ISLE OF MAN

ISLE OF MAN / ELLAN VANNIN.

Sea birds and landscapes.
Shags at the Calf of Man Island.
Second stamp in a set of 4, issued on 15.02.1983.
Face value: 11 Manx penny.
Design: John Hobson Nicholson (1911-1988).
Engraving: Questa.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Size: 40 x 26 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 214.
- Michel No. 225.
- Scott No. 229.
- StampWorld No. 216.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 237.
- Unificato No. 224.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 224.

The Isle of Man (Manx: Ellan Vannin) is an island and self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The head of state, the King or Queen of the United Kingdom, holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Governor. The United Kingdom is responsible for the  military defense. The total area of the island is 572 km² (221 sq mi), and its capital is Douglas.

Calf of Man (Manx: Yn Cholloo) is a 2.50-square-kilometer (618-acre) island, off the southwest coast of the Isle of Man, from which it is separated by a narrow stretch of water called the Calf Sound. Until 1939 the island was under private ownership by the Keig family, but was purchased by F. J. Dickens of Silverdale, Lancashire who then donated it to the National Trust to become a bird sanctuary.

The bird depicted on the stamp is an European Shag (Gulosus aristotelis).