Coronation Greetings First Day Covers
Edinburgh-based cachet makers Mildred Hodson (1904–1961) and Aleksander Stocki (1897–1960) produced 11 'Coronation Greetings' first day covers and an Honours of Scotland commemorative cover for the 1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Ten of the 11 'Greetings' covers were offered in sets together with the Honours cover.
The two-colour 'Greetings' covers feature a map highlighting a location within Great Britain. Each is franked with a 2½d Coronation stamp tied with corresponding cancel.
There's CANTERBERY, KENT for the Canterbery-inscribed cover, JERSEY for the Channel Islands, EDINBURGH for Edinburgh, LAXEY, ISLE-OF-MAN for Isle of Man, BELFAST for Northern Ireland, KIRKWALL, ORKNEY for Orkney Islands, CARDIFF for Wales, LONDON SW1 for Westminster, WINDSOR, BERKS for Windsor, and YORK for York. All but the LAXEY and KIRKWALL cancels are accompanied by the 'LONG LIVE THE QUEEN' slogan.
The Honours of Scotland cachet features tartan with castle silhouette. It is usually franked with a 2½d Coronation single cancelled EDINBURGH on 24 June 1953, the day the Crown of Scotland was carried in a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to the High Kirk of St Giles, Edinburgh. Examples with the full set are recorded as are Coronation first day covers, but they are scarce. Particularly the latter.
Despite contemporary advertising, few sets were sold in Great Britain where the preference was for single covers – mostly self-addressed Mildred Hodson. Sets of 11 were predominantly sold in North America with the covers self-addressed to dealer Clyde J Sarzin (1915–1987).
Edinburgh-inscribed 'Coronation Greetings' covers exist with different colour arrangements. The standard has 'Coronation Greetings' and frame in red with map in blue while the scarce version has reversed colours – heading and frame in blue. Of the scant covers recorded, none are Sarzin-addressed suggesting they were produced to fulfill the odd local order or supplied blank to anyone interested in organising their own first day arrangements. Seemingly few chose either option. They are rare.
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