50th Anniversary of the Coronation of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II - 2 June 2003

The 50th Anniversary of the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will be commemorated by Royal Mail with a block of 10 stamps and a Prestige Book.

The pictures on the 10 1st class stamps show:
1. Guardsmen in Coronation procession; 2. Children from London's East End reading notice about a Coronation Party; 3. The Queen in the Coronation chair; 4. school children in Plymouth; 5. Official Coronation portrait by Cecil Beaton; 6. games at East End street party; 7. Coronation coach at Marble Arch, London; 8. Children in fancy dress outside decorated house; 9. Coronation coach at Buckingham Palace; 10. London street party.

Prestige Book

	Left: Detail from pane 4 Below:1953 Coronation set of 4.

Technical details:
The 50-stamp sheets are printed by De La Rue in gravure on paper watermarked '50'.
The book is printed by Walsall Security Print in gravure. Pane 1 is on coated unwatermarked paper. The Coronation stamp panes are on paper coated and watermarked '50' and are a good match with the De La Rue sheet stamps, except that the phosphor bands are not as wide. The 50 watermark on panes 2-4 is upright unlike that of the Golden Jubilee book which had sideways watermark.
Pane 4 is on uncoated watermarked paper, with two phosphor bands on all stamps, and elliptical perforations on the Wildings. The Wildings have a different appearance to those in the Miniature Sheets, being generally darker.

All images are taken from Royal Mail's Philatelic Bulletin and Postmark Bulletin, and are Copyright 2003 by Royal Mail.

These postmarks were available for the date of issue and all should be available on first day covers. However some will be more plentiful than others, and some may only be available on specific 'official covers', with a very few on PO fdcs in collections. It may be many years before these appear on the resale market. Because of the immediate scarcity of the Prestige Book, which sold out from the Philatelic Bureau in just a few months, some PB FDCs have already appeared but they are expensive!

Ref FD313 Philatelic Bureau Official postmark	Ref FD314 London SW1 official postmark	Ref L8386 London SW1	Ref W8410 The Three Crowns Hotel, Chagford, Newton Abbot, celebrates the Coronation anniversary	Ref L8533 The Coronation Anniversary, London SW1	Ref L8570 50th Anniversary of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, Westminster Abbey London
Ref L8506 London SW1	Ref L8507 London SW1	Ref E4680 Windsor Castle permanent postmark	Ref L4666 Buckingham Palace, SW London permanent postmark	Ref L8530 50th Anniversary of The Coronation, London SW1, Express Newspapers	Ref L8550 The Heraldry Society, London SW1
Ref L8529 50th Anniversary of The Coronation, Coronation Court, London E15	Ref M8537 Coronation 1953-2003 Birmingham	Ref L8534 Long Live The Queen, Philatelic Census, London EC1	Ref L8532 50th Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II Coronation, Queen Elizabeth Street, London SE1	Ref L8551 The Coronation, Westminster Abbey, London SW1	Ref L8552 50th Anniversary of H.M. Coronation, London SW1
Ref L8531 HMS Invincible Salutes Her Sponsor, HM The Queen, 50th Anniversary of Coronation, London	Ref N8540 Restoration to Service of Blackpool Coronation Tram 304, Blackpool	Ref L8557 50th Anniversary Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II, Buckingham Palace Road	Ref L8555 50th Anniversary Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II, Westminster, London	Ref L8556 50th Anniversary Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II, Westminster, London	Ref L8558 50th Anniversary Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II, Westminster, London
			>
Ref L8554 50th Anniversary Coronation, Coronation Road, London E13	Ref L8553 50th Anniversary H.M. Coronation, London SW1	Ref L8559 50th Anniversary Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II, Westminster, London SW1	Ref L8563 50th Anniversary The Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II, Westminster, London	Ref L8560 The Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II, 50th Anniversary, London SW1	Ref L8561 Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II, 50th Anniversary, Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1 God Save the Queen
Ref L8567 Coronation Road, London E13	Ref L8568 'Coronation', Euston, London	Ref L8569 Westminster Abbey, 50th Anniversary of the Queen's Coronation, London SW1	Ref L8562 50th Anniversary The Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II, Westminster, London	Ref L8564 50th Anniversary Coronation HM Queen Elizabeth II, Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1	Ref M8576 The Crown and Sceptre, Northbourne, Bournemouth
	<<<< Ref M8575 50th Anniversary Morris Light Commercial, Cowley, Oxford		<<<< Ref N8579 Happy Birthday 50 today, Coronation Baby, Wawne, Hull, East Yorkshire		<<<< Ref E8587 The Coronation 1953, Windsor, Berks.

This page updated 20 June 2003 [24.1.05]

	2003 stamp issues			2004
14 January Birds of Prey	21 January Flowers Greetings Stamps Smilers Sheet	4 February Occasions/Greetings stamps and Smilers sheet	25 February Medical Science - DNA & Genome	4 March Hello SA booklet & Wales 1st reprint
25 March Fun Fruit & Vegetables	27 March New definitives, SA airmail booklets of 40gr stamps	29 April Extreme Endeavours	6 May 34p definitives	20 May Wilding II miniature sheet
28 May Wales 2nd class, 1st class gold reprints	2 June - 50th Anniversary of the Coronation	17 June Prince William of Wales	1 July High Value Definitive reprints	15 July British Journey - Scotland
29 July Cartoons Smilers Sheet	12 August Pub Signs - Europa	18 September Transports of Delight - toys	30 September Christmas Robin Smilers Sheet	7 October 250th Anniv. of British Museum
13 October Reprints of Country Stamps	4 November Christmas: Ice Sculptures	18 December England World Cup - Rugby Winners	HOME