Horizon label
A Horizon label is an adhesive postage label that is a type of variable value stamp. The labels were introduced in the United Kingdom in 2002[1] as part of the computerisation of the counter services of the post office network of Royal Mail using the Horizon System.[2]
Reception[edit]
The labels received a frosty reception from philatelists initially as they were seen as replacing postage stamps, but as they have become more complex and more stamp-like, collectors have warmed to them and they have now become a popular collecting specialism in the U.K. and an established part of modern British postal history.[1]
Timeline[edit]
The first labels were large plain labels composed purely of text but later labels are of a gold colour with a Machin head and a repeating pattern of the words ROYALMAIL in order to prevent forgery.
The principal events in the development of the labels were:[3]
- 14 February 2002 – First labels used in about 1000 post offices. Plain white with straight edges.
- 30 April 2002 – Security slits added to prevent reuse.
- August & September 2002 – Labels rolled out nationally.
- April 2009 – Labels with simulated perforations appear.
- 8 June 2009 – First gold labels appear featuring the Machin head for Special Delivery only from the Camden High Street P.O., London. Gold labels gradually introduced nationally.
- 20 April 2010 – First labels with dual English-Welsh language inscriptions available from Welsh post offices.
- 23 August 2010 – Straight-edged labels reintroduced first at Old Street then nationally.
- 29 September 2011 – Value Added Tax codes added.
- May 2015 – "Pre-cancelled" labels trialled at the Europhilex exhibition with corner "Single Use Only" wording. Colour changed back to white. Subsequently used nationally.
- September 2015 – Barcode added to the design.
Post Office training[edit]
The training of postal workers includes the use of voided horizon labels,[4] noted as early as 2003.[5]
References[edit]
- ^ a b "GB Postal Stationery, Postal Labels and Postmarks: Horizon Labels" by John Holman in Gibbons Stamp Monthly, February 2008, p. 43.
- ^ Horizon Labels British Postmark Society, 27 June 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2013. Archived at Internet Archive.
- ^ "Horizon labels pass under philatelic radar", Michael L. Goodman, Stamp Lover, Vol. 108, August 2016, pp. 114-115.
- ^ "Another view" by Douglas Myall in British Philatelic Bulletin, Vol. 51, No. 5, January 2014, pp. 149-151.
- ^ "Horizon Training Labels" in Dummy Stamps, Issue 25, Quarter 2, 2012, p.12. Archived here.