Date: 27th October 2021
On Friday 1st October, Isle of Man Post Office will issue a set of six stamps celebrating the 75th anniversary of Mensa, the world’s oldest and largest high IQ society. These engaging stamps feature puzzles, codes and cyphers, and in a global first, what3words references for important places on the Isle of Man and around the UK. The Issue was approved just before life President of Mensa Sir Clive Sinclair passed away.
The collection, which has received Royal Approval from Her Majesty the Queen, was designed by Glazier Design with each stamp featuring word and number puzzles provided by Mensa to amuse and intrigue. These puzzles are a mixture of logic and non-verbal reasoning. The stamps also contain many other secrets – codes, places, messages and words hidden in microtext and cyphers, which are special codes that disguise the words in a message, making the message secret. Codebreakers need to work out the key to solve the cypher. They are all visible on the stamps, but you might need a magnifying glass and code-breaking skills to solve them all.
In a global first, we have added two what3words references to places important to Mensa and locations on the Isle of Man. what3words is the simplest way to talk about and share location. The app has divided the world into 57 trillion 3 metre squares and given each square a unique combination of three random words: a what3words address. For example, you can find the entrance to Castle Rushen in the Isle of Man at ///crystals.runaways.rational.
The collection was developed in collaboration with Mensa, the organisation for bright people, as it marks its 75th anniversary on October 1st 2021. Mensa is a global organisation with around 145,000 members in roughly 100 countries including the Isle of Man and around the UK. At a time when neurodiversity is more recognised in society, Mensa embodies a sense of togetherness through their motto ‘Where everyone is different, so no-one is’.
British Mensa Chief Executive Cath Hill said, “Mensa’s 75th anniversary is a huge milestone for the society and we are delighted that the Isle of Man Post Office has chosen to celebrate it with us by issuing this beautiful set of stamps.”
Maxine Cannon, Stamps and Coins General Manager, Isle of Man Post Office said, “When the idea to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Mensa was first mentioned by my colleagues Paul Ford and Charlie Jordan I couldn’t image how we would illustrate the Mensa story, but under the capable skills of Glazier Design and Emma Cooke of EJC Design plus boundless enthusiasm from the Team at Mensa UK the final results are a real credit to everyone involved in this postal tribute.”
Chris Sheldrick, CEO and Co-founder of what3words adds: “It’s a real honour to mark Mensa’s 75th anniversary in a world first - what3words addresses on royally approved stamps! Mensa is a celebration of neurodiversity in society, and this stamp collection is a perfect tribute. We hope that people enjoy working out exactly where the what3words addresses are and why they’re so significant to Mensa and the Isle of Man.”
The collection can be viewed and is available to pre-order from www.iompost.com/mensa.
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