Trade Surplus

Despite comprising only two stamps, the EFTa issue of 1967 is one of Great Britain’s most collectable commemorative sets, with multiple missing colour errors and more besides

- Paul Mathieu

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The issue, 50 years ago this month, of Great Britain’s famous EFTA commemorative set delighted some philatelists, and horrified others.

The two stamps were printed in eight colours each and, in the days when multicoloured printing was an ambitious undertaking, multiple missing-colour errors were soon discovered.

A new breed of collectors, and the stamp trade, revelled in this, and the errors became hot property. Traditionalists thought it demeaning, and the General Post Office and the printer, Harrison & Sons, were embarrassed.

Stamp Magazine published a letter from one die-hard asking ‘Why is it that the stamps of Britain are full of mistakes? This implies that either the British printing is not satisfactory, or that such mistakes are being done deliberately, to ensure collectors take interest.’

In many ways, the fuss was in keeping with in-fighting between the GPO and its design advisors during the genesis of the issue.

Wild idea

The European Free Trade Association had been founded in 1960 as a trading bloc for countries which were unwilling or as yet unable to join the European Economic Community, which had been established in 1958. Its members were Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

The UK had played a prominent role in creating the association, and its first two General Secretaries were British.

EFTA’s chief aim was the progressive elimination of customs duties between member states, and by 1965 that target was within reach. The Foreign Office suggested a special stamp issue to mark the achievement of free trade.