A new effigy for a new monarch
Since the release of the world’s first adhesive postage stamp, the Penny Black, in 1840, there has been a close association between British coins and definitive stamps. The portrait of Queen Victoria on the Penny Black was based on that designed by William Wyon, chief engraver at The Royal Mint, for the ‘City’ medal of 1838, which commemorated Queen Victoria’s first visit to the City of London the year before. During successive reigns, many artists worked on both coins and stamps or had their designs for the former adapted for use on the latter. In the 1960s, Arnold Machin created an effigy of Queen Elizabeth II for decimal coinage and then designed new definitive stamps, which became an iconic symbol of the United Kingdom around the world, reproduced billions of times. The new definitive stamps are a continuation of this long tradition: they feature a portrait of His Majesty The King created by Martin Jennings for the obverse of the new UK coinage and subsequently adapted for use on stamps.
 |
| Studio mock-ups of King Charles III NVI definitives - 2nd, 1st, 2nd Large, 1st Large. |
The complete set of Non-Value Indicated stamps featuring the new portrait of His Majesty King Charles III The King’s effigy appears alongside a 2D barcode printed in matching colour alongside the main body of the stamp, separated by a simulated perforation line.
Technical detail
Set of four includes 1st and 2nd class letter and
large letter stamps. The colours for all four values are retained
from the Machin stamps. The 39 x 39 mm stamps are printedin gravure by Cartor Security Printers and perforated 15 x 14.5.
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.
-------
Although no details have been provided yet, we expect these to be issued in counter sheets, business sheets and booklets of 8 and 4 as before. A production video shows a book of 8 x 1st class with the cylinder number apparently W1. The stamps are coded M23L of course.
The information provided so far is that products available will be:
FDC, Presentation Pack, Stamp Books 1C and 2C plus Succession products – all pre-sale from 3rd March 2023.
I've no idea what 'Succession products' refers to.
UPDATE 3 March
A new £2.20 stamp has been announced for the new All-World airmail rate for letters - see Tariff
Products will be: FDC x 2, Presentation Pack x 2, Stamp Books (5), Business Sheets (4), plus Succession products.
|
1st Class |
Plum Purple (£1.10) |
|
2nd Class |
Holly Green (£0.75) |
|
1st Class Large |
Marine Turquoise (£1.60) |
|
2nd Class Large |
Dark Pine Green (£1.15) |
 |
| 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.
UPDATE 31 March
I've received the basic sheet stamps (all 5 values) and three booklets, excluding the 1st x 4. Given the rate at which they are sending these out on the swap-scheme instead of sheet stamps, I would expect that these would have been reprinted by now and I'm expecting them any day.
NVIs and Airmail tariff stamp will be treated separately, with two FDCs and two Presentation Packs. All the retail booklets will be replaced, therefore 8 x 2nd, 8 x 1st, and 4 x 1st, 2nd Large and 1st Large.
Business sheets of 50 will be issued for all four values.
'Succession products' are a series of covers and framed stamps bearing the new NVI stamps and the equivalent Machins. This is the cover, which costs £19.99; 20,000 have been produced.
 |
| Succession cover with 4 x Queen Elizabeth and 4 matching King Charles stamps. |
As Simon has put a comment on the relative size of UK and German barcodes, I'll repeat the Scotland gummed stamp with German barcode mock-up here. I think Royal Mail's equipment probably needed different sized code, or they were afraid that German stamps would be used (joke!).
King Charles III Business sheets are now showing on the 'buy definitives' section of Royal Mail's shop with the warning that
***Please note, to minimise any environmental impact, existing stocks of definitive stamps that feature Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth will continue to be distributed and will remain valid for use. Please be aware that the stamps you receive may feature an image of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth, rather than King Charles as shown, depending on stock levels and usage.***
Product codes for the new business sheets are shown below
|
1st Class King Charles Definitive Business Sheet |
DS1654 |
£55.00 |
|
50 x 2nd Class King Charles Definitive Business Sheet |
DS1655 |
£37.50 |
|
50 x 1st Class King Charles Definitive Large Letter Business Sheet |
DS1656 |
£80.00 |
|
50 x 2nd Class King Charles Definitive Large Letter Business Sheet |
DS1657 |
£57.50 |
UPDATE 25 April
In reply to petemk's dealer (see comments) these are the real stamps. ALL were available on the day of issue, so I can only think he/she was referring to a particular format, say Business Sheets. And as they are available to order with the numbers above, I think some have been printed.
