The 'Britannia' handstamped cancellation is reported to have been produced in order to cancel the first incoming container of mail from The Netherlands, as here on February 4th, and it appears to be very scarce. Clive Smith speaks of it being used to 'commemorate' the first CGP mail linked to the Post Office Authorised Emergency Postal Service. His catalogue illustrates the cancel dated March 1st.
The Postal Strike of 1971 : Overview.
Much of the information below comes from Clive Smith's handbook of the Strike Posts, Volume 4.
Postal workers went on strike in January 1971 and the Government suspended Royal Mail's postal monopoly (of the letter post). In theory, you needed permission to set up a private post during the strike but many operated without authority (and without any repercussions for doing so), but Croydon-Gatwick Post (we shall use 'CGP') did seek, and operated with, authority.
CGP was set up by a well-known stamp dealer, B. Alan Ltd., and it was operated very professionally. It had a few agents in the London area who acted as additional collection points, but Croydon (in South London / Surrey) was the hub. Much the largest part of its operations involved the carriage of mails between Croydon and an agent in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, using flights from Gatwick Airport, less than an hour's drive south of Croydon. A mail service into Britain was also set up, with a sealed, addressed letter destined for Britain needing to be sent inside a separate large envelope to CGP's Amsterdam agent, along with a form of payment for the additonal fee for the Strike Post. The agent then extracted the addressed letter and sent it on by air to Gatwick.
Stamps were affixed to mail in Britain at the point of payment (at the agency office). In Amsterdam, the agent had CGP stamps at some periods of the postal service and, when he did, he would affix the CGP stamps to the envelope. Otherwise they were added on arrival at Croydon. However, a little confusingly, all cancellations were applied only in Croydon, both on outgoing and incoming mail, even if the stamps had been affixed in Amsterdam.
Distinguishing Outcoming from Ingoing International Mail:
Outgoing International Mail was handstamped with an un-boxed 'VIA GATWICK / AIRPORT', whilst incoming international mail received the boxed 'Amsterdam / To London' handstamp. Stamps on both outgoing and incoming mail were postmarked with the boxed Croydon canceller.
CGP had direct arrangements with a couple of other strike posts close to Croydon, and with others less directly, but was able to cover much of England through the 'Association of Mail Services' set up during the Strike. Local letters for Croydon were priced at 5p at first, later raised to 10p. A few other London areas were charged 15p but the fee was 25p for most of the UK. Mail to Europe was 15p at first, later raised to 25p. Mail for the rest of the world was 50p. These are all prices for the lowest weight. Incoming mail from outside the UK was charged at 25p.
Today, the cost of sending a letter at the lowest weight from Britain to other countries in Europe or to the Rest of the World is often almost the same. In 1971, though, inter-continental airmail rates were typically significantly more expensive than the rate for a letter within the same continent, which no doubt explains the 25p letter rate to Europe but 50p letter rate to the Rest of the World.
Dates of Operation & Currency:
The postal strike lasted from January 20th 1971 to March 7th 1971, but private delivery of mail was permitted up to March 10th - with special conditions for international mail arriving within a month. The CGP only began operations of February 3rd and completed most deliveries by the deadline, March 10th. However, a few very late items arrived from abroad and Royal Mail would deliver such mail for up to one month after the end of the strike.
Until February 14th 1971, the UK's official currency was the ancient Pounds, Shillings & Pence, £.s.d. with 12 pence (written 'd') in a shilling and 20 shillings (written 's' or /-) in a Pound, thus 240d in One Pound. From February 15th, the currency officially became decimal, 100 pence (written 'p' or briefly new pence, n.p.) to One Pound. The value of the Pound Sterling was unaltered. The 1 shilling (1s or 1/-) coin was equal to a 5p new coin, and the 2/- equal to 10p. These two coins, the only ones with exact equivalent values in old and new currency, circulated together for a period before and after the changeover.
All the CGP stamps were only ever denominated in new currency. Their stamp prices are all equivalents of round shillings, 1/- (5p), 3/-(15p), 5/-(25p) and 10/-(50p). Note that a 10/- banknote had existed but was withdrawn in November 1970, being replaced by the 50p coin, prior to the official changeover date to the new currency. Some other strike posts changed currency mid-strike or had dual currency on their stamps.
