Royal Mail Gets Date Wrong on New Stamp

Reporter Mike Merritt of Britain's Sunday Mail reports that Royal Mail got the date wrong on a new stamp featuring the likeness of John Knox and the inscription "Reformation 1559".

According Mike, "... historians slammed the blunder as the Reformation happened a year later in 1560 - with this year marking the 450th anniversary."

The mistake was spotted by a 75-year-old British philatelist, Dr. Sandy Waugh, whose PhD is in church theology.

Dr. Waugh is quoted in the piece as saying, "They have got the wrong date. It is a bit off and very embarrassing. They should have done more research. After all, it's the 450th anniversary of the Reformation, which banned Papal supremacy - and to compound the timing of the mistake even more, the Pope is due here in September."

A Royal Mail spokeswoman is also quoted as saying,  "The stamp featuring John Knox is specifically designed to commemorate the role played by John Knox in the Scottish Reformation. It focuses on the importance of the year 1559 in John Knox's career, as that was when he returned from exile in Geneva to lead the campaign for the Scottish Reformation...and, therefore, there has been no error made by Royal Mail on this stamp."

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