A miniature sheet of 4 stamps will be issued on the occasion of the handover of the Olympic Flag from Beijing to London. This is a joint issue with China Post. The handover is a deeply significant ceremony, and takes place on the closing day of the Games, Sunday 24 August. As Royal Mail does not issue stamps on a Sunday (or a bank holiday which is the following day), Royal Mail agreed with China Post and the IOC to issue the UK stamps on the Friday before the handover ceremony. The Chinese Post Office is producing stamps of very similar design, which will be issued on 24 August.
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Technical details:
The sheet was designed by why not associates and printed by Walsall Security Print in litho with silk screen*. Photography credits: Tower of London - Britain on View; others - Alamy
* A second publicity image has been received which shows the Olympic rings overlayed. This is a silk-screened varnish layer. ( All images are Royal Mail or China Post Copyright 2008. )
Other products
Royal Mail will issue a first day cover, a presentation pack and a set of 5 stamp cards. If previous Joint Issue practice is followed there will also be an official Joint Cover but we have no information on this yet. Shown below is an image from the website of China Post showing various products (we have no direct link to this yet and it is not yet on the English language pages of their website). These products appear to include official maximum cards, first day covers, and souvenir packs. If we can get these we will provide information and prices as soon as possible.
Mint Sheet - price £1.95
Presentation Pack - price £2.50
PO FDCs with any postmark - price £2.35
Set of 5 Stamp Cards unused - price £2.75
Set of 4 stamp cards serviced with relevant stamps and appropriate postmarks - price £4.50
Any postmark can be supplied on plain envelope with any single stamp for £1.60.
Special Postmarks
Special postmarks available for the day of issue will be shown here - others will be announced nearer the date of issue.
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