We appreciate that the majority of readers of this page may be most interested in the Concorde stamps, but we will start with the 5p stamp for thoroughness. Some scans below show stamps still on their display pages but the stamps will usually be sent to buyers without the page.
Important Note of Condition: Please note that most of the blocks and sheets of stamps have been part-sealed in sellophane which has protected them well. In some cases, we have chosen not to remove this covering to check the gum. We imagine that most will be MNH but please ask us to check, if the gum is important to you.
Stamps and Covers marked 'SOLD' in the listing are sold; the price of sold items, however, has been left visible for information. We have not put a price against items we never had for sale, except in a few cases where stamps were sold on Ebay by the person who acquired the bulk of the 50p stamps from the Asquith collection. If you wish to purchase any of the stamps still available, please email us (contact link in left panel).
Your author wishes to point out that this page has not received the depth of research needed to produce a fully coherent account of the CGP's operations. Despite having a good range of stamps, or images of stamps, from which to work, the stamp listing also has its limitations, with occasional lack of clarity about dates, printings or perforations.
Whilst it is much more than a retail price list dressed up as an article, it does not meet the standard of a well-researched philatelic work. The reader may well encounter omissions, errors, contradictions or lack of clarity but we hope that it nevertheless proves helpful to you.
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Croydon-Gatwick Post 5p Stamps:
The 5p depicts Britannia and was printed on unwatermarked paper with shiny gum, roughly perforated. It was only ever printed in strips/10 and only issued perforated. A few Imperforate printer's proof sheets exist, signed by N. Honts.
First below, we copy Clive Smith's basic listing for this stamp:
5p Black/white, Britannia [ . ]
- ditto - Doubly printed
- ditto - Imperf between pair
5p Britannia Imperforate Printer's Proof, signed N. Honts, strip/10, unfolded. Price: £46.00
5p Britannia Imperforate Printer's Proof, signed N. Honts, strip/10, twice folded for display. Price: £38.00
The brown marks below the stamps are just on a plastic protective sheet, not on the stamps themselves.
Issued Stamps : TWO printings:
1st Printing: The right-hand stamp almost reaches the end of the paper. Stamp size 22mm x 26½ mms. These stamps were, we think, an emergency production due to late delivery from the printers, produced by hand-perforating some imperforate proofs.
2nd Printing: The right-hand stamp has a wider right margin, permitting full perforation of the final stamp. Stamp size 21mm x 25½ mms
This scan shows a display page, again with the strips/10 folded twice, the top row with 'sewing machine' perforation, the bottom row with 'line perforation'. We are selling the two strips separately.
5p Britannia 1st Printing, sheet/10, twice folded, with sewing machine perforation. Price: £22.00
5p Britannia 1st Printing, sheet/10, twice folded, with line perforation. Price: £16.00
5p Britannia perforation trials for the 2nd Printing. Folded strips/10 (3), one blank, one blank but line perforated, one finished strip/10. Most unusual, probably unique. Price: £24.00
5p Britannia 2nd Printing sheet/10; also a 1st Printing single MNH Price: £10.50
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Croydon-Gatwick Post 5p Covers:
This note applies to all values: In general, it was intended to cancel incoming mail in RED and outgoing mail in BLACK. This was usually the case but exceptions are found.
We offer here two covers bearing the 5p stamp alone; the price was soon raised to 10p. They are both dated the first day of service.
Unaddressed Manilla envelope franked 1st Issue 5p on First Day (3 Feb 1971) Price: £4.00
White envelope addressed to London E.C.2, franked 1st Issue 5p on First Day (3 Feb 1971) Price: £6.00
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Croydon-Gatwick Post 15p Stamps:
We have 21 covers bearing the 15p stamp but only two of them have a single franking of the 15p, one to France and one to West Germany. We have not seen any printing of the 15p used singly on cover inland, although such covers should exist as it was the rate for inland mail to all the London postal districts as well as Beckenham, Bromley & Middlesex. The dearth of such inland covers highlights how continent-orientated the CGP service proved to be.
