For sale is a complete, excellent 5-piece set of Great Britain 1982 "Maritime England Year" First Day Covers produced by the renowned philatelic design house, Benham (Catalog codes BS4a through BS4e). They are specific "Small Silk Covers" perfectly fit in cover albums dedicated.
Each cover features a beautifully detailed, woven miniature silk vignette bordered in gold, alongside the official Royal Mail commemorative stamp and a highly collectible, matching pictorial special postmark.
Item Description:
Set Includes:
BS4a: 15½p "Mary Rose" / King Henry VIII (Portsmouth Postmark) First Day of Issue
- Visual Design: Features a striking crowned Tudor Rose surrounded by a circular banner.
- The Significance: It marks the "First Day of Issue" specifically in Portsmouth. Portsmouth is the historic home of the Mary Rose (King Henry VIII's flagship), which was famously raised from the Solent seabed later that same year in October 1982.
BS4b: 19½p A Squadron Going to Windward / Admiral Blake (Greenwich Postmark) National Maritime Museum
- Visual Design: Depicts an intricate maritime globe/astrolabe with latitude and longitude grid lines.
- The Significance: Struck at Greenwich, London SE10. This connects Admiral Robert Blake’s era of naval tactics directly to the National Maritime Museum, the ultimate repository of British naval history and the home of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
BS4c: 24p The Battle of the Nile / Lord Nelson (Burnham Thorpe Postmark) Birthplace of Nelson
- Visual Design: Shows an anchor wrapped in a stylized rope (a traditional naval crest symbol).
- The Significance: Struck at King's Lynn, Norfolk, specifically commemorating Burnham Thorpe. This tiny village is the literal birthplace of Horatio Nelson, born there in 1758 where his father was the parish rector.
BS4d: 26p Dreadnought Class Battleship / Admiral Jellicoe (Lloyd's of London Postmark) London EC3: Lloyd's of London Heritage
- Visual Design: Features the official shield and coat of arms of Lloyd's of London, flanked by historic scrollwork.
- The Significance: Struck in the London EC3 postal district to celebrate "Over 250 Years of Maritime Heritage" by Lloyd’s. Lloyd's began as a maritime insurance market in a 17th-century coffee house, making it the perfect institutional pairing for Admiral Jellicoe's battleship era
BS4e: 29p Naval Bombardment D-Day Plus 2 / Admiral Cunningham (Mountbatten Trust Postmark) Portsmouth: The Mountbatten Memorial Trust
- Visual Design: Features a crested coat of arms containing a cross surrounded by text reading "The Mountbatten Memorial Trust Broadlands".
- The Significance: Struck in Romsey, Hampshire (the location of Broadlands, the Mountbatten family estate). This postmark links Admiral Andrew Cunningham (WWII commander) to the wider legacy of British 20th-century naval leadership symbolized by Earl Mountbatten.
Because these are crisp, pictorial handstamps rather than ordinary machine cancellations, they elevate the covers to "Specialist" status.
Benham deliberately coordinated with the Royal Mail to ensure these specific, highly relevant geographic handstamps were used.
Condition & Completeness:
• Excellent, clean condition.
• Unaddressed (no typed or handwritten names/addresses on the front).
• Crisp, clear, and perfectly centered pictorial handstamps.
• COMPLETE with all 5 original Benham descriptive information cards!
• Includes the full historical backstory inserts for: "Dreadnought and Fisher", "Triumph and Blake", "Warspite and Cunningham", "Victory and Nelson", and "Mary Rose and Henry VIII".
Shipping & Packaging: The covers will be securely packed in a board-backed envelope to prevent bending or moisture damage during transit.