The 2nd class Faststamp will be available at Stampex from day 1 (20th) but roll-out to Post Office branches is not now expected until the summer. (Two 'values' - 2nd class, and 2nd class Large)
The Machin Faststamp will be available from 20th February with a new Stampex-only 'overprint' marking the 60th Anniversary of the Coronation. This will be available in the standard 6 values.
As usual payment at the public vending machines will only be possible via Credit or Debit Card. The machines will dispense singles, multiples, and collectors strips of 6 of the Coronation or Pond Life (or 2 for the 2nd class).
As usual other machines will be situated in the back office producing stamps to be sold 'over-the-counter', and dealers' pre-release orders. Items sold over-the-counter can be paid for in cash or by card. Single stamps will not be available over-the-counter, but collectors sets will be.
Our wesbite has been updated with special postmarks for the 2nd class and Pond Life faststamps and the Jane Austen issue. Stampex postmark designs have yet to be published.
UPDATE 31 January:
I do sometimes wish that Royal Mail had an interactive blog where they could field the questions that are posed by this blog and the comments it brings !
2nd class Faststamp - Back in November I wrote:
A new Machin Faststamp will be available from Post & Go machines printed blue with one phosphor bar for 2nd Class. They will be issued on the first day of Stampex (20 February) and start to be rolled out to Post Office branches in March. This means that they will first be available from Hytech machines (v2) and only later from Wincor-Nixdorf machines.
Further update for clarification: As 20 February is the first day of issue, the Bureau (Presentation) pack will be issued on that date!
In fact, we understand that the 2nd class stamps will only be installed in Hytech v2 machines, which (as previously reported) have two rolls of Faststamps and no Post and Go labels. This suggests it will only happen in offices which have several Post and Go machines.
Also as previously stated the intention of Post Office Ltd was to roll out the extension to branches in March, which is now postponed until later in the summer. This may be a software problem, it may be to do with the change in postal tariffs.
I have also read elsewhere that the Packet rate is to be suplanted into a changed set-up for Parcels. That isn't how I understood the information I read, but maybe the writer had a different source.
And just to reiterate, there will NOT be 6 stamps in a collectors strip of 2nd class as there are only two stamps available. (Somebody asked, "why not 6 though?" - well would you want to be forced to buy three sets when you only wanted one?)
a) Will there be collectors strips available at the vending machines ???
ReplyDeleteb) Will there be any of 'The Coronation .......'
machin faststamps available over the RM counter ???
The machines will work in the same way as before, and purchases can be made at the counter.
DeleteI have now added more information above.
I will be going to Stampex again, and I find the information that you give helps me to look for items that I would not otherwise have seen. Keep up the good work and as always I look forward to your blogs.
ReplyDeleteWhy are they introducing the 2nd class Faststamps at Stampex if they are not going to be incorporated into the existing machine at Post offices until summer, with the possible exception of the BPMA based machine & the kiosks popping up around the country at the various stamp fairs/exhibitions?
ReplyDeleteHow are they going to accommodate the 2nd class roll of labels in the Wincor Nixdorf machines, will they be adding a fourth printing device or will they be replacing the post it now labels?. If it’s the latter, could there be an upgrade to allow for values to be printed along the lines of those produced by the Irish Post Office?
You know we try to tell you what we know, and what we don't know we only occasionally speculate. The stamp issue programme has been geared since last year to have the 2nd class PoGo stamps issued in February and there will be FDCs and packs from Tallents House on standing order.
DeleteYou are right, they may be available at Salisbury and Stafford as well as at Stampex, but I don't know what will be in those machines. They MAY be in the BPMA - which currently still has a Robin roll and not yet got the flags. As far as we now know they will not be in Wincor-Nixdorf machines - unless of course PO change again and put them in one of the multi-station offices like Birmingham or Nottingham.
Where can I get one of each, by surface mail. Royal Mail is making it difficult to purchase anything in G.B. with their very high and ever increasing postal rates.
ReplyDeleteRoyal Mail's handling charge for customers outside Europe has remained at £2.15 for many years. That is the cheapest way to buy them. We charge more than the face value and more for delivery.
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