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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;BRandM, post: 2569512, member: 22729&quot;]This is my latest Irish political stamp, picked up recently from a source in Ballymena, Northern Ireland.</p><p><br /></p><p>The &quot;UVF&quot; stamp is an acronym for the Ulster Volunteer Force, one of the major Loyalist paramilitaries during the Troubles. &quot;Bfast&quot; is short for Belfast, the city where the UVF leadership is based.</p><p><br /></p><p>The UVF, as are most militant Irish groups like this, organized much as regular military units are. They have a brigade structure with battalions, companies, etc. This stamp was probably issued by one of the active Belfast brigades. It probably dates to the early to mid 1970s.</p><p><br /></p><p>The stamps themselves are very prominent because the coin was harshly cleaned at some point. It&#039;s also a bit unusual in that few Loyalist stamps are struck on English coins. About 90% are applied to Irish coins. </p><p><br /></p><p>This example was recovered from a small collection of defaced coins from an estate sale some years ago.</p><p><br /></p><p>Bruce[ATTACH=full]555490[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]555491[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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