This post has a collection of short pieces not really warranting a whole blog post of their own.
Beyond the Definitives
Last year we discussed what products would need to change apart from postage stamps, with Horizon and Post & Go Labels being obvious examples.
Horizon Labels bearing the head of the King have appeared, but not Post and Go - although Royal Mail stopped using Post & Go machines at the end of the year, so no replacement was necessary there. The existing stamps continue in use at Post Office self-service kiosks, although there are trials of a new label which does bear the profile of King Charles.
A couple of readers have reminded me that although there is no postal stationery on sale now other than the prepaid plastic Special Delivery bags. However the Houses of Parliament, and in particular members, are entitled to use prepaid postal stationery which currently still bears the Machin head. Both 1st (provided by RM) and 2nd class (from RW) are in use.
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| House of Commons prepaid 2nd class envelope used June 2024. |
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| House of Commons prepaid 1st class envelope used May 2024. |
Counterfeit Stamps
Thanks to BB for alerting me to more counterfeit non-definitive stamps being sold on eBay. The current range now includes the Discworld, Cats, Christmas including miniature sheets, Paddington Bear and Children's TV Classics. OK, they might be genuine, but it's clear from this photograph that there are no phosphor bands whereas there should be two.
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| 2022 1st class 'Cats' stamps which should have two phosphor bands.... |
Catalogue Numbers
Thanks to CN who has alerted me to changes of numbers of the King Charles booklets in the Stanley Gibbons Concise Catalogue 2024, as follows:
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M24L printings
CN also tells me about the new printing of the booklet of 8 x 2nd class stamps, now with M24L year code. Here's his picture:
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| King Charles III 2nd class booklet stamp coded MEIL and M24L, 2024 printing. |
JH has provided a good photograph of the whole booklet.
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| King Charles III 2nd class booklet with stamps coded MEIL and M24L, 2024 printing. |
Philatelic Bureau mail
Back in 2014 we reported that Royal Mail was using real stamps (stuck over the PPI) on sendings of bulletins from Tallents House. Sadly this practice didn't last long.
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| Set of 2014 Butterfly stamps used on mailings from Royal Mail Tallents House, Edinburgh. |
Few philatelic bureaux do use stamps on their sendings (Isle of Man and Greenland do, I think), but Guernsey has made up for not using stamps by advertising them on their envelopes! My thanks to RM for sending this and other interesting material.
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| Guernsey Post envelope used in 2024 for sending out stamp orders, illustrated with examples from previous stamp issues. |
That's all for now, thanks for reading, and keep sending your news - thanks!
Any postal orders with Charles's head yet ?
ReplyDeleteI had the earlier London Underground as well as Butterflies on Philatelic Bulletin envelopes.
Describe this booklet of 8 x 2nd class stamps, now with M24L year code to the bureau when i rang from western Australia around an hour age 11/6/24 said it did not exist but for sale on ebay minus the booklet only pairs and singles. are real or fake
ReplyDeleteThe bureau do not recognise different years' printings; their 'product' is a booklet of 8 x 2nd; they don't care which printing it is.
DeleteThey did not sell separately any printings of any of the Machin issues either.
The only way to buy (if you are not here in the UK) is through a dealer, or eBay.
Thank you Ian for the information i have now finally found one dealer and purchased one booklet plus GB 2024 KCIII 2nd BARCODED DEFINITIVE BUSINESS SHEET STAMP, M24L/MBIL,
ReplyDeleteConcise 2024 also has a couple of catalogue number changes in the KCIII definitive section:
ReplyDelete2nd Large MFIL is now V5018 (was V5017)
1st Large MFIL is now V5020 (was V5018)