Gold medal stamps at 2012 Olympics by Royal Mail

 

David Bond, British sailor, only surviving gold medallist at the 1948 London Olympics

With one year to go to London 2012, Royal Mail has announced that it will issue special gold medal stamps to celebrate Team GB Olympic gold medal wins.This is the first time that Royal Mail will be issuing  stamps to mark Olympic victories.   The stamps will feature both individual and team gold medal wins.

Details of the actual designs themselves are set to be announced later, when Royal Mail will also announce its plans to commemorate the Paralympic Games.

Royal Mail issued its first Olympic Games Stamps in 1948, with four stamps bearing the five Olympic Rings.

It will be the third time a host nation has issued stamps to mark individual Olympic gold medal wins.  Australia Post was the first postal service to issue gold medal stamps to mark home team Olympic victories in 2000, with Hellenic Post in Greece following suit in 2004. In 2008 China Post issued a single commemorate sheet of stamps to mark their national team’s success in Beijing.  More recently Canada Post issued a stamp to mark the first ever gold medal won on home territory at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010.

The 27^th July sees the issue of the final set of ten stamps in Royal Mail’s countdown to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The three-part series has seen 30 stamps issued, reflecting all sports competed.

Royal Mail has a history of celebrating key moments in UK sporting history.  England’s World Cup football victory in 1966 was the first UK sporting achievement to be marked by a set of Special Stamps with more recent stamp issues featuring the England rugby team’s 2003 historic World Cup win and the English cricket team’s 2005 memorable Ashes success.

 

Club News

Maxim Cards on 100 years of First Aerial Post

Mr Vijay Seth of New Delhi has prepared set of four max cards  on 100 years of First Aerial Post stamps with postmarks dated 12th February and 18th February 2011. Enquiries may be sent to :  vijay_hseth@yahoo.co.in

 

 

 

 

Release of sp cover on Andilal Poddar postponed

Mr Sovik Roy from Kolkata informs that the release of sp cover on Andilal Poddar  special cover to be released on 30th July has been postponed and it will be released later.

 

Canada Post Letterbox near Niagara Falls

Our distinguished member Mr Sudhir Jain shares here  photo of  Canada Post letter box located near Niagara Falls.

Letter Box near Niagara Falls

Photo : Sudhir Jain from USA

Centenary of First UK Airmail to be celebrated by Royal Mail…

 

To be issued on 9 September 2011

 

Royal Mail is issuing a miniature stamp sheet and prestige stamp book on 9 September 2011, as a tribute to the pioneering aviators who made philatelic history through the UK’s first aerial post service a century ago.

Gustav Hamel’s 15-minute flight from Hendon Aerodrome to Windsor Castle on 9 September 1911 was part of the celebrations of the coronation of King George V.  It was the first of 16 aerial post flights carrying commemorative postage to mark the coronation.  The flights took place until 26 September 1911 and are recognised as the world’s first scheduled airmail service.

Now exactly 100 years on, Royal Mail marks the event with a miniature sheet, featuring a border that replicates the design of an original publicity poster for the inaugural flight.  The four-pane prestige stamp book written by Peter Lister, President of the British Air Mail Society includes a pane comprising four 50p Windsor Castle stamps, re-issued from the 2005 set of high-value definitives stamps printed by intaglio.

The Aerial Post Miniature Sheet tells the story of this historic flight; featuring original photography of key events from the day; from Hamel receiving the first mail bag (1^st Class), sitting in the cockpit of his Blériot XI monoplane at Hendon Aerodrome (68p), and his arrival in the grounds of Windsor Castle (£1.10). The fourth £1 stamp features Clement Greswell, another of the pilots who helped deliver the UK’s first aerial post.

 

New Special Cover..

75 Years of Rotary Club of Solapur – 23 February 2011

100 Years of World’s First Aerial Post

: Ashwani Dubey, Gorakhpur

100 Years of Air – Mail … Picture Postcards

 

From Our Readers…..

