A few weeks ago I bought an Annual via eBay ('twas either Supercar or TV Comic), and when it arrived the wrapping had 15 stamps affixed to it which, to my eyes, looked very old indeed. I presume that the seller had been saving them for quite a number of years and decided to use them before they became invalid due to not having a barcode, but I think I'll hang on to them. Any Crivvies out there collect stamps? If anyone knows the age of the ones shown here, feel free to enlighten me (and everyone else). I know the Peter Rabbit one is from the '70s 'cos I still have the one I bought back then.
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A similar thing happened to me, also on a parcel I received from eBay. Very unusual stamps I'd never seen before and lots of them. I think I've still got them somewhere in the loft, I don't like to part with things. 😊 Pity you didn't get a Penny Black, Kid.
I'm not 100% certain, but I may actually already have a Penny Black. If not, it's a Penny Red. I'll have to try and remember where I've stashed my stamps and check. I find it very difficult to part with things as well, though surprisingly enough, not money.
That is pretty strange. I think folk are using up their old stamps as in the next few weeks or months if your stamp doesn't have a barcode it can no longer be used. Still who holds onto unfranked stamps this long that's not a collector .
I stopped collecting stamps when I was around 11 years old so I can't help on the dates of most of these
I only collect stamps that are tie-ins to TV shows, books, or comics, McS, as well as some Christmas stamps, but I didn't start getting them until I was an 'adult'. Whoever owned the stamps shown here surely never intended using them if they've had them since they were issued, so it's strange that they would feel the need to offload them now just because lack of a barcode will soon render them invalid.
Actually i forgot i bought the David Bowie stamp set a few uears ago. Does The UK do comic book stamps?
Actually these stamps would all be valid in the future as they are Pictorial Issues it is only the stamps with just the late Queen's Profile, the All standard decimal Machin series definitive stamps that are being withdrawn and replaced with the QR/Bar code.
The stamp at the top far right was issued in 1981 to celebrate Charles and Diana's wedding. Diana was actually taller than Charles but he was standing on a box when that photo was taken. The stamp at bottom far right is from Christmas 1981 and was drawn by a child as were all the Christmas stamps of that year.
There have been stamps featuring Beano characters and famous UK comics, McS. (Valiant, etc.)
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Makes me wonder why anybody would decide to use them now then, T47, after having them for so long.
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1981? Only seems like yesterday to me, CJ - and a 100 years ago at the same time.
I thought stamps had to have a barcode to be valid now. I'm off to check those comic character stamps, sound fun
I think there's a cut-off point for non bar-code stamps being valid, McS, which is fast approaching.
I had to check . In 1981 mail was 14p. Why the Chuck and Di was twice the price I don’t know. I thought they just issued a regular price stamp and because they were on it, it became collectible. For all I know there might be a first class wedding stamp issued at 14p.
Yeah, perhaps there was a series of them, PS, at different prices - all with Charles and Di on them. Does anyone actually still send letters today, in the age of email? Maybe one day, stamps will be phased out - or does Royal Mail make a fortune from selling new stamps to collectors?
I think they are moving towards just that, Kid. I recently sent a parcel Special Delivery, it was 50p cheaper booking it online, no need to print a label and the postman collected it from my door for free. What use is there for a stamp in that situation? There will always be collectables if there is profit in new editions but I reckon ordinary stamps will be phased out. I see in the news today 20 councils are making their car parks cashless and you have to pay by app. Progress I suppose but not good for oldies or if your battery runs out.
Royal Mint produce proof sets of coins merely for collectors, and though the coins are legal tender, they're not meant to be spent, they're intended purely for aesthetic appreciation in their plastic cases. So you're right, M, special edition stamps will one day be produced only for stamp collectors, even though there'll no longer be a need for stamps in the way they're used today.
Don't forget the huge numbers of birthday cards and Christmas cards posted every year which all need stamps.
Don't forget that there's a growing tendency for people to send email Birthday and Christmas cards, CJ, which, theoretically, could eventually supplant sending actual cards by post. As the price of stamps increases year-on-year, they may one day come to be regarded as just too expensive for people to keep buying them.
In answer to Phil S, First Class domestic stamp and Airmail for rest of the world. Airmail stamps were so the rest of the Empire/Commonwealth could celebrate equally.
Possibly people were not aware that these special issue stamps were remaining valid and were not being withdrawn from use.
Many countries still issue special edition stamps for no other reason than to make money from collectors rather than use for actual postage. This is probably running down as there are fewer stamp collectors than there used to be.
And fewer people are actually writing (and therefore sending) letters, T47, so it's anybody's guess as to whether collectors or letter writers will become 'extinct' first. It'll be a sad day, whichever group it is - and the remaining one will go the same way in time.
You're probably right about e-cards, Kid. I suppose having an email address will become as common as a street address which isn't the case at the moment. But even then you might not know the email address of people you don't see very often but still want to send a Christmas to.
In that particular case, CJ, you'd probably ask them for their email address when you saw them face-to-face. Or maybe there'll eventually be an email address directory where you can look people up?
I still send a Christmas card to Rita, one of the Council's carers who visited my mother regularly in her last years, but I don't know Rita's email address or even if she's got one. I intend to keep buying stamps for the foreseeable future anyway because you never know when you might need one. I've currently got a book of 1st class stamps (with 3 left out of 8) which were the last stamps I ever bought with the Queen's head on but also the first stamps I ever bought with a barcode so they are a transition between two eras - and I bought the book during the brief premiership of Liz Truss so my seemingly ordinary book of stamps is quite historic.
By the way, I'm not keen on the idea of an email address directory because it would mean being bombarded with spam - I already get nuisance phone calls claiming my bank account has been hacked or somebody with an Indian accent wants me to take part in a survey etc.
When I suggested that one day there may not be a need for stamps in the way they're used today, CJ, I meant to the same EXTENT that they're used today, rather than nobody ever posting a letter. However, it would depend on just how expensive stamps become, as I can't imagine many (if any) people being prepared to buy a stamp if they cost a fiver, just to post a Christmas card. If they get too expensive, that may kill off demand for them, outside of special sets for collectors.
I'm not sure I'd like an email directory either, but too many people get bombarded with spam already, even without one. Those sort of companies seem to have ways of finding out email addresses as it is, so it might not make that much of a difference.
Don’t worry because due to the increase in internet Sales the post office has lots of business. It’s just that stamps may not survive as we know them. Which is a pity.
Indeed. I'd miss the Christmas stamps. Long may they continue.
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