A pack of dogs: 5 x 1st class and 5 x 2nd class - 6 June 2024

Not for the first time - in fact for at least the sixth - Royal Mail is issuing a set of stamps illustrated with dogs.  We haven't had any dogs since 2010 - the previous occasions were 2008, 2001, 1991, and 1979 with an odd dog or two included as ancillary to the main content.

These are similar to the Battersea Cats and Dogs set designed by CDT; the current set is stated to be 'designed by Royal Mail', though nothing more.  The source photos are from various image holders as shown below, so I suppose it was just "choose some dogs, crop the images, add the text" - why pay an expensive agency when a 10-year old could do it?

Royal Mail's comment:

Dogs have shared our lives for thousands of years – working, hunting, guarding and being our friends. Royal Mail are howling with delight to celebrate our loyal companions with ten mint stamps showcasing some of the most popular pet breeds in the UK. A paws-itively, pup-fect stamp issue - it’s sure to get tails wagging! 

Dogs have shared our lives for thousands of years - working, hunting, guarding and being our friends. Many different breeds evolved and were developed over the centuries, from the very smallest to the largest and shaggiest, from the bravest to the fastest, but regardless of type, dogs have remained loving and loyal. It is little wonder that they are so popular, with more people around the world owning a dog than any other pet. 

The first dog shows were held in the 19th century, which led, in 1873, to the founding of the Kennel Club to govern contests and field trials. The Kennel Club now holds the register of pedigree dogs in the UK, and regulates all breed standards, with breeds assigned to seven different categories based on their original roles: Gundog, Hound, Pastoral, Terrier, Toy, Utility and Working.

The 2nd class stamps depict Dalmatian, Jack Russell-type Terrier, Labrador Retriever, Border Collie, and Whippet.

The 1st class stamps depict Siberian Husky, Chihuahua, Cocker Spaniel, Pembroke Welsh Corgi and Pug.

Set of 10 gummed stamps (5 x 2nd, 5 x 1st) depicting Dogs, issued 6 June 2024

Technical Details: The 35 mm square stamps are printed in two sheets of 50 (horizontal strips of 5) by Cartor Security Printers in lithography, on paper with ordinary gum, perforated 14½.

Source image acknowledgements: 

Dalmatian, Border Collie and Siberian Husky by Jane Burton/Warren Photographic Ltd; 
Jack Russelltype Terrier and Labrador Retriever by Mark Taylor/Warren Photographic Ltd;
Whippet © FLPA/Alamy Stock Photo;
Chihuahua © Life on White/Getty Images;
Cocker Spaniel © Life on White/Alamy Stock Photo;
Pembroke Welsh Corgi © YAY Media AS/Alamy Stock Photo;
Pug © petographer/Alamy Stock Photo.

Collectors Sheet

A quite unnecessary Collectors Sheet (ie a £12.20 A4 poster with pictures of dogs which also includes stamps) is also included in this issue.  The sheet is self-adhesive so making 10 different stamps.

Sheet of 10self-adhesive stamps (5 x 2nd, 5 x 1st) depicting Dogs, issued 6 June 2024

Products available

Set of 10 stamps, first day cover, presentation pack, stamp cards, Collectors Sheet, framed stamp set, framed Collectors Sheet.

After a good start, some of Royal Mail's recent offerings are more bland and unnecessary.  It is to be hoped that the rest of the year includes at least some properly designed and relevant stamps.

---

Another break and an important announcement

I hope everybody in the UK had a good long weekend, and elsewhere that you enjoyed the normal weekend!   Now that the bank holiday weekend is over, we will be taking another week off.  There are no pictures in this post, partly because I wanted to get it out now on Monday night and deciding which images to use and aligning them just takes time. 

The office will be closed from this Friday until at least Saturday 8 June.  It may be possible to answer emails and accept blog comments in this time, but no promises.

Invalid Machins and Regionals - last chance

More importantly, when we return I shall arrange to take my remaining stock of Machins, Regional Machins, and Country definitives (and associated products like booklets and presentation packs) to another local dealer.  

When he has had his pick of anything he needs to replenish stocks, I shall prepare the rest to send to Royal Mail to exchange for what I suspect will be even more datamatrix Machins - not that the King Charles stamps are any better, I shall still need to get rid of them somehow.

