Description: This stamp features an abstract, illustrative landscape design explicitly commemorating the twentieth International Geographical Congress. The left side showcases an artistic sketch of modern high-rise urban buildings rising above stylized green and yellow fields, representing land use, development, and geography. Inscribed white text in the bottom left corner reads 20th INTERNATIONAL GEOGRAPHICAL CONGRESS. On the right side, the classic Dorothy Wilding photographic portrait of a young Queen Elizabeth II facing slightly left is housed inside a sharp, dark oval vignette. The pre-decimal fraction denomination of 2½d is cleanly displayed in a bright teal color directly beneath the royal portrait, separated by a thin horizontal line. This used specimen bears a heavy, double-ring circular black postmark cancellation clearly reading ...OCKPORT CHESHIRE across the central graphic, identifying the posting location as the historic industrial town of Stockport.
Circa: 1964
Condition: Used
Notes:
This issue was part of a larger four-stamp set designed by Dennis Bailey, with each value exploring a different facet of geographical study, including map-making, changing coastlines, and industrial expansion. The 2½d value specifically targeted the international surface postcard rate of the mid-1960s, meaning a significant portion of these stamps were sent overseas to friends and families by visiting global delegates.
This particular specimen carries an interesting historical layer because of its specific Stockport, Cheshire postmark. While many stamps from this era bear generic slogan cancels, a clear town datestamp allows postal historians to trace the exact journey of the letter. Stockport was historically a key industrial hub in Cheshire, famous for its hatting industry and massive brick viaduct, making this cancellation a nice piece of regional postal history that places the sender in the vibrant north of England during the "Swinging Sixties."