This week we received an image of two covers with King Charles stamps purchased from post office branches. These were new supplies of the stamps which had their first day of issue at the end of August.
Thanks to PA we can report that the new stamps have appeared at almost opposite ends of the country - Chudleigh in Devon, and Cruden Bay in Aberdeenshire. There will surely be more supplies reaching branches soon.
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| Pair of covers from different post office branches with a mix of Queen Elizabeth and King Charles definitive stamps, November 2023. |
Although I will report new arrivals at different branches in this blog, covers will be shown on the Modern Postal History blog,
Please let me know by email of any covers received, especially if the PO branch is known, or and other findings in branch.
I can also report that the supermarket where I pick up my 1st/2nd books has recently started to sell KCIII rather than QEII (this is in the Cambridge area). Looks like RM might have finally emptied its warehouses of Machins.
ReplyDeleteAnd we had a card from Sheffield this morning with a King 1st class stamp from a book of 8 - pen cancelled!
DeleteLast Thursday I called in at the 'outreach' post office in the village hall in Bulphan, Essex, and they had the 1st & 2nd class Charles definitives and the large versions, but nothing else. Some nice ladies offered me coffee and cake though...
DeleteThe Machin head really stands out alongside the vague circle that is Charles.
ReplyDeleteOdd that they've datestamped 75p letters which isn't policy while most near me don't datestamp parcels which is policy - or maybe they could have just datestamped the lower stamps expecting the ink jet to get the upper ones.
And the Scottish one apparently doesn't know not to datestamp the barcoded area.
Some of us are lucky enough that branches will cancel anything we post. As you say, instruction is to cancel stamps on parcels (and Large Letters), but there is no instruction to NOT cancel ordinary letters. That Scottish one isn't the only one hitting the barcode at times.
DeleteIan,
DeleteYears ago when I had reason to be enthusiastic about British stamps I would take side-phosphor Machins to a friendly sub Post Office, rather than risk them through the post, and, to my surprise, sometimes the datestamp would be handed over for me to do them myself.
If only the stamps weren't so ghastly. I hope that someone thinks, like they have with the coins, that they need a proper redesign and does something inventive that showcases Britain now rather than the horrible design that isn't a patch on the Machin.
ReplyDeleteCome now! The new Charles stamps are similar in design to Machins giving both novelty & continuity. I am glad to see the end of the Machins which started before we were born and replaced the Wildings; they did at least look like the Queen: you would never pick her out from an identity parade at the nick if the only image you had to go on was a Machin. At least the new stamps look like King Charles. It is a shame, though, that the silly trompe l'œil perforations have been persisted with & on the country definitives too.
DeleteWell, after a year of trying to enthuse about the KC III barcode stamps I threw the towel in and cancelled my RM standing order. This hurt after 40+ years of receiving stamps from the RM but I frankly find the barcodes ugly, plain and simple. Happy collecting...
ReplyDeleteJust received my order advice note for 11/1/24 issue of music Giants not stated who it is but ghastly price of £42.90 !
ReplyDeleteConfirmation from RM advice note that issued on 11/01/2024 are Music Giants IX. This includes a new PSB (YB117) priced at £23.70. So more KC3 Definitives.
ReplyDeleteI recently went into a rural post office and was the only customer. They had no idea how to accept an item with stamps to pay the postage, didn't have any stamps for sale, and couldn't do a cash withdrawal! I was blown away.
ReplyDeleteEighteen months ago I posted two unusually large parcels, one nearly 10kg and one nearly 20kg, in not one of my usual Post Offices for some reason and they had no idea how to accept items with stamps to pay the postage but they were too heavy for me to carry back out !
ReplyDeleteLarger envelopes with stamps are not usually cancelled unless you ask for proof of posting
ReplyDeleteBranches have been instructed by POL to cancel stamps on Large Letters and Parcels.
DeleteThat instruction dates from 2007 and can be seen here
https://blog.norphil.co.uk/2018/03/campaign-against-pen-cancels-if-you.html
Robert
ReplyDeleteSometime ago I contacted the London HQ of Royal Mail at Farringdon Road, London, asking if it was possible for a Post Office to Cancel my Mail.
This is the reply I received from a very nice Lady there.
Having spoken to our Revenue Protection Team, I can confirm it is fine for the Post Office to cancel a Barcoded stamp as long as the Cancellation does not go on top of the Barcode, : Chairman and Chief Executive Office London EC1A 1AA ,. RW