Isle of Man – Queen Elizabeth II regional definitives – Decimal currency – GPO landscape cover – 1971

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	Queen Elizabeth II regional definitives – Decimal currency
Date of issue	7 July 1971
Withdrawal or invalidation date	5 July 1973 (invalidated in the Isle of Man, subject to transitional acceptance); 7 July 1973 (withdrawn locally); 4 July 1974 (withdrawn from British Philatelic Counters)
Stamp type	Definitive
Stamp subtype	Regional definitive
Theme or subject	Queen Elizabeth II; Isle of Man regional definitives; decimal currency
Text credit
Designer or artist	Jeffery Matthews; portrait after a plaster cast by Arnold Machin
Printer	Harrison and Sons
Printing process	Photogravure
Colours	Bright magenta; ultramarine; reddish violet; chestnut
Paper and gum	Chalk-surfaced paper; originally cream paper; gum not specified
Perforation	15 × 14
Stamp dimensions
Issue format	Sheets of 200 (10 × 20)
Number of stamps	4
Cover type	Official first day cover
Cover producer	Post Office
Cover reference
Limited edition	No
Edition limit	N/A
Copy number	N/A
Cachet or cover design	Landscape within a border of yellow flowers and foliage, with a Three Legs of Man shield above and “REGIONAL ISSUE” and “Isle of Man” lettering below.
Addressed	Yes
Postmark type	Special handstamp
Postmark location	Douglas, Isle of Man
Postmark date	7 July 1971
Postmark inscription	FIRST DAY OF ISSUE; 7 JULY 1971; DOUGLAS ISLE OF MAN
Postmark notes	The Isle of Man reference example bears the pictorial Douglas first day cancellation with the Three Legs of Man. The stamps are arranged in a two-by-two group; part of the cover is obscured by another cover in the supplied montage.
Postmark image	No postmark image uploaded
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. Address status and cachet description are based on the reference example, not an owned specimen.

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 wanted first day cover is the GPO landscape cover version of the four decimal-currency Isle of Man regional definitives issued on 7 July 1971. The stamps are the 2½p, 3p, 5p and 7½p values, numbered SG 8–11.^[1]

The supplied montage shows four regional landscape covers. The Isle of Man example is at the lower left: its cachet depicts a landscape within yellow flowers and foliage, with a Three Legs of Man shield above and “REGIONAL ISSUE” and “Isle of Man” lettering below. The small landscape caption is not sufficiently clear to identify the depicted location. The example is addressed and bears the pictorial Douglas first day cancellation. Part of its right-hand area is obscured by the Northern Ireland cover in the montage.^[2]

The contributor identifies this as a GPO cover, with confirmation from page 278 of Adrian Bradbury’s 2022 catalogue.^[3] It is a different design from the collection’s turquoise-panel Post Office cover.

The Post Office information card held with the collection’s separate turquoise-panel cover identifies the stamp designer as Jeffery Matthews.^[4] The portrait of Queen Elizabeth II is after a plaster cast by Arnold Machin. Harrison and Sons printed the stamps by photogravure on chalk-surfaced paper, perforated 15 × 14, in sheets of 200 (10 × 20). The 2½p stamp has one centre phosphor band, while the other three values have two bands.^[1]

All four values were initially issued on cream paper. The 2½p and 3p later appeared on white fluorescent paper; the supplied catalogue entry does not give dates for those later appearances. Phosphor-omitted errors are listed separately as SG 8y and SG 10y. They are not included in the standard four-stamp cover listing.^[1]

The catalogue records invalidation of SG 8–11 for use in the Isle of Man from 5 July 1973, with transitional acceptance for the prepayment of postage on letters from the island until 5 August 1973. It separately records withdrawal from local sale on 7 July 1973 and from British Philatelic Counters on 4 July 1974. The regional stamps remained valid for use in the rest of the United Kingdom at that time.^[1]

Stamps on this cover

Identifier	Face value	Subject	Format	Notes
IM-SG-8	2½p	Queen Elizabeth II; Isle of Man regional definitive design	Stamp	Bright magenta; one centre phosphor band. Illustrative scan from the collection’s separate turquoise-panel Post Office cover, not this wanted cover.
IM-SG-9	3p	Queen Elizabeth II; Isle of Man regional definitive design	Stamp	Ultramarine; two phosphor bands. Illustrative scan from the collection’s separate turquoise-panel Post Office cover, not this wanted cover.
IM-SG-10	5p	Queen Elizabeth II; Isle of Man regional definitive design	Stamp	Reddish violet; two phosphor bands. Illustrative scan from the collection’s separate turquoise-panel Post Office cover, not this wanted cover.
IM-SG-11	7½p	Queen Elizabeth II; Isle of Man regional definitive design	Stamp	Chestnut; two phosphor bands. Illustrative scan from the collection’s separate turquoise-panel Post Office cover, not this wanted cover.

Related first day covers

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 Stanley Gibbons.Channel Islands and Isle of Man 2022 Edition Stamp Catalogue(31st combined edition).Stanley Gibbons.2022.Section: Isle of Man — Regional issues.p. 197.Catalogue system: Stanley Gibbons.Catalogue number(s): 8–11.ISBN: 978-1-911304-89-0.Place of publication: Ringwood.
↑ Isle of Man decimal regional definitive first day cover — GPO landscape cover(Reference image of a first day cover).Reference: Contributor-supplied reference image: image(20261009-094547).png..Reference illustration supplied to identify a wanted cover; the illustrated specimen is not recorded as owned.
↑ Adrian Bradbury.Collecting British First Day Covers(38th edition).A G Bradbury.2022.p. 278.ISBN: 978-0-9567991-7-3.Place of publication: Leicester. Identification of the GPO cover confirmed by the contributor from this catalogue.
↑ Isle of Man — Regional Decimal Definitive Issue(Information card).Post Office.Reference: Scanned information card.Card headed “7th July 1971”, held with the owned cover.

[SG2022-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 Stanley Gibbons.Channel Islands and Isle of Man 2022 Edition Stamp Catalogue(31st combined edition).Stanley Gibbons.2022.Section: Isle of Man — Regional issues.p. 197.Catalogue system: Stanley Gibbons.Catalogue number(s): 8–11.ISBN: 978-1-911304-89-0.Place of publication: Ringwood.

[CoverReference-2] Isle of Man decimal regional definitive first day cover — GPO landscape cover(Reference image of a first day cover).Reference: Contributor-supplied reference image: image(20261009-094547).png..Reference illustration supplied to identify a wanted cover; the illustrated specimen is not recorded as owned.

[Bradbury2022-3] Adrian Bradbury.Collecting British First Day Covers(38th edition).A G Bradbury.2022.p. 278.ISBN: 978-0-9567991-7-3.Place of publication: Leicester. Identification of the GPO cover confirmed by the contributor from this catalogue.

[PO1971-4] Isle of Man — Regional Decimal Definitive Issue(Information card).Post Office.Reference: Scanned information card.Card headed “7th July 1971”, held with the owned cover.

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