Royal Mail has announced the details of the first definitive stamps for the new monarch, King Charles III.
The first stamps will be issued on 4 April, with philatelic pre-orders commencing 4 March.
First and Second Class (and Large) NVI stamps will be issued in April 2023 but stocks of Low-value and High-value Definitives will not need to be replenished until Autumn 2023, therefore, in keeping with the zero-waste policy, the make-up values of the King Definitive stamps will follow in late Summer.
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| King Charles III 1st class definitive stamp 4 April 2023. |
We understand that the existing colours will continue to be used for 2nd, 2nd Large, 1st and 1st Large.
The introduction of the King’s Definitive stamps continues to be event driven i.e. when new stamps are required, and there will be no wastage of QEII (barcode) Machin Stamps.
The full range of Barcode Definitive stamps introduced in 2022 will remain on long term sale and continue to be sold alongside the King’s Definitives.
The stamps feature a portrait of His Majesty The King created by Martin Jennings for The Royal Mint for the obverse of the new UK coinage and subsequently adapted by Royal Mail for use on definitive stamps. Stamp designs © Royal Mail Group Ltd 2023. Stamp artwork preparation by Endhouse Studio.
I think this would have been better; banknote portrait modified by HalfpennyYellow member of Stampboards forum.
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| Alternative proposed design for Charles III definitive stamps. |
The Flowers pictorial stamps on 23 March 2023 will be the first to bear the profile of the King.
UPDATE: My thanks to JG for this additional information gleaned from the illustration of the sheet which has been widely used (see Postal Museum website).
UPDATE 3 March
A new £2.20 stamp has been announced for the new All-World airmail rate for letters - see Tariff
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| Definitive £2.20 stamp for All-World airmail letters to 100g, to be issued 4 April 2023. |
It does seem rather odd that this stamp will be issued the day AFTER the rate comes into effect.
My suspicion is that also issued then will be any new values required for overseas postal rates although no such announcement could be made at this time.
ReplyDeleteThe 4th April being a Tuesday would maybe suggest a postage rate rise from Monday 10th April.
Last year the stamps were issued on 4 April which was the day the new rates took effect.
DeleteIt may be that they have decided that they don't need to issue them a week ahead any more, as so few customers buy them in POs.
Issuing them on the day of the rate change also means that they can charge the new prices for NVIs right from square one.
DeleteRob
"The King gave very clear directions he didn't want anything to be pulped, he didn't want things being shredded, he didn't want stock being thrown away" so is probably unaware of the current 'Swap Out' scheme.
ReplyDeleteI noticed on an ITV news report they showed the booklets of stamps and one had a cylinder number so maybe a new printer?
ReplyDeleteI noticed a blurred cylinder number on Commonwealth Stamps Opinion. Looks like a W.
DeleteIn any case, Cartor is the only printer likely to be producing these.
Vaccari News proposed a long video of stamp booklet printing and checking if you manage to find any interesting clues: https://www.facebook.com/vaccarinews/videos/904839200947783
DeleteA certain Cover site has images of it's cover to be issued on 04/04/2023. This includes a new Orange Barcoded stamp for overseas postage, value yet to be confirmed
ReplyDeleteSorry to say and I do not want to upset anyone. They look like the Deutsches Reich Hitler stamps.
ReplyDeleteCareful, heads can end up on spikes as well as stamps!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThose issued by Netherlands in the 1960s comes to mind.
DeleteI will be giving these a miss. These just don't look right in my mind. The Machin was a graceful looking stamp, this is just missing something. I much prefer the proposed alternative.
I thought that too!
DeleteSteve,
DeleteThe Machin was a graceful looking stamp because the very talented Arnold spent months working on it.
This was done on the cheap though, just copying the coin portrait which had only been done from photographs not sittings.
CONCORDO PIENAMENTE, SAREBBE STATO ANCHE PIU' NUOVO E RAFFINATO! IMPOSSIBILE EGUAGLIARE I MACHIN. IL RESTO SONO SOLO BRUTTE COPIE E SANNO DI VECCHIO.
DeleteSONO CONTENTO DI AVER SMESSO DI COLLEZIONARE NUOVI FRANCOBOLLI DOPO LA MORTE DI SUA MAESTA'. LA SERIE MACHIN E' INEGUAGLIABILE E I NUOVI DEFINITIVI RE CARLO III SEMBRANO I FRATELLI POVERI CON UN SAPORE DI VECCHIO. LA VERSIONE ALTERNATIVA DELLA BANCONOTA E' INDUBBIAMENTE PIU' MODERNA E FRESCA.
DeleteGod bless Google Translate.
DeleteYes, I translated both before I let them through. You wouldn't believe the amount of spam I kill (mostly in sub-continent English).
DeleteI think I would believe it, Ian! I was told a few years ago that more than 99% of emails were spam - luckily the vast majority get blocked by mail servers otherwise the email system would be unusable.
DeleteSteve,
DeleteI've wondered before if Arnold Machin might have been inspired by "those issued by Netherlands in the 1960s", the Julina definitives of 1953 to 1971.
It may be.... but the "Machin" stamps are definitely more beautiful
DeleteHi all, thanks for the comments on my post. Glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks this.
DeleteThanks Mudgie for educating me re the Julina definitives. I didn't know they had a name. They look better than the KCIII definitive.
I think if Royal Mail had put some time and effort into a new design, we would have had a different reaction. Then again that costs money and I expect these were designed by a third party company at a fixed contract price?
I think this could have been so much better. They’ve literally removed the Queen’s head and popped the King’s head in its place.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think it needed a radical redesign, but something that isn’t essentially a “Charles Machin” would have been better.
As a minimum, removing the damn stupid fake perforation between the stamp and the barcode would be better. It needs to be incorporated more into the stamp design itself. The number of cards I have received off relatives in recent months with the barcode ripped off was high. People not in the know must just think it’s a cutting error!
It's probably appropriate that flowers are being used for the last QE2 issue due to their use as a memorial. It feels odd there is an issue in-between though.
ReplyDeleteThat was an error, now corrected; the flowers will bear the King's profile.
DeleteWhich commemorative stamps after X-men will have the queen's silhouette? I have Lighthouse stamp pages. I will need to buy the 2023 supplement to finish my Elizabeth collection unless they have one for Elizabeth and one for Charles.
DeleteSo is it
Delete9 March - The Flying Scotsman - final Elizabeth II
23 March - Flowers - first Charles III ?
If so it's probably no coincidence that the timing allows relevant British topics, rather than American comics, for the 'last and first' allowing them to probably both be quite nice stamp sets.
I wonder if there will be a silhouette format for non-definitives, as per the late QEII?
ReplyDeleteThere will be something, almost certainly a silhouette, probably the same.
DeleteAI doubt if a silhouette would be recognisable as Charles, lacking as it will the top of the crown, the bow and the shoulders we're all so familiar with.
DeleteI find the alternative you've shown much more appealing aesthetically. For me the problem with the style RM chose is that the King's profile does not fill the stamp in the same way as the late Queen's did. For me the profile chosen works fine on coinage which is (more or less) round, but looks a bit lost in rectangular format. Perhaps it would have looked better if the profile had been extended down to the shoulder, as with the Machin design.
ReplyDeleteAgree with every word, Phillip. Very uninspiring new stamp, such a poor version compared to the refined Machin head, The alternative stamp of KC3 shown above would have been superb.
DeleteAgree 100%, without a crown to give a clue many people worldwide and even at home would not recognise it as the King. On the other hand the alternative is superb and a refreshing change after years of the excellent Machin head
DeleteWell I think they are excellent. They are similar æsthetically to the most recent Machins so will look neat if used with Machins on envelopes. Also the bank of England picture of King Charles (is he 'King' if he has not been crowned yet?) cannot be used because it is intaglio printing and faces forward; whereas the head on a stamp has to face left to look correct. Lastly the Machins were a terrible likeness of the Queen which we tend to forget because they have been the standard stamps since before we were born. The new stamps actually look like King Charles: when the Machins came out they were lampooned by Monty Python on television, the likeness was so poor. The new stamps could not be better and I look forward to sticking them on letters in due course. They will probably be the last stamps as we know them. Even if the monarchy continues in the current political climate the use of stamps may not last all that long as an increasing proportion of communications is online, or by telephone.
DeleteMay I suggest you to change the bar code Queen's head definitive stamp to the hear of Charles III on the cover page after 4 April???
ReplyDeleteOf course you may suggest it.
DeleteHowever, the Checklist is about Queen Elizabeth II Machin stamps. It is up to me whether I continue to use it for King Charles III stamps or create a new one.
At the moment my inclination is to stop after the last of the QEII Machins has been issued, subject to any others being found afterwards.
In terms of the Elizabeth II collection, up to which series of stamps should you refer?
DeleteIf you are referring to the Norvic Machin Security Checklist the title speaks for itself.
DeleteIt's only Definitives, and it's only Security Machins, 2009-2023.
At least - given his age - we won't have too many years of these stamps to cope with. Roll on Willy!
ReplyDelete27 years, to summer 2050, if he lives as long as his grandmother.
DeleteWell, one of his grandmothers, anyway. The King's paternal grandmother (Princess Alice of Battenberg) was 84 when she passed away in 1969.
DeleteRegarding the code interpretation from JG above, is there a list anywhere of what the value and source codes are, or is it more a case of checking each stamp and identifying the applicable code?
ReplyDeleteSeveral people have sent me their interpretations either in text documents or enormous spreadsheets!
DeleteI don't have time to sort them out and would prefer to be able to verify what I'm told - but I don't have all the stamps.
I believe much of the detail is on the MBPC website if you are a member. If you are not..... maybe join?
Product codes for King Charles Business Sheets are now shown in this post. The ones shown on Royal Mail's website will not guarantee getting the new versions.
ReplyDelete