Omnibus issues

MSN's Encarta says, "An omnibus issue is any group of stamps, generally with the same design, released by a number of stamp-issuing authorities to mark the same occasion. The British Commonwealth has by far produced the greatest number of omnibus issues, the first being the George V Silver Jubilee series of 1935, another being the series released on July 29, 1981, to commemorate the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Frances Spencer."

Rick Miller writes on the Linn's website, "The basis of an omnibus issue is that it is planned and that there is an overseeing authority: Portugal in 1898, Crown Agents in 1935. For Europa issues, the authorities are the joint postal conferences of the European national postal administrations."

This year the centennial of Scouting is being marked with special stamps and souvenir sheets
throughout the world.

Shown above, a Timorese Vasco da Gama stamp from the world's first omnibus issue produced for Portugal and its colonies.

To learn more about omnibus issues, click here.