So if you need anything at all to add to your collection that is in the current lists do please let me know as soon as possible.  You don't have to pay for everything in one go if it is a big order.  All you will be doing is stopping potential additions to your collections from going to the incinerator.

This is definitely your last chance!

Other GB collectables.

Keeping with the Machin/Country theme, over the years I have produced definitive first day covers, especially when Royal Mail did not.  Some of these are from booklets, especially prestige booklets when you really only want one of each of the new stamps, not the whole pane.  

Others are those which are not regarded as new by Royal Mail, such as the security definitives definitely first available at one of the London shows where Royal Mail had a presence (2010 Large letter booklets, for example).  

Lastly there are Machins and country definitives by different printers for which even Stanley Gibbons Concise declines to show the differences although they have been well written up.

I have spares of a few of these so if enough people are interested I'll produce a list of what is left.  None will be expensive, partly because the expensive stamps (like Special Delivery) were rarely first found in a way that we could be sure of an issue date.  (See the back of the Security Checklist for examples of what was produced - we don't have all of these in stock of course.)

And I am still working on a list of aerogrammes, including some thematic subjects, and this will be done more quickly if you tell me are interested.

Other other GB collectables.

Do people still collect first day covers and have gaps to fill?  If you do and would like some good quality unaddressed covers with special relevant postmarks, let me know.  This only applies to Queen Elizabeth issues and mainly from 1998 onwards.  We also have stocks of some of our own design FDCs which weren't promoted properly at the time for some reason (probably lack of time due to too many issues!), including some prestige book pane sets.

Special postmarks were once the thing that everybody had to have, and there was even a Postmark Club which could supply on a standing order basis.  These can be very useful for thematic interest so if you have a thematic collection, and want to know what exists, do ask - sport, military, trains, ships, coats of arms, etc.

Other non-GB collectables.

I can't profess to have much in the way of South America or Asia, but I do have worldwide postal history, picture postcards, some stamps mint and used, etc.  

If you collect particular countries or themes, or card subjects, let me know and I will try to find what we have.  There might be a delay because while I do know that I have many things, I don't always know where they are.  I've found a lot more whilst checking mixed random boxes for invalidated Machins etc, but when we moved four years ago(!) some part-full boxes were amalgamated for ease of stacking and moving, so there are things still to be found.

POLITICS - NOT HERE!

If you want to escape from pre-election turmoil, then I can promise you there will be nothing here about the UK's forthcoming general election (on 4 July for anybody who doesn't know) - unless there is some campaign literature or similar bearing interesting stamps or postal markings.  Given that candidates' promotions are delivered free by the postman, that is highly unlikely!

---

More shades of King Charles II PPIs and alternative postage.

A post last September showed a number of shades for the 2nd class pre-printed stamps used on postage paid impressions (PPIs), and that continues including these two using the same C9 licence 10017 and the same return address (so the same mailing house or the same client).

Pre-printed 2nd class mail-shots for C9 licence number 10017

My thanks to WU for the above and also for this example where a different account has been used and the imprinted stamp has been overlabelled with one showing a totally different account number.  The C9 license number is either 10031 or 10081, and the new label has Account Postage number AC05353770077.   This is used by Fisheye Opticians.

C9 preprinted stamp overlabelled with an 'Account Postage' label.

UPDATE 22 May 2024: My thanks to JMacL for another 2nd class example, this time with account HQ104259.

2nd class preprinted stamp PPI with used by account HQ104259.

Note: A number of people have asked for examples of these definitive stamp pre-printed envelopes. We actually get very few here: most of the images are just that - images sent by readers but not my scans of actual examples we hold.

I'll be pleased to add other examples - has anybody had a 1st class pre-printed stamp on  a mailshot yet?

 

---

ALL values of Datamatrix Machins to be withdrawn 1 June 2024 - last chance to buy.

Machin and country definitives without datamatrix codes were withdrawn from sale on 28 May 2022, the new Queen Elizabeth datamatrix definitives having been issued on 1 February and 4 April 2022.

Now these new stamps, and all associated products, will be withdrawn from philatelic* sale by Royal Mail on 1 June 2024 - some have already sold out, including the NVI presentation pack.

These business sheets will be withdrawn along with counter sheets and booklets.

Make-up values 1p - £5 including £3 which was not replaced.

