The first pictorial Scottish airletter was issued in 1974, followed by a steady, but quite sensibly conservative, flow of issues since. These airletters are produced on the instruction of the Scottish Postal Board, often when there is some anniversary or event thought to be worthy of a special stamp issue, but which the U.K. Post Office, in its wisdom, has decided against. All Scottish pictorial airletters have their printed texts in English and Gaelic.
Many collectors overlook these, often on account of their being part of the much wider field of U.K. postal stationery (which in itself is a vast subject for any collector). However, many collectors do keep a small sideline collection of all stamps with a Scottish connection (including the many stamps issued by foreign countries honouring Scots and things Scottish), and these Scottish airletters would form an important part of any such collection.
The list here has been put together as much as a reference list
for collectors as it is our price list. We therefore price all
items (left column for mint, right column for used), whether
currently in stock or not. Any items not in stock usually have
their prices in grey (although this
list cannot be practically updated daily, so check with us if you
want). The numbers allocated are our own catalogue numbers, and
any relation to other listings is purely coincidental. There are
some obvious gaps in the details of our list, many of which we can
probably fill with a little more research, but we would welcome
comments, criticism, correction, or additional information from
any collectors or dealers on the subject.
From SA14 onwards, airletters are in the "A4" format, earlier ones
being smaller.
Condition; all airletters are priced as fine clean condition, and folded to shape. (Mint airletters can sometimes be supplied unfolded, and any preference should be noted when ordering. Unfolded airletters are supplied at the same price as folded, but mail orders for these carry an additional packing charge of £1 above any other charges). Prices for used airletters are the same for items with first day cancels or commercially used (any preference should be stated).
The list is as follows; catalogue number, date of issue, face value (price originally charged at P.O. in parenthesis), anniversary or event honoured, illustration at left of airletter's front, number issued (if known), price mint, price used (Sterling).
Our stocks of these do vary, and we sometimes have reasonably
large batches of individual items. In view of this, and to give
customers the option of obtaining a selection at lower cost, we
can supply £10 batches (our choice, but no duplication) which will
contain items normally priced at a minimum of £15.
| Cat. No. | Date of Issue |
Face Value | Issue/Subject/Design | Number Issued |
Price mint |
Price used |
| SA1 | 1974 (15 May) |
6p (7p) | Glenfinnan Monument | 200,000 | .60 | .60 |
| SA2 | 1975 (13 Jan) |
6p (7p) | Robert Burns | . | .60 | .50 |
| SA3 | 1975 (12 May) |
8.5p (9.5p) | Glasgow 800. Crest. | . | .60 | .60 |
| SA4 | 1975 (18 Jun) |
8.5p | Kildalton Cross | . | .60 | .60 |
| SA5 | 1975 (23 Jul) |
8.5p (9.5p) | Scott Monument | . | .60 | .60 |
| SA6 | 1976 (14 Jul) |
10.5p (12p) | Scottish Folk Traditions. Riding of the Marches. | . | .60 | .60 |
| SA7 | 1976 (25 Aug) |
10.5p | Culzean Castle & Ailsa Craig | . | .60 | .60 |
| SA8 | 1978 (23 Aug) |
10.5p (12p) | Scottish Regiments. Queen's Own Highlander. | . | .50 | .50 |
| SA9 | 1979 (25 Apr) |
10.5p | British Golf Open. Championship Trophy. | . | 2.00 | 2.00 |
| SA10 | 1979 (4 May) |
10.5p | Wallace Monument. | . | .60 | .60 |
| SA11 | 1979 (29 Aug) | 12p | Scottish Regiments. Black Watch. | . | .60 | .60 |
| SA12 | 1980 (21 May) |
14p (16p) | Scottish Regiments. Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders. | 117,950 | .60 | .60 |
| SA13 | 1980 (13 Aug) |
14p (16p) | Society of Antiquaries Bicentenary. Tabard. | 100,350 | .75 | .75 |
| SA14 | 1981 (29 Apr) |
20p (23p) | Flora and Fauna. Pine Crossbills. | 104,300 | .75 | .75 |
| SA15 | 1982 (28 Apr) | 24p (27.5p) | Polaris Submarine. | 80,950 | .90 | .90 |
| SA16 | 1982 (25 Aug) |
24p (27.5p) | Bicentenary of Repeal of Proscription on Highland Dress. Thistle design. | 67,150 | .75 | .75 |
| SA17 | 1983 (13 Apr) |
26p (30p) | Edinburgh University Quatercentenary, and Royal Society of Edinburgh Bicentenary. Edinburgh Castle and coat of arms. | . | .75 | .75 |
| SA18 | 1983 (10 Aug) |
26p (30p) | Boys' Brigade Centenary. Badge. | . | .75 | .75 |
| SA19 | 1984 (29 May) |
