PHQ cards

PHQ (Postal Headquarters) cards are postcards issued by the British Post Office depicting the designs of their commemorative stamps. They are generally available to buy in main post offices about two weeks prior to the release of each new set of stamps.

When they were first issued in 1973 (PHQ1 was issued on 16 May 1973), the PHQ cards were intended to be just an occasional picture postcard for sale to the public at Post Offices and Philatelic Counters. However, right from the first card issued, some enterprising stamp dealers realised that the cards themselves were a potential new collecting area as well.

My collection of PHQ cards is now quite extensive - thanks in no small measure to the generosity of the Post Card Finder store - albeit nowhere near complete.