Isle of Man – Landmarks definitives – 11p–16p – Mercury cover – 1978

First day cover details

FDC image	No image uploaded
FDC reverse image	No reverse image uploaded
Country	Isle of Man
Country code	IM
Issue title	Landmarks definitives – 11p–16p – Mercury cover
Date of issue	28 February 1978
Withdrawal or invalidation date	30 June 1983 (stamps withdrawn from sale)
Stamp type	Definitive
Stamp subtype	Country pictorial
Theme or subject	Isle of Man; landmarks; nature and heritage
Text credit
Designer or artist	J. H. Nicholson, R.I., P.S.
Printer	House of Questa
Printing process	Lithography
Colours	Multicoloured; 4 colours
Paper and gum	White security-coated paper, 102 g/m²; PVA gum
Perforation	14 or 14½ according to the catalogue entry; actual cover stamp perforations unmeasured
Stamp dimensions	26 × 34 mm (orientation varies)
Issue format	Sheets of 50 (arrangement varies by value; see text)
Number of stamps	6
Cover type	Standard cover
Cover producer	Mercury
Cover reference
Limited edition	No
Edition limit	N/A
Copy number	N/A
Cachet or cover design	Colour illustration of the Laxey Wheel with First Day Cover lettering and Mercury emblem.
Addressed	No
Postmark type	First-day-of-issue postmark
Postmark location	Douglas, Isle of Man
Postmark date	28 February 1978
Postmark inscription	FIRST DAY OF ISSUE / 28 FEB 1978 / DOUGLAS / ISLE OF MAN
Postmark notes	Douglas circular first-day cancellation. The shared February image illustrates the standard cancellation design; individual strikes and positions differ.
Postmark image
Signed	No
Signed by	N/A
Signature details	N/A
Information sheet included	Yes
Information materials
Information sheet title
Information sheet image	No image uploaded
Information sheet reverse image	No reverse image uploaded
Information sheet notes
Certificate of authenticity included	No
Certificate of authenticity image	N/A
Certificate of authenticity reverse image	N/A
FDC owned	No
Condition
Collection Comment	Wanted cover; supplied photograph is a private reference, not an owned collection scan.

Image notice: Images on these pages may depict copyrighted stamp designs, cover artwork, text or photographs. Unless otherwise stated, they are scans of physical items in the collection of PhantomSteve. Rights in the depicted material remain with their respective rightsholders. See Copyrights.

This cover belongs to the Landmarks and Queen Elizabeth II definitive series, issued in stages: ½p–16p on 28 February 1978, 20p–£1 on 18 October 1978, and £2 on 29 September 1981.

Illustrated cover

This wanted reference bears 16p, 13p, 11p, 12p, 14p, 15p (left to right, reading the rows from top to bottom). Its circular Douglas first-day cancellation is dated 28 February 1978. The example is unaddressed.

The shared February postmark image uses the collector’s filename IM-Landmarks-Feb-1978-postmark.jpg. It illustrates the standard Douglas cancellation and is not claimed to show every individual strike on this cover.

Subjects and production

16p — The official sheet traces the development of the Douglas lights from the Red Pier light to the Douglas Head lighthouse. It describes the 1892 rebuilding and the light’s electrification in 1977. Its descriptions of the light and fog signal are contemporary with the 1978 leaflet.

13p — The official sheet identifies the ruined medieval cathedral within Peel Castle on St Patrick’s Isle, rather than the later cathedral building in Peel town. It describes its chancel, crypt, tower and transepts and recounts the cathedral’s decline and proposed restoration.

11p — The sheet relates St Ninian’s Church to the philanthropy of Henry Bloom Noble. It dates its erection to 1913 and credits the design to W. D. Caroe and construction to R. Costain.

12p — The sheet describes the Tower of Refuge on Conister Rock in Douglas Bay, built in 1832 as a shelter for shipwrecked mariners. It associates the project with Sir William Hillary and credits its design and construction to John Welch.

14p — The sheet recounts the lighthouse’s completion and first lighting in 1818 under the Northern Lighthouse Board. Its description includes the Stevenson family’s involvement and the conversion of the Point of Ayre light to electricity in 1976. Operational details describe the position when the 1978 leaflet was published.

15p — The sheet calls the structure Corrin (Memorial) Tower and recounts Thomas Corrin’s establishment of a memorial tower and family burial ground on Peel Hill. It describes the disputes over his burial and the tower’s importance as a landmark for fishermen.

The official sheet credits J. H. Nicholson, R.I., P.S., and the House of Questa. It specifies lithography, four colours for each value, 26 × 34 mm stamps, and white unwatermarked security-coated paper with PVA gum, 102 g/m². Its perforation specification is 14 per 2 cm. The catalogue additionally lists perforation 14½ for twelve denominations.

The official sheet credits J. H. Nicholson, R.I., P.S., and the House of Questa. It specifies lithography, four colours for each value, 26 × 34 mm stamps, and white unwatermarked security-coated paper with PVA gum, 102 g/m². Its perforation specification is 14 per 2 cm. The catalogue additionally lists perforation 14½ for twelve denominations.

