Royal Mail’s AC/DC issue salutes those about to rock

By David Hartwig

A Feb. 18 stamp issue from Great Britain’s Royal Mail celebrates the rock band AC/DC and the 50th anniversary of their debut album, High Voltage.

“AC/DC is one of the most successful rock bands in the world. Over the past half century, they have recorded some of the best-known rock anthems and have given us Back in Black – the biggest-selling rock album of all time,” David Gold, Royal Mail director of external affairs and policy, said. “These stamps capture a sample of their electrifying live performances, along with some of their most iconic album covers, and celebrate their significant contribution to the world of rock music.”

Royal Mail presents eight of the AC/DC stamps in four horizontal se-tenant (side-by-side) pairs. The stamps in two of the pairs are valued at the first-class rate (currently £1.65) and the stamps in the other two pairs are denominated £2.

These eight stamps capture images from some of the band’s live performances in England, Australia and the United States during the last 50 years.

A souvenir sheet included with the issue contains four first-class stamps, each featuring a different album cover: the band’s 1975 debut Australia-only album High Voltage, the 1979 album Highway to Hell, 1980’s Back in Black, and the 2020 album Power Up.

AC/DC was founded in 1973 by brothers Angus and Malcolm Young. The youngest of eight children, the two were born in Glasgow, Scotland, and moved with their family to Sydney, Australia, in 1963.

With Angus on lead guitar and Malcolm (1953-2017) on rhythm guitar, the band joined forces with vocalist Bon Scott (1946-1980) in 1974, in time for the 1975 debut Australia-only album High Voltage.

Royal Mail includes two stamp booklets in addition to the stamps and souvenir sheet in the Feb. 18 issue. One item, which Royal Mail calls a Back in Black stamp book, includes the four first-class Back in Black stamps from the souvenir sheet.

The other booklet is a prestige stamp book with text by Draper along with images and a tribute to Malcolm Young’s legacy.

The prestige book contains four panes of stamps, with two panes for the set of eight stamps, one for the souvenir sheet, and one for a pane of definitive stamps unique to the issue. This pane includes two labels along with four King Charles III definitives, one denominated 5 pence, one 50p, one £1 and one valued at the first-class rate.

Royal Mail designed the stamps in the set of eight and the souvenir sheet. Cartor Security Printers printed the stamps and souvenir sheet by lithography in sheets of 60 (two different sheets, one for each rate), also sold in panes of 30 at most postal outlets.

Each stamp in the set of eight measures 50 millimeters by 30mm and is perforated gauge 14. The souvenir sheet is 192mm by 74mm with self-adhesive stamps that are 38mm by 31mm and perforated gauge 14.

A collectors sheet included with the issue contains the set of eight stamps with attached labels featuring various AC/DC logos.

First-day covers are franked with either the set of eight stamps, the souvenir sheet or the definitive pane from the prestige stamp book. One available postmark is from Tallents House, and an alternate postmark is from Glasgow, Scotland, birthplace of Angus and Malcolm Young.

Other products offered in conjunction with the stamps include a set of 13 postcards reproducing the designs of the stamps and the souvenir sheet, a presentation pack with all 12 stamps and text by Draper, and a limited run of 200 press sheets each with eight souvenir sheets.

The stamps and related products can be ordered from Royal Mail’s website at https://shop.royalmail.com. Ordering information also is available from Royal Mail, Tallents House, 21 S. Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh, EH12 9PB, Scotland.

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