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Feb. 28 (UPI) — Britain’s Royal Mail issued its final set of stamps on Tuesday featuring its iconic silhouette of Queen Elizabeth II’s head, 57 years after the design was first used in 1966.
The set of 12 stamps commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Flying Scotsman locomotive, the first train to make the 393-mile journey from London to Edinburgh non-stop as well as being the first train to exceed 100 mph.
The stamps feature the famous train, which plied the London to Edinburgh route until it was retired in 1963, steaming through locations ranging from the Ribblehead Viaduct in the Yorkshire Dales National Park to Berwick-Upon-Tweed in the Scottish borders to London’s Victoria Station.
An additional miniature four-stamp set features images of the Flying Scotsman and London and North Eastern Railway poster artwork from the heyday of steam in the 1920s and 1930s.
The sets range in price from $4.60 for a Flying Scotsman Prestige First Day Cover with Doncaster Postmark to $135 for a full stamp sheet of 30 Victoria Station and 30 Shildon $2.24 stamps.
“Flying Scotsman is a national treasure of engineering and design that conjures up the golden age of steam travel,” said Royal Mail director of external affairs David Gold.
He said the “remarkable locomotive epitomizes the romance of rail travel and is loved” by people all over the world.
“We are honored to mark this landmark milestone with a set of special stamps.”
But Royal Mail said that while Tuesday’s issuance marks an end to the queen’s appearance on commemorative stamps, stocks of regular first and second class stamps showing the queen’s head will remain on sale and valid for use until they run out.
All future special stamps will feature a silhouette of King Charles III who succeeded his mother upon her death in September.
The New King Charles III Definitive Stamp unveiled by Royal Mail earlier this month features a crown-less monarch but, in keeping with tradition, features the king facing to the left.
The new regular issue stamp goes on sale in April.
Royal Mail has used the late queen’s head on hundreds of special stamp sets over the years highlighting all manner of subjects and issues including Concorde, Star Trek, endangered species and Sherlock Holmes.
The locomotive which was built in Doncaster for the London and North Eastern Railway in 1923, today has pride of place in the National Railway Museum in York.