The catalogue lists perforations 14 and 14½ for the low and medium values, except the 6p SG113, for which only 14 is supplied. The collector has not measured the illustrated cover stamps, so the actual suffixes are not assigned from appearance, filename or the usual bureau combination.

Perforation and first-day-cover combinations

The catalogue states that both perforations of the ½p–16p stamps were printed at the same time, but some were not recorded in use until later. It gives these earliest recorded uses: SG112a (1p), August 1979; SG114a (7p), August 1978; SG115a (8p), June 1980; SG117a (10p), August 1979; and SG119 (12p), September 1980. Those are earliest-use records, not exact issue dates.

For the three low and medium value FDCs, the catalogue records the common Edinburgh Philatelic Bureau combination as SG111a, SG112–115, SG116a, SG117–118, SG119a, SG120, SG121a, SG122 and SG123a. It also records some examples with SG111, SG118a or SG120a instead. Island-prepared dealer or collector covers are recorded with SG111–118, SG119a–120a, SG121, SG122a and SG123. These are recorded preparation patterns, not a measurement of the collector’s copies.

Sheets, plates and imprints

• 11p: sheets of 50 (10 × 5). Plate numbers: 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D (each × 4). Imprint: Left-hand corner, top margin, and right-hand corner, bottom margin.
• 12p: sheets of 50 (5 × 10). Plate numbers: 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D (each × 4). Imprint: Left-hand corner, top margin, and right-hand corner, bottom margin.
• 13p: sheets of 50 (5 × 10). Plate numbers: 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D (each × 4). Imprint: Left-hand corner, top margin, and right-hand corner, bottom margin.
• 14p: sheets of 50 (5 × 10). Plate numbers: 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D (each × 4). Imprint: Left-hand corner, top margin, and right-hand corner, bottom margin.
• 15p: sheets of 50 (5 × 10). Plate numbers: 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D (each × 4). Imprint: Left-hand corner, top margin, and right-hand corner, bottom margin.
• 16p: sheets of 50 (5 × 10). Plate numbers: 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D (each × 4). Imprint: Left-hand corner, top margin, and right-hand corner, bottom margin.

Withdrawal

16p, 13p, 11p, 12p, 14p, 15p: withdrawn from sale on 30 June 1983.

No quantity-sold figures are supplied for this series; the sales fields remain blank.

Related covers

• Isle of Man – Landmarks definitives – ½p–8p – Official cover – 1978
• Isle of Man – Landmarks definitives – 9p–12p – Official cover – 1978
• Isle of Man – Landmarks definitives – 13p–16p – Official cover – 1978
• Isle of Man – Landmarks definitives – ½p–8p – Mercury cover – 1978
• Isle of Man – Landmarks definitives – 9p–12p – Mercury cover – 1978
• Isle of Man – Landmarks definitives – 13p–16p – Mercury cover – 1978
• Isle of Man – Landmarks definitives – ½p–10p – Stuart cover – 1978
• Isle of Man – Landmarks definitives – 1p, 7p, 11p and 13p – Church of St Sanctain cover – 1978
• Isle of Man – Landmarks definitives – 20p–£1 – Official cover – 1978
• Isle of Man – Landmarks definitives – 20p–£1 – Mercury cover – 1978
• Isle of Man – Landmarks definitives – 20p–£1 – Stuart cover – 1978
• Isle of Man – Queen Elizabeth II definitive – £2 – Official cover – 1981
• Isle of Man – Queen Elizabeth II definitive – £2 – Mercury cover (Laxey Wheel design) – 1981
• Isle of Man – Queen Elizabeth II definitive – £2 – Mercury cover (map design) – 1981

Stamps on this cover

The stamp images are shared design illustrations from the collector’s owned official covers; they are not scans of the wanted example.

Where two perforations are catalogued, the row’s identifier is left unassigned and the linked alternatives are given in Notes. No suffix is inferred from the scan filename.

Image	Identifier	Face value	Subject	Format	Other catalogues	Notes
	IM-SG-123	16p	Douglas Head Lighthouse	Stamp		Perforation not measured: IM-SG-123, IM-SG-123a.
	IM-SG-120	13p	St German’s Cathedral, Peel Castle	Stamp		Perforation not measured: IM-SG-120, IM-SG-120a.
	IM-SG-118	11p	St Ninian’s Church	Stamp		Perforation not measured: IM-SG-118, IM-SG-118a.
	IM-SG-119	12p	Tower of Refuge	Stamp		Perforation not measured: IM-SG-119, IM-SG-119a.
	IM-SG-121	14p	Point of Ayre Lighthouse	Stamp		Perforation not measured: IM-SG-121, IM-SG-121a.
	IM-SG-122	15p	Corrin’s Tower	Stamp		Perforation not measured: IM-SG-122, IM-SG-122a.