List of United Kingdom commemorative stamps

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This list deals with commemorative stamps of United Kingdom.

1 History
2 Other Decades
3 Acknowledgements
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] History

Postage Stamps were first used in the United Kingdom on 6th May 1840, with the introduction of the world's first Adhesive Postage Stamp, the Penny Black. Up until 1924, all British stamps depicted only the portrait of the reigning Monarch, with the exception of the 'High Value' stamps {the so-called "Sea Horses" design} issued in 1913, which were twice the size of normal stamps with added pictorial design.

In 1924, the first 'Commemorative' stamp was issued for the British Empire Exhibition. There were then occasional issues over the next thirty years, when the frequency of new issues became more regular. From the mid-sixties, in most years, six to nine sets of commemorative stamps have been issued every year. PHQ Cards, postcard sized reproductions of commemorative stamps, have also been issued to accompany every new set of stamps since the mid-seventies.

Issue dates of the early British Commemorative stamps, 1924 - 1969.

Issue Date	Commemorative Issue	No. in set
1924
23rd April 1924	British Empire Exhibition {dated 1924}	Two
1925
9th May 1925	British Empire Exhibition {dated 1925}	Two
1929
10th May 1929	9th U.P.U. Congress, London	Five
1935
7th May 1935	Silver Jubilee	Four
1940
6th May 1940	Centenary of first postage stamp	Six
1946
11th June 1946	Victory	Two
1948
10th May 1948	Royal Silver Wedding	Two
29th July 1948	Olympic Games	Four
1949
10th October 1949	75th Anniversary of Universal Postal Union	Four
1951
3rd May 1951	Festival of Britain	Two
3rd May 1951	Ships {This set is not a Commemorative issue, it is the first set of 'Pictorial' High Value Definitives.	Four
1953
3rd June 1953	Coronation {Portraits of Queen Elizabeth II}	Four
1955
September 1955	Castles {Not a Commemorative issue, the next set of 'Pictorial' High Value Definitives}	Four {10s + £1 first issued September 1st; 2s 6d + 5s first issued September 23rd.
1957
1st August 1957	World Scout Jubilee Jamboree	Three
12th September 1957	46th Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference	One
1958
18th July 1958	6th British Empire & Commonwealth Games	Three
1960
7th July 1960	Tercentenary of Establishment of General Letter Office	Two
19th September 1960	1st Anniversary of European Postal & Telecommunications Conference	Two
1961
28th August 1961	Centenary of Post Office Savings Bank	Three
18th September 1961	European Postal & Telecommunications (C.E.P.T.) Conference, Torquay	Three
25th September 1961	7th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference	Two
1962
14th November 1962	National Productivity Year	Three
1963
21st March 1963	Freedom From Hunger	Two
7th May 1963	Paris Postal Conference Centenary	One
16th May 1963	National Nature Week	Two
31st May 1963	9th International Lifeboat Conference, Edinburgh	Three
15th August 1963	Red Cross Centenary Congress	Three
3rd December 1963	Opening of COMPAC (Trans-Pacific Telephone Cable)	One
1964
23rd April 1964	Shakespeare Festival	Five
1st July 1964	20th International Geographical Congress, London	Four
5th August 1964	10th International Botanical Congress, Edinburgh	Four
4th September 1964	Opening of Forth Road Bridge	Two
1965
8th July 1965	Churchill Commemoration	Two
19th July 1965	700th Anniversary of Simon de Montfort's Parliament	Two
9th August 1965	Salvation Army Centenary	Two
1st September 1965	Centenary of Joseph Lister's discovery of Antiseptic Surgery	Two
1st September 1965	Commonwealth Arts Festival	Two
13th September 1965	25th Anniversary of Battle of Britain	Eight
25th October 1965	20th Anniversary of U.N.O. and International Co-operation Year	Two
15th November 1965	I.T.U. Centenary	Two
1966
25th January 1966	Burns Commemoration	Two
28th February 1966	900th Anniversary of Westminster Abbey	Two
2nd May 1966	Landscapes	Four
1st June 1966	World Cup Football Championship	Three
8th August 1966	British Birds	Four
18th August 1966	England's World Cup Football Victory {4d value from the June set, overprinted 'England Winners'}	One
19th September 1966	British Technology	Four
14th October 1966	900th Anniversary of Battle of Hastings	Eight
1st December 1966	Christmas	Two
1967
20th February 1967	European Free Trade Association (EFTA)	Two
24th April 1967	British Wild Flowers	Six
10th July 1967	British Paintings	Three
24th July 1967	Sir Francis Chichester's World Voyage	One
19th September 1967	British Discovery and Invention	Four
18th October 1967	Christmas (4d value)	One
27th November 1967	Christmas (3d & 1s-6d values)	Two
1968
29th April 1968	British Bridges	Four
29th May 1968	British Anniversaries	Four
12th August 1968	British Paintings	Four
25th November 1968	Christmas	Three
1969
15th January 1969	British Ships	Six
3rd March 1969	First flight of Concorde	Three
2nd April 1969	Anniversaries	Five
28th May 1969	British Architecture, Cathedrals	Six
1st July 1969	Investiture of HRH The Prince of Wales	Five
13th August 1969	Gandhi Centenary Year	One
1st October 1969	Post Office Technology Commemoration	Four
26th November 1969	Christmas	Three