Isle of Man Post Office to launch new pictorial self-adhesive stamps

Isle of Man Post Office is pleased to mark the development of its new pictorial self-adhesive stamps to customers with the release of its first set of stamp designs, 'The Triskelion Definitives'. The new pictorial stamps show four depictions of the Island's iconic national symbol the 'Three Legs of Man' and customers will be able to purchase the new look stamps from 15th February at the Post Office Headquarters Pay & Post kiosk in Spring Valley.

The Post Office decided to develop a pictorial stamp that was aesthetically pleasing with a local look and feel. By mid-2017 they will also be available from the rest of the Post Office's Pay & Post kiosks and post offices across the Island. Other future designs will be created for release in 2018.

Isle of Man Post Office currently has a network of 25 post offices and 10 Pay & Post kiosks in operation on Island, which are a quick and simple way to conveniently pay bills and buy postage. They currently provide simple blank self-adhesive labels detailing the postage paid at the time of transaction, however, it was felt these were of low quality and could be improved on.

The first edition of pictorial stamps feature four highly attractive designs based on the Island's national emblem, the Three Legs of Man. The four images show the three legs that appear in Douglas Town Hall, a triskelion design that incorporates smaller visuals of the Millennium of Tynwald three legs, the three legs as seen on a quayside building in Castletown and a new modern interpretation of the three legs of Man.

The origins of this ancient motif have been forgotten over the ages; however it's thought to have been introduced to the Isle of Man by Alexander III of Scotland once he gained control of the Island in 1265. Alexander had family connections with Sicily, which adopted a three-legged version of the symbol, the triskelion, hundreds of years previously. The legs usually run clockwise and carry the Latin motto 'Quocunque Jeceris Stabit' meaning 'whichever way you throw me, I stand', a reference to the independence and resilience of the Manx people.

Mary Gaffney, Isle of Man Post Office Customer Services Manager said: "We are delighted to join the new pictorial stamps revolution and provide our customers with fabulous new machine vended stamps that will now have an intrinsic Manx design rather than plain vended labels."

Mary added: "We listened to our customers who indicated that many preferred to purchase postage that was more "stamp like" and related to the Isle of Man, therefore we are pleased to be able to offer the new versions and hope our customers are happy with them too."

Visit Postal Headquarters in Spring Valley from 15th February onwards to purchase the stamps from the Pay & Post kiosk. Collectable editions of the pictorial stamps can also be purchased at www.iompost.com.

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Notes to Editors

• Pictorial self-adhesive stamps are known to Isle of Man Post Office collectors as 'variable rate definitive self-adhesive stamps', they are also known as 'Post & Go stamps' and 'Faststamps' in a number of other jurisdictions, they are popular, highly collectible. For collectors, the inclusion of the value of the stamp, the five digit date of issue, the sequential number and stamp identifier make them highly collectible
• Guide to definitive stamps:

1. Five digit date of issue - is presented in the Julian calendar format YYDDD, 17 represents the year whilst 046 is the 46th day of 2017, the 15th February
2. Sequential number – each stamp is individually numbered on rolls of either 600 or 2000
3. Stamp identifier – this is the over print code valuable to the collector which identifies where the pictorial stamp has been issued on the Isle of Man. The first three to four digits indicate the site of the kiosk and the next two digits are the actual identifier for the kiosk and the final set of digits are the sequential transaction number

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