26p (30p) | U.K. Manned Flight Bicentenary/50th Anniv. of first scheduled UK internal airmail service Inverness-Kirkwall. Nose of Datapost aeroplane. | 68,850 |
.90 | .90 |
| SA20 | 1984 (14 Aug) |
26p (30p) | Edinburgh International Festival. Flags. | . | .75 | .75 |
| SA21 | 1985 (23 Apr) |
26p (30p) | Scottish National Institution for War Blinded (70th anniversary). Linburn. | 77,400 |
.90 | .90 |
| SA22 | 1985 (6 Aug) |
26p (30p) | Andrew Carnegie 150th birth anniversary. Portrait of Carnegie. | . | .80 | .80 |
| SA23 | 1986 (8 Apr) |
26p (30p) | Northern Lighthouses Board. Skerryvore Lighthouse. | . | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| SA24 | 1986 (5 Aug) |
26p (30p) | The Scottish Enlightenment 1730-1790. Royal Mile. | . | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| SA25 | 1987 (14 Apr) |
26p (30p) | Mary Queen of Scots death quatercentenary. Portrait of Mary. | . | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| SA26 | 1987 (4 Aug) |
26p (30p) | J.M. Barrie 50th death anniversary. Portrait of Barrie. | . | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| SA27 | 1988 (29 Mar) |
26p | Year of the Bible. Celtic Cross. | . | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| SA28 | 1988 (24 May) |
26p | Glasgow Garden Festival. Gardeners. | . | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| SA29 | 1989 (4 Apr) | NVI (32p) | Scottish National Portrait Gallery centenary. Portraits of Charles Edward Stewart and Robert Louis Stevenson. | 74,950 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| SA30 | 1989 (8 Aug) | NVI | William Playfair birth bicentenary (town planner). Monument. | 69,350 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| SA31 | 1990 (24 Apr) |
NVI (40p) | Forth Rail Bridge centenary. Bridge. | 93,600 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| SA32 | 1990 (17 Jul) |
NVI (40p ?) | Glasgow - European City of Culture. Warwick Vase. | 88,500 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| SA33 | 1991 (12 Mar) |
NVI (42p) | Rugby World Cup. Murrayfield. | 86,000 | 1.50 | 1.50 |
| SA34 | 1991 (23 Jul) |
(32p) | An Comunn Gaidhealach centenary. Cross. | 62,750 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| SA35 | 1992 (14 Apr) | (34p) | "The Nature of Scotland" - Glencoe | 98,050 | 1.00 | . |
| SA36 | 1992 (23 Jun) | (34p) | Scots Guards 1642-1992. Guardsman. | 78,200 | 1.00 | . |
| SA37 | 1993 (23 Mar) | (34p) | Curling. Granting of the title Royal to Caledonian Curling Club. Painting (detail) 1848. | . | 1.00 | . |
| SA38 | 1993 (22 Jun) | (34p) | 900th Anniversary of death of Queen Margaret. Stained glass window. | . | 1.25 | . |
| SA39 | 1994 (22 Mar) | (36p) | Robert Louis Stevenson death centenary. Portrait. | . | 1.50 | . |
| SA40 | 1994 (19 Jul) | (36p) | The Gordon Highlanders Bicentenary. Regimental Badge. | . | 1.00 | . |
| SA41 | 1995 (4 Apr) | (36p) | Glasgow School of Art 150th Anniversary. Charles Rennie Mackintosh Building. | . | 1.25 | . |
| SA42 | 1995 (18 Jul) | (36p) | Prehistoric Scotland. Callanish Standing Stones. | . | 1.00 | . |
| SA43 | 1996 (2 Apr) | (36p) | Celebration of Scottish Football. McColl and Younger. | 47,250 | 1.50 | . |
| SA44 | 1996 (2 July) | (36p) | Edinburgh Festival 50. Various events. | 49,225 | 1.00 | . |
| SA45 | 1997 (3 Mar) | ( ) | Alexander Graham Bell. Portrait. | 54,100 | 1.25 | . |
| SA46 | 1997 (1 Jul) | ( ) | Nature of Scotland. | 44,125 | 1.00 | . |
| . | 1998 | . | Lighthouses | 49,400 | . | . |
| . | 1998 (21 Jul) | (45p) | Magical Worlds (Scottish version) | 29,400 | . | . |
| . | 1999 (4 May) | (45p) | Crafts (Scottish version) | . | . | . |
Last updated Sunday 16 August 2026. Copyright Robert Murray
2000 to 2026.
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| Robert Murray
Stamp Shop 5 & 6 Inverleith Gardens Edinburgh Scotland EH3 5PU Tel. 0131 552 1220 or 0131 478 7021 Homepage; www.stamp-shop.com Email; murray@stamp-shop.com |
How to Order Mail Orders are accepted by post, telephone, email, or fax. We accept payments by cash, cheque, Visa/MasterCard, Switch/Delta, and some foreign currencies. Basically, we charge [the advertised price of the goods] plus [the actual price of postage] plus [£1 per order handling charge]. Full details can be seen at our How to Order page. |
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| The first manned flight in the United
Kingdom was carried out in Edinburgh by an enterprising
local man by the name of James Tytler. Ask us if you
are interested, as we have stocks of the souvenir covers
produced for the anniversary in 1984, and for the
commemorative balloon flight. Also see historical page
about him, with pictures of the covers). |