The first set of commemorative stamps marking the 96th anniversary of the
Titanic have been designed.
The collectable First Class stamps have been produced by the Titanic
Heritage Trust in conjunction with Royal Mail and will be the first in the
'White Star History' series being rolled out every year from now until 2012
- the centenary of Titanic's maiden voyage.
Each sheet in the first series includes five RMS Titanic 'The Fourth Funnel'
and five 'SS Nomadic The Farewell' stamps.
The images are taken from fine art paintings by Belfast artist Jim McDonald
whose work depicts shipyard people, street children and pub scenes from the
bygone era in the east of the city.
A First Day Cover with Belfast or Southampton postmarks and franked 15,
April 08 will also go on sale.
Each envelope has been exclusively designed for Titanic Heritage Trust by AG
Bradbury.
Howard Nelson, founder and chairman of the Titanic Heritage Trust said: "
We are going to use a number of different images each year until 2012 when
there will be a special edition and also a presentation pack.
"Each stamp is legal tender, so if people wanted to they could put it
on an envelope and post it, but most people will just be collecting them.
"We will be using different artists for each set of stamps but we
rather liked Jim McDonald's interpretations."
The Titanic Heritage Trust is the only international charitable trust set up
to protect preserve, protect, respect and remember every aspect of
world-wide phenomenon.
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