In March I wrote about postal products which would, eventually, need to be changed following the accession to the throne of King Charles III and then in August the first so-called 'digital-stamp' printed direct onto mailings by large companies, in their Postage Paid Impressions.
My thanks to the people who have sent further examples recently.
These examples are from Bluecrest (Contract 10017), Opus Energy (10002), Vision Express (10001) and Serious Readers (10017). The last of these is very grey, and is almost the colour of the 2nd Large or £2.20 stamps.
UPDATE 16 January: Bluecrest have changed their mailer, they are now using C9 10079. (No copy to show, it's damaged!)
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| King Charles III PPI (digital stamp) from Bluecrest 2023. |
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| King Charles III PPI (digital stamp) from Opus Energy 2023. |
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| King Charles III PPI (digital stamp) from Vision Express and Serious Readers 2023. |
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| King Charles III PPI (digital stamp) from Pets at Home 2023. |
It is obvious that the Datamatrix Barcode on these impressions is totally meaningless as they are all exactly the same. In any event, these mailing would not go through that part of the mail centre where barcodes are scaanned and stamps cancelled.
UPDATE 30 October:
Today's post brought a letter from the Norfolk Wildlife Trust printed in a yellowish-green colour, which is reflected in the colour of the stamp.
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| King Charles III PPI (digital stamp) from Norfolk Wildlife Trust October 2023, C9 license 10017. |
UPDATE 3 February 2024: Another user of The Delivery Group (C9 10017) is Oakhouse Foods, this received today:
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| King Charles III PPI (digital stamp) from Oakhouse Foods January 2024, C9 license 10017. |
UPDATE 12 October:
Thanks to JF for sending this first example of the 2nd class Large, this one from Museum Selection of Paignton. The colour is a good match to the actual stamp, and the barcode is the same as those shown above.
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| Example of the 2nd class Large King Charles 'digital stamp' used as a Printed Paid Impression. |
UPDATE 23 April
My thanks to Jon on Stampboards for showing this amazingly poor example of the 2nd class King Charles PPI - it should, of course, be green.
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| Mailshot from Leaders of Great Britain (LCGB) of London, events organisers, with very poorly printed 2nd class King Charles III imprinted stamp. |
I've had ( on 2nd and 30th September ) Charles 2nd Large digital stamps as well as a Charles 2nd one. All have the same Datamatrix Barcode.
ReplyDeleteGiven that many of my Machin digital stamps, especially on smaller envelopes, have an ink jet cancellation, the same as stamped mail, I don't agree that "these mailing would not go through that part of the mail centre where barcodes are scanned and stamps cancelled". Rather than being "totally meaningless" I expect the digital stamp barcode is read as being PPI mail.
I am still getting Machin digital stamps. Knowing how Revenue Protection sometimes make mistakes I wonder if any such envelopes have been surcharged.
Will the varying shades be accorded catalogue status, as with the Ed VII and GV listings?
ReplyDeleteThese aren't stamps nor postal stationery in the accepted sense; they won;t be in the normal catalogues.
DeleteRegarding the greyish colour of the Serious Readers example, 'should have gone to Specsavers'?
ReplyDeleteHa Ha! Can't dispute that!
Delete