Here’s an interesting curiosity…A very nice strip of three London Post c.1839 13p GB commemorative stamps on an envelope above another strip of three Policeman on the Beat 10p GB stamps. What makes this unusual, however, is that I received this envelope in the post the other day – in fact if you look carefully you’ll see a post mark dated 10 September 2007 – whilst the commemorative stamps were issued in 1979! As it happens, this is no accident – the envelope contained other stamps purchased on eBay. One of the fun things about buying stamps from dealers on eBay is that on some occasions you get more than you bargained for!
The London Post stamp (SG Cat. 1097) was part of the four stamp set produced for the Centenary of the Death of Sir Rowland Hill (22 August – 24 October, 1979), whereas the Policeman on the Beat (SG Cat.1100) was issued on 26 September, 1979 along with three other stamps celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Metropolitan Police.
The London Post Stamp also appeared in the 1980 Miniature Sheet issued at the London 1980 Stamp Exhibition.