Michele Twenty years after the consolidated "British Trade Index" and "Handbook", covering trade cards issued up until 1970 (reference books RB.125 and RB.126 respectively), we have a new companion, for we have very great pleasure in announcing that we have just published the next book in line. This is "The British Trade Index 1971 - 2000", and it made its debut at the 2026 Annual Convention.
A little background, first. In March 2020, after the death of Vernon Young, Brian Joyce started both diligently recording new issues as well as amending and updating the records of sets and singles issued before 1971. The last Trade Index reference books, an index, numbered RB.125, and a handbook, numbered RB.126, both compiled by Vernon Young, had been printed in 2006, as replacements for the first group of British Trade Indexes, which grew to become four volumes in all. However, as a personal labour of love, Vernon Young kept on recording trade issues, and updating the records in hand, right up until his death.
Brian Joyce had also been keeping his own meticulous records of trade issues, on spreadsheets, which he has amalgamated with Vernon Young`s typed copies, and also the "New Issues" columns from our magazine.
The latest index follows a similar format to the previous indexes internally, but is now in paperback form. It runs to just over four hundred pages, plus an introduction and list of contents, sectionalised as follows :
- pages 1 - 178 : British Trade Index 1971-2000
pages 179 - 194 : Anonymous issues
pages 195 - 202 : Appendix listing reprints of cigarette or trade series up to the year 2000
- pages 203 - 316 : Updates to the former British Trade Index to 1970 (RB.125)
- pages 317 - 401 : Updates to the former British Trade Handbook to 1970 (RB.126)
plus some additions for 1971 - 2000