There were three issues of these stamps, distinguished in part by size, in part by method of perforation. We have struggled to marry the stamps we examined with the Clive Smith listing. Further, there are shades of red and heavier and lighter printings, but they have overlaps between apparent printings. Although it has limitations, we propose the following descriptions:
Left to Right: Our listing's 1st, 2nd & 3rd Issues.
For sale per scan above as a group of 3 : £14.50
First Issue: Stamp size c. 43.5 mm x 30.5 mm; Perf 8½ frequently very rough, Red to Carmine-Red (Feb. 3rd). These stamps were reportedly only issued perforated in sheets/6. We have seen Imperforate sheets/10 in the 43.5 mm wide setting but no sheets/10 in Perf 8½.
First Issue variety: Stamp c.43.5 mm wide but Perf 11, apparently an emergency use of proof sheets (c. Feb. 20th). These stamps were probably all printed in sheets/10, not sheets/6. See footnote in this colour lower down.
Second Issue: Stamp size c. 45.5 mm x 31.5 mm; perforation by Roulette (c. Feb. 19th). These were Imperforate Proofs, printed in sheets/6, pressed into emergency service.
Third Issue: Stamp size c. 41 mm x 29-30.5 mm; Perf. 11, Red to Red-vermilion (Feb. 3rd). (For stamps c.43mm wide but Perf 11, see 'First Issue variety' listing above. Both 'First Issue Variety' and Third Issue were produced in sheets/10.
The whole scenario of sheet size for the First Issue & First Issue Variety is not entirely clear, unsurprisingly with so many small alterations in a very short period of time. Sheets/6 with part of a 4th vertical row of stamps can be found. It is unclear whether both First Issue and First Issue variety stamps were sometimes, perhaps even always, printed in sheets/10 but cut down to sheets/6 before delivery. We have seen blocks/4 with wide right margin but they may have come from sheets/6 with narrow left margin.
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First Printing: 15p Concorde, Perf 8½ Red to Carmine-Red (Feb. 3rd) [ . ]
- ditto - Imperf between horizontal pair [ . ]
- ditto - Imperf between vertical pair [ . ]
- ditto - Double Perf between horizontal pair [ . ]
- ditto - Double Perf between vertical pair [ . ]
Clive Smith adds an addition, Proof in larger format, rough perforated, and the same with 'Imperf Between Pair' variety.
Second Printing: 15 Concorde, Rouletted 7. (c.Feb.19th) [ . ]
- ditto - Imperf between vertical pair [ . ]
Third Printing: 15p Concorde, Perf 11 (rough to clean), Red to Red-vermilion (c. Feb 22nd) [ . ]
Further Sales:
1st Issue 15p Concorde Block/4 Perf 8½ £14.00
1st Issue 15p Concorde vertical pair, Perf 8½ IMPERF VERTICALLY £28.00
1st Issue 15p Concorde pair, double perf vertically between pair £8.50
A few stamps were handstamped cancelled as samples to be attached to order forms for philatelists.
The form, folds including through stamp, 1 x 1st Issue 15p attached as sample, uncommon item. £12.00
15p First issue VARIETY, stamps 43.5 mms wide but Perf 11 (as the 3rd issue), sheet/10, produced from Proof sheet. Misperf sheet but the rarity is this perforation variety in a full sheet. £52.00
15p Third Issue sheet/10 (41 mm wide) MNH, right-hand selvedge has been folded. 
15p Unprinted sheet for the 3rd issue (Perf 11), right-hand selvedge has been folded. (no stamps, printers' trial!) £6.50
Left: Artwork for the 15p Concorde design (the other aircraft appears to be a Bleriot) £37.50
Right: 15p Concorde THREE Imperforate Printers' Trials, in three different sizes. MNH (3). £17.50
Imperforate 15p sheet/10 in FIRST issue size, 43.5 mm wide stamps. Slight bowing of the sheet. We think this size sheet was only ever perforated 11, not 8½. £ 18.50
15p Printer-signed (N. Honts) Proof Sheet/6, stamps 46mm wide used for the Second Issue, rouletted. £42.50
15p sheet/6, stamps 46 mms wide, all handstamped CANCELLED, prepared as samples on order forms but also sold to philatelists. Here, there is evidence that the printer may have produced these 46mm sheets in sheets/10 but we have not seen one. £20.00
15p pair, stamps 46 mms wide, both handstamped CANCELLED. £7.00
15p Concorde block/6, stamps 41.5 mm wide, Imperforate block/6, two stamps handstamped CANCELLED, four without handstamp. Light-to-medium diagonal crease. Very unusual to see stamps with and without overprint se-tenant. £27.50
Imperforate sheet/10, 41 mms wide, produced for the Third Issue. (3 sheets available) £16.50
Croydon-Gatwick Post 15p Covers:
We only show here covers with single 15p stamp frankings. Most covers bear a mixture of stamps and these are shown further down.