Mind you, it could be a very small run, like the 2nd Large 2010 sheet which wasn't widely found.
 |
| Scan of actual stamps and Large booklets |
UPDATE 26 April
I have confirmed that the 1st class Large Business Sheet is at the printers, is not yet in stock with Royal Mail, so as has been mentioned in Comments, this cannot be ordered yet. The code will not be activated on the RM computer systems until stock is held.
Later Update
It was later confirmed that with plenty of Queen Elizabeth 1st Large business sheets in stock Royal Mail had decided not to print the King Charles one for the time being.
I know it's been said elsewhere, but these are really unattractive. A profile that is slightly longer and fuller on the lines of the Machin head would have been better. The nicest comparator would be the 1950s Juliana Netherlands stamps, but they actually work. If you remove the fake perforation they work a little better, so at the very least perhaps when they are reissued they could do that. I wonder why the British barcode is so much bigger than the German equivalent which is surely doing the same function?
ReplyDeleteI imagine that we will eventually see a return to traditional height definitives with smaller barcodes as technology improves.
DeleteI agree, although the £2.20 stamp looks better, maybe the non-NVI stamps look better with the image of Charlie?
DeleteI would have thought 20,000 to be a remarkably low print run tor the succession cover which could be seen as a historic item actually of genuine interest to a few million Britons. It's only ten times that for the "Special" PSBs for American comics I had never heard of.
ReplyDeleteThe price for the 2nd-class NVI will be 75p (and not 70p)
ReplyDeleteYes, fifteen shillings in proper money !
DeleteDoes anybody know what source and year code will be on the £150 limited edition 25+25 1st class folder stamps?
ReplyDeleteOne would hope that they are identical to the main sheet issue, otherwise there are going to be an awful lot of disappointed Machin collectors out there.
DeleteThe succession cover has M22L for the machins and M23L for the KC stamps.
DeleteThank you for confirming what we all expected: I didn't tbother to buy one only to look at it and send it back.
DeleteThere's no ignoring those ears, which don't stand out like that in real life - his chin looks a lot 'stronger' than in real life too. Not very flattering of the man himself and, overall, unattractive stamps in my opinion, showing a lack of imagination and like most UK stamps for a long time, no real design 'craft'. What was an iconic design by Machin in 1967 has been replaced by the faintly ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteYes, "there's no ignoring those ears" especially with "Large" below his portrait on two of the stamps !
DeleteI'm still trying to work out if his eyes are open.
This is just a question of what you are used to - King George VI's ears are just as prominent on his stamps and I've never heard a collector complain about his portrait!
DeleteIan, County Durham
I have just ordered some of these new King Charles stamps. There are the four stamps on plain paper or for a few pence more, £5.50 a presentation pack featuring all three stamps and the crown and title at the top and it opens up inside with some information about them, there is also one featuring the four current definitive (everyday) stamps on the late Queen with the new King Charles one underneath, as well as a larger pack with more information and higher price which has a number on as it’s limited edition. There are the first day covers which some like, with the stamps on a decorative envelop with a post mark over them. Also an more expansive stamp worth £2.20 (international postage stamp) it's available on it’s own or as a presentation pack. There is also a framed version of the set, and there are also the books of stamps, although most collectors will probably not buy these.
ReplyDeletePresumably the business sheets will only be available from 4th April , though why aren't half/full sheets of the Charles III definitives available for pre-order since Royal Mail is classifying them as a special issue and they make half/full sheets of them availablw for pre-order.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't noticed and I don't have the product codes yet.
DeleteIf you look at 1st & 2nd class stamps only the business sheets and booklets are available to buy (https://shop.royalmail.com/postage-and-packaging/first-and-second-class-stamps) although sheets of the make-up and airmail values are available.
Can't help but look at these stamps and think of Charles in a dark, round-neck t-shirt being interrogated in the small room on SAS: Who Dares Wins with his eyes half closed from sleep deprivation. On a more serious note it seems desperately disappointing that we've gone from the meticulous design process behind the Machins to this undignified rush job.
ReplyDeletePlum, Holly and Pine - three of the four stamp colours are arboreal.
ReplyDeleteAs they were for the Machins. No nod to his love of nature here.
DeleteCan we take it that all new definitives on regular order with Royal Mail won't need to be ordered due to a change of monarch.
ReplyDeleteThese are new definitive stamps; Royal Mail have indicated that they will send them out to people who have Definitives (in whatever combination) on standing order.
DeleteGot my order advice note today. Value £4.60, so no addition of the £2.20 stamp.