 

The full list of products being withdrawn or already sold out is

What does this mean? Well if you prefer the Queen's portrait to the King's you need to buy now!  

But it could also mean that the Swapout will at last be providing new stamps instead of Machins. Only time will tell.  

On the other hand, if they are withdrawn from sale but still valid for use.... I guess we will still get them when we send in our old stamps.

* UPDATE 12 June

We now know that this announcement applied only to philatelic sales, and that some of the products are still available to users of the 'Retail' side of Royal Mail's website.  This is particularly true of the 1st class large Business Sheet (DS1258) for which a King Charles version has not yet been printed.  The Queen Elizabeth versions will still be sold to exhaustion by Post Offices and other non-retail outlets who have bought them for resale.

---

May Slogan Postmarks and other interesting postal markings.

Last month we only had St George's Day, and the BHF default.  This month we continue with another example received here, but we're nearly half way through the month with nothing new on the horizon.  

British Heart Foundation Cornwall Mail Centre 08/05/2024

---

UPDATE 14 May - I am pleased to welcome a new reporter (GO) with the first new slogan for May, which is for Mental Health Awareness Week.  This first example is from Peterborough Mail Centre 10-05-2024

Mental Health
Awareness Week
#MomentsForMovement
13-19 May

Mental Health Awareness Week slogan Peterborough Mail Centre 10-05-2024

---

OTHER POSTMARKS AND POSTAL MARKINGS

I recently acquired a job lot of covers which revealed some postmarks that I had not shown here when they were actually used, so I am adding them in their rightful place and will mention them here as well.

But I'll start with an example which still occasionally draws queries on stamp forums - because it is so unsual and unique (in the sense that it was heavily used in Manchester but examples from elsewhere are scarce).

This is a 2019 example from the 'Large Flat machine in use at Manchester Mail Centre, primarily used for magazines and A4-size mail but on this occasion it's on a 19 cm square greetings card envelope.

Manchester 'Large Flat' postmark with Postcode slogan 11.12.19

There was also an unusually good copy of a Universal usage in 2021 from North & West Yorkshire. This has been added to the Christmas 2021 slogans post.

FInally, Aldwych is back on again! It seems that the trials of Post Office Ltd's New Branch IT in house developed replacement for Horizon (as part of its Strategic Platform Modernisation Programme) and I received this 2nd class Signed For label.   It's on a c6 envelope - and it really is big!

2nd class Signed For label from Aldwych PO (London)'s New Branch IT replacement for Horizon, 9 May 2024

---

If you have any other slogans used this month, or any other interesting postal markings from any period or place, please send them to the email address in the top right of this blog.  Thank you.

Remember, all postmarks appearing in May will be added to this post, so check here before you spend time scanning and emailing. 

---

First Day Cover producing on the wane - 20 years ago it was so different.

Along with the publicity for the Peppa Pig stamp issue Royal Mail published the Postmark Bulletin for May 2024.

This is page 4, the special handstamps available from the London Special Handstamp Centre.

Extract from Postmark Bulletin 26 April 2024, for May stamp issues.

There are four others produced by Royal Mail for their first day covers and medal cover including the non-pictorial one.

 

Twenty years ago, in October 2004, Royal Mail issued a set of six stamps marking the 150th Anniversary of the Crimean War.  

150th anniversary of Crimean War set of 6

This is the selection of special handstamps available for that issue, taken from our webpage because at that time the Bulletin was issued weekly, and handstamps were not arranged in chronological order, rather in the order the artwork was received by Royal Mail from the sponsor.

These included six from the now closed down British Forces Philatelic Service but even discounting those the number of handstamps is far greater - 12 compared with 4 for Peppa Pig.

 

Part of the reduction in special handstamps is because of the cost and difficulty of coping with the intellectual property (copyright) issues surrounding the issues for modern entertainment subjects. But there must also be reduced demand from collectors as stamp issues have become more expensive.

Either way the choice for collectors is much reduced.  

I can't help thinking that less pricey stamp issues on more straightforward subjects might have retained FDC collectors and hence a wider range of available day of issue postmarks.  

Sixteen Crimea FDCs cost £52.16 - four Peppa Pig FDCs cost £53.60!

Another self-inflicted foot injury for Royal Mail.

