Machin was responsible for producing the profile portrait of The Queen’s head which was first introduced for coinage in 1968, and was subsequently used on all stamps. He made several preparatory designs for the stamps, two of which are displayed here. The Royal Mail has on many occasions issued special sets of stamps to mark key anniversaries and events. The last set of birthday stamps to be issued was for The Queen’s 60th birthday in 1986. This new set of stamps produced for The Queen’s 80th birthday does not incorporate Machin’s profile of The Queen’s head, however, as The Queen is already present in the photographic images.