United Kingdom, 1913
King George V beside Britannia in a chariot pulled by seahorses.
Illustration of a historical stamp for learning, shown at screen size. Not valid for postage.
How to read it
A king’s head and Britannia with seahorses, but no country name: the United Kingdom.
- 1ONE POUND · POSTAGE
- 2King George V
- Inscription
- ONE POUND · POSTAGE
- Meaning
- No country name: King George V on the left is the clue.
- Issued by
- United Kingdom
- Today
- the United Kingdom Flag of United Kingdom
- Year
- 1913. Issued June 1913.
- Made by
- Bertram Mackennal (design, died 1931); J. A. C. Harrison (engraving, died 1955)
One fact
The “Seahorses” were Britain’s high-value stamps of 1913, designed by the sculptor Bertram Mackennal and engraved by J. A. C. Harrison.
Source and public-domain rule
Creators died more than 70 years ago. Designer died 1931 and engraver died 25 January 1955, so both died before 1956. Also Crown copyright (published 1913) ended in 1963. Copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years, counted from 1 January of the year after death. Every named designer and engraver of the stamp died before 1 January 1956; any contributor who was never named counts as anonymous, whose term is 70 years from publication, and the stamp was published before 1956. Legal sources: Directive 2006/116/EC, Art. 1(1) life + 70 years; Art. 1(3) anonymous works 70 years from publication; Art. 7(1) comparison of terms for works from outside the EU; Art. 8 terms run from 1 January, Switzerland, Norway.
Scan: British 1913 £1 Seahorse stamp 1913 £1.JPG on Wikimedia Commons (revision 1098674062), licence templates {{PD-UKGov}} (a public-domain reason different from ours; both are recorded). Downloaded 2026-10-19, sha256 daff4ca45d7c…; cropped and cleaned for this site. Facts checked 2026-10-19 against source 1 and source 2. Research record, not legal advice; a human rights review is pending. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