---

Another entertainment stamp issue - Peppa Pig set and miniature sheet, 16 May 2024

I will start by quoting from Royal Mail about this issue.

This special issue celebrates 20 years of Peppa Pig. 

Peppa Pig, the British animated TV series for preschool children, has been delighting and charming viewers of all ages for two decades. Created by animators Neville Astley and Mark Baker, Peppa Pig is a multi-award- winning series, watched in more than 180 countries around the world. Today, the character has grown into a truly global phenomenon, with theme parks, live shows, toys, books and even music albums to her name.  

The adorable Peppa and her family and friends first appeared on UK screens in May 2004. Each five-minute episode follows the adventures of Peppa and her family – younger brother George, Mummy Pig, Daddy Pig, Granny Pig and Grandpa Pig – as well as her diverse and inclusive group of friends from playgroup. As well as being funny and great fun, part of the show’s appeal is that it reflects the everyday experiences of preschool children and their families, from visiting the dentist and making new friends to going on holiday and having a sleepover. Episodes always end happily, with plenty of laughter, loud snorts and lots of jumping up and down in muddy puddles.

Fair enough, this animation, created in the UK, has been sold worldwide into 180 countries.

Children around the world enjoy it and the merchandise obviously sells well.  There are even lines for adults - T-shirts, socks, key-rings and fridge magnets.

But does it really deserve more merchandise from Royal Mail?  While our postal authority ignores the Royal National Lifeboat Institution centenary and the Universal Postal Union which governs postal relations between countries for 150 years (and many other laudable anniversaries, people, and cultural events) we are faced once again with a set of stamps on a subject of minority interest. Not only that but half of them have a face value for no specific postage rate.

The Stamps.

The set of eight stamps, 4 x 1st Class and 4 x £2.00, features "Peppa Pig and her friends and family, all the key characters loved by young Peppa Pig fans."

Set of 8 Peppa Pig stamps, 4 x 1st class and 4 x £2 issued 16 May 2024

Design Details:

1st Class Peppa and George, Suzy Sheep and Danny Dog, George and Daddy Pig, Mummy Pig and Peppa.
 
£2.00 Grandpa Pig and Polly Parrot, Granny Pig and her Chickens, Mr Bull and Madame Gazelle,
Mr Zebra and Miss Rabbit.

Miniature Sheet

An additional set of four stamps are included on the Miniature Sheet, celebrating 20 years of Peppa Pig with Peppa and her friends. Two first class and two £2.00 stamps featuring Peppa, George, Zoë Zebra and Suzy Sheep all having fun whilst celebrating Peppa’s Party with balloons and bunting, candles and cake!

Miniature sheet of 4 Peppa Pig stamps, 2 x 1st class and 2 x £2 issued 16 May 2024

 £2.00 Zoe Zebra and George, 1st Class Peppa, 1st Class George, £2.00 Suzy Sheep

Technical details

The stamps and miniature sheet are designed by Michael O’Shea © Royal Mail Group Ltd 2024. The 41 x 30 mm stamps are printed in sheets of 48 stamps in se-tenant strips of 4, by lithography on gummed paper by Cartor Security Printers, perforated 14½ x 14.  The 190 x 67 mm miniature sheet contains 35 x 37 mm stamps printed on self-adhesive paper. (All other details the same).

HASBRO and PEPPA PIG and all related trademarks and characters TM & © 2024 Hasbro / Hasbro Consumer Products Licensing Ltd. Peppa Pig © 2003 Astley Baker Davies Ltd and HCPL Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Used with Permission.

Products available

Set of stamps, miniature sheet, two first day covers, presentation pack, stamp cards, two Fan Sheets (see below), branded stamp packs, press sheet of 12 miniature sheets, limited edition medal cover, framed stamp set, framed miniature sheet, framed stamp print.

Fan sheets

An edition of 10,000 A4 stamps with four stamps perforated into the sheet, price £7.50 each (face £5.40).   Basic Fan Sheet has 4 x 1st class Peppa and George stamps and is gummed.  Peppa's Party Fan Sheet has 4 x 1st class Peppa stamps and is self-adhesive.  The stamps included are therefore the same as the basic stamps.

As a reader has commented on Commonwealth Stamps Opinion, "No longer scraping the bottom of a barrel, this is now through the wood and well into the ground below."

---