Happy New Post and Go Year - first day, first error!

As intimated at the beginning of last month, the change in postage rates which took effect yesterday means a steep rise in the cost of a Post and Go collectors strip.   

Thanks to one of our regular contributors I can show the new stamps on the Machin definitive stamp, and also on the 2nd class Winter Greenery thanks to Harrow PO which had the wrong roll in the first class position. (Purchased today)

This change increases the total cost from the previous £11.64 to £13.84 with the reappearance of a Worldwide 100g letter stamp, and the appearance for the first time of the Europe (£3.25) and Worldwide (all zones - £4.20) Large Letter 100g stamps.

 

Thanks to RW for this picture of the real 1st class Winter Greenery strip on the correct stock:

 

1st class Winter Greenery P&G strip with 1 January 2021 rates

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Royal Mail's third set of price increases since Spring 2020 - 1 January 2021

Many collectors have said that the release of stamps for Star Trek would mean the end of their collecting.  And for those who haven't already decided, Royal Mail's announcement today of new rates from 1 January 2021 will probably spell the end of buying new issues, with the basic set of 10 x 1st class stamps increasing from £7.60 to £8.50.

 

Press Release 1 December 2020

We understand that many companies and households are finding it hard in the current economic environment. As a result, we have considered any pricing changes very carefully and in doing so have sought to minimise any impact on our customers.

From 1 January, 2021 the price of a 1st Class stamp will increase by 9p to 85p and the price of a 2nd Class stamp will increase by 1p to 66p. These changes are necessary to help ensure the sustainability of the one-price-goes-anywhere Universal Service.

The Universal Service Obligation, which requires Royal Mail to be able to deliver to 31 million home and business addresses across the UK, comes with high fixed costs. During the coronavirus pandemic, letter volumes saw a 28% fall. The reduction in letter volumes has had a significant impact on the finances of the Universal Service which lost £180 million in the first half of the year. This demonstrates the need for change in the Universal Service. We are working tirelessly to deliver the most comprehensive service we can in difficult circumstances as the coronavirus pandemic continues to impact our operation.

The health and safety of our colleagues and our customers remains our number one priority. This means we have faced significant, additional costs related to COVID-19 (£85 million for the first six months) such as protective equipment, elevated absences, overtime and agency staff as well as the impact of necessary social distancing measures.

Royal Mail has taken a decision not to call upon the Government’s furlough scheme (Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme) throughout the pandemic. Royal Mail’s stamp prices are among the best value in Europe compared to other postal operators. Royal Mail research shows that the European average price for 1st Class letters (0-100g) is £1.21.

Nick Landon Chief Commercial Officer at Royal Mail said: “Like other companies, 2020 has been a challenging year for Royal Mail. Our people have worked tirelessly to keep the UK connected throughout the pandemic and associated restrictions. These price increases will help us continue to deliver and sustain the Universal Service in challenging circumstances.”

 

UK Inland Postage Rates from 1 January 2020

The headline increase of 1st class stamps is bound to cause a furore in some quarters, whilst the 1p increase in 2nd class will satisfy most social users of the mails, sending greetings cards.  

But for collectors the increase across international rates will impact on many more stamp issues.  It is possible that Stamps & Collectibles will be asked to make a contribution and increase the cost of some products, such as stamp cards and blank first day envelopes, as well as the premium on presentation packs and prestige stamp books.   It will also mean some more inventiveness in the Post and Go area as rates are combined.  (See below)

Airmail letter rates are simplified to a minimum of £1.70 which covers up to 20g Worldwide, and Europe up to 100g.  100g rates for Zones 1, 2 & 3 are standardised at £2.55 - which means the Post and Go imprint for these can revert to Zones 1-3.  However, this means that the existing £1.45 and £1.70 rates are now covered by £1.70 and the £2.50 and £2.55 rates are now covered by £2.55, leaving two gaps in the set of 6.  News about changes as we get it.

UPDATE: It is very rare that multiples of any stamp work for another rate, but it has been pointed out to me that 2 x 1st class = £1.70, and 3 x 1st class = £2.55.

NEW DEFINITIVES 

Unlike in the summer and autumn, this time Royal Mail will issue new stamps for the airmail rates.  It is to be hoped that these new stamps will suffice and that there will be no change in March.  There will be three Machin definitives and £1.70 country definitives:

New £1.70, £3.25 and £4.20 Machin definitives 23 December 2020

New £1.70 country definitives 23 December 2020

The new  £1.70 stamps cover the 100g letter rate for Europe, and the Worldwide rate up to 20g.

The £3.25 is for European and the £4.20 is for Worldwide Large Letters to 100g.

Colours are announced as £1.70 - Marine Turquoise, £3.25 - Aqua Green, and £4.20 Plum Purple.

The usual first day covers and facilities will be provided.

