The Crown Agents Stamp Bureau

Transcription

1 The Stamp Bureau Omnibus Promotions The Stamp Bureau (CASB) produced several promotional items down the years for its various 'omnibus' series of counter stamps or miniature sheets and these colourful items form the basis of this one-frame Cinderella display. Most items remain cheap as they were invariably given away free within stamp magazines or at stamp shows attended by CASB, but there are a few exceptions, namely those marked as having been issued at the launch parties for the stamps. On 1 October 2007, the Stamp Bureau ceased to independently exist when it joined forces with stamp dealer Harry Allen to form Casco Philatelic Services Ltd. No additional promotional 'omnibus' material has been seen since. A Chronology of Events Commemorated with Omnibus Promotions 1982: 21st Birthday of Princess Diana 1985: Her Majesty the Queen Mother's 85th Birthday and 'Life and Times' 1993: 75th Anniversary of the Royal Air Force 1995: 50th Anniversary of the End of World War Two 1997: Golden Wedding of HM Queen Elizabeth and HRH The Prince Phillip 1999: 30th Anniversary of the First Manned Moon Landing 2001: Year of the Snake 'Best Wishes and Good Fortune' 2002: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, : HM Queen Elizabeth Il's Golden Jubilee 2003: New High Value Portrait of Her Majesty The Queen 2003: 50th Anniversary of the Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth 11

2 1982: 21st Birthday of Princess Diana A mere 700 sheetlets were printed by Harrison and Sons in photogravure with foil blocking for this promotional issue. They were presented in a gift folder printed in silver by Walsall Security Printers to those attending the launch of the new 21st Birthday stamps. This item is probably the scarcest of this series of promotional items and is rarely seen offered for sale. O?3US AZ.ENS ONN Ner Royal Highness The Princess of Wales 21 s Birthday I st J uly 1982 cw c'js A The promotional sheet. 11 The presentation folder for launch party guests > TI ST. HELENA ST. HELENA ST. HELENA ST.HELENA Presented by THE CROWN AGENTS for Oversea Governments and Administrations Typical set of stamps in the series from St Helena.

3 1985: Her Majesty the Queen Mother's 85th Birthday and 'Life and Times' In 1985, The House of Questa produced a sheet of 20 dummy stamp designs depicting HM The Queen Mother for the CASB omnibus series. These sheets bore commemorative text in the perforated-through margins. Copies were given away within Stamp Magazine at the time of the stamp issue. Presented by Stamp Bureau "gents rmnmn on Crown Agn(sCrown.tnts Omnibus Omnibus JOinnihus Omnibus 0 W-0 rown Ag0fitA rown Agents own Aen Omnibus Omnibus Omnihus Omnibus r fr Crown.ents Crown Ageen Omnibus Omnibus L jy: Crown Age Crownen g l Crown A Omnibus Omnibus Omnibus Omnihu i fr r : Printed at The House of Qesta Typical set of stamps in the series from St Helena. The free gift version of the promotional sheet, as supplied through Stamp Magazine.

4 1985: Her Majesty the Queen Mother's 85th Birthday and 'Life and Times' In 1985 and again in 1989, The House of Questa produced a sheet of 20 dummy stamp designs depicting HM The Queen Mother for the CASB omnibus series as previously, but this time without commemorative text and with imperforate margins. This sheet was initially given to those attending the 1985 launch and again in 1989 to delegates at a postal conference, by which time CASB was CAPHCO. 700 were printed for both events. Oil 7Ks Omnibus Omnibus Omnibus P 0,4 -m to'llilli Trown Agents!TAgent's Crown Agent Omnibus innibus Omnibus Omnibus The C,r,ten Aqents Oroethus Se,,es of Ptote Stomp Mork,mt the L4e ted litnot of He. Mo,eot Qutee Ffoth.'th Th, Que.o Moh, C1 rwng..,nts I Crown o mqwws 0. Scan of outside cover of the 1985 stamp launch version. Crown Agug.s I. Crown Age Omnibi miiibus Oiniiihus. COMMONWEALTH POSTAL CONFERENCE PRE-CONGRESS MEETING wn Agits Crown Age Cr Omnibus - iiinihus omnibus Omnibus NOVEMBER 1989 L lww* CAPHCO mi Scan of outside cover of the 1989 Postal Conference version. It is not possible to identify whether the sheet is from the 1985 or 1989 printing when separated from its folder. This copy is guaranteed to be from 1989.

5 i'a 1993: 75th Anniversary of the Royal Air Force A so-called 'black-print' was produced by an unidentified printer for this RAF series. The artworks were by Tony Theobald and lack the text that appeared on the issued stamps, except aircraft name. These three (and a fourth unadopted Tornado design) also appeared on a pair of Stampex/Eur-Apex 93 sheets in colour, again without country name or face value, etc., but full MS are excluded from here as they are not omnibus related. 75th AN N IVE RSARYof the ROYAL AIR FORCE F7/7 PWffHSNI8 SOPWITHS92PE 1918 ia AVRO LANCASTER 5; :942 PRESENTED BY THE CROWN AGENTS STAMP BUREAU OLD INN HOUSE, 2 CARSHALTON ROAD, SUTTON, SURREY, SM I 4RN The black-print promotional sheet. 75th ANNIVERSARY of 91,, ROYAL AIR FORCE ER The aircraft and CASB artworks used on the show sheets and on the black-print. ASCENSION ISLAND 2O 75c BELIZE 75th ANNIVERSARY of th ROYAL AIR FORCE ER 11th ANNWVEii'A~qt:~ 09,1,, ROYAL AIR FORCE The three aircraft issued stamps used on the black-print. 36P FALKLAND ISLANDS The unadopted fourth aircraft design from the Stampex/ Eur-Apex sheets.

