A Souvenir Sheet Of Definitive Stamps

In 2006, Ukraine issued a souvenir sheet containing the 5th and 6th definitive stamps releases. I've never seen definitives on a souvenir sheet before. I thought it was kind of cool.

Canada prints souvenir sheets for most of their definitive stamps:

(I can't see your Ukraine image)

A few years ago, the Marshall Islands put out a sheet of 45 stamps, all more or less in the design of our U.S. Presidentials of 1938, but with modified inscriptions and some new denominations:

Great Britain issues Machin definitive souvenir sheets (miniature sheets) now and then.
GB 2008 Lest We Forget regional stamps.

Wow. Learn something new every day!

Stamp Magazine here in the UK, August 2012 edition has a story on page 8 headlined 'Machins depicted on Marshall Islands set'. Looks like the Marshall Islands are continuing on from Doug's post and doing another mini sheet containing six machins. Please excuse the poor quality scan - it's from the magazine!

Royal Mail has a definitive sheet currently for sale.

CAL,

I have that sheet as my background on my 'puter.

Actually Cal that's a good call - I'd completely overlooked the mini sheet. The only problem is that just two of the images are stamps - does it still count as a souvenir sheet of definitive stamps?

Hmmmm ... semantics. Aren't they all stamps now, some with images of things that were not stamps? If separated from the sheet, are they not valid postage?

Cal, you're right it is semantics and true, they are all stamps now! Worth popping it on a 'coins on stamps' or 'money on stamps' thread as well! Actually they are valid postage and that will be a rarity in years to come as I can't imagine very many of them being used for postal duty, so getting a properly cancelled postally used stamp from this mini sheet will probably be a very good investment for the album.

Ok, so my question is....

Is a souvenir sheet of definitive stamps considered a definitive release or a commemorative release? What the opinion of SCF?

I'd have to say a definitive release, as once any of them are actually used for postage they would not be classed as commemoratives. Royal Mail helpfully chooses not to distinguish in the narrative what they are in this instance....http://www.royalmail.com/personal/s...-definitives but the url rather says it all!

My thought is that a souvenir sheet (miniature sheet sometimes called) of definitive stamps is classed definitive, unless it also has a commemmorative stamp on it. Sometimes there are combos.

It might be commemmorating the release of definitive stamps though, like the GB one above, and that is a harder one to classify.

If it's got a pretty picture on the margins then collectors will like it, that is if it is different info and more info than that just available on the stamps themselves. Or pretty enough.

Yes! A subject close to my heart.
I have been in discussions about this on my GB forum and maybe here too [although I could not find it].
Even UK's Royal Mail don't know...and they issue the stuff !

Here is a Commemorative sheet of Definitives commemorating a Definitive Jubilee !



and another......



All good fun.
My opinion is that if you keep the sheet whole and intact, it is a Commemorative item.
If you take the stamps out of the sheet, they are definitives.

Londonbus1....

If it's reissued as a special S/S as part of some event (e.g., stamp show, anniversary...) then I would consider it to be a commemorative.

If it is merely a repackaging of definitives into S/S or pane, then I would consider it a non-commemorative -- just as if the stamps were put into a booklet format.

My opinion.