Stratford, London, E15 |
Ref L11570 Sporting Disciplines Retail Booklet London W2. |
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If you have any questions about
these stamps please email
us.
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will endeavour to answer all emails within 1-2
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This page updated 15 July 2010.