Sunday Stamps 105 - a new beginning (KGVI Coronation)

The obvious stamp for me to share in this week's Sunday Stamps would have been the Penny Black, but having featured one in my previous Sunday Stamps blog post I had to really think about what would be fitting for this week's theme of beginning. I did think perhaps I'd feature some stamps relating to independence but couldn't seem to find them, so instead I decided on a different kind of beginning ... the beginning of the reign of a new monarch in the UK, in this case George VI. The stamp featured below was issued to commemorate his coronation on 12th May 1937.

Coronation of King George VI, 12th May 1937

    

Sunday Stamps 104 - black stamps

I've not managed to participate in Sunday Stamps for a while but will try to make more of an effort in 2013. I suspect my choice of stamps, well the first one of them anyway, for this week's theme of black is not particularly original. My only Penny Black stamp it is pretty battered,  but it's still special in its own way.

Penny Black stamp, c.1840, and a £1 stamp from the 1980's

For any recent new recruits to Sunday Stamps, I have to confess that it's vintage postcards that is my main passion, but stamps, being inextricably linked, do of course get a look in every once in a while. If you want to find out more, check out some of the other posts on my vintage postcards blog

 

      

Sunday Stamps 74 - Halley's Comet

For this week's Sunday Stamps theme of astronomy I have dug out this First Day Cover from 1986, commemorating Halley's Comet.

Halley's Comet is one of the few comets that can be seen without a telescope and is visible every 76 years. It was the astronomer Edmond Halley who first predicted the comet's return and it is named after him.

To celebrate the return of the comet in 1986, the Royal Mail issued four commemorative stamps ...

17p -  Dr Edmond Halley as a Comet

22p -  Giotto Spacecraft approaching Comet

31p -  Twice in a Lifetime

34p -  Comet orbiting Sun and Planets

First Day Cover of Halley's Comer, c.1986

    

Sunday Stamps 68 - Philympia 1970

Stamps about stamps ... what an interesting theme for this week's Sunday Stamps. After a few moments trying to get my brain into gear on this wet and grey Sunday morning, I remembered this one from 1970. Well, when I say remembered, I was only 5 at the time, but what I mean is that I remembered it being in my first day cover album. So, a rummage in the old suitcase that holds my stamp albums, and a quick leaf through the covers and I found it. The stamp and cover commemorate the 1970 International Philatelic Exhibition, held in Olympia, London, from 18th to 26th September.

First Day Cover, Philympia 1970

    

Sunday Stamps 64 - Honiton Royal Mail Post Bus

I've been planning to share this philatelic gem for a while now, and this week's Sunday Stamps theme of anything you wish has given me the opportunity. It's been quite a while since I took this out of its presentation pack, and I had forgotten that it contained a wealth of inserts, as well as the stamps, which doubled-up as the bus ticket. So given this is a Sunday Stamps posting, I'll start with the stamps themselves. These stamps are the first day of issue and represent the 19p bus fare, in September 1978. Also shown is the 'last day of issue' of bus ticket which the stamps replaced.

Royal Mail Post Bus Ticket, September 1978

Royal Mail Post Bus postcard

 Honiton Royal Mail Post Bus insert

Honiton Royal Mail Post Bus timetable

Honiton Royal Mail Post Bus fare schedule

    

Sunday Stamps 63 - Flowers

Spring is really here in the UK this week. We've had some fantastic weather and we even managed to have a barbecue yesterday. For this week's Sunday Stamps of Flowers I found this presentation pack from 1979 of British Flowers. What's curious is that the stamps themselves seems to have been printed with such heavy background colours that it makes them look a little dull. I've included scans of the inserts as these have much more lively and spring like colours. The 2nd insert cites over picking and uprooting as the major causes of the decline of these flowers ... no mention of clearing vast tracts of countryside to build new roads, houses, or business parks.

Presentation Pack of British Flowers stamps, c.1979

Presentation pack insert

Presentation pack insert

Presentation pack insert

    

Sunday Stamps 60 - Public Transportation

It's been a few weeks since I've participated in Sunday Stamps. Work has been manic, and the kids' social events seem to occupy most of the weekend. Can't say I'm looking forward to standing on the touchline this afternoon as it's grim weather here. I had quite a few public transportation related stamps to choose from but eventually decided on this one as it's quite unusual. Admittedly the stamp itself does not feature any mode of transportation, but the postmark and first day cover envelope all do, so I hope this slight deviation from the theme is ok :-)

The first day cover is of the final arrival at Southampton of the Queen Mary, 19th October 1967.

First day cover, Last Arrival at Southampton of the Queen Mary

Insert from first day cover

    

Sunday Stamps 52 - Montserrat

Given that this week's theme for Sunday Stamps was anything you wish I decided to pick the first stamps that were on the top of my philatelic inbox. These stamps are all from Montserrat, a British overseas territory in the West Indies (in the Leeward Island to be more precise) and date back to 1942.

Stamps from Montserrat, c.1942

    

Sunday Stamps 43 - Australia and New Zealand

Well I couldn't decide whether to choose Australia or New Zealand for this week's Sunday Stamps so I ended up selecting a stamp from both. The first stamp if from Australia and depicts Christmas 1957. I am normally a firm advocate of keeping Christmas in December, but this seemed like an opportunity not to miss.

Christmas 1957, Australia

The second stamp is from New Zealand, and is an 8d stamp from New Zealand, c.1986, from the Peace series, and shows a Knight holding a banner depicting the Cross of St George - from the stained glass window of the Wellington College Memorial Hall.

 Peace, New Zealand, c.1946

    

Sunday Stamps 41 - the Philippine Islands

As Sunday Stamps continues its journey around the globe, I was initially stumped to find something relevant. I was sure I had plenty of Japanese stamps to share, but either I was imagining it or I was looking in the wrong place. Fortunately however the Philippine Islands came to my rescue, so here a a few stamps from there.

4 pesos stamp from the Philippine Islands

Two 6s stamps from the Philippines (Pilipinas) showing Jose Rizal

    

Sunday Stamps 38 - British Architecture (Cathedrals) c.1969

Well, coming from Europe and having a reasonable number of British stamps, I was spoilt for choice for my submission for this week's Sunday Stamps. I did originally think of sharing some Victorian stamps, but although interesting the colours are quite muted, so I decided to jump forwards 100 years and share a First Day Cover from Elizabeth II's reign in 1969. I'm not quite sure why the theme, whilst claiming to be 'architecture' is exclusively Cathedrals. I would have thought that there were plenty of other great architectural feats like palaces and bridges which could have been equally good candidates.

First Day Cover, British Architecture, c.1969

The architectural feats pictured on the stamps are clockwise from top left:

Durham Cathedral

York Minster

St. Paul's Cathedral

Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral

St. Giles Edinburgh

and the cover itself shows Coventry Cathedral.