New pages have been added today for the House of Hanover and Faststamps Birds 4 sets. More detail and better images have been added to the Olympics 3, First Aerial Post and Classic Locomotives retail booklet. Some sample images:
Wednesday, 29 June 2011
Aerial Post, House of Hanover, and the last of the Birds
In a final post for today, we summarise today's changes to our website.
New pages have been added today for the House of Hanover and Faststamps Birds 4 sets. More detail and better images have been added to the Olympics 3, First Aerial Post and Classic Locomotives retail booklet. Some sample images:
New pages have been added today for the House of Hanover and Faststamps Birds 4 sets. More detail and better images have been added to the Olympics 3, First Aerial Post and Classic Locomotives retail booklet. Some sample images:
Another Exhibition, Another Exhibition Smiler Sheet
Royal Mail have provided an image of the Exhibition sheet they are releasing to mark Japan's PHILA'NIPPON 11 philatelic exhibition to be held from 28 July to 2 August in Yokohama.
The self-adhesive sheet consists of 20 x 1st class Hello stamps, with two sets of 10 labels attached. The labels appear to depict origami sculptures, and the background shows the Yokohama skyline at night.
The theme of the exhibition is "Stamps Link the World"
The self-adhesive sheet consists of 20 x 1st class Hello stamps, with two sets of 10 labels attached. The labels appear to depict origami sculptures, and the background shows the Yokohama skyline at night.
The theme of the exhibition is "Stamps Link the World"
More retail booklet news: Olympics and railways
We now have information about two more retail booklets to be issued this year.
The 5th Olympic/Paralympic book (issue date 27 July) has 1st class Machins with no apparent change to the security codes, they being M11L and MCIL as before. This is a scan of the actual booklet:
Although these are normally printed using normal 4-colour process, there may be an additional grey colour. Certainly the poor appearance of the caption "Wheelchair Rugby" is due to a colour shift which does not affect the Sailing stamp, but does create a slight doubling of the London 2012 edge caption. Booklet 6 will be issued on 15 September.
On 23rd August 2011 the first railway booklet will be issued, featuring the 1st class stamp from the Classic Locomotives of England miniature sheet issued on 1 February this year. This booklet has been in the plans for a long time: the publicity mock-up from Royal Mail has a filedate of 11 January 2011!
See other railway products on our shop here.
The 5th Olympic/Paralympic book (issue date 27 July) has 1st class Machins with no apparent change to the security codes, they being M11L and MCIL as before. This is a scan of the actual booklet:
Although these are normally printed using normal 4-colour process, there may be an additional grey colour. Certainly the poor appearance of the caption "Wheelchair Rugby" is due to a colour shift which does not affect the Sailing stamp, but does create a slight doubling of the London 2012 edge caption. Booklet 6 will be issued on 15 September.
On 23rd August 2011 the first railway booklet will be issued, featuring the 1st class stamp from the Classic Locomotives of England miniature sheet issued on 1 February this year. This booklet has been in the plans for a long time: the publicity mock-up from Royal Mail has a filedate of 11 January 2011!
New Machin source code this year?
Royal Mail have announced an issue to mark the centenary of the birth of Arnold Machin, sculptor who produced the iconic design of our current definitives (based on a photograph by John Hedgecoe).
As announced:
Marking the centenary of the birth of Arnold Machin .... a souvenir sheet of 10 definitive stamps... will be issued on the opening day of Stampex, 14 September 2011. The stamps are not new issues, they will have full security features except the security slits and will have conventional gum.
So these will not be self-adhesive, but coventionally gummed, so they are a new stamp for collectors because the year code should be M11L or MA11. We doubt that Royal Mail will pass up the opportunity to introduce a new source code, however we can only guess at what that might be! We do not know which values will be included in the sheet - a face value of £4.60 suggests 10 x 1st class, but that is by no means certain!
More information will be published here as it is made available.
As announced:
Marking the centenary of the birth of Arnold Machin .... a souvenir sheet of 10 definitive stamps... will be issued on the opening day of Stampex, 14 September 2011. The stamps are not new issues, they will have full security features except the security slits and will have conventional gum.