6 1995: 50th Anniversary of the End of World War Two Depicting the reverse side of the War Medal set against a field of poppies, this imperforate promotional sheet was printed at the House of Questa. 'LEST WE FORGET' ". ~ Stamp Bureau,- 50'--AN I~TERSARY O I I ' The promotional sheet. O" ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF WORLD WAR II 1 1I -:; I l, LLàIM#A. I. IIIlI:\A _ F E$T WE FORGET' Typical miniature sheet in the series from St Helena.

7 im 1997: Golden Wedding of HM Queen Elizabeth and HRH The Prince Phillip On 9 July 1997, CASB and the British Library Philatelic Collections held a joint reception in the British Museum to mark the issuance of a commemorative omnibus edition printed at The House of Questa. Guests were presented with the promotional sheet in a folder bearing just the logo on the front cover. Presented by the Stamp Bureau to commemorate the Golden Wedding of H.M. Queen Elizabeth 11 and H.R.H. The Prince Philip, H.M. Queen Elizabeth If....I I, H.R.H. The Prince Philip The presentation folder for launch party guests with its promotional sheet. H.M. Queen Elizabeth II H.R.H. The Prince Philip Typical miniature sheet in the series from St Helena.

8 Ar 1999: 30th Anniversary of the First Manned Moon-Landing Depicting the Earth viewed from the surface of the Moon, this circular stamp design was printed at The House of Questa and was given away in large quantities at The Stamp Show 2000, and no doubt elsewhere The promotional sheet. Typical miniature sheet in the series from Tuvalu and overprinted SPECIMEN. St Helena never took part.

9 2001: Year of the Snake 'Best Wishes and Good Fortune' Walsall Security Printers printed this sheet for CASB, although it does not appear to be tied-in with an omnibus issue. It utilises the silver foil blocking that had previously been used in 1997 for the 'Handover of Hong Kong' omnibus series. w !gents BEST WISHES & POOD FORTUNE i{i i1 Ii Year of the Snake The promotional sheet. Typical miniature sheet in the series from St Helena.

10 im 2002: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, Showing HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, this sheet was a tribute to 'The Queen Mum'. Free copies were given away inside copies of both Stamp Magazine and GSM. The promotional sheet. Typical miniature sheet in the series from St Helena.

11 2002: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, The two magazine promotions L/\\_ With the compliments of & STAMP MAGAZINE We hope you enjoy your FREE Queen Mother souvenir sheet - for details of a special reader of fer please turn over this card! The free gift, as supplied through Stamp Magazine. The free gift, as supplied through GSM.

12 2002: HM Queen Elizabeth Ii's Golden Jubilee On this sheet printed at The House of Questa in a run of 25,000 copies, Princess Elizabeth is seen examining pages from an album held within the Royal Philatelic Collection in July Copies of the sheet were given away with the February 2002 issue of GSM. The promotional sheet.

13 2002: HM Queen Elizabeth Il's Golden Jubilee In 2002, CASB was involved in a special travelling exhibition entitled 'The Queen's Stamps', which was held at the Palace of Holyrood House, Sandringham House and Hampton Court. An overprinted sheet was issued. Travelling Exhibition 2002 The promotional sheet, as supplied in the handbook of the travelling exhibition. Typical miniature sheet in the series from St Helena.

14 2003: New High Value Portrait of Her Majesty The Queen Based on a portrait of Her Majesty taken by the late Lord Lichfield in 2001, the sheet was first presented with the September 2003 issue of GSM and to purchasers of the omnibus issue. A second edition bore additional text and logo commemorating 50 years of Stampex and these were handed-out at the show. Both dummies and the issued stamps were printed by BDT International Security Printing in the Irish Republic. 'FREE GIFT, I OW, M21 = M I Of I The Stamp Bureau and Gibbons Stamp Monthly HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN St I-kkna I a * #0 1' 14 Typical stamp in the series from St Helena. 40 The Stamp Bureau ER MAJESTY THE QUEEN The free gift, as supplied through GSM. The Stamp Bureau stamp,) The promotional sheet, as supplied through Stampex. 7,500 copies are likely to have been provided to the show organisers > 50th ANNIVERSARY YEAR

15 im 2003: 50th Anniversary of the Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II The June 2003 issue of GSM came with a free copy of a sheet in the style of the Coronation omnibus series. It was printed by De La Rue Security Print and proved to be the final such item. F R E F GIFT eee ft/ue4 O6 CO Of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Typical miniature sheet in the series from St Helena.

16 ia 2003: 50th Anniversary of the Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II The new High Value Head and Coronation omnibus series both had a commemorative cover produced for guests attending the receptions held to launch these two stamp issues. Coronation Of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth U Souvenir Cover Stamp Bureau 4J. Stamp Bureau - i w: r!a 1 r.f