Harry Potter Stamps Go On Sale In Britain

LONDON -- Just in time for the final book's release, would-be witches and wizards can get their hands on special Harry Potter stamps being issued Tuesday in Britain.

A series of seven stamps, each one featuring a different Harry Potter book cover, is available from the Royal Mail. Another series of five smaller stamps has the crests from Hogwarts and each of the four houses at the school.

The Royal Mail said the stamps celebrate the seventh and final Harry Potter book, which will be launched Friday at midnight.

The stamps feature the British covers of the Potter book releases. The titles of the books are all the same as the U.S. releases with the exception of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," the first book in author J.K. Rowling's series.

"Philosopher's Stone" was renamed "Harry Potter and Sorcerer's Stone" for the U.S. release.

The stamps have already broken a pre-order sales record set in January by a series of Beatles stamps.

Potter stamps can only be used in the U.K., but they're available internationally on the Royal Mail's Web site.

The set of seven costs $4.75 and the set of five costs around $3.40.

The release of "The Deathly Hallows" and the stamps come on the heels of the international release of the fifth Potter film, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," which earned nearly $140 million in its first five days in North America, and an additional $193 million overseas.