DeleteThis comment from RM also includes, booklets & business sheets.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why the "E" NVI stamps were discontinued in 2004 but would have thought that with overseas rates much simplified now a "W" NVI stamp could be useful for Worldwide letters up to 100g. That would of course negate the need for the equivalent of the forthcoming £2.20 stamp in future years.
ReplyDeleteGiven also that Charles stamps for the £3.25 and £4.20 Europe and World Large Letter might not be issued and that there's no genuine use for the several 'make up' values ( except perhaps in PSBs ) I could envisage Britain having only five definitive stamps, all NVIs, and three values of country stamps, also NVI, with no new ones year after year.
And I doubt if the few annual new values of definitives and Country stamps each year have been a significant part of the "Special" stamps business in recent years.
Why there is a fifth King Charles III new definitive stamp on “Tariff”? What’s that mean and usage? Why RM use this stamp on a separate FDC, not together with the other four new definitive stamps?
ReplyDelete"Tariff' is a term which has been used every year this blog has existed. It refers to the new Tariff (or Postage Rates) effective each year, or sometimes twice a year.
DeleteI thought i had add the £2.20 stamp here, but it must have been on the other post; I'll add it.
It's the new All-World up to 100g letter rate.
I think that the new monarch stamps fit the bill nicely. The strong colours look better than the present outline barcode Machin stamps and the image does look like King Charles. The only improvement really would be to remove the fake perforation, which serves no purpose. There has been no mention of country stamps yet: only in passing here so the barcode country stamps we have now - if you can get any : I have only seen one here - are probably the last.
ReplyDeleteIt could be (and I think likely) that the country stamps will be treated in the same way as the make-up and high value replacements for the machins - they will appear when the old stocks have been used up. There are political sensitivities over dropping the country stamps completely - otherwise it would almost certainly have happened already (for example when the datamatrix stamps were introduced).
DeleteBut Country stamps are a lower priority than the definitives. On decimisation they, then known as Regionals, came nearly five months later.
DeleteI doubt if "when the old stocks have been used up" has anything to do with it.
Even if there was no intention to produce large stocks of new (KC3) stamps - due to there being large stockpiles of the QE2 version(s) - I cannot imagine that each value would be printed in isolation "when the old stocks have been used up" if for no other than philatelic reasons.
DeleteThe mere suggestion invites thoughts of a farcical situation where each individual stamp is afforded its own presentation pack and FDC* as it becomes necessary to produce each separate value and/or country version of a particular stamp.
* Is my memory playing tricks on me, or is there some rule about the minimum value on a FDC being equivalent to that of a standard 1st class stamp?
Minimum for a special handstamp was 1st class (unless it was a new 2nd class stamp) but changed to 2nd class rate (ie 68/75p) when the gap got wider.
DeleteBelated thanks for the clarification - as the years go by, there's so much useless information rattling around in my brain that I can rarely be completely sure what I know I know, what I think I know, what I partly know, and what my imagination has dreamt up.
DeleteDon't worry, we oldies all have that problem. I have the advantage here of being able to edit and correct what I write on the blog. (If any of us ever wants to correct a comment we have to delete the comment and post another.)
DeleteTariff Definitive Stamp - £2.20
ReplyDeleteSpoke to RM today who stated that bizarrely the invoice for this stamp will be added to the 'Flowers' invoice and will also appear in the Flowers 'First' though you should receive the stamp on 04/04/2023. There is no confirmed date of issue for the Business Sheets as existing QEII stock will be used up first
I believe this has been confirmed by our contact but his reply is somewhat ambiguous!
DeleteMixed messaging from RM. E-mail from RM today, now tells me Business Sheets will be available from 03/04/2022 to order online. Lets wait and see
DeleteI know ordinary folk who are buying large numbers of barcoded NVIs just to beat imminent and future inflationary consumer price rises. When added to the sheer number of swapped Machins being converted to barcoded QEII NVIs, this surely means a lengthy delay before we start seeing proper usage of KCIII stamps. QV penny coins stayed in circulation for 70 years after her death until withdrawn at decimalisation.
ReplyDeleteAJT,
DeleteYes, I remember 1860 "bun" pennies still in circulation over a century later.
I think that old shillings were still legal tender until 31st December 1990 and old florins until 30th June 1993, not that any before George VI were circulating by then.
It was the same with the Machins but it doesn't look like a proper set of four stamps with a serif font for the basic First and Seconds and a sans serif font for the First and Second Larges.
