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Supersonic Collaboration

Supersonic Collaboration

Gibraltar produced stamps in 2019 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the inaugural flight of the supersonic aircraft “Concorde”. The Concorde was designed and built by four collaborating companies, two in the United Kingdom – British Aerospace and Rolls-Royce – and two in France, Aérospatiale and SNECMA (Société Nationale d’Étude et de Construction de Moteurs d’Aviation). The final product was completed in 1969, though its first commercial flight wasn’t until 1976. Only 20 Concordes were ever built, six prototype and development aircraft and 14 that were actually used commercially.

Gibraltar 2019

 Its maximum speed was twice the speed of sound, reaching up to 1,370 mph, and it transported passengers from New York to London in less than 3.5 hours. A crash that killed 113 people in 2000 caused all Concordes to be taken out of service for a year for modifications but in its 27 years Concorde only saw that one single fatal accident. It remained in service for 27 years until 2003.

With special thanks to the London Postal Museum the article continues with facts surrounding original designs put forward to the British and French postal authorities regarding Concorde philatelic products.

The idea of a commemorative stamp to mark the maiden flight of Concorde was first brought to the Post Office’s attention by a Mr. Doubtfire who sent in an unsolicited design in 1967.

At that time there were no plans for a commemorative stamp, however, it was decided to look into what the French Postal Authority intended to do. The French had already commissioned an artist and together they agreed that each country would have its own stamp issued after the flight.

The artists commissioned to design the British stamps were David Gentleman, Philip Sharland and Richard Negus, Michael & Sylvia Goaman and Margaret Calvert. There was also the unsolicited design already seen by Mr Doubtfire and another by a Miss S Down.

The stamp needed to represent the collaboration between Britain and France and depict the plane itself. Margaret Calvert’s design (seen above) overlaps the countries on the map as Concorde flies over. The red, white and blue colours used also unified the countries.

After all the designs were submitted they were sent to the Ministry of Technology to be checked for technical accuracy. Minor changes were made and it was also suggested that sound waves, like those used in Philip Sharland and Richard Negus design below, shouldn’t be included as it drew attention to the sonic booms made by Concorde.

The final designs chosen and approved by HM The Queen in 1968 (see below) consisted of work by Michael & Sylvia Goaman and David Gentleman.

The Concorde stamp issue was accompanied by a presentation pack also designed by David Gentleman. It contained the three issued stamps and detailed information about the plane’s creation and specifications.

When the stamps were created the first-class price was 4d, however due to the delays in the inaugural flight the rate had risen to 5d. The two phosphor bands on the older 4d stamps would still travel first class and it was decided to allow this to pass rather than lose money reprinting.

The first flight of Concorde took place on the 2 March 1969 with the French issuing their stamp on the day of the flight, Britain issued theirs the day after on the 3rd.

Concorde has also featured in other stamp issues such as Airliners from 2002 and the Design Classics issue of 2009 celebrating British design.

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Hitting the Target

Hitting the Target

The amazing variety of subjects featured on postage stamps is often a source of fascination for the collector and the stamp set shown here is a prime example. I would love to know the story behind the reason the postal authority of Czechoslovakia in 1974 chose the subject of 19th Century painted wooden shooting targets.

From the top, left to right, the target showing a soldier at a guard post is from 1840. Next, a Pierrot with an owl in a tree (1828) and from 1832 a target that has the goddess of hunting, Diana, crowning a champion marksman. The stamps in the bottom row show musical instruments (1839), hunters aiming at the heart of a leaping stag and an Arab gentleman with a giraffe (years unknown).

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Stamp Errors, Part 8 – A Virgin’s Point of View

Stamp Errors, Part 8 – A Virgin’s Point of View

The normally careful and precise Swiss postal administration made a mistake with one of the stamps from the series “Constellations and Landscapes” which ran from 1982-86.

The stamp, issued in 1983, shows what is meant to be a naked virgin representing the constellation “Virgo” above the Valais Alps and the Aletsch Glacier. But it’s not the naked form that’s at fault, though she must be cold up there.

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Recently Added to Stock

Recently Added to Stock

Below is a small selection of stamps recently added to PostBeeld’s vast stock.

Stamps from Kenya (1981) commemorating the International Year for Disabled Persons and also from Kenya (1978) a set of “Road Safety” warning stamps.

Kenya 1978

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Black Heritage – Part 4

Black Heritage – Part 4

This is a continuation of articles featuring the U.S.A. stamp series entitled “Black Heritage”. I thoroughly recommend further research of the lives of the persons featured in this series of articles.

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Aussie Birds

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Aussie Birds

The stamps in this 2020 Australia Post issue show six species of bird that have been officially proclaimed as emblems of an Australian state or territory. Featured in the designs are artworks from British ornithologist John Gould’s seven-volume “The Birds of Australia”, published in 1848.

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Dark Times

Dark Times

To commemorate the eclipse of the sun on 21 August 2017, Alderney Post in that year issued six special thermochromic stamps featuring six coastal locations in the world which experienced a partial eclipse.

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Forget-me-not

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Forget-me-not

A recent issue by Swiss Post shows two images not visible to the naked eye that relate to common garden flowers. A microscopic factor of nearly 3,000x was necessary to display the invisible scenery on this stamp.

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Black Heritage – Part 3

Black Heritage – Part 3

Quite often when browsing stamps I come across items regarding certain people or subjects of which I previously had no knowledge. But that’s part of the fascination of stamp collecting as a hobby – it can be both intriguing and educational at the same time. This is a continuation of articles featuring the U.S.A. stamp series entitled “Black Heritage”. I thoroughly recommend further research of the lives of the persons featured in this series of articles.

Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937) was an American artist and the first African-American painter to gain international acclaim.

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Stamp Errors, Part 7 – Mistaken Identity

Stamp Errors, Part 7 – Mistaken Identity

Dancer with a Bouquet of Flowers is the title of a painting by Edgar Degas shown on a stamp in a series featuring famous composers with artwork by Degas, issued by Paraguay in 1980.

But some things were not quite right with the stamp! In the top right hand corner is an image of a bewigged gentleman. The caption declares him to be Juan Sebastian Bach. So one mistake is the translation of the name of the famous composer ‘Johann’ to the Spanish-language version ‘Juan’.

But sometimes sons can be mistaken for their fathers and there lies the biggest mistake!

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