Pair of single franking 15p covers, First Day & a rather Last Day. Both are franked with Third Issue stamps, from which we judge that the First Day cover, unaddressed, is a later philatelic creation. There are later cancellations found than March 6th, but this could be argued to be the last day on which new mail could be accepted. The collection points for mail shown on the album page are useful to know. Price for TWO Covers: £5.50
15p SECOND ISSUE - Rouletted - stamp on Feb. 22nd cover to Kingersheim, France (Dept.68), posted on from the Netherlands on Feb. 25th. Clive Smith rates the Rouletted 15p on commercial cover 'RRR'. £36.00
15p SECOND ISSUE - Rouletted - stamp on Feb. 22nd cover to Laufenburg, West Germany, posted on from the Netherlands on Feb. 25th. Clive Smith rates the Rouletted 15p on commercial cover 'RRR'. £35.00
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Croydon-Gatwick Post 25p :
For chronological reasons, the 25p stamp is examined after the 50p value.
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Croydon-Gatwick Post 50p Stamps:
For the 50p, we are working mostly off photographs, several of them affected by reflected light. We shall rely largely on the Clive Smith catalogue here, as we are unable to measure the stamps in scans accurately. There are several similarities with the issues of the 15p. In order to mirror the 50p issues with the 15p issues shown above, we have chosen to refer to an extra issue of the 50p as an 'Emergency Issue', thus keeping the numbering of the Three Issues of the 15p aligned with the Three Principal Issues of the 50p.
50p Value Stamps, all in Blue on Yellow paper::
First issue: 50p Blue/yellow : Issued in sheets/6, rough perforated, size c. 42 mm x 29 mm (c. Feb 3rd) [ . ]
- ditto - Imperf between vertical pair [ . ]
- ditto - Bisected on incoming cover from abroad to meet 25p rate [ . ]
- ditto - handstamped CANCELLED in Red (sample stamp for order forms) [ . ]
Emergency issue: 50p Blue/white : Issued in sheets/10, Imperforate, size c. 46 mm x 32 mm (c.Feb 17th) [ . ]
These were for emergency use, utilizing sheets printed in error on un-watermarked, white shiny gummed paper by the printers. Only around 50 stamps were issued. It is thought that about 20 stamps were used on overseas mail but, within our (limited) knowledge, none are reported to have survived in used condition.
Although technically the 2nd Issue of the 50p, we have not so numbered it, in order to keep symmetry with the 15p issues, as already mentioned above.
Second issue: 50p Blue/yellow : Issued in sheets/10, size c. 46 mm x 32 mm, Rouletted. (c.Feb 19th) [ . ]
It is not thought that this 50p exists used.
Third issue: 50p Blue/yellow : Issued in sheets/10, Perf 11, size c. 41 mm x 29 mm, Rouletted (March 1st) [ . ]
Before moving on to a few 50p items we have for sale, we have provided scans below from the balance of the Asquith collection that did not pass through our hands, with apologies for the quality of scan in several cases. Images provided for research purposes.
The artwork on the left-hand scan sold on Ebay in late December 1925 for GBP 34.00. We think the other aircraft is a Bleriot XI or similar, not Lindbergh's aircraft.
The PAGE of stamps in the right-hand scan sold on Ebay in late December 1925 for GBP 10.50
The CANCELLED stamp in the left scan sold on Ebay in late December 1925 for GBP 5.00
The signed block/6 in the right-hand scan sold on Ebay in late December 1925 for GBP 45.00
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Croydon-Gatwick Post stamps for sale:
We only have a single example of the 50p stamps from the main lot of the Asquith collection, but a very interesting one:
The detail scans show, in order left to right, the vertical separations of the sheet. See the text for details. A remarkably instructive reconstructed proof sheet (apparently from two different half-sheets, based on observation) displaying the early trials for stamp separation. Exhibition piece. £52.00
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Croydon-Gatwick Post 50p Covers:
Reminder: We only show here covers with single 50p stamp frankings. Most covers bear a mixture of stamps and these are shown further down.
