Providing collectors with quality U.S. and foreign
stamps since 1973 Members of the APS
Postage Stamps of Great Britain
If you’re looking for a fascinating country to collect, look no further. Great Britain was the first country to issue postage stamps
with
the “penny black” in 1840. 
v:shapes="_x0000_i1064"> Example of GB Scott 1
with red maltese cross cancel.
The
classics are interesting with the many issues with different plate numbers.
Most notably is Scott #33 that has over 150 plate numbers for this issue alone!
Example of GB Scott 33 (plate
91) block illustration reduced. Plate #’s at left and right.
You
will notice that Great Britain stamps do not have the Country name on their
stamps. The Monarch’s profile serves as the identifier for these stamps.
Example of Scott 1478. Notice the profile of Queen Elizabeth II at the
upper right. The reign of QEII started for stamp issues in 1952 up to the
present day, making Queen Elizabeth the most prolific monarch on Postage
Stamps!
The
beautiful “Seahorse” issues started in 1919 with several different printings
and these issues were also overprinted for use in the Offices abroad, Ireland,
Bechuanaland, and a couple other British Colonies.
Example of Scott 179-181 “Seahorses”.
Modern
issues of Great Britain covers a wide range of topics such as ships, uniforms,
fairy tales, trains, royalty, castles, etc. and the stamps are very attractive!
Don’t
forget the machin issues and the many booklets that will add to the interest of
your Great Britain collection.
Example of Scott MH280-83 Machin heads. – notice that these newer
issues have elliptical cut perfs at the left and right. These perforations are
also found on modern stamps from other countries, like Hungary and Poland. Earlier
machin head stamps had the standard perforations all the way around the stamp.
Example of Scott BK144 booklet. Great Britain has many hundreds of
booklets and booklet covers to collect. This area can be very challenging, especially
the earlier booklets with the many different covers for each Scott number.
Email - sreedy@netonecom.net
Mailing address -
Stateside P.O. Box 1036 Evart, MI 49631
Gerald or Stephen Reedy
(231) 734-9943