Description

Rarely seen pair of Alderney Parcel Delivery Service souvenir cards marking the “last day of issue” of its stamps on 13 June 1983, ahead of the release of the first Guernsey Post Office issue for Alderney the following day.

The stamps on each card are a selection of APDS remainders, cancelled with the usual small circular undated stamp in black. Alongside, there is a special “Last Day of Issue” handstamp in red or black, used only on that date.  The APDS continued to operate, however, with new releases of stamps once again appearing from 1990 onwards.

The covers are in generally excellent condition, though the lower one has some modest crinkling from clearly getting slightly damp at some point in the past.

About Alderney

Covered by Guernsey Post's services since 1969, following postal independence from the UK's Royal Mail, Alderney has had its own officially sanctioned stamp issues since 1983. Inscribed "Alderney - Bailiwick of Guernsey", these stamp issues are valid for mail sent from anywhere within the Bailiwick, not just Alderney itself.

Other, earlier stamps inscribed "Alderney" are considered to be Cinderellas. From 1962, the Commodore Shipping Company Ltd produced nearly 100 different stamps for its parcel service between Guernsey and Alderney - similar in design to those used on its Sark route - with the final issue appearing in 1968.

Later, labels were produced from 1975 for the Alderney Parcel Delivery Service - inscribed "Alderney Packet" - until 1983, often including imperforate and rouletted versions, and various overprints and colour trials. New issues, this time inscribed "Alderney Parcel Delivery Service" or simply "Alderney Parcel", have been released since 1990.