Post Office Authorised strike post mail (Morden, Surrey) Feb 15th 1971 cover to Nairobi, Kenya handed to Croydon Gatwick Strike Post and cancelled next day with BISECTED 50p Concorde issue. (Sender's address on back). This bisect is written up as a 15p franking but it may be to make up a 25p rate? Prices for mail at this period are not entirely clear. An inter-post cover with Concorde stamp bisected, very rare. £64.00
Front of Envelope just addressed, destination shown at foot of scan. British Forces Post Office cover to Bahrain Feb. 19th 1971 franked single 50p Concorde stamp. The Morden transit marking is that of the Post Office Authorised Emergency Postal Service. The slow progress to Morden, 6 miles (10 kms) from Croydon, may be explained by February 19th being a Friday. International mail handed to CGP but not travelling via The Netherlands is uncommon. A commentary on the back of its album page suggests this may cover be unique in being a strike post letter (from any strike post) to Forces in Bahrain. £28.50
Letter from Ypsilanti, Michigan, sent to Amsterdam, then forwarded to UK via Croydon Gatwick Strike Post. USA stamps fell off the envelope in Amsterdam, CGP stamp cancelled on arrival in Croydon 24 Feb 1971. The letter would have been forwarded to recipient in UK in a separate envelope. Incoming mail should only have been charged 25p according to records we have. £8.50
Window envelope, originating in Amsterdam, cancelled CGP 24 Feb 1971. The 50p franking appears to be double the correct rate but there is no evidence the sender was charged this price. Incoming mail should only have been charged 25p according to records that we have. £5.50
USA to UK via Amsterdam, again overpaid. Whilst OUTGOING mail to be forwarded outside Europe was charged 50p (rather than the Europe rate of 25p), the fee for all INCOMING mail to the UK was only 25p. Note that the envelope is handstamped 'PAID', applied in Amsterdam. £9.00
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Croydon-Gatwick Post 25p Stamps :
Whereas the first printings of the 5p, 15p and 50p stamps were in use from the outset, February 3rd, the 25p is often held only to have its first appearance around March 1st, less than a week from the end of the strike. This is incorrect; the earliest known cover is reported to be dated Feb 11th 1971. One suspects that, prior to March 1st, the operators either had insufficient time or insufficient supply of the 25p for all their commercial mail and that they therefore chose not to announce / release the 25p 'officially' until March 1st, thus avoiding enquiries from philatelists.
The 25p rate existed on several types of mail, such as on some inland mail throughout, on all incoming international mail from Amsterdam and as an additional fee on heavier mail. Additionally, the CGP's basic rate for mail going to Europe was increased to 25p during the strike, making the introduction of a 25p stamp a matter of urgency. We have already seen a bisected 50p stamp used to meet either a 15p or 25p rate, as well as numerous incoming items of mail from Amsterdam to which a 50p stamp, double the correct fee, was being applied.
There are numerous shades of this stamp, a mixture varying between deep rose and rose, sometimes with more than a hint of vermilion. We have not, however, been able to separate convincingly the stamps in the Asquith collection into obvious groups or dates by shade, nor can we opine whether there was more than one printing. Some of the stamps appear over-inked and blurred and, whilst we have not listed by shade, we have added a listing for the blurred stamps.
Clive Smith's catalogue rates commercial use on cover of this stamp 'RRR' but we have eleven commercial covers bearing this stamp, so a lower rating would be appropriate. We only have a few envelopes posted within Britain and these are all dated March 1st. One is to Wadhurst, East Sussex and is just possibly commercial, although its arrival in Wadhurst is uncorroborated.
Dates of Croydon (arrival) cancellations on the eleven incoming envelopes from the Netherlands in the collection were: Feb. 11th; Feb. 24th (3); Mar. 1st; Mar. 3rd; Mar. 4th (2); Mar. 11th; Mar. 25th(2). Although the strike ended on March 7th, mail in transit could be delivered for a period of one month thereafter.
