Wednesday 12 June 2024

It's advertised for sale but does not exist: 1st large KC3 business sheet.

When the King Charles III Business Sheets were issued a notable absence was the 1st class Large Letter sheet.

We were told at the time that this "had not yet been printed". 

King Charles III 1st class Large business sheet.

At the time the Royal Mail website warned that:

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.

But in mid-May we were told that all Queen Elizabeth II Datamatrix Machins would be taken off-sale from 1 June 2024.

As several people have pointed out, the caveat on the website remains, but the withdrawal from sale might indicate that the King Charles sheet has now been printed.

Not so!  The end of May withdrawal of the Machins was from philatelic sale: although the information came from the Stamps & Collectibles (S&C) side of Tallents House, it had been assumed that it applied across the board.

But no - the retail side (ie website) continues to sell Queen Elizabeth stamps while they last, in accordance with the wishes of His Majesty (and basic business sense) - to minimise any environmental impact.

I'm advised that the King Charles 1st Large Business Sheet is unlikely to be printed this year, but that it should appear some time in 2025.  

We hope that the S&C team are told early enough to make an official day of issue, so that collectors and dealers can produce first day covers. 

4 comments:

  1. The Norphil blog is right! As usual. I bought some £3:25 Machins today in a sub post office in Snodland.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can also buy £3.25 and £4.20 Machins on the RM website - however only in sheets of 25.

      Delete
  2. Talking of environmental impact, has anyone else received two copies of their May "Statement of Account" from Tallents House in separate envelopes? If the reference at the bottom is correct, 4,484 people may have!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Robert, I was informed yesterday Saturday that they have not been told about QE Machin sales being withdrawn from sale and also most counters still are using QE Machin Head Horizon labels until all are used. RW

    ReplyDelete

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