I have received number of mails with images of various types of philatelic items from our readers regarding INDIPEX 2011 . It is not possible to publish here all . I am giving here some select items and more items will be published in forthcoming posts…..

Mr Vipan Kumar Thakur of Chandigarh   has prepared some Picture Postcards duly cancelled with stamps FOR 100 YEARS OF AIRMAIL  . He may be contacted at e mail :  philavpnthakur@rediffmail.com

 

 

 

Club News .....

Centenary Celebrations of World's First Airmail 18th Feb. 2011 - 2012

Hundred years ago, an important event took place in India and history was written. Around 5pm on February 18, 1911, French pilot Henri Pequet loaded a sack of 6,500 cards and letters on a two-seater bi-plane stationed at a polo field in Allahabad and soared into the evening sky. The flight to Naini lasted barely 13 minutes; the plane flew a mere five miles. But history had been made. This was the world's first official airmail. Among the letters was one written by Motilal Nehru to his son Jawahar; some were addressed to England's King George V.

To commemorate the occasion 100 years later, India Post re-enacted that historic moment through a special flight between Allahabad and Naini on Feb 12, which also marked the beginning of Indipex 2011, the world philatelic exhibition in the Capital Out of all this glory, an eminent philatelist from Patna, Bihar Mr. Pradip Jain has made his country proud. For past 30 years he has done extensive study and research in the field of Indian Airmails . His collection "Indian Airmails Development and Operations (1911 -1942)" has received numerous accolades and awards world over. For his collection he has received 7 large gold medals in the past, once best collection award at Italia 1998 and recently Gold with Best collection award at London 2010. He has also authored a book by the same title in which he covers his entire research. This book was released by ex-President, Shri, A.P.J Abdul Kalam in the year 2003. Further, to commemorate and showcase this historical event, he has donated from his collection, a rare 1911 World First Airmail Flight cover to the Simithsonian Museum U.S.A. which is put on permanent display and is viewed by thousands of visitors.

Most importantly, in the World Philatelic Exhibition - INDIPEX 2011, held in Delhi from 12th to 18th February 2011, his collection had been invited for COURT OF HONOUR which was viewed by the President of India Shrimati Pratibha Singh Patil on 12th February 2011. This was a great moment for India because of achievements of Mr. Pradip Jain. Finally, American Airmail Society has decided to appoint him in 2010 as a member of the Aerophilatelic Hall of Fame (AHF). Taking into account his outstanding and dedicated research on Indian Air Mails, his leadership in Aerophilately in India, his volunteer work in all other aspects of philately in India and his involvement in international Aerophilately all combine to make him a most commendable member of the AHF. He has become the first Indian receive such an honour.

Henri Pequet - Pilot of First Airmail Flight

 

 

La Poste will issue a stamp on  Henri Péquet on 18.02.2011

On February 18, 1911, French pilot Henri Pequet (1888-1974) carried the official airmail; a sack with about 6,000 cards and letters on his Humber biplane. The plane flew a distance of five miles, from an Allahabad polo field, over the Yamuna River, to Naini. All mails were marked with a large magenta cachet showing a plane within a double lined circle, inscribed “First Aerial Post — 1911 — U.P. Exhibition Allahabad“.

Pequet was in India flying demonstration flights for the United Provinces Exhibition in Allahabad. Walter Windham (1868-1942), a British aviation pioneer, organized the aerial demonstrations. The event marked the first time airplanes flew in India.

The stamp will be issued in sheet of 40 or in mini sheet of 10.  There is also a print card engraved .

: Pradip Jain, Patna

New Stamp from India..

Chaudhary Ranbir Singh

Date of Issue – 1 February 2011

: Mansoor B, Mangalore

World’s First Airmail…

On Feb. 18th 2011, the Centenary of the world's first Airmail will be celebrated. India’s noted aero philatelist Mr Pradip Jain has recently donated the 1911 World's First Airmail Flown carried cover to the Smithsonian Postal Museum which is supposed to be the world's best postal / philatelic museum showcasing the treasurer of philately world and is regularly visited by thousands of visitors .