The 25p stamps were made by altering the plate for the 15p value with stamps 46 mms wide. There are plate flaws of the 25p resulting from the alterations. There was only one sheet size for the 25p, 10 stamps (5 x 2). There is a minor flaw, a small dot to S-W of the 'C' of 'CROYDON' in position 10 (Row 2,5) and on the more heavily printed stamps there are traces of a horizontal line below the figures of value (25p), perhaps most obvious in position 5 (Row 1,5). We do not list these but we do include two more obvious flaws caused by faulty corrections to the plate.
25p shades: Rose / Vermilion Rose / Rose-Red [ . ]
- ditto - Dot below 'p' of '25p' (Row 1,2) [ . ]
- ditto - Extended downstroke to 'p' of '25p' (Row 2,1) [ . ]
- ditto - Horizontal perfs mis-placed (5 mms low) [ . ]
- ditto - Deep Rose-Red shade with blurred appearance [ . ]
Sheet/10 MNH poorly trimmed at printers', unfolded sheet with both 'p dot' and 'extended p' varieties. £27.00
(Image reduced) Unfolded sheet/10 MNH, poorly trimmed at printers', sample perforation sheet for the 25p value. £6.50
Part album leaf (stamps will be posted off leaf) with 25p left-side block/4 with both 'p dot' and 'extended p' varieties. Also a pair with rough perfs. Unlike the other Concorde issues, nearly all the 25p stamps have clean perfs. (6 stamps) £12.50
25p Deep Shade, sheet/10 with both 'p dot' and 'extended p' varieties. The sheet is MNH but has been folded twice vertically. Stamps in deeper shades are scarcer. £28.00
25p Pale shade (normal, sheet/10 with both 'p dot' and 'extended p' varieties. The sheet is MNH but has been folded twice vertically. One small brwon mark on gum (sheet border area). £24.00
25p pair MNH with 5 mm downward perforation shift. Listed in Clive Smith and scarce. Note also that the colour intensity increases from top to bottom. £17.50
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Croydon-Gatwick Post 25p Covers :
Reminder: We only show here covers with single 25p stamp frankings. Most covers bear a mixture of stamps and these are shown further down.
25p with variety 'extended p'. Window envelope, sent to UK from Leeuwarden, Netherlands via Amsterdam agent. Feb 14th is a very early usage of this value. £8.50
25p with variety 'p dot'. Amsterdam to UK 24 Feb 1971. £9.00
1971 Croydon Gatwick Strike Post 25p Chicago to UK via Amsterdam cover 24 Feb 24 1971 arrival cancellation. Backstamped boxed Amsterdam to London (in red). £5.50
Left: 25p cover Brugge Bruges to UK via Koopman, the second agent for the Croydon Gatwick Post in Amsterdam. 24 Feb 1971. Mail to/from Belgium appears quite scarce. 
Left : 25p with variety 'p dot'. March 1st 1971 (oft-quoted wrongly as First Day) Philatelic cover to Gravesend. £ 4.50
Right : 25p unaddressed March 1st cover. £ 3.00
25p single use from Arlington Heights (USA) to UK, arrival cancelleaion 1 March 1971. Rather roughly opened. £ 6.50
25p Printed Matter rate from Cologne to UK, 3 Mar 1971 arrival cancellation. A long journey, leaving Cologne on January 27th! £ 6.00
25p single rate airmail cover from Chicago to UK arrived 4 March 1971. £ 6.50
Large cover (image much reduced) from Coburg, Bavaria with single rate 25p cancelled at Croydon 4 MAR 1971. Single use of West Berlin 2DM stamp on a cover from Bavaria is noteworthy. £ 6.00
The quite scarce 'heavily printed' 25p variety, with its blurred appearance, single rate cover from Budakalasz, Hungary, a scarce 'Iron Curtain' strike post cover. Arrival cancellation March 11th, 4 days after the end of the postal strike but mail already in the system could be delivered for up to one month after the end of the strike. £ 17.50
An unusually late departure date for a strike post item, sent from Italy March 24th 1971, received next day in Croydon despite travelling via Amsterdam - those were the days! £ 14.50
A neat cover. The 25p has traces of the plate correction from the 15p plate, faint lines below and around the figure of value. Cover from Chicago sent late, March 21st, Croydon receiving March 25th. This cover, and the one above, have Croydon cancellations a full two weeks later than any other CGP covers we have seen. £ 14.50
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Croydon-Gatwick Mixed Value Frankings :
These are shown in date order. Reminder: Outgoing international mail is postmarked 'VIA GATWICK / AIRPORT' in Black and incoming international mail boxed 'Amsterdam / To London' in Red. Only variations from the norm are mentioned in the texts below.
