Friday 20 March 2020

London 2020/22 update - some delayed, some not

From Royal Mail:

London2020 Stamp Products

Following the postponement of the London2020 International Stamp Show in May 2020, we can confirm the status of the following products due to be issued for / or during the show.

• London 2020 Retail Stamp Book – Issued already and will remain on sale
• London 2020 Exhibition Sheet – Issue postponed
• London 2020 Souvenir Sheet - Issue postponed
• London 2020 (Show Exclusive) Souvenir Sheet– Issue postponed





The 180th Anniversary of Penny Black Stamp Sheet will be issued as planned on the 6th May 2020. 

Whilst this was to be issued during the week of London2020 Stamp Show its dual purpose was to commemorate the 180th anniversary of the Penny Black on 6 May 2020. 



And to give you the option of buying this or not, they include the following information:

Penny Black 180 Stamp Sheet of 25  ~~  Price £19.00  ~~  Code AW144

Note: This sheet is not covered by any Regular Order


Let's look at that again.... We dealers won't get these on our standing orders, and regular customers won't get them on their standing orders.  Well, that will avoid the inconvenience of sending them back again.

The other stamp set to be issued during the show is the End of the Second World War, and this will continue as planned, and will be issued on the new public holiday, Friday 8 May.  Details are embargoed until then, with FDC producers allowed to show their products on 24 April - so we can expect to see them in Royal Mail's shop in about a month.

UPDATE 23 MARCH
As you will see from the comments, people who try to order the 1d black sheet have been told by the RM call centre at Doxford that it is cancelled.
Once again I am trying to get a commonsense answer from Royal Mail for their customers so that I can tell you for sure, even if they can't tell their own people.

UPDATE 2 APRIL
I was sent this update in an email from a reader:
I have phoned to Tallents House to place an order and was initially told that it was not available. When I explained that the information was possibly incorrect and that the code was AW144 the assistant checked and came back to say that they would accept the order and would keep it on record and dispatch probably in May.


7 comments:

  1. Friday 8th May will be a bank holiday, so there will be no mail deliveries. Can we expect the WW2 stamps on 7th May ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You've got to be able to order them first! (see other comments)

      Delete
  2. I contacted Tallents House to order the Penny Black 180th Anniversary Sheet and was told it had been cancelled along with the two souvenir sheets and the exhibition sheet. The only item on sale was the retail book. I pointed out that the Penny Black sheet didn't mention London 2020 and it existed to celebrate the 180th anniversary. I was informed that the staff had been told on Friday that all the items has been cancelled. I mentioned the information which Norvic had about the 180th sheet, but the call centre was unable to help as they had received their instructions. It is early days yet, so presumably someone will see the light in due course.

    ReplyDelete
  3. A sheet of 25 is not exactly a mini sheet, is it? Assuming it is issued, do you think SG will give it a "MS" number and include it in GB Concise / Collect British Stamps, or will it be a "back of the book" item like Smiler sheets?
    Ian, County Durham

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, therein lies the problem, not just for catalogue editors but, it seems, for Royal Mail.

      It's not a generic or smilers sheet, so it's not being distributed as one of those. It's not a mini-sheet so it's not one of those.

      I thought it would be a (gummed) counter sheet maybe as a default alternative to the 1st class Machin. But I don't know what distribution it will get to post offices. I'm assuming from them at least it would be possible to buy single stamps.

      I'd like to think you could get singles and multiples, though maybe not cylinder blocks, from Tallents House. But there is one product code for the whole sheet!

      It's very odd.

      Delete
  4. During 2011 and 2012 the RM issued 2 series of stamps - UK A-Z. All 26 stamps were eventually included in a 'collectors' sheet, and Gibbons Concise catalogued it MS3308.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Just received my Advice Note from RM re End of the Second World War (08/05/2020). Issue includes set of stamps, Miniature Sheet and a further PSB.

    ReplyDelete

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