phq2

The first PHQ Card to be issued was for the 3p W. G. Grace stamp from the County Cricket set issued May 16th 1973, 20,000 cards were produced.
The card was not put on sale until mid-July, so a First Day of Issue postmark was not possible. However, it is known with a May 16th 1973 Birmingham FDI cancel which was back-dated by favour.
But most collectors prefer to have the card with July or September special Cricket postmarks.
A second card was issued for the 3p St. Paul's Church, Covent Garden stamp from the Inigo Jones set issued August 15th 1973.
Cards were then issued for several issues during the next three years, for many of these issues only one card was produced.
From the Roses set (July 1976) cards were issued for every new commemorative issue, now in full sets.
In recent years, cards have been produced for other issues, such as the first issue of self-adhesive stamp.

Why PHQ?

It is assumed that the letters 'PHQ' stand for Postal Headquarters.
Each card has a serial number on the reverse side, these numbers start with the letters 'PHQ', why these letters were chosen is not certain. This letter prefix has been on the cards from the start and has now become the name for the cards, although some collectors prefer to call them Post Office Cards, or simply Stamp Cards.

PHQ Cards don not themselves have a 'first day of issue', they are put on sale through Post Offices, Philatelic Counters and the Philatelic Bureau about two weeks before the issue date of the stamps.
Cards bearing a 'First Day of Issue' postmark refers to the issue date of the stamp not the card.

Postmarks & Handstamps

PHQ Cards are usually collected as full sets, either unused or serviced with suitable postmarks or handstamps.
Serviced cards can have the same postmark for every stamp in the set, or a seperate relevant postmark for each stamp, some collectors preferring to have postmarks appropriate to each individual stamp.
As an example, from my own collection, the Astronomy set, issued in October 1990, has designs depicting locations in various parts of the UK.
I have the 22p with Armagh Observatory handstamp; 26p Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire; 31p Old Royal Observatory, Greenwich; 37p Stonehenge.
All these handstamps are relevant to the stamp design.

As with First Day Covers, the choice of postmark or handstamp is largely that of the collector, cards can be sent to all the same places as FDC's for servicing on the First Day of Issue.