New King Charles III stamps go on sale as prices increase
The new UK stamps featuring the King’s silhouette have gone on sale marking a key milestone in the monarch's reign.
It comes a day after a rise in stamp prices – with first class increasing by 15p to £1.10 and second class rising by 7p to 75p.
The complete set of non-value indicated definitive stamps featuring the new portrait of King Charles III costs £4.60. The set of four includes first and second class letter and large letter stamps.
Yet the new stamps will not be sold at post offices and other retailers until stocks featuring his mother's image have been used up. They are however available online on the Royal Mail website.
The image of the King is an adapted version of the portrait created by Martin Jennings for The Royal Mint.
Today, we reveal our new definitive stamp featuring the image of King Charles III.
The image of HM The King is an adapted version of the portrait created by Martin Jennings for The Royal Mint.
The stamps will go on general sale from 4 April 2023. pic.twitter.com/TbKlmclO5X— Royal Mail (@RoyalMail) February 8, 2023
In keeping with stamp tradition, the King faces to the left – but unlike the Queen's stamp, he is not wearing a crown.
The use of the coin image is a continuation of a long tradition dating back to the creation of the Penny Black in 1840.
The colours for all four values are retained from the preceding Machin stamps, meaning first class is plum purple, second class stamps come in holly green, first class large feature marine turquoise and second class large in dark pine green.
Read more: King Charles gold bullion coin unveiled by Royal Mint
Despite being the new definitive stamps, Charles’s uncrowned profile, in silver and facing to the right in the top left hand corner, appeared on a collection of 10 special stamps in March celebrating the nation’s favourite flowers.
Unlike Queen Elizabeth II’s famous silhouette, the King is not depicted wearing a laurel wreath.
Royal Mail said it was a significant milestone in British philatelic history.
An updated design by David Gentleman was used from 1968, adapted from Mary Gillick’s original cameo portrait of the monarch used on coins.
The creation of the King’s silhouette was a collaboration between illustrator Andrew Davidson, Royal Mail’s head of design and editorial and Marcus James, and Ian Chilvers, from design agency Atelier Works.
After Davidson — known for his illustrations of Ted Hughes’s children’s book The Iron Man — created a likeness of Charles that would work in miniature on a stamp, the image was then digitised and fine-tuned.
Royal Mail and Atelier Works focused on visual adjustments and tests to ensure the silhouette would work at the tiny dimensions required.
The final image was adjusted to ensure a likeness to the King’s image on the definitive ‘everyday’ stamp.
Read more: King Charles III: New banknotes and coins for 2023
The definitive stamps, which were unveiled last month and go on sale in April, show Charles’ head and neck — without a crown — traditionally facing left as all monarchs have done since the Penny Black in 1840.
Silhouettes can face left or right depending on the chosen design of the special stamps.
The final set using the Queen’s image was unveiled last month in honour of the 100th anniversary of steam locomotive the Flying Scotsman.
Royal Mail’s director of external affairs and policy David Gold said: “Britain is a nation of gardeners, and a love of flowers runs deep in our collective consciousness.
“His Majesty is known to be a passionate gardener and we are delighted that the first special stamps to feature his silhouette should be a celebration of some of the most popular flowers in British gardens.”
The delicate sweet pea — one of the late Queen’s favourite blooms — is among the chosen flowers, photographed in detail on a white background.
Another celebrates the sunflower — also the national flower of Ukraine which has become a symbol of solidarity with the war-torn country.
Read more: King Charles III banknotes: a sneak peek at the new £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes
The other flowers in the first class set are a purple iris, a pink lily, a fuchsia, an orange-red tulip, a dark pink peony, a bright orange nasturtium, a pale pink rose and a light purple-tinted dahlia.
Charles, who is well known for his love of nature, is a keen hands-on gardener, who has spent more than 40 years transforming the grounds around Highgrove House — his private Gloucestershire retreat.
At his mother’s funeral, the King chose flowers cut from the gardens of Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Highgrove for the gold, pink, deep burgundy and white wreath which rested on her coffin, and included pink garden roses and dark purple dahlias.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “Flowers mark our celebrations, our joys and our sorrows and, above all, they unify us through a pleasure that we can all understand.”
Watch: King Charles' silhouette appears on new UK stamps
Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.
