Spare Stamps

When I send letters I like to adorn them with special-issue stamps, especially now the standard Royal Mail stamp designs are so remarkably ugly. Special issues come in sets, often with an assortment of denominations, some of which tend to be more readily-usable then others. With the passing of time and the consequent increases to postal rates, I’ve accumulated a variety of the less readily-usable ones which are still awaiting an opportunity for affixing to an envelope.

The examples pictured above are from the Pride set (2022); from Royal Navy Ships (‘19); Blackadder (‘23); Cats (‘22) The Gruffalo (‘19) and Rugby Union (‘21) respectively. Perhaps in time I’ll be in a position to make a decorative arrangement out of them all. Oddly, a couple of the letters I’ve sent recently have had their (Spice Girls, ‘24) stamps seemingly removed while in the mail. Has a ’90s pop fan taken an acquisitive shine to them? Did their adhesive somehow fail? The latest letter I received was likewise missing its stamp.