The United Kingdom, known in philatelic circles as Great Britain, released many commemorative stamps (postage stamps issued to honour or commemorate a place, event or person) in the 1980s.
History
Postage stamps were first issued in the United Kingdom on 6 May 1840, with the introduction of the world's first adhesive postage stamp, known as the Penny Black. Until 1924, all British stamps depicted only the portrait of the reigning monarch, with the exception of the "high value" stamps (also known as the "Sea Horses" design) issued in 1913, which were twice the size of normal stamps with added pictorial design.
In 1924, the first "commemorative" stamp was issued for the British Empire Exhibition. There were then occasional issues over the next thirty years, when the frequency of new issues became more regular. From the mid-1960s, in most years, six to nine sets of commemorative stamps have been issued every year. PHQ cards, postcard-sized reproductions of commemorative stamps, have also been issued to accompany every new set of stamps since the mid-1970s.
Sources
Stanley Gibbons
Concise Stamp Catalogue
Gibbons Stamp Monthly
Royal Mail Stamp Guide
Royal Mail British Philatelic Bulletin
Other decades
United Kingdom commemorative stamps 1924–1969
United Kingdom commemorative stamps 1970–1979
United Kingdom commemorative stamps 1990–1999
United Kingdom commemorative stamps 2000–2009
United Kingdom commemorative stamps 2010–2019
United Kingdom commemorative stamps 2020–2029
See also
Stanley Gibbons
Stamp Collecting
List of people on stamps
Philately
Stamps
PHQ Cards
References
External links
Stanley Gibbons Stamps Shop Homepage
Royal Mail
1980
Commemorative stamps
Lists of postage stamps
Commemorative
Commemorative stamps