So these will not be self-adhesive, but coventionally gummed, so they are a new stamp for collectors because the year code should be M11L or MA11. We doubt that Royal Mail will pass up the opportunity to introduce a new source code, however we can only guess at what that might be! We do not know which values will be included in the sheet - a face value of £4.60 suggests 10 x 1st class, but that is by no means certain!
More information will be published here as it is made available.
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
Problems - and price rises - caused by pre-printed albums.
I can understand the appeal of pre-printed one-country albums with pictures of all the stamps, and mounts to hold the unmounted mint stamps. But I've never really liked the idea since I won a Sweden album in a Swedish Post Office competition, and found that there were pages for all the complete booklets as well as all the single stamps and pairs from those booklets.
That meant I had two buy two booklets to be 'complete'. But I only collected used, so there was little chance of getting a complete booklet unless I bought it cancelled-to-order from their philatelic bureau.
A complete run of stamps in a pre-printed album looks really good, and the pre-installed mounts do save a great deal of time - but at quite a cost. For some countries the pages for extra years cost more than the stamps they will hold. And the range of the collection is dictated by the album publisher, sometimes also a catalogue publisher.
If the album has spaces for booklet panes as well as the single stamps, then you need two copies. To avoid being caught out you have to develop the skill to guess what the publisher will and will not include, because the new year pages are often published in late spring, which will be after some of its contents have gone off-sale at the philatelic bureau.
I was reminded of this by two recent tips in the US Linn's Stamp News, in a column which alerts readers to fast-moving stamps. More often highlighting moves in US stamps the last two issues have mentioned the UK's 2009 Charles Darwin and 2010 Classic Album Covers issues, specifically the stamps with conventional gum from, the prestige stamp books. Because the 'over-the-counter' stamps were self-adhesive in both cases, the ones with 'water-activated' gum warrant separate catalogue listings, not just as complete booklets but as individual stamps and panes.
In Stanley Gibbons' Concise catalogue for 2011 (published after the Album Covers had been taken off sale) these 10 are priced at a massive £24 - just 15 months after they were issued with an original face value of £3.90. Similarly the 2009 Darwin set (face value £3.43) is listed at £26 mint and used.
With increasing face values and number of issues, dealers are not holding large stocks of recent issues, and this - coupled with increased demand from owners of the latest album supplement - leads to increased prices. So be alert: anticipate what will be in the supplement while the stamps are still available. There are some that you just won't be able to get cheaper than original face value! You won't find them in discount postage boxes.
That meant I had two buy two booklets to be 'complete'. But I only collected used, so there was little chance of getting a complete booklet unless I bought it cancelled-to-order from their philatelic bureau.
A complete run of stamps in a pre-printed album looks really good, and the pre-installed mounts do save a great deal of time - but at quite a cost. For some countries the pages for extra years cost more than the stamps they will hold. And the range of the collection is dictated by the album publisher, sometimes also a catalogue publisher.
If the album has spaces for booklet panes as well as the single stamps, then you need two copies. To avoid being caught out you have to develop the skill to guess what the publisher will and will not include, because the new year pages are often published in late spring, which will be after some of its contents have gone off-sale at the philatelic bureau.
I was reminded of this by two recent tips in the US Linn's Stamp News, in a column which alerts readers to fast-moving stamps. More often highlighting moves in US stamps the last two issues have mentioned the UK's 2009 Charles Darwin and 2010 Classic Album Covers issues, specifically the stamps with conventional gum from, the prestige stamp books. Because the 'over-the-counter' stamps were self-adhesive in both cases, the ones with 'water-activated' gum warrant separate catalogue listings, not just as complete booklets but as individual stamps and panes.
In Stanley Gibbons' Concise catalogue for 2011 (published after the Album Covers had been taken off sale) these 10 are priced at a massive £24 - just 15 months after they were issued with an original face value of £3.90. Similarly the 2009 Darwin set (face value £3.43) is listed at £26 mint and used.
With increasing face values and number of issues, dealers are not holding large stocks of recent issues, and this - coupled with increased demand from owners of the latest album supplement - leads to increased prices. So be alert: anticipate what will be in the supplement while the stamps are still available. There are some that you just won't be able to get cheaper than original face value! You won't find them in discount postage boxes.
