Great Britain 388
 

     Great Britain issued a set of three stamps in 1962 to observe the National Productivity Year. The middle value of the set has a silhouette map of the British Isles. In addition to England and Scotland, a part of Ireland is also included with Northern Ireland in the darker purple of Great Britain. There were those who objected to the inclusion of part of the Irish Republic. Others objected because the Shetland Islands north of Great Britain were not included, and the stamp has been identified as an error because of that omission, and the omission of the Scilly Islands off the southwestern tip of the island.

     Other islands, the Orkneys, the Hebrides, the Isle of Man, Anglesey, and the Isle of Wight are shown in their proper locations on the map. On the other hand, Guernsey, Jersey, and Alderney, Herm, Jethou, and Sark have been omitted. The Isle of Man, Guernsey, Jersey, and Alderney issue their own stamps, while the Scillys, the Orkneys, the Shetlands, the Hebrides, Anglesey, and Wight do not.

     The Channel Islands may have been omitted because the space for the map was to small to include them, and, if that is true, that may also be the reason for the omission of the Shetlands. They are even further from the main island than the Channel Islands. But that doesn't explain the omission of the Scilly Islands which are about as close as the Isle of Man.

     So...error or legitimate design?