For no apparent reason, Royal Mail will issue a set of 8 stamps on 9 June.
The embargo for this set is the issue date, though doubtless while I am away later this week the Commonwealth Stamps Opinion blog will have the details taken from a cover producer's website, and a few days before the issue date Royal Mail will start putting them on their website*. Royal Mail's First will probably be issued, and it is quite likely that the Philatelic Bulletin and Postmark Bulletin will appear around the time of issue, but not before.
* And so it came to pass more quickly that I realised it would with First landing on doormats on 26th May; my complaint to Royal Mail was simply answered by the fact of the (new) publicity date. So all that I have written below is wrong, as the Postmark Bulletin also appeared by email last week and may have been delivered before everything shut down yesterday evening for the Platinum Holiday Weekend.
[This, of course, means that there is no possibility of putting your order in early, although standing order customers will find out soon enough how much they are being charged and be able to work out what the face values are (easier now that everything is not a multiple of 85p!). And with the Postmark Bulletin arriving similarly late, only dealers will be able to send their covers in early, and they will only be able to use a handstamp that they have sponsored or know the details of.
The consequence is that the Special Handstamp Centre at Tallents House will receive everything at once, including from dealers who haven't made up their minds which handstamps to use, and many collectors and dealers will likely still be waiting for their covers at the end of June.]
The last time we had a set devoted solely to cats was in 1995, but there have been mixed sets of cats and dogs since then.
UPDATE: As you will see from the comments, the May Philatelic Bulletin suggested that this is a set of 6, with two each 2nd class, 1st class, £1.85. Well there are two £2.55 as well; it's a set of 8.
The stamps
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2nd class Siamese and Tabby; 1st class Ginger and British Shorthair cats.
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£1.85 Maine Coon and Black and White cats; £2.55 Bengal and Tabby and White cats.
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A4 self-adhesive collectors sheet of 10 stamps, being the set of 8 and additional 2 x 1st class.
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From Royal Mail:Reason and inspiration
Cats are the most enigmatic of domestic pets. Today there are over 10.2 million cats in the UK with almost one in four UK households owning a cat. Whilst they are now almost entirely kept as pets there was a time that businesses, including The Royal Mail from 1868 - 1984, formally employed cats to keep out mice.
As one of our two favourite pets, Cats are enchanting, independent and fiercely discerning in who they choose to engage with. They do as they please and will not be trained unless it suits them – and while you might think you own your cat, rest assured, your cat owns you!
This special issue features eight beautiful stamps showcasing cats doing what they do best, grooming, stalking (they share 96% of their genes with tigers), playing, sleeping, staring, being on alert, being curious and stretching, these stamps are sure to melt the hearts of stamp and cat enthusiasts everywhere.
Technical Details
The 41 x 30mm stamps were designed by Studio Up and printed by ISP on gummed paper in lithography. The stamps are in vertical se-tenant pairs in sheets of 60.
Acknowledgements: Siamese grooming, Tabby stalking and Tabby-and-white stretching © Warren
Photographic; Ginger cat playing © YAY Media AS/Alamy Stock Photo; British Shorthair sleeping © Michal Bednarek/Getty Images; Maine Coon staring © Life On White/Alamy Stock Photo; Black-and-white cat on alert © Bailey-Cooper Photography/Alamy Stock Photo; Bengal being curious © Juniors Bildarchiv GmbH/Alamy Stock Photo.
Products available from Royal Mail, some also from Post Offices:
First Day Cover, presentation pack, stamp cards, framed set, framed collectors sheet.
