Page 15 - F L Walton GB QEII Registered Covers
P. 15
Indicium 1s 2½d
The increase in the minimum registration fee to 1s from 6d with effect from 1 Jun 1956 meant that a new
1s 2½d indicium would be needed. However the making of a new die was deferred as the post office
D
decided to print the EXTRA 6 design onto envelopes with the 8½d indicium.
Eventually Cecil Thomas was engaged to design a new die, but this wasn’t ready until the summer of
1957. The timing was unfortunate in that on 18 Jul 1957 it was announced that the inland postage rate
would increase by ½d on 1 Oct 1957, thus making the new stationery redundant almost immediately.
The 1s 2½d registered envelopes were distributed to a few offices in the autumn of 1957, hence
envelopes used with no uprating are particularly scarce.
The six essays and proofs shown are from the Cecil Thomas archive.
Left and above: Four embossed die proofs in different shades of grey-black
Photographic essays
Size G enveloped used without any uprating