Sunday, 19 June 2011
Machin definitives with security features - SG catalogues
| Description | Year | Source code | Year Code | Issue date or EKD(±) | SG No Concise 2010 | SG No CBS ¶ | SG No Concise 2011 | Norvic number | Norvic New Number | ||||||
| Self-adhesive | |||||||||||||||
| 2nd class | |||||||||||||||
| Counter sheet | 2009 | MAIL* | 17/2/09 | U2911 | U2911 | U2941 | 2911 | 2911 | ¶ Collect British Stamps does not show year codes | ||||||
| 2010 | MA10 | 30/6/10± | ∆ | § | U2957 | 2911.0 | 2911.0 | ∆ Stamp not available when published | |||||||
| 2011 | M11L | Jan 2011 | ∆ | ∆ | U2957 | 2911.1 | 2911.1 | § Stamp available but not separately listed | |||||||
| Business sheet | 2009 | MBIL | MAIL* | 31/3/09 | U2911 | U2911 | U2945 | 2911B | 2911B | ||||||
| 2010 | MBIL | MA10 | 12/08/10 | ∆ | § | U2961 | 2911B.0 | 2911B.0 | |||||||
| 2011 | MBIL | M11L | Jan 2011 | ∆ | ∆ | § | 2911B.1 | 2911B.1 | |||||||
| Booklet of 12 | 2009 | MTIL | MAIL* | 31/3/09 | U2931 | U2931 | U2947 | 2931 | 2931 | ||||||
| 2010 | MTIL | MA10 | 24/2/10 | ∆ | § | U2963 | 2931.0 | 2931.0 | |||||||
| 2011 | MTIL | M11L | Mar 2011 | ∆ | ∆ | § | 2931.1 | 2931.1 | |||||||
| Coil | 2009 | MRIL | MAIL* | 6/2009 | U2911 | U2911 | U2946 | 2931x | 2931R | ||||||
| Coil | 2010 | MRIL | MAI0 | 7/2010 | ∆ | ∆ | ∆ | - | 2931R.0 | 2010 Only known used from the Sunday Times Wine Club mailshot | |||||
| Prestige book | 2010 | MPIL | MA10 | 08/05/10 | ∆ | U2931 | U2962 | 2931P | 2931P.0 | ||||||
| 1st class | |||||||||||||||
| Counter sheet | 2009 | MAIL* | 17/2/09 | U2912 | U2912 | U2942 | 2912 | 2912 | |||||||
| 2010 | MA10 | 24/5/10± | ∆ | § | U2958 | 2912.0 | 2912.0 | ||||||||
| 2011 | M11L | Feb 2011 | ∆ | ∆ | U2958 | 2912.1 | 2912.1 | ||||||||
| Business sheet | 2009 | MBIL | MAIL* | 31/3/09 | U2912 | U2912 | U2948 | 2912B | 2912B | ||||||
| 2010 | MBIL | MA10 | 24/06/10± | ∆ | § | U2964 | 2912B.0 | 2912B.0 | ± We have this on cover | ||||||
2011 | MBIL | M11L | Jan 2011 | ∆ | ∆ | § | 2912B.1 | 2912B.1 | |||||||
| Booklet of 12 | 2009 | MTIL | MAIL* | 31/3/09 | U2932 | U2932 | U2952 | 2932 | 2932 | ||||||
| 2010 | MTIL | MA10 | 24/2/10 | ∆ | § | U2968 | 2932.0 | 2932.0 | |||||||
| 2011 | MTIL | M11L | Apr 2011± | ∆ | ∆ | ∆ | 2932.1 | 2932.1 | ±On cover 26 April | ||||||
| Booklet of 6 | 2009 | MSIL | MAIL* | 31/3/09 | U2932 | U2932 | U2951 | 2932S | 2932S | ||||||
| 2010 | MSIL | MA10 | 26/1/10 | ∆ | § | U2967 | 2932S.0 | 2932S.0 | |||||||
| 2011 | MSIL | MA11 | Mar 2011 | ∆ | ∆ | § | 2932S.1 | 2932S.1 | |||||||
