Label for sheet stamps

Material relating to the philately of the reign of Edward VIII.
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17them+
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Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2017 1:59 pm

Label for sheet stamps

Post by 17them+ »

Can anybody throw any light on the attached label? I believe it to be either a label from a packet/parcel of sheet stamps sent from the printers to the Post Office distribution centre (wherever that might be) or, more likely, a label used by the Post Office to send sheet stamps out to individual Post Offices. Any ideas, thoughts or explanations gratefully received. Also, can anybody explain the numbers on the top and bottom of the label?
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Sheet label.jpg
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mozzerb
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Re: Label for sheet stamps

Post by mozzerb »

To the best of my understanding of Post Office odds and ends:

"SD 1288P" would be the official Post Office stock code for the particular form/label/whatever, with the prefix SD being "Stores Department".

The text at the foot refers to the warrant to print a new batch. "10m" means 10,000 were printed(*), "12/35" is the date, "G&S" is Griffith & Sons, one of the regular printers used by the Post Office for general items of stationery. I think "26293/P6342" and "670" probably refer to the overall authority and the particular warrant, but don't put too much reliance on that!

As for what they were used for, a batch size of 10,000 still being used some nine months later makes me suspect they were used to label large packs of sheets, possibly internally in the Stores Department, rather than on the regular despatches to offices. If that's the case, then surviving examples are presumably pretty rare.

(*) From notes by James Mackay, and from comparison of other labels and forms, the "m" on these imprints seems to be a print trade abbreviation for x1000 -- "mille" -- not times a million.
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Maurice Buxton
17them+
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Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2017 1:59 pm

Re: Label for sheet stamps

Post by 17them+ »

Many thanks. That's very useful information.
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