In February 2009 Royal
Mail issued the first self-adhesive definitive NVIs and high values
stamps with new security features. This was the birth of the Machin Security Stamps which indirectly lead to the bulk of posts on this blog over the next decade.
Then in November two
surprise additions to the series were added, the Recorded Signed For
1st class and 1st class Large to “satisfy an operational demand at
Post Office counters”.
As we know these were
self-adhesive, die cut, with security features, with slits through the stamp and with iridescent printing across the design. The slits were said to be designed to inhibit the removal of
these Stamps for fraudulent sale and re-use.
But although this was
described as an innovation it wasn't actually new – the concept
originated in 1994, as shown in an internal Royal Mail document found
by one of our contributors MM.
This document shows
that Royal Mail were considering special stamps for Priority Servics
with what would seem to be the very same security features.
“The stamps will be
self-adhesive and die-cut, 25 to a sheet,
with additional security
features because of he stamp's premium.”
Design:
a centrally-placed embossed Machin head (29.5 mm), with the service
indicator at the bottom of the stamp which would be of similar colour
and branding to the specific services. Unfortunately there are no
pictures (in any case it is a black and white potocopy) and we don't
know what colours they were planning. I suspect predominently dark
blue iwith different inscriptions, per this leaflet.
(More
on the new labelling and system below.)
The
costs of the service, and therefore of the stamps, is shown as
follows.
Recorded
Delivery - 55p
Special
Delivery - £2.70
Registered
- £3.00
Registered
Plus to £1500 - £3.30
Registered
Plus to £2200 - £3.60
Note
that these are supplementary
stamps
– in addiition to 1st class postage (or a choice of 2nd or 1st for
Recorded Delivery) for the weight concerned.
The
issue date was to be 28 February 1995 with stamp cards (PHQ cards),
presentation packs, and “philatelic souvenir covers”, which is an
odd way of saying First Day Covers.
The alternative postmark was
Windsor (with the primary one obviously being Philatelic Bureau
Edinburgh).
No
printer was identified at this stage.
 |
| Click on the image to see it enlarged |
So
what happened? Why did this apparently good idea, suggested with
the new 1993 branding, fail to be implemented?
Was
it problems with Post Office counters, with users, with separation of
the different classes in the mail stream?
Maybe
someone decided that using an extra
stamp for the priority service would be a problem, although it could
reduce the number of stamps required. (Stamp dealers of course would
have plenty of other value postage to use!)
One
thing I do know – if these had been introduced in 1994 as planned,
I would not have been as involved in Machin Security Stamps as I came
to be in 2009/10 etc. At that time I had not retired, and my interest in Machins
was far reduced from its previous peak, and my focus switched to the stamps and
postal history of the countries of the Former Soviet Union.
On
the other hand, I would have been able to put more focus onto the
aforementioned, and Great Britain modern postal history and usages,
and I might not have as many boxes to go through now.
More
on Priority Services.
When
introduced in 1961 Recorded Delivery used yellow labels which over the years
varied to several different shades of orange. Registered Mail, of
course, had used numbered blue 'R” labels for over a century, and
Special Delivery was identified by a white on green label for many
decades.
The
June 1993 leaflet 'Now Even Better” illustrated the labels for the
new services (shown above), which used dark blue in all cases, which I thought could
lead to confusion compared with the previous system. Although the
labels stuck on envelopes and packets had different text, further
confusion was possible for users as the Registered and Special
Delivery (SD) forms were both headed Guaranteed Delivery. In fact
it really made no difference to processing as both Guaranteed
Delivery services provided the same service, the only difference
being that SD paid up to £24 compensation, and Registered paid up to
£500.
Recorded
retained an orange aspect, Registered had a light blue background to
the number labels, and SD had an orange background to the number
labels. Soon afterwards pre-paid postal stationery envelopes were introduced.
 |
| From the top, Registered Plus, indicated by the pale blue + at the foot, Registered, and Special Delivery which is lighter blue. |
Here's an example from March 1994.
It's
impossible to know, apart from by the postage paid, which service is
being used (and not necessarily then!). In this case postage is £3.08 which is 38p first class postage for a 40-100 g first class letter plus £2.70 Special Delivery fee.
For the delivery postman it is clear that this is a priority item, but for tracking at any stage from the post office counter to delivery the barcode on the reverse has to be scanned. Did posties carry any barcode readers then?
By
1995 a further rebranding introduced the Silver Service for inland
Special Delivery and from from 12th October 1998 they were all combined into a single rebranded service under the Special Delivery banner. (GB Philatelic Society)
This is an interesting and relatively short-lived period in British Postal History affecting more expensive mail than just ordinary letters. Material is not easy to find, but stamp dealers were always big users of premium services and their covers are more likely to be kept.
I've got more like the one above, but not many. This will be the subject of a post on the Modern Postal History blog some time.
