[preliminary press release]
Royal Mail to mark International Stamp Exhibition London 2020
Issue date: March 10, 2020

Royal Mail will celebrate London 2020 with a selection of special items that recall the worldís first adhesive postage stamps, the Penny Black, Twopenny Blue and Penny Red.

The products will feature First Class Stamps that were originally issued in 2015 and 2016 to mark the 175th anniversary of the world-renowned classic design.

London 2020 will take place from Saturday, 2 May to Saturday, 9 May at the Business Design Centre in Islington.

Ahead of the exhibition opening, a retail stamp booklet will be issued on 10 March. Containing two each of the Penny Black, Twopenny Blue and Penny Red designs, the inside of the booklet includes the official London 2020 logo. The stamps in this booklet are self-adhesive.

Issued for the exhibition will be three items. First is a sheet comprising twenty of the First Class “Hello” stamp, the adjoining labels in the sheet featuring images of Mail Rail, the Post Office Underground Railway that can be experienced as part of the attractions at The Postal Museum in London.

Second is a sheetlet of 25 of the First Class Penny Black stamp. (right)

Finally, an exhibition souvenir sheet will feature two of the Penny Black, three of the Twopenny Blue and three of the Penny Red design, surrounding a label that features the old original die of Queen Victoria used in the production of the first stamps. This sheet will be produced as a numbered edition of 15,000.

2020 not only marks the 180th anniversary of the Penny Black, but also the 150th of the first British official postcard, and there will be a special version of the souvenir sheet that will only be sold at the exhibition. For this sheet the label will reproduce the Half Penny stamp design that appeared on the first postcard, while the sheet itself will carry an ëanniversaryí text. This sheet will be available in a numbered edition of 7,500.

With the exception of the special souvenir sheet, all the items may be obtained by mail order by visiting the Royal Mail website at https://shop.royalmail.com.

More information about the exhibition is available at www.london2020.com