Royal Mail have announced that all Team GB Olympic Gold Medal winners will be honoured with stamps which will be placed on sale by midday on the day after the final.
They are the first stamps the Royal Mail has ever produced within 24 hours.
Moya Greene, Royal Mail Chief Executive, said: “We’re delighted to be issuing these very special Gold Medal stamps to recognise our Olympic champion UK athletes.
“This is a first for Royal Mail and we are proud to play our part in celebrating the many victories this summer.
Excepts from the Royal Mail press release:
The main image of the stamp will, wherever possible, be a photograph of the Team GB athlete or team in action from their gold medal winning final. Where this is not possible, the image will be of the athlete’s gold medal winning journey taken from a heat or from their gold medal award moment on the podium
This will be the first time any host country has used action shots for Gold Medal stamps and issued them next day, during the Games. This will also be a first for next day stamps from Royal Mail
Gold Medal stamps will be on sale at 500 selected UK Post Office Branches by lunchtime the next day and on www.royalmail.com after each gold medal win by Team GB. They will then be distributed three times during the Games to a further 4,500 Post Office Branches nationwide .All of the 500 selected Post Office Branches will open on Sundays during the Games
Many of the selected 500 Post Office Branches will open on Sundays during the Games, so fans can celebrate Team GB’s achievements and start a unique and special 2012 Olympic souvenir collection. Details of the 500 Post Office Branches will be announced later this month. The stamps will also be available the next day at www.royalmail.com.
Team GB supporters will be able to buy the stamps individually or as part of a special sheet.
Technical details and dsitribution arrangements:
The self-adhesive miniature sheet is designed by True North and Royal Mail. The template (base sheets) were printed under the control* of Walsall Security Print, but the digital overprint was applied overnight by 6 regional printers, at Preston, Edinburgh, Solihull, Swindon, Attleborough, and London. The printing is in litho, with a digital overprint of the winner's image and winner and event details. The phosphor is placed on the stamp avoiding the image area and the lower-right corner where the winners' details are digitally overprinted.
Exceptionally the printer in Preston was unable to print the last three sheets, GMW27-29 and offices in the North of England were supplied from Solihull. Only the 'next-day' Post Offices were initially supplied from their nearest printer, while the next round of 4500 (approximately) branches were supplied with stock from Swindon. Subsequently next-day branches which had sold out of earlier stamps were replenished with some stamps which remained unsold from initial distributions. The only example we have definite evidence of was initially supplied from Attleborough and later received Solihull and Swindon-printed stock. *('Under the Control of' may mean that Walsall and Cartor will both be printing the base sheet, or that either company will print the entire stock.)
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| Miniature Sheet |
A4 Sheet |
The sheet will be 192 x 74mm with individual stamps 47 x 29mm. These images show the stamp layout within he miniature sheet and the arrangement of 4 miniature sheets in the overall A4 (210 x 297mm) sheet.
The stamps cost the normal first class price of 60p.
Gold post boxes
Royal Mail will also paint a postbox gold in each of those towns in celebration.
These will be in Westhill Drive, Aberdeenshire, for Tim Baillie; St Paul's Square, Bedford, for Etienne Stott; Cheap Street, Sherborne in Dorset, for Peter Wilson; Princes Street/Hanover Street, Edinburgh, for Sir Chris Hoy; Lloyd Street/Albert Square in Manchester for Philip Hindes and Churchgate in Bolton for Jason Kenny.
