The first issue of 1966 was the Burns Commemoration which consisted of a 4d and 1s 3d and went on sale on 25th January. Robert Burns was born 1759 in Alloway, near Ayr. He was Scotland’s national poet and one of the most celebrated poets in the United Kingdom. He died in 1796 and 1966 marked 170 years since his death.

The 4d depicted Robert Burns taken from a Skirving chalk drawing, and the 1s 3d depicted the same from a portrait by Nasmyth. Both stamps were issued in phosphor and normal versions.

The stamps were officially withdrawn on 29th July 1966, but appeared somewhat conveniently in Edinburgh at the Philatelic Bureau and at many outlets around the city. This coincided with the famous Edinburgh Festival and many copies of the stamp were sold. Officially this was a mistake but produced a high amount of revenue for Royal Mail and meant that none of the withdrawn stamps were destroyed.

On 28th February the next set was released to commemorate the 900th Anniversary of Westminster Abbey. Officially known as the Collegiate Church of St. Peter, Westminster Abbey is the nations Coronation Church and a Mausoleum for England’s greatest occupants.

The 3d depicted the Abbey and was designed by Sheila Robinson and appeared in phosphor and normal versions. The 2s 6d depicted the Fan Vaulting from the Henry VII Chapel and was designed, engraved and printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson. It was recess printed on chalk surfaced paper and had a comb perf of 11 x 12. The 2s 6d stamp sold very well and was sold out by April with just over 2.8 million copies in circulation.

The third issue was a set of four stamps released on May 2nd and depicted Landscapes. The 4d depicted views near Hassocks, Sussex, the 6d Antrim, Northern Ireland, the 1s 3d Harlech Castle, Wales and the 1s 6d showed Cairngorm Mountains in Scotland. They were designed by L Rosoman.

This was an interesting issue for two reasons. Firstly, it was the first of many pictorial stamps which did not have a specific reason for being issued. This type of issue was hugely popular with the public and set a trend for future issues.

The second change was that the Queens head, which had appeared on all stamp issues previously, was replaced with a profile head design by D. Gentleman adapted from coinage.

There was also a mistake made with the 1s 3d stamp, whereby the D from LTD (Harrisons & Sons LTD) was omitted from the stamps. This was not noticed until 40,000 sheets had been printed, and it was corrected. Stamps exist with and without the D and with a partial D, and a retouched D.

The issue was withdrawn on 1st May 1967 but the 6d phosphor issue sold out in the previous January.

June 1st saw the World Cup Football Competition issue of three stamps. Sixteen countries took part in the final stages of the World Football Competition for the Jules Rimet Cup in England during July 1966.

The 4d low value depicted players with the ball designed by D. Gentleman, 6d Goalmouth Melee designed by W. Kempster and 1s 3d Goalkeeper Saving Goal designed by D. Caplan. The stamps were hugely popular and became more so as England progressed higher in the competition. The combined values nearly 155 million copies.

August the 8th saw the release of another pictorial set depicting British Birds. All four values were 4d and were designed by J. Norris Wood and showed a Black-headed Gull, Blue Tit, Robin and a Blackbird.

They were the first ever British stamps to be printed in eight colours and also the first to be issued in se-tenant blocks of four within the sheet. These were another hugely popular issue and well received by the public.

These stamps exist in one of the most famous errors, where stamps were issued with the brown (bistre) colour omitted. This was not unusual as colour errors often occurred without the public ever knowing, but in this instance in meant the birds appeared to have no legs! It was the first time a printing mistake had produced an entertaining result.

In impromptu issue was released on August 18th to celebrate England’s World Cup Football Victory. England won the Cup by defeating Germany 4-2 at Wembley on July 30th 1966. No stamp had been prepared so the 4d World Cup stamp from June was re-released with an overprint “England Winners”

The stamp was available at all post offices and Philatelic Counters in England, Channel Island and the Isle of Man. On the 22nd August it was available in Edinburgh at the Philatelic Bureau for a short time, but availability throughout Scotland was limited.

Roughly 12.5 million copies were put on sale and records show it to be the fastest selling stamp up until that time, and sold out within a few weeks of issue.

September 19th saw another pictorial issue of four stamps, this time to celebrate British Technology. The 4d depicted the Jodrell Bank Radio Telescope and the 6d British Motor Cars, both designed by D and A Gillespie. The 1s 3d depicted the SRN 6 Hovercraft and 1s 6d the Windscale Reactor designed by A. Restall.

The stamps sold in quantities of just over 95 million and were eventually withdrawn a year later, although the phosphor issues sold out before withdrawal. Once again this stamp had problems with the D of LTD, much like the previous issue, but the vertical stroke of the D still remained. This only occurred on a single stamp per sheet on the 6d value, and was positioned at 19/6.

October 14th saw the release of a set of eight stamps for the 900th Anniversary of the Battle Of Hastings. There were 6 4d stamps, a 6d and a 1s 3d. They all depicted images reproduced from the Bayeux Tapestry which records the Norman invasion of England.

The 4d stamps were produced in a strip of six, printed horizontally by 20 strips vertically. This was the first time this had been attempted and was widely accepted by the public. Missing colours exist although due to the number produced don’t attain as high a value as some other colour omissions.

The 1s 3d value was a horizontal stamp the size of three definitive’s, and as such sheets were printed vertically through the presses, which resulted in all the stamps being produced with a sideways watermark.

The final issue of 1966 was the Christmas issue which was released on December 1st. The 3d value depicted the King of the Orient and was designed by T. Shemza and the 1s 6d depicted a Snowman and was designed by J. Berry. Both designs had the Queen’s head profile die-stamped in gold.

These stamp designs were produced by two six year old children, who were chosen from nearly 5000 in a competition run by the Post Office to design Britain’s first adhesive Christmas stamps.

Due to a mistake with the plates, one stamp on each sheet (position 6/2) was printed with the “T” missing from the “T Shemza” at the bottom left of the stamp. They are worth slightly more than a normal stamp but not hugely so, as the stamp sold in such high quantities.

There are also the usual colour omitted examples in existence although the stamps with the Gold head omitted are a controversial topic. It was soon realised that the gold could be removed through chemical means, a fact that was rectified with future issues. The Philatelic Expert Committees could not, and have not, found a way of distinguishing fakes from genuine issues and therefore will not provide provenance for any but a select few examples. Known examples with the gold head and embossing omitted also occurred on the last vertical row of a sheet, usually due to a major colour shift to the left. Therefore copies in horizontal marginal pairs can be strongly considered, but not not guaranteed genuine.

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