As we approach the 300 days to go milestone to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Royal Mail has announced that millions of definitive stamps for use next year are rolling off the printing presses. 

The stamps will be available from all 11,800 Post Office branches across the UK from Thursday 5^th January 2012.  There are four new stamps – two 1^st Class and two for Worldwide use to post items up to 20 gm in weight. Both sets of values feature one stamp with the London 2012 Olympic Games logo and one with London 2012 Paralympic Games logo. 

Around a million stamps an hour in striking orange and blue inks will be printed on specialist stamp printing presses in Walsall, West Midlands over the next few days.

Stephen Agar from Royal Mail: “People sending letters to friends or family in the UK and overseas tourists sending mail abroad will be able to commemorate this historic event by using these stamps to post their items. As we reach the 300 day countdown, it’s exciting to see millions of these stamps rolling off the printing presses.”

Definitive stamps are the stamps most commonly used each day. They are available from Post Office branches and in stamp books from retailers across the UK. Royal Mail issued its first Olympic Games Stamps in 1948, with four stamps bearing the five Olympic Rings.

As an official licensee of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Royal Mail has also issued 30 Special Stamps over the last three years celebrating every sport to be competed next year. 

published October 2nd, 2011