The £2.55 Garnet Red stamp first issued on 21 March 2017 will also be reprinted but as it is not a new issue* it will not be on Royal Mail first day covers. [Thanks to Robert for the comment that "The £2.55 from 2017 was printed by De La Rue, the new printing will be by Walsall." ] 

However being reprinted it will obviously have a new year code of either M20L or M21L* (the illustration above shows M21L).  Collectors interested in having first day covers with either this stamp alone, or added to the three on the Royal Mail cover are invited to contact us in the usual way as soon as possible.  (Please do not order via a comment on this post.)

* We have received information from Royal Mail Edinburgh indicating that all four new stamps has been printed with the M20L code (as they should be).  We would expect that before March is out we may well see the first reprints with M21L code, as the £1.70 at least will be more widely used as it replaced what was previously served by the £1.45 rate.

UPDATE 11 December
Thanks to CB & IM for reporting that the (non-visible change) £2.55 is being distributed by Royal Mail on standing order, but not until the first commemorative issue on 14 January 2021.  So that is likely to count as the first day of availability, there being no official first day of issue for this stamp.  If that is confirmed by my contacts at Edinburgh then the first day covers for this 'set' will have to be dual-dated.  

UPDATE 16 December  We have now received supplies of the new stamps and confirm that despite the fact that they were printed in 2020, and will first go on sale in 2020, they are coded M21L, except for the £2.55 which is coded M20L and we suspect some post offices may delay its sale. 

PICTURES OF ACTUAL STAMPS

Sheet of 25 x £2.55 Machin definitives coded M20L printed 01/10/20

Sheet of 25 x £1.70 Machin definitives coded M21L printed 01/10/20

Sheet of 25 x £3.75 Machin definitives coded M21L printed 01/10/20

Sheet of 25 x £4.20 Machin definitives coded M21L printed 01/10/20

Grid Positions show that One primary sheet of 8 sheets of 25 was used for England, and another primary sheet was used for the other countries.  Of these the Scotland stamp was printed in the first two columns, Northern Ireland in column 3 and Wales column 4.

Grid positions on sheets of £1.70 country definitive stamps.

Sorry for the not as good as usual quality of these images, I'll try to do a different picture for the £2.55 in different light - today the light is very indifferent!

 

What isn't obvious from the picture of the England stamp above is a curious flaw on the stamp adjacent to the printing date.  This may be a foreign body on the magenta plate - or something else.  Suggestions welcome!

Magenta 'hairs' on England £1.70 stamp.

POST AND GO

With the top four valued stamps now combined into two, Royal Mail will use the two spaces created for the Europe and Worldwide Large Letter stamps, increasing the total cost from the current £11.64 to a massive £13.84.  Fortunately if they ever issue any more pictorial series they will almost certainly be in packs of 6 x 1st.

UPDATE 2 December - An illustrated example of the Post and Go effects and write up by Brian is on his Postage Labels UK blog.  (Currently heading the list of 'other blogs' on the right of the page on web view.)

We have been told that The Postal Museum will be open on 1 January (unless further Covid restrictions are imposed) and so their Post and Go stamps will be available on the first day that the new rates are applicable.  It is likely that (with the same caveat) some independent franchised branches and some ex-Crown offices in WHSmith shops will also be open so collectors wanting first day covers on the first operational date for ordinary NCR SSK stamps could get them if they are lucky enough to live in the right area!

UPDATE 17 December - Press release from the Postal Museum.

On Friday 1 January 2021, The Postal Museum will reopen both Post & Go machines with stamps 1st and 2nd class Machins.

Both kiosks will be located at The Postal Museum’s Welcome Space and no admission ticket will be required to access the services. You will not be able to access any other areas of the building on this day. Additional safety measures have been introduced such as a hand sanitizer station, a one-in-one-out access and information on how to scan the NHS Test and Trace QR code located near the machines. The machines will vend the Machin stamps of all values with no new overprint but will have the new 2021 price updates and year code. These stamps will not be available to purchase online and nor will we be able to offer delivery to anyone who cannot attend on the day. Both Post & Go machines are available at The Postal Museum from 10am until 4pm on Friday 1 January only

And as expected following the 19 December announcement by the Prime Minister that London is now in Tier 4, the Postal Museum will not open on 1 January.

 

More analysis later, but meanwhile you can download the new rate leaflet here.

 

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New Post and Go Pack Discovery

If you've already read this story, read again.  Information now provided by a collector shows that the official comment was far from accurate - and may even have been created only to answer the original question, with no regard for accuracy!  Additional information is in blue.

It's spot the difference time!   Back in February 2014 new NCR Post and Go machines were introduced at Harpenden, and they were then rolled out over the rest of the country.  One of the features of the new machines was the introduction of 'Open Value' stamps, replacing the previous 'Post and Go Labels' that were dispensed by the Wincor-Nixdorf machines.

Recognising that not all collectors had access to the machines, and seeing a way of creating another product to sell, Royal Mail made a 'Post and Go