| Book of 6 mixed | 2009 | MCIL | MAIL* | 10/03/09 | U2932 | U2932 | U2949 | 2932C | 2932C | ||||||
| 2009 | MCIL | MAIL* | 21/5/09 | U2932 | U2932 | U2949 | 2932CA | 2932CA | |||||||
| 2010 | MCIL | MA10 | 25/2/10 | ∆ | § | U2965 | 2932C.0 | 2932C.0 | |||||||
| 2011 | MCIL | M11L | 11/01/11 | ∆ | ∆ | § | 2932C.1 | 2932C.1 | |||||||
| Coil | 2009 | MRIL | MAIL* | 6/2009 | U2912 | U2912 | U2950 | (2932x) | 2932R | ||||||
| Coil | 2010 | MRIL | MA10 | 8/2011 | ∆ | ∆ | ∆ | - | 2932R.1 | ||||||
| Prestige book | 2010 | MPIL | MA10 | 08/05/10 | ∆ | U2932 | U2966 | (2932P) | 2932P.0 | ||||||
| 2nd class Large | |||||||||||||||
| Counter sheet | 2009 | MAIL* | 17/2/09 | U2913 | U2913 | U2943 | 2913 | 2913 | ¶ Collect British Stamps does not show year codes | ||||||
| 2010 | MA10 | Feb 2011 | ∆ | ∆ | U2959 | 2913.0 | 2913.0 | ∆ Stamp not available when published | |||||||
| 2011 | MA11 | Apr 2011 | ∆ | ∆ | U2959 | 2913.1 | 2913.1 | § Stamp available but not separately listed | |||||||
| Business sheet | 2009 | ROYBL | MAIL* | 31/3/09 | U2913 | U2913 | U2953 | 2913B | 2913B | ||||||
| 2010 | MBIL | MA10 | Mar 2011 | ∆ | ∆ | U2969 | 2913B.0 | 2913B.0 | |||||||
| 2011 | MBIL | MA11 | Apr 2011 | ∆ | ∆ | ∆ | 2931B.1 | 2931B.1 | |||||||
| Booklet of 4 | 2009 | FOYAL | MAIL* | 31/3/09 | U2933 | U2933 | U2954 | 2933 | 2933 | ||||||
| 2010 | MFIL | MA10 | 08/05/10 | ∆ | § | U2970 | 2933.0 | 2933.0 | |||||||
| 2011 | MFIL | MA11 | 22/3/11 | ∆ | ∆ | § | 2933.1 | 2933.1 | |||||||
| 1st class Large | |||||||||||||||
| Counter sheet | 2009 | MAIL* | 17/2/09 | U2915 | U2915 | U2944 | 2915 | 2915 | |||||||
| 2010 | MA10 | Nov 2010 | ∆ | § | U2960 | 2915.0 | 2915.0 | ||||||||
| 2011 | M11L | Feb 2011 | ∆ | ∆ | U2960 | 2915.1 | 2915.1 | ||||||||
| Business sheet | 2009 | ROYBL | MAIL* | 31/3/09 | U2915 | U2915 | U2955 | 2915B | 2915B | ||||||
| 2010 | MBIL | MA10 | 10/6/10± | ∆ | § | U2971 | 2915B.0 | 2915B.0 | |||||||
| 2011 | MBIL | MA11 | Apr 2011 | ∆ | ∆ | ∆ | 2915B.1 | 2915B.1 | |||||||
| Booklet of 4 | 2009 | FOYAL | MAIL* | 31/3/09 | U2934 | U2935 | U2956 | 2935 | 2935 | ||||||
| 2010 | MFIL | MA10 | 08/05/10 | ∆ | § | U2972 | 2935.0 | 2935.0 | |||||||
| 2011 | MFIL | MA11 | 22/3/11 | ∆ | ∆ | § | 2935.1 | 2935.1 | |||||||
| Recorded 1st | |||||||||||||||
| Counter sheet | 2009 | MAIL* | 17/11/09 | U2916a | U2940 | U2981 | 2916a | 2981 | |||||||
| 2010 | MA10 | Mar 2011 | ∆ | ∆ | § | 2916a.0 | 2981.0 | ||||||||
| Recorded 1st Lge | |||||||||||||||
| Counter sheet | 2009 | MAIL* | 17/11/09 | U2916b | U2941 | U2982 | 2916b | 2982 | |||||||