Outward: Feb 3 1971: 5p, 15p, 50p (Philatelic fdc) £ 5.50
Outward: Feb 3 1971: 5p (x6), 15p, 50p (Philatelic fdc) £ 6.50
Incoming: Feb 4 1971: 5p, 15p, 50p (quite possibly an fdc for this direction) with the scarce Britannia cancellation. £ 16.00
Incoming: Feb 8 1971: 5p, 15p, 50p. Both cancels struck once £ 4.25
Incoming: Feb 8 1971: 5p, 15p, 50p. Both cancels struck twice. £ 4.50
Incoming: Feb 8 1971: 5p, 15p, 50p. Croydon cancel only struck twice. £ 4.75
Incoming Commercial mail: Feb 8 1971: 5p (x2), 15p. . £ 8.50
Internal: Feb 16 1971: 15p CGP sent to London, combined postal service delivery through Post Office Authorised Emergency Post franked with their 5p & 10p stamps se-tenant (note the dual currency use by this post). David Field are stamp dealers. Scarce combination cover. £ 22.00
Outward: Feb 18 1971: 5p, 15p, 50p in NEW PRINTINGS (15p and 50p in size 41.5 mms wide). A philatelic cover around (or on) the issue date for the new printing; uncommon. £ 11.00
Outward: Feb 20 1971: 5p (x2) & 15p A commmercial cover, the Croydon cancel is in blackish purple, rather than black. £ 6.25
Internal & Royal Mail: Feb 22 1971: 5p & 15p A commmercial cover, apparently not able to be delivered through strike post channels. A Royal Mail 1st class stamp has been applied after the strike, and Royal Mail has clearly chosen not to cancel the strike post adhesives on March 10th when they handled it - the striking postal employees had been angered by the authorisation to others to provide a letter post. An interesting item. £ 8.50
Inward: Feb 24 1971: 5p 15p & 50p : A philatelic cover, possibly in tended as an fdc (from Amsterdam) of a new 50p printing. The cover seem contrived, perhaps a later production, with the Dutch cover dated Feb 3rd. £ 4.00
Inward: Feb 24 1971: 5p (x2) & 15p : A much-delayed commercial cover, sent from Cologne on January 27th and only reaching Croydon on February 24th. The Croydon cancel has been hahd-corrected from 4 Feb to 24 Feb. The 41 mms wide 15p stamp is consistent with this later date. £ 6.25
Philatelic Cover, unaddresed, with one of each value, March 1st 1971, the so-called official date of the 25p, although we know this was in use much earlier. The 15p is 41mms, the 25p 46mms & the 50p 41.5mms wide. There is only one printing of the 5p. £ 7.50 (economic source of a set/4!)
Incoming from USA: 5p (x2) & 15p, March 1st 1971. £ 5.25
Incoming: 5p (x2) & 15p, March 3rd 1971. Both cancels in PURPLE, very scarce. £ 16.00
Incoming: 5p (x2) & 15p, March 3rd 1971. With 'PAID' strike applied twice at lower left, a fairly scarce handstamp applied occasionally in Amsterdam. £ 7.25
Incoming: 5p (x2) & 15p, March 4th 1971. From Lommel, Belgium, quite an uncommon source of strike post mail (for any of the strike posts). £ 6.50
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The final Concorde-related item from this collection:
A trial sheet of ideas for the 25p Concorde stamp, printed onto a gummed white paper printing of the 50p, the 46 mms wide printing. (There is a scissor cut between the two rows under the 3rd & 4th stamps in each row). EIGHT different artist's proofs / ideas, assumed to be UNIQUE in all respects. A magnificent Concorde highlight piece. 
