Great Britain Postage stamps issued during the reign of King George VI 11/12/1936- 6/2/1952.

Introduction: King George VI became King after the abdication of his brother King Edward VIII, in December 1936, however the first definitive stamps bearing his portrait did not appear until 10th May 1937, just before the Coronation. These were the most commonly used values of ½d, 1d and 2½d. The paper was watermarked with the Multiple block G VI R and crown. The remaining values of the 'low-value' set were issued at intervals until 29/12/1947. At this time, the stamp design consisted of the Monarch's head & crown, the National emblems,(the rose for England, the thistle for Scotland, the shamrock for Ireland and the daffodil for Wales), the words POSTAGE & REVENUE, and the stamp value. Edmund Dulac designed the values from 7d to 1/- & the head on the other values, ½d to 6d, for which Eric Gill designed the frames. King George VI is reported to have requested that the crown be placed above the Monarch's head and not to one side of the design as was done for King Edward VIII. Overprints - Training School Bars Stamps used in Post Office Training Schools were overprinted with black bars to avoid mis-use. in 1971 I wrote to the National Postal Museum with a couple of queries, and this was the letter I received in reply from Antonio Rigo de Righi,the final paragraph covering my enquiry about the portrait. For more details on these stamps, click on one of the titles listed below. Introduction definitive stamps Definitive stamps inverted watermarks High Value stamps Coil stamps and leaders Sheet markings stamps in booklets Forces mail and Airletters Commemorative issues Overprints Wartime slogans

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