| 2010 | MA10 | Mar 2011 | ∆ | ∆ | § | 2916b.0 | 2982.0 | ||||||||
| Spec Del 100g | |||||||||||||||
| Counter sheet | 2010 | MA10 | 26/10/10 | ∆ | U2942 | U2983 | § | 2983 | |||||||
| Spec Del 500g | |||||||||||||||
| Counter sheet | 2010 | MA10 | 26/10/10 | ∆ | U2943 | U2984 | § | 2984 | |||||||
| Valued stamps | |||||||||||||||
| 1p counter | 2011 | none | none | 08/03/11 | ∆ | ∆ | U2991 | 2901 ≠ | 3001 | ¶ Collect British Stamps does not show year codes | |||||
| 2p counter | 2011 | none | none | 08/03/11 | ∆ | ∆ | U2992 | 2902 ≠ | 3002 | ∆ Stamp not available when published | |||||
| 5p counter | 2011 | none | none | 08/03/11 | ∆ | ∆ | U2993 | 2905 ≠ | 3005 | § Stamp available but not separately listed | |||||
| 5p booklet | 2011 | none | none | 05/05/11 | ∆ | ∆ | ∆ | § | 3005a | ||||||
| 10p counter | 2011 | none | none | 08/03/11 | ∆ | ∆ | U2994 | 2910 ≠ | 3010 | ||||||
| 10p booklet | 2011 | none | none | 05/05/11 | ∆ | ∆ | ∆ | § | 3010a | ||||||
| 20p counter | 2011 | none | none | 08/03/11 | ∆ | ∆ | U2995 | 2920 ≠ | 3020 | ||||||
| 50p grey | |||||||||||||||
| Counter sheet | 2009 | MAIL* | 17/2/09 | U2914 | U2914 | U2911 | 2914 | 3050 | |||||||
| Prestige Book | 2010 | MPIL | MA10 | 08/05/10 | ∆ | U2934 | U2917 | (2914P) | 3050P.0 | ||||||
| 2011 | MPIL | M11L | 05/05/11 | ∆ | ∆ | ∆ | § | 3050P.1 | |||||||
| Counter sheets | |||||||||||||||
| 68p turq-green | 2011 | MIIL | 29/3/11 | ∆ | ∆ | U2918 | 2915a | 3068 | |||||||
| 76p brt rose | 2011 | MIIL | 29/3/11 | ∆ | ∆ | U2919 | 2915b | 3076 | |||||||
| £1 magenta | 2009 | MAIL* | 17/2/09 | U2916 | U2916 | U2912 | 2916 | 3100 | |||||||
| £1 magenta | 2011 | M11L | Oct 2011 | ∆ | ∆ | ∆ | - | 3100.1 | |||||||
| £1.10 yell-olive | 2011 | MIIL | 29/3/11 | ∆ | ∆ | U2920 | 2916a | 3110 | |||||||
| £1.50 brown-red | 2009 | MAIL* | 17/2/09 | U2917 | U2917 | U2913 | 2917≠ | 3150 | |||||||
| £1.65 grey-olive | 2011 | MIIL | 29/3/11 | ∆ | ∆ | U2921 | 2917a | 3165 | |||||||
| £2.00 blue-green | 2009 | MAIL* | 17/2/09 | U2918 | U2918 | U2914 | 2918≠ | 3200 | |||||||
| £3 deep mauve | 2009 | MAIL* | 17/2/09 | U2919 | U2919 | U2915 | 2919≠ | 3300 | |||||||
| £5 azure | 2009 | MAIL* | 17/2/09 | U2920 | U2920 | U2916 | 2920≠ | 3500 | |||||||
| ≠ Listed as a set of 4 | |||||||||||||||
| Ordinary Gum | |||||||||||||||
| Coils | |||||||||||||||
| 2nd class | 2010 | MRIL | MA10 | 13/5/10 | ∆ | ∆ | U3001 | 1668x | 1664.0 | ||||||
| 1st class | 2010 | MRIL | MA10 | 13/5/10 | ∆ | ∆ | U3002 | 1668.0 | |||||||
| sold as a pair | |||||||||||||||