http://www.stampandcoin.co.uk FEBRUARY 2016^11Sign up for the free Stamp & Coin Mart e-newsletter and receive news direct to your inbox every month. Sign up at: http://stamp.cm/esign-upRoyal Mail issue Star Wars silver-foiled stamp book
Stamp year books prove popular
Post offices across the world have recently published their annual
year books, which bring together the nation’s stamps for 2015 and
present them in a collectable album, complete with related images
and information.
Amongst the 2015 books proving popular is the collection from the
Faroe Islands, which is described by Posta Stamps as ‘our most exclusive
product’. The ninety-page book includes all the stamps and mini-
sheets of the year and recounts the stories behind every stamp issue in
detail. Highlights include the Faroes nod to the Magna Carta 800th
anniversary, the total solar eclipse of March, and the single stamp
marking 100 years of women’s suffrage.
The USA’s 64-page book is ‘filled with beautiful imagery, fascinating
stories, and placeholders throughout the pages for affixing and
preserving the stamps’. Stamp subjects include actors Paul Newman
and Ingrid Bergman, and singer Elvis Presley, Coastal Birds, Charlie
Brown Christmas stamps and many more. The USPS also recently
published The Postal Service Guide to U.S. Stamps, which serves as an
introduction to USA stamps and includes a philatelic glossary, details of
the full 2015 stamp programme, and ‘new copy and art’ illustrating the
USA’s famous Postmasters’ Provisionals of 1845-47.Australia’s year
book is available
in standard and
‘Executive’ editions
both featuring an
exclusive miniature
sheet not available
elsewhere. In all, the Australian 2015 Collection includes 101 mint
stamps and fourteen miniature sheets, and so would make a welcome
addition to any country collection.
For many collectors the year book provides a second chance to obtain
the many stamps which may have been difficult to keep up with during
the year, whilst certain year books prove to be highly collectable and
quickly go up in value. ‘[Britain’s] 2012 Year Book is extremely difficult
to get hold of as they sold out before the Royal Mail withdrawal date
of 6 November, 2014,’ Amanda Grieve of Packs & Cards explained in
a previous issue of Stamp & Coin Mart. ‘It could be due to 2012 being
a very special year with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and London
Olympic Games, making these books a stunning keepsake.’
This time, Royal Mail’s 64-page limited edition year book explores
the year’s stamps through the theme of ‘Profiles’, taking its inspiration
from Arnold Machin’s iconic bas-relief study of the Queen. Each
chapter begins with a profile portrait of someone closely associated
with the stamp subject and a short biography. The rest of the
chapter covers particular aspects of that issue’s subject, complete with
illustrations and commentary.
Whether they go up in value or not, year books provide collectors
with a special souvenir of the year’s stamps and continue to be
hugely popular.Do you collect year books? Have you received one as a gift in the past? Let
us know what you think of the annual collections. Send your views to:
[email protected]Royal Mail recently issued a special silver-foiled version of their Star Wars
prestige stamp book, limited to just 1,977 copies and retailing at £120.
Issued on 17 December, to coincide with the release of the blockbuster Star
Wars: The Force Awakens in UK cinemas, the previously advertised prestige
stamp book features 26 pages, all Star Wars stamps and 1st Class, 2nd Class
and Union Flag stamps. However, a numbered, limited edition version was
added to the long list of Star Wars stamp products in late November, being
described on Royal Mail’s website as ‘the ultimate Christmas gift for 2015... a
silver-foiled Prestige Stamp Book within a metal case that has been embossed
with the Star Wars logo.’
The limited edition book features silver and holographic foiling and limited
edition numbering and is presented in an embossed silver coloured metal
clamshell case with embossed Star Wars logo. The special book also comes with a
‘premium quality, high end Ultra Violet torch, complete with batteries – perfect
for viewing the Ultraviolet designs on the Character Stamps!’
Find out more about the Star Wars stamp range at http://www.royalmail.com/SCMp09 Stamp update.indd 11 21/12/2015 09: