Royal Mail Slogan Postmark Featuring A Bishop Mark

Received today...



Slogan postmark commemorating the Bishop Mark introduction in 1661. Publicity blurb says it replicates the original but I don't think there was one produced with a "D" in the lower half as that was normally the day of the month so the Royal Mail may have a modern version or the "D" might have existed in a "pre-production" example back in 1661.
Perhaps acknowledged expert Eunice Shanahan - can comment on the significance of the "D"

Edit : earsathome link address adjusted.

*** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. ***

Strange.

Interesting, too, that your letter bears the slogan postmark on a letter mailed on the 1st of this month. The press release says that the slogan will be used from 2 to 13 August. The release states that the bishop mark was introduced on the 2nd of August 1661.

More interesting still is that the first known example of a bishop mark is from earlier in 1661.

EDIT: Maybe the 'D' represents 'day.'

Hello All,
This was an interesting query which sent us to our references. We found this sheet issued by BPO showing interesting postmarks, commencing with the Bishop Mark with the month above the day. We scanned the whole thing as it has other marks which may appeal to readers. One of the images we have scanned is the 'introduction' to the Bishop Mark and the bottom left corner of the sheet regarding Date impression books, and we suspect that this is the reason for the D as shown in the slogan.

A quick summary on the marks:-
The original London Bishop Mark consisted of a small circle, bisected horizontally, with the month (in serif lettering) abbreviated to two letters, in the upper half and the day of the month in the lower half.
The lettering became sans serif in 1673. From 1713 the month was transferred to the lower semi-circle. The months beginning with the letter 'J' were represented as the letter 'I', i.e. IA January, IU June, and IY July. Although I have never actually seen one with IU!


This link will take you directly to the relevant page

-/webgil/bishop.html

Articles and illustrations on 10 other types of markings, Too Late, Free, Additional Halfpenny and the like, stamps, and other articles we have written. Non commercial so no adverts. Have a browse and we are always glad to receive feedback and share information.


Thanks Scotzm for your comment and Eunice is flattered to be known as an 'expert' but feels she is more an 'interested collector'
Thanks also for the plug for our website but with the brackets the link shows "Server not found" so please see the link below.


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Regards to all,
Ron and Eunice.