I never looked royal stamps like this so closely, but now that you (and John) post them together, suddenly all kinds of questions arise. Like: who is the second person on the upper 20p stamp? What doe the star and hand mean in the stamp top right? What does postage revenue mean, and (why) is it French on an English stamp?:-)
The reason why UK stamps don't mention the name of the country I learned from my father: according to him the UK was the very first country to use stamps this way, so no need to mention your country if you're the only one :-)
I know about the no-name in the UK stamps (sometimes, the year isn't written either!). But, for the rest of the questions, I still need to find out.
Like you, at first I used to consider these stamps uninteresting. Like the basic series (with the king) in Spain. But now I think that there is an interesting story behind every stamp, even the commonest.
A nice set of stamps, and Heleen is right, they are not as 'boring' as at first glance.
The black 20p has an image of Queen Victoria added to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first postage stamp. 20p was the first class rate at the time, and thus the black color.
The hand and star signifies Northern Ireland (or Ulster). Scotland and Wales also had country definitives noted by a lion and a dragon respectively.The symbols were introduced in 1971. At some point in the late 1990s/early 2000s, the country definitives were replaced with pictorial stamps showing symbols from each country instead.
As for the words 'Postage revenue', this started in 1880, when postage stamps could also be used to pay for taxes. The phrase 'postage and inland revenue' was added to stamps, which morphed over the years to postage & revenue, and finally to postage revenue. This was ultimately dropped with the advent of the Machin stamps.
Hi, Nila! I read your e-mail, but still hadn't had the time to answer. Thanks for letting me know. I'm on holidays now and... another postcard is in the way! I hope it reaches you soon.
I never looked royal stamps like this so closely, but now that you (and John) post them together, suddenly all kinds of questions arise. Like: who is the second person on the upper 20p stamp? What doe the star and hand mean in the stamp top right? What does postage revenue mean, and (why) is it French on an English stamp?:-)
ReplyDeleteThe reason why UK stamps don't mention the name of the country I learned from my father: according to him the UK was the very first country to use stamps this way, so no need to mention your country if you're the only one :-)
I know about the no-name in the UK stamps (sometimes, the year isn't written either!). But, for the rest of the questions, I still need to find out.
DeleteLike you, at first I used to consider these stamps uninteresting. Like the basic series (with the king) in Spain. But now I think that there is an interesting story behind every stamp, even the commonest.
A nice set of stamps, and Heleen is right, they are not as 'boring' as at first glance.
ReplyDeleteThe black 20p has an image of Queen Victoria added to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first postage stamp. 20p was the first class rate at the time, and thus the black color.
The hand and star signifies Northern Ireland (or Ulster). Scotland and Wales also had country definitives noted by a lion and a dragon respectively.The symbols were introduced in 1971. At some point in the late 1990s/early 2000s, the country definitives were replaced with pictorial stamps showing symbols from each country instead.
As for the words 'Postage revenue', this started in 1880, when postage stamps could also be used to pay for taxes. The phrase 'postage and inland revenue' was added to stamps, which morphed over the years to postage & revenue, and finally to postage revenue. This was ultimately dropped with the advent of the Machin stamps.
Wow, you know everything about it! Thank you for all this interesting information!
DeleteYes, many thanks, Phillip!
DeleteHi Eva!
ReplyDeleteHere to let you know that the postcard arrived while I was away and I got it on my return. My first from Morocco! Totally thrilled. Thank you so much!
Hi, Nila! I read your e-mail, but still hadn't had the time to answer. Thanks for letting me know. I'm on holidays now and... another postcard is in the way! I hope it reaches you soon.
Delete