England Winners stamp
The England Winners stamp was a fourpenny commemorative stamp issued in 1966 to mark England's victory in the 1966 FIFA World Cup. The stamp was issued on the orders of the then Postmaster General Edward Short and created by a new printing of the lowest value of the three British 1966 FIFA World Cup stamps with the words ENGLAND WINNERS added. Availability The stamp was issued on 18 August 1966 in England, Wales, The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man but not in Scotland or Northern Ireland. It was available in Scotland from 22 August 1966. Following a question asked in the British Parliament, a government minister explained that while British special stamps (commemorative stamps) were normally available throughout the United Kingdom, the government had felt that "...it was not appropriate for this particular stamp to be put on general sale in other countries which had also competed in this FIFA World Cup." In other words, it would not have been diplomatic to sell a stamp celebrating an English victory in Wales or Scotland whose teams had been knocked out of the competition. A speculative bubble Stocks of the stamp quickly ran short with queues forming at Post Offices