Norvic Philatelics

Diamond Jubilee of HM Queen Elizabeth II - 6 February 2012,  27 March 2012

The iconic and official imagery of Her Majesty the Queen is brought together in six new stamps to mark the 60th anniversary of the accession.

A Miniature Sheet brings together six portraits of the Queen taken from stamps, coinage and banknotes issued during her reign, including a brand new 1st Class diamond blue Definitive which will replace
the gold Definitive in Post Offices during Jubilee Year, and will also be available in counter sheets, stamp books and business sheets.  1st class Large versions will be issued on 4 March.

The Diamond Jubilee ‘Machin’ features Arnold Machin’s iconic image on a blue background that highlights the words ‘Diamond Jubilee’ in iridescent ink. Since it first appeared in 1967 this timeless image has been reproduced on more than 220 billion British Definitive stamps. As well as the Machin image, the sheet also features a special Diamond Jubilee edition of the first stamp of Her Majesty’s reign, featuring the iconic photograph by Dorothy Wildling, first used in 1952.

The Diamond Jubilee Miniature Sheet also creates another philatelic first: bringing together the most iconic portraits of the Queen as she appears on coins and banknotes, as well as stamps. Since the Penny black, Royal Mail Definitive stamps have featured an image of the monarch facing to our left. Royal Mint has a different convention as succeeding monarch’s alternate the direction in which they face. Her Majesty the Queen faces to our right on coins. This is why the two Definitive stamps featuring the coin imagery will be the only Definitive stamps where the monarch faces this direction.

Scan of actual sheet & booklet	Let me know when this page changes it's private powered by ChangeDetection Gummed Miniature sheet 1st class stamps with designs taken from: Dorothy Wilding Definitive Stamp (1952) Robert Austin Banknote portrait Harry Eccleston Banknote portrait Mary Gillick Coinage portrait Arnold Machin Coinage portrait Diamond Jubilee Machin
	Jubilee Definitive 1st class self-adhesive book of 12. Scan of actual used stamp, showing text MOND behind the head. Booklets have code MTND, business sheets MBND and the miniature sheet MMND See more detail on the blog.
	Close-up images of the variations: 1. Counter sheets - MOND 2. Business sheets - MBND 3. Retail book of 12 - MTND

Background on the stamps in the miniature sheet

Dorothy Wilding Definitive
The first stamp on the Miniature Sheet has been inspired by the Wilding Definitives first issued in 1952, featuring a photograph taken by Dorothy Wilding and a decorative frame design, inspired by the early frame designs by Edmund Dulac.

Robert Austin Banknote Portrait
Austin designed the first Bank of England notes to bear the monarch’s head. The engraving was based on a pencil sketch taken from a photographic portrait. The first note, £1, appeared in 1960. Queen Elizabeth II was the first monarch to be depicted on Bank of England notes.

Harry Eccleston Banknote Portrait
A new series of notes, designed by Harry Eccleston, began to appear in 1971. His portrait of the Queen on the £5 note showed her wearing the robes of the Order of the Garter, as on the subsequent £1 in 1978.

Mary Gillick Coinage Portrait
Coins with Mary Gillick’s design were first issued in 1953. This image is still used on Maundy Money to this day.

Arnold Machin Coinage Portrait
First issued in 1968, Machin’s design was created for the new decimal currency, and subsequently provided the basis for the stamp image. The Machin coin image is printed next to the Machin stamp image
in the sheet.

Diamond Jubilee Machin
The classic Definitive portrait by Arnold Machin issued in a new colour specifically for the Diamond Jubilee Year. It features iridescent ink highlighting the words ‘Diamond Jubilee’.

Technical details:
Designed by Sedley Place with coin photography by David Burton, the 146 x 74mm miniature sheet is printed by Walsall Security Printing in gravure "with special techniques".

We await full details of the Jubilee Definitives but would expect the counter sheet stamps to be printed in gravure by De La Rue in sheets of 25 or 50.  The Business Sheet and Booklet should be printed by Walsall Security Print. As is usual with recent Machin definitives we would expect a different 'source code' to be hidden in the irridescent wording of the stamps in the booklet and business sheet, and possibly that in the gummed miniature sheet.

From 6 February 2012 this new Diamond Jubilee Definitive 12 x 1st Class book will be available and remain so throughout the Queen’s jubilee year thereby replacing the gold Definitive.

On 27 March the 4 x 1st Large book, 1st Large Counter sheet and the 50 x 1st Large Business sheets will be issued.  At the same time the colour of the 50p stamp will change from pale grey to rust.  The change to rust has been postponed until at least 2013.  No explanation has been given either for the new colour nor the postponement.

All stamp and postmark images are copyright 2011/2, Royal Mail.

Products available - we are supplying the miniature sheet, the stamps from that and the stamps from other sources.  Also (after 6 Feb) first day covers of the Jubilee Machin definitive.  Click here.

Miniature sheet
Press Sheet of 12 uncut miniature sheets *
First Day Cover
Set of 7 Stamp Cards - only sold as a set *
Presentation Pack *

* Obtainable from Royal Mail

Jubilee definitives: counter sheet of 25/50, retail booklet of 12, business sheet of 100. 

Special Postmarks available on the day of this issue are be shown here.  These postmarks cannot be obtained after the date of issue.  These images are not be to scale.

Ref FD1207 Official Bureau postmark	Ref FD1208 London SW1 official first day of issue postmark	Ref FD104NP Happy Valley, Malvern, non-pictorial official first day of issue postmark	Ref L12396 -Windsor	Ref L12399 Queen Elizabeth Street, London SE1
Ref L12397 Sandringham, Norfolk	Ref L12398 Jubilee Place, London SW3	Ref M12402 Jubilee Road, Rednal, Birmingham	Ref L4666 Buckingham Palace, London SW	Ref L4680 Windsor Castle
Ref L12117 London SW1 (multi-date postmark - date added below design)	Ref L12408 The Queen's Diamond Jubilee 2012 London SW	Ref L12407 Diamond Jubilee EIIR London SW1	Ref L12409 The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Windsor	Ref L12410 Diamond Jubilee of the Accession, Sandringham, Norfolk
	<<<<< Ref L12411 London EC		<<<<< Ref L12412 Official Diamond Jubilee Logo, London	See also 'Jubilee Britain' postmarks on the permanent postmarks page