Introduction

Searching to Find Great Britain Stamps ?

Welcome to RareClassicStamps.com

If you collect GB stamps we hope you will find this site informative and provide you with valuable information to allow you to enhance your collection.

We cover the  GB stamps for the 2 Queens and 5 Kings, with these being Queen Victoria, Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII, George VI, Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III.

Stamps from Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria reigned from 20th June 1837 to 22nd January 1901.

There are three groups of stamps from the reign of Queen Victoria. There are Line Engraved Issues, Embossed Issues and the Surface-Printed Issues.

The first stamp issued with the head of Queen Victoria was the famous Penny Black in 1840. The Penny Black was issued to replace Mulready Letter Sheets and Envelopes.

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Stamps from King Edward VII

King Edward VII reigned from 22nd January 1901 to 6th May 1910.

The first stamp issued in King Edward VII reign was the Half Penny Blue Green issued on the 1st January 1902. Three different printers produced King Edward VII stamps, these being De La Rue, Harrisons and Somerset House. Many of the stamps come in different shades creating a wide variety of issues to collect.

It was not till the 16 March 1904, that the first Post Office King Edward VII booklet was issued. It contained 24 penny stamps in four panes of six.

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Stamps from King George V

King George V reigned from 6th May 1910 to 20 January 1936.

With Definitives, High Values and Commemoratives, King George VI is an exciting area of GB stamps to collect.  The first commemorative stamps were issues in 1924 for the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley. While High Value Seahorse Stamps, where issued in 1913 to 1918 and also in 1934.

Like stamps of King Edward VII the stamps of King George V come in many different shades from various printers such as Waterlow, De La Rue and Bradbury Wilkinson.

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Stamps from King Edward VIII

King Edward VIII reigned from 20th January 1936 and abdicated on 11 December 1936.

Although there were only 4 basic low value stamps issued during the reign of King Edward VIII, there are also inverted watermark issues. What makes King Edward VIII stamps interesting to collect is the variety of Control Numbers and Cylinder Numbers to be found at the bottom left of each stamp sheet.

King Edward VIII stamps in booklets remained on sale until December 1937 a year after the Kings abdication.

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Stamps from King George VI

King George VI reigned from 11th December 1936 to 6th February 1952.

The low value stamps from King George VI were produced by photogravure. They have set names of Dark Colours, Light Colours and Changed Colours. There are two different recess-printed High Value Sets those being the Arms High Values and the Festival High Values

There are also 8 commemorative sets for King George VI including the 1948 Royal Silver Wedding.

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Stamps from Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II reigned from 6th February 1952 to 8th September 2022.

Over the 70 years of Queen Elizabeth II reign there have been many differing definitive sets. Initially with several issues of the wilding design later with the pre-decimal Machin design and later with the decimal Machin varieties. There have also been an average of 10 commemorative sets issued each year giving a large range of options for collectors.

Innovation has seen graphite lines on stamps, phosphor marks to allow sorting between 1st and 2nd Class Post, along with Security Stamps with special markings and slits that make it difficult to remove from paper. Even water based adhesive on the back of stamps has now changed to self adhesive stamps that come on special backing sheets. 

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Stamps from King Charles III

King Charles III reigned from 8th September 2022 and remains King.

Definitive GB Stamps were issued on the 4th April 2023 for King Charles III.

Colours for this first set of King Charles III Stamps are, 1st Class – Plum Purple, 2nd Class – Holly Green, 1st Class Large – Marine Turquoise, 2nd Class Large – Dark Pine Green

It will be interesting to see details of future commemorative stamp issues which will follow over the coming months.

See more details on King Charles III Stamps.