Two days ago I wrote about the Royal Mail Stamp programme for 2022, the calendar for which has been available at some post offices and on a blog and forum.
Today one of my contacts who has an account with Royal Mail told me that along with their First publicity leaflet for the Music Giants VI issue, they sent him the Stamp Calendar! So I have no hestitation in adding that information here.
Of course there are some gaps, but some of these can be easily guessed and others will be announced later.
I'll fill in the gaps in due course. UPDATE: Cats is 9 June due to the public holiday on 2nd.
Some of these issues are very worthy, and expected: FA Cup, London 2022, Commonwealth Games, Heroes of the Pandemic and Platinum Anniversary.
Royal Marines must be a follow on from the previous armed forces issues (which concentrated on 'vehicles' or transport - boats, planes and tanks). But migratory birds, and cats? Really? Why. These will not be blockbuster issues, they are aimed squarely at thematic collectors so there will probably be 10 x 1st class for each!
The surprise is the lack of stamps related to American media - cartoons and films. Perhaps they have all been done? Yes, I know there are July, September and October issues to be announced, but my understanding is two of these don't fall into that category.
The dearth of American film stamps does not bother me, but is surprising. Also surprising is the grammatical error of the heroines of World War II being describe as 'unsung heroes': a masculine noun not a common one. The Covid stamps will not be popular as even those who think any lives have been saved will want to put it all behind them, but again I disagree with Ian and think that the cat and birds ones will sell well, as the Wild Coast ones did: if they are pretty. Shall we know which stamps sold best in 2021 in the UK, aside from the Xmas ones obviously.
ReplyDeleteValid comments Lars, though I expect the use of 'heroes' is in line with the now common use of 'actors' to describe all of that profession.
DeleteWe won't be told what sales levels were for any issue. I understand the Postal Museum is being provided this information but at 'suitable intervals', probably something like 20 years.
Cats & Birds will sell to the people who like cats and birds, but not as many will be sold as Star Wars.
Perhaps someone thought that as this was the Year of the Tiger, ‘Cats’ would be a good subject to release this year with an eye on collectors in China. But maybe that’s just overthinking things.
ReplyDeleteHi Ian
ReplyDeleteYou mention 'London 2022' in your list of worthies. Is that a prediction, or is it just not in the list?
It is inevitable, they just don't have a special stamp issue for it.
DeleteNot for me. I'm glad I stopped collecting modern commemoratives and have now disposed of my decimal commemorative collection.
ReplyDeleteI will be very interested in what new Machins turn up in the prestige books plus what's the possibility of a platinum £5 stamp? That would look nice in my collection although probably not everyone's cup of tea.
Steve, like you I have decided to dispose of my commemorative collection, i.e. presentation packs, miniature sheets, s/a booklets etc. I would be interested to know how you did this, ebay (individually or as a collection), a collectors site, auction etc and if you think you achieved 'best price'.
DeletePaul
Hi Paul, it was sold as cheap postage on eBay. Someone offered to buy the complete collection at 60% face. Not the best price but it saved me hours of photographing and listing it.
DeleteHaving seen what the TBA issues are, I think I did the right thing. I'm sticking to Machins and gap filling my GB pre-decimal collection.
Interesting the Cats issue is being released on the 2nd June - one of the extra bank holidays for the Jubilee. For those who try to buy at a Post Office, will they be open?
ReplyDeleteAs it is Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee in the UK and Queen Margretha IIs Golden Jubilee in Denmark perhaps we shall have a joint issue. That would be nice: after all the Danish queen is descended from King Harold, rather than the house of Saxe Coburg Gotha. So keep an eye out for new stamps at Hastings post office.
DeleteIt will be interesting - if you want a first day cover can they insist they need to have in postmarked on 2 June when there will be no post offices open, and no post postmarked.
DeleteIssue date has been changed to 9th. Calendar was printed a while back - but don't be surprised if the Postmark Bulletin still has 2nd!
DeleteGiven the Bank Holidays were announced in November 2020 - the stamp calendar was obviously printed a very long time ago!
Deletehttps://www.gov.uk/government/news/extra-bank-holiday-to-mark-the-queens-platinum-jubilee-in-2022
TBA Gaps filled in on the Commonwealth Stamps Opinion blog
ReplyDeleteNow that the whole 2022 programme appears to have been revealed (albeit in various places), would it not be the right and sensible thing for RM to publish to everyone formally?
ReplyDeleteI don't know why Royal Mail tries to keep such things 'secret.'
ReplyDeleteAs the old adage goes: "a secret one person knows is a secret, a secret two people know is not, and a secret three people know might as well be shouted from the rooftops.*
Looks like Royal Mail couldn't get the rights for classic Rolling Stones album covers. Instead, we're treated to 12 images from concert shots. oh well...
ReplyDelete... and it seems that care has been taken with the images selected to ensure that certain 'undesirables' have been effectively airbrushed out of the Rolling Stones' history.
DeleteSo are we to assume that the Feb issue will be the Platinum Jubilee?
ReplyDeleteI do wonder why they put the Tutankhamun stamps in November AFTER the Christmas stamps one would have thought they could be pretty popular....and would have been deserving of the September or October release spot. And whilst I'm generally not a collector the stamps of David Gentlemen seems to be quite specific- albeit worthy since he designed over 100 different collections over 40 years.
What are the thoughts on the other TBC dates?
Tutankhamun's tomb was discovered on 22 November, so for once an anniversary actual date is being used for a stamp issue.
DeleteCould be Harry Potter stamps, wait for it.... celebrates 20th Anniversary ha ha, the other don't have a clue, could be something Royal Family related.
DeleteI only realised that after I posted when i re-read the discovery stuff :)
DeleteBut it does seem incredible close to Christmas surely this would be one of the more popular releases....compared to others in the year....
I think you mean 24th November. However, since the tomb had been there more than 3,000 years, I guess we can forgive a couple of days out!
DeleteI falsely remembered Wikipedia which only gives the month. But I thought I had read 22nd somewhere; no matter, it is what it is - until it gets changed, like the Cats
DeleteGordon - The same old grumbles as usual. Old stick in the mud collectors who do not accept that there is a much much wider audience collecting stamps who will welcome all the various issues with considerable enjoyment. Stamp collecting is not for an elite few! Roll on the next set of birds and bees!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteOctober TBA has to be BBC1 100, unless more Harry Potter stamps are getting released in September or October, its celebrating wait for it.... 20th Anniversary.
ReplyDeleteAnd no stamps in August, could have sparse it out a bit with 2 stamp issues per month practically is it really necessary, could have dumped Cats.
The FA Cup as I predicted last year just had to be done, its practically a non brainer.
There is usually a break in releases over the summer, but I've always thought it would make more sense to have regular releases throughout the year on certain dates say the 1st and 15th of each month rather than the current system of whenever they choose.
DeleteYou would still have the 1 or 2 releases each month AND the "surprise/unplanned" issues like the ones following the death of The Duke of Edinburgh rounding out roughly 20 issues a year (given the current system of no releases in August and December)
I wonder what "Unsung Heroes: Women of World War II" will bring - will it concentrate on women in the armed forces, or will it show the Womens Land Army, Red Cross, Salvation Army, women in munitions factorys etc. I think the latter would be more in line of "unsung heroes" that yet another military issue.
ReplyDeleteWill it be an opportunity to commemorate Vera Lynn who could be said to be a ‘sung hero’?
DeleteNo mention of the stamp issue on 04/02/2022 on the back page of the January Philatelic Bulletin, jump straight to 18/02/2022 and the David Gentleman MS. RM have lost the plot when it comes to secrecy. You would think they would want to promote this stamp issue, but clearly not.
ReplyDeleteI saw a post on Commonwealth stamps opinion today, checked on Twitter, & it seems we are getting some new Definitives with barcodes on Feb 1st. I called Tallents house and was told that customers with regular orders will receive the following:- 1 x 1st, 1 x 2nd, 1 x 1st large, 1 x 2nd large all with barcodes + 3 booklets presumably with barcodes consisting of 1st class, 1st large, & 2nd large.
ReplyDeleteWhy only 3 booklets, is there no book with 2nd class stamps?
ReplyDeleteI couldn't possibly comment - but I think there is an error or two there. There are 5, as at present.
DeleteJust had a look. Is that FDC a mock up or are we due some changes 😉
DeleteI'm also wondering how the specialist Machin collectors are going to view the barcodes. As each one is different, that technicaly makes each stamp unique.
It's accurate - except insofaras all the barcodes are probably the same as with all mock-ups.
DeleteCollectors will take one of each for each year, specialists will take them from each printing which we think is identifiable by the barcode.
Thank you for the reply Ian. I look forward to reading the blog entry for these. I'm in the collector bracket, so only one of each source and year code for me.
DeleteI am wondering that as the stamps have increased in size dramatically, perhaps RM have decided to discontinue the books of 12 owing to size problems? No doubt it will be cleared up soon.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly will Pete, the blog post is already written in outline, just waiting for technical details and actual stamps for images.
DeleteHi Ian,after speaking to RM I find more questions than answers and believe total chaos will arise from the uncertainty that RM will know how to communicate to the public and its own staff of what is and isn't allowed.Stamp books and Machins will be bar coded,book size's as follows 6 down to 4, 8 down to 6 and 12 down to 8, when asked about the annual Christmas books I was told 'may not happen as they are specials', then asked what about current stock of books and Machins that I have was told 'a grace period will be allowed to use stock up' not confirmed how long this will be, after grace period only bar coded stamps will be allowed.Now the last time I looked at a book of stamps I have never seen a 'Use by date' so I ask can RM legally enforce the bar coded stamps only? As for the 'specials' or 'commemorative stamps' is it time for them to be sold as a collectable with Her Majesty's head taken off and only used on Machins apparently this has been asked a few times now.What will happen with the Regionals will they, won't they be coded? Who will monitor coded stamps and issue fines, as before would it be legal? What would happen to letters, small packets with the wrong stamps after the grace period would RM deliver or return? May be RM should come out and let the public know what it's intentions are before the event happens it may help or cause a huge backlash.
DeleteMy 'Order Advice Note' for 1st February is of a "New Definitive Stamp Book" at £3.40 which surely can only be FOUR First Class Barcoded Machins.
DeleteAnonymous: please use a psedonym, there are too many 'anonymous' and replying to them can be confusing. I think the best thing is to wait for an expected announcement on 1 February when Royal Mail will not only launch the new stamps in what we now know will be new colours, but also tell everybody what this barcode business is all about.
DeleteI find it difficult to believe that they will invalidate any stamps without some sort of trade-in (without deductions) and I find it difficult to believe there will be any sort of trade-in which doesn't permit the stamp trade to get rid of all the old definitive stamps.
As for regionals, there is a problem. They can't get rid of them, politically, but POST OFFICE don't actually make them available very widely, especially in Wales and Northern Ireland.
@Mudgie - That booklet may not be what you think it is!
DeleteThat Booklet (UB450) has also generated a FDC all of it's own.
DeleteSo maybe a platinum coloured barcoded Machin !
DeleteThat booklet “has been delayed”.
DeleteI can’t remember that ever happening before.
Ian,
ReplyDeleteThanks.
I'm due the UB450 "New Definitive Stamp Book" - probably not what I think it is - for £3.40 only and don't understand why DS1201, the four new definitives, for £3.76 isn't listed.
Pete above "was told that customers with regular orders will receive the following:- 1 x 1st, 1 x 2nd, 1 x 1st large, 1 x 2nd large all with barcodes" which suggests the same intransigence as for the barcoded 2nd class last year but that was in a format for 'Viking' whereas these presumably will be the usual counter sheets though maybe of fewer stamps.
UB540 has been delayed indefinitely. More news when we have it.
DeleteThen the next day I get another 'Order Advice Note' indicating that I will get my correct TWO of each of the four definitive and the following five books ( UB 452 to 456 ) ;
ReplyDelete4 x 1st
4 x 1st Large
4 x 2nd Large
8 x 1st
8 x 2nd
which looks as if four of the larger stamps take the space that six previously did.
Yes. 12 = 8; 6 = 4; and Large are smaller (like Christmas) with 4 to a book.
DeleteEveryone is being told different things I have not been advised yet of any 1st or 2nd books of 8 perhaps that will arrive this week ?
ReplyDeleteA thought just struck me, the 1st & 2nd stamps from books of 8, will the codes be M22L MEIL?
ReplyDeleteAnother thought, if barcodes are going to be the norm and spread to value indicated stamps RM will have to consider definitive panes in PSB's surely?
ReplyDeleteGiven that people are working things out for themselves I wonder whether I need to publish the news on 1 February? :-D
DeleteI think we will find that there will be no more 2nd/1st NVIs in the PSBs. I doubt that they will barcode the low values.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the “low values” and £2, £3 and £5 were discontinued ( with the possible exception of PSB panes ) as they’re not sold by many Post Offices and there can’t be much use for them with Horizon Labels and postage bought online.
DeleteThe four current NVIs and three or four foreign rates might soon be the only values issued, all barcoded.
Why is there still a need to have year and source codes anyway? What was their original purpose? Was it added security, was it better stock control and quality assurance? With the 'bar coding' all these measures are now incorporated??? Doug (Enfield)
ReplyDeleteI believe it was for quality control rather than security. If any of the stamps was not up to standard, RM could identify the source. I may be wrong though.
DeleteThat was what they said, though the quality of some of the iridescent printing was so bad that it would not have been helpful.
DeleteI don't think we ever heard of any problems being identified by those codes.
I have just received a letter from Royal Mail saying the Definitive issue (so much for the embargo) due for release on the !st. February will be delayed to another unspecified date
DeleteReceived an updated direct debit advice from Royal Mail this morning that the new definitive stamp book that was due for issue on the 1st February has been delayed and a new date will be advised through the normal advice notification.
ReplyDeleteThis only affects one booklet (UB540) and it's FDC, and does not affect the bulk of stamps which will be issued as normal and reported here on Tuesday.
DeleteI see that RM have now acknowledged on the online Stamp Calendar that the 1 September will be "Transformers". I bet it doesn't mean people who have transformed our lives in some way. They have also updated the calendar to confirm the 1 July issue is "Pride" (as mentioned elsewhere in the blog). See https://www.royalmail.com/sending/stamps
ReplyDelete