Artwork print for the proposed Football stamp to affix to airletters, image size on this sheet is 89 x 127 mms; the marginal measurement in pencil, 2.75 inches, is for the proposed actual stamp height (6.985 cms). Presumably unique. £ 48.00
Proof print of the artwork above with Crystal Palace F.C. logos trialled alongside. Printed on A4 paper with matt gum (page folded under twice, as can be seen from the scan). Quite possibly unique. £ 62.00
A proof sheet/10 of the unissued stamps, each stamp rated 'R' by Clive Smith. We are fortunate in having three of these sheets and there is a marked difference in the shade of Maroon in which they are printed. This is the palest sheet, gummed (mnh), heavily folded down the centre plus some corner creases. Sheet price £ 45.00
A proof sheet/10 of the unissued stamps, each stamp rated 'R' by Clive Smith. This is the intermediate shade (Clive Smith only gives one colour for these stamps) gummed, fine mnh, the bottom right stamp only partially printed. Sheet price £ 64.00
A proof sheet/10 of the unissued stamps, each stamp rated 'R' by Clive Smith. This is the deepest shade, very deep maroon, gummed, fine mnh. Sheet price £ 65.00
Proofs in the colour used for the football-themed airletters:
The final colour for the airletter was scarlet but other essays exist, now in the 'red' rather than the 'maroon' range.
Irregular block/3 in Cerise MNH (the text alongside in the scan is on the album page, not part of the printing). These are the only finished stamps that we have seen that include the Crystal Palace logo and should be considered RARE, possibly very rare. We can sell as a block/3, as a pair or as a single, whilst available in each format. Prices as follows:
Single: The bottom stamp without CPFC logo, £ 28.00
Top Pair: Both stamps will have the logo at top and at bottom. £ 58.00
Left-hand stamp only, logo above and below : £ 34.00
Vertical pair £ 52.00
The block/3 : £ 84.00
Issued on March 1st in Croydon, 30p Airletter showing a Crystal Palce footballer. This is said to be a fdc, but the Croydon date stamp was not applied. Sent on in The Netherlands (pencil address since erased), this has every appearance of a philatelic item but it is nonetheless uncommon. As mentioned above, the footballer and logo are printed on the airletter, not handstamped. A paragraph in the programme for the Crystal Palace v Arsenal match on March 13th, 1971, which we have also acquired, mentions this airletter and we will send you the programme with the airletter. £ 24.00
Croydon-Gatwick Post : Postal Stationery in MULREADY style:
The intricate mimicry of the Mulready envelopes is echoed in the CGP design, which includes a huge number of subjects, some distinctly different to those of a century earlier! We hesitated over the printing method, stated by Clive Smith to be 'printed', rather than hand-stamped. We have indeed seen a steel printing plate for this airletter form but we also hold a proof sheet with examples of the overprint from E&F Slinger, who were Rubber Stamp Manufacturers. The design does not come up brilliantly on the airletter form, giving it the appearance of a handstamp, but, on balance, we think that the design was indeed printed on the airletter by, as reported, Printrite of Croydon, by lithography.
Proof sheet on plan paper (with a couple of folds) with two strikes of the artwork for the Mulready-style airletter, page headed E&F Slinger of London SW17, Rubber Stamps. Assumed unique. £ 12.00
Artwork, design approximately 8 inches wide, marked to be reduced to 5 inches wide, which is the size of the design that was printed onto the airletter. £ 32.00
A higher definition scan of the artwork above, provided for study purposes. (The dark patch at top is only due to scanning without a black backing sheet; it stems from an extra thickness of the sheet, which is folded over at top).
Airletter sent to the Netherlands, where it was posted, the address then erased. Appears to be philatelic. Handstamped VIA GATWICK / AIRPORT but without Croydon cancellation. Posted in The Netherlands on March 3rd. £ 12.50
A similar airletter sent to the Netherlands, where it was posted. This also appears to be philatelic. Handstamped VIA GATWICK / AIRPORT but, this time, with Croydon cancellation, March 1st; posted in The Netherlands on March 3rd. £ 14.00
The airletter, unused, handstamped CANCELLED in red. Not listed thus in Clive Smith. £ 16.00
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