What is this?

This mysterious design appears in the Inventive Britain stamp set to be issued Feb. 19 by Great Britain's Royal Mail.

The stamp honors stainless steel, an invention credited to English metallurgist Harry Brearley in 1913. Royal Mail's British Philatelic Bulletin says, " ... Brearley's chromium and steel fusion created the shiny, corrosion-resistant metal now used the world over."

The London Design firm GBH created the shiny design for this stamp, along with the designs for the seven other stamps in the Inventive Britain set. Royal Mail previewed the design of the World Wide Web stamp in December 2014, as part of the publicity for its 2015 stamp program.

More from Linns.com: 

Upright Jenny Invert pane, imperf stamps from press sheets to be listed by Scott

1¢ Bobcat coil variety to be issued at Aripex show

Possible 20¢ Apgar imperf surfaces on 2002 cover in Fla.

No speedy delivery for letter to PMG Brennan

An Open Letter to Postmaster General Megan Brennan

Keep up with all of Linns.com's news and insights by signing up for our free eNewsletters, liking us on Facebook, and following us on Twitter.