ReplyDeleteA similar mix up to the latest Welsh First.
Yes I agree. The mix of fonts does offend. It can't surely be beyond the wit of someone at Royal Mail to take control of this and do a review in time for a reissue which deals with fonts and has a slightly larger portrait (like the Machin) that would work much better. Oh - and remove that horrible pretend perforation line in the middle - I've already seen people trying to tear it off in my local post office thinking it's a barcode for purchasing not an integral part of the stamp!
DeleteI ordered several items this morning by telephone, and the agent would not let me order a FDC of the new King Charles stamp set DF074. He told me it was an instruction from Tallents House yesterday, but no reason was given. Has anyone any information regarding this?
ReplyDeleteMy wife has had a letter this morning from Cornwall with a Charles First Class definitive on it though unfortunately not cancelled so without evidence of it being sold at least four days early.
ReplyDeleteI put the envelope in a postbox on Saturday morning to give Royal Mail another chance of postmarking the stamp but it's been delivered again today still not cancelled !
DeleteOnly now I have the stamps do I notice the 2nd Large Dark Pine Green to be almost exactly the same colour as the £2.20 Dark Green. This doesn't make sense given that there are only five solid-background values but they have dozens of distinctive colours to choose from.
ReplyDeleteIs the barcode ink not as glossy as on the Elizabethan stamps ?
So it has gone through the system twice and not been picked up by the machinery as a previously used stamp.
ReplyDeleteYes indeed.
ReplyDeleteI won't try it a third time as I was only after a postmark of before the stamp's issue date.
£2.20 available locally in Devon (in a One Stop shop!) but no sign of any of the others. Main PO in town had all QEII defins delivered for their order last Thursday (30/3)
ReplyDeleteI have to compliment RM as on March 6th I ordered all the 5 booklets and the £2.20 definitive plus a 2nd set of definitive, they all arrived yesterday I separate envelopes and undamaged, thank you.
ReplyDeleteI see on the booklets the initials "KC" have been added to help retailers sell the QE booklets first. I assume thats the reason anyway?
ReplyDeleteHi Loughboroughlad, you stated in a previous post the new 50p coin shows King Charles with a crown, I have looked but cannot see any with a crown?
Deletecheck Royal Mint website - showing on there. £5 / 50p / sovereign
DeleteLoughboroughlad commented "Now the 50p coin has been displayed showing KC with a crown there is no reason the image wouldn't be used for the Coronation stamps I guess?"
DeleteMaybe. I'm not expecting anything special, like recess printing, for the Coronation miniature sheet, possibly just four ordinary photographs. A crowned head like that was only used for the Queen on medals not coins.
Reply
OK I will do thanks
DeleteThe crowned head is on commemorative coins, not on the everyday issues. (Win them here: https://www.royalmint.com/shop/monarch/charles-iii/coronation/register/ ) So the same could apply for stamps.
DeleteThe RM website is now showing the KCIII versions of the business sheets (see https://shop.royalmail.com/postage-and-packaging/first-and-second-class-stamps). However. they warn that you might get either the QEII or KCIII versions when you order - it looks as if they are using the same order number for both. There doesn't (yet?) seem to be a mechanism to select the KCIII version.
ReplyDeleteOn my last point,I stand corrected - thanks Ian!!
DeleteOne of my stamp dealers told me that the KC III 1st large has not even been printed yet.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCommonwealth Stamps Opinion Blog has a picture of the Coronation mini sheet...ok, but not as nice as the 1953 coronation set in my humble opinion.
ReplyDeleteI tried ordering the Business sheets using these codes two weeks ago by phoning the Philatelic Bureau - at that time their computers refused to accept those codes. I tried again last Tuesday and the codes for 1st , 2nd and 2nd Large were accepted , the agent I spoke to said they were down as available from sale on the 18th April. My order was put on hold since the code for 1st Large was not working - I got a phone call back last Thursday(the 20th) and was told that when an inquiry was made about the 1st Large that the code was invalid as that sheet had yet to be printed. I intend phoning again later this week to see if it has become available. I did get the other 3 sheet annoyingly a printing date isn't shown , presumably someone who has a barcode reader might get the printing date from the barcode.
ReplyDeleteThe scanned dates are 23/01/23 for the 2nd Large, 30/01/23 for the 1st and 31/01/23 for the 2nd. One day we might find out exactly what they mean.
DeleteCan anybody confirm what the year code is in the QE11 and KC3 stamps from RM’s Royal Succession £150 folder? Still available, it seems on the RM website.
Delete