PHQ card

PHQ 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, the PHQ cards were intended to be just an occasional picture postcard for sale to the public at Post Offices and Philatelic Counters.

[citation needed] In August 1973 a second card was issued for one of the stamps in the set to mark the 400th anniversary of the birth of Inigo Jones, architect and designer.

This can be confusing for new collectors coming across the first two issues for the first time, if they are not aware of the size difference, they tend to think they are worthless copies.