http://www.stampandcoin.co.uk JANUARY 2016 33ROBERT BURNS COVERS
less significant 207th anniversary of his
birth. Nobody gets a commemoration
for such an odd anniversary; one should
view the stamp issue as recognition
that Burns should have been celebrated
earlier; attitudes had changed.
Two stamps were issued, a 4d and
a 1/3d value, and both have minor
constant flaws. The stamps were
withdrawn on 29 July, 1966 although
they were, in error, briefly released for
sale again at the Philatelic Counter
in London, the Philatelic Bureau in
London and at the Edinburgh Festival.
Ordinary and phosphor versions of
both stamp values exist: 77,905,176
of the 4d ordinary stamps were printed
and a further 8,738,520 of the phosphor
stamp. The numbers for the 1/3d are
much smaller being 5,685,096 for the
ordinary stamp and a 1,226,120 of the
phosphor. In addition, 38,968 packs were
sold. The designer of the stamps was
Gordon F Huntley; perhaps the main
criticism of his design is the excessively
stylised saltire on the 4d stamp.
The 4d paid the everyday letter
rate. The 1/3d main solo usage was
for an airmail letter to Zone B (USA,
some Asia and some Africa) per half
ounce, a further usage was for a surface
letter to the rest of the world (not
Commonwealth nor the USA) of over
one ounce and under two ounces and is
extremely difficult to find.
But Burns got better treatment over
the following years. An air letter was
issued in 1975 pleasingly using Burns
quotations for instructions on how
to use the aerogramme. In 1996 a set
of four stamps were issued to actually
mark an important anniversary, the
200th anniversary of Burn’s death. It
is awkward to find the top two values
of this issue on cover. In 2009 a mini-
sheet was issued making Burns the
first non-Royal to appear on three
stamp issues. This issue is catalogued
as a ‘regional’ set as only two of the
stamps feature Burns; the other four are
Scottish ‘regional’ stamps.
Robert Burns is a great cultural figure
and the battle to get philatelic recognition
for him was of real importance in that
the key issue was about democratising
subjects shown on stamps. We need more
people on stamps who can inspire, our
culture is of importance to the world and
we should perhaps make more of the
people who made it.The ‘Scottish Secretariat’ published pro-Scottish documents including the Burns label on the left hand side. This 1965 Greenock cover has
the Queen upside down which indicates a republic was preferredMore unusual 1966 First Day Covers included specially printed
newspaper wrappers. This one was cancelled in GalashielsInteresting usage for the 4d on cover can be found – here is a Gibraltar
Paquebot cancel used 4 April, 1966Solo postal use of the high value is most commonly seen on airmail to the USA; perhaps many ex-pats received post bearing the
stamps during the 1960s. Here seen with a London machine cancel dated 18 February, 1966p32 Burns covers.indd 33 23/11/2015 14:30