Thank you to everybody who has written with fresh information this past week. It is surprising just how much can occur in such a short space of time.
We actually left a day earlier than intended, and even while we were on the road the news started arriving. When I got home I found that there were also some nice anonymous letters, one being a 'social' first day cover of the England 2nd class stamp with the 'Swap-out' slogan, a lovely addition to my own collection - thank you JLBC of Bradford.
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| 2nd class England datamatrix stamp used on day of issue (11/08/2022) with 'Swap-out' slogan postmark at North & West Yorkshire |
A customer in war-torn Chernihiv, Ukraine, kindly sent me this first day cover of their latest war propaganda stamps, reproducing the widely-shown image of a tractor towing a disabled Russian tank. This was the winning design for their second such issue (after the defiant troops being attached by the later sunk Moskva). The stamps were issued on 28 July (other stamps on the reverse make up the registered postage rate).
There are two values (M & W) for domestic and international basic mail.
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| "Good evening, we are from Ukraine" pair of stamps issued 28 July 2022 on first day cover. |
Ukrposhta also has T-shirts for less than £8 (plus shipping, import dues etc)!
There is also news added to the August Postmarks post, and to that about the availability or otherwise of the Country Datamatrix Definitives.
And there's another thought about Datamatrix coded stamps. People here and on social media and other forums are saying things like "what's wrong with the current system?". Well we know that one reason for the change is forgery. Another is so that you can add provided or (eventually) your own video to send to the recipient.
It's becoming more and more clear that most postal services really don't need stamps. The situation in Ukraine - and things like that - apart, the prime reason for producing special stamps is to generate revenue from collectors, and in some cases non-collectors. Witness the Transformers stamps below.
And while Denmark's postal service (PostNord) does still produce stamps and has a very conservative and country-relevant programme (click on the link), they have other ways of demonstrating that postage has been paid.
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| 12 character code written in place of a stamp, indicating that postage has been paid. |
The postage can be bought online via the website or a mobile app.
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| Screenshot from Post Nord website. |
The German Post Office has a similar system. So... things could be worse.
Of course this is part of philately - and arguably the codes are far more variable than the alternative adhesive stamps. But who would want to collect more than a few? It doesn't indicate anything about the postage rate, or where it was sent. And if you use if with a window envelope, you still won't know, without the contents.
That barcoded England second class has the Queen's head at about its faintest ever.
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