This will become more scarce than the Coins ..Set of Nelson Mandela's 90th Birthday stamps

The stamps were launched on 15 July 2008 and are available in denominations of R2.05 for domestic mail and R4.05 for international mail. Both are designed as miniature sheets with collectors in mind - the stamps actually form part of a larger picture. The domestic stamp features a smiling Mandela in a photo taken by Halden Krog, while the international stamp sees the statesman posing elegantly for a portrait by Cyril Coetzee.

Only one-million of each have been printed and are available at post offices around South Africa.

"Stamps are small ambassadors that carry images of our country to destinations all over the world," said SAPO board chairperson Vuyo Mahlati at the launch, "and Madiba's 90th birthday will be remembered far into the future, because it has been captured on a stamp. We are very proud to be part of it."

The Post Office has honoured Mandela on a previous occasion when it issued a special stamp to mark his presidential inauguration in 1994 - this stamp remains the best-selling item in the Post Office's history.

It also later released a stamp booklet titled The Many Faces of Nelson Mandela. The booklet, which includes 10 stamps and two postcards, highlighted the many different roles Mandela has played throughout his life, from his early enthusiasm for boxing, to activist, political prisoner, first democratically-elected president of South Africa, and later revered international statesman, humanitarian and ambassador. All pictures in the booklet were taken by acclaimed photographer Alf Khumalo.

The Post Office's senior manager of philatelic services Johan van Wyk said the future value of the Mandela birthday stamps would depend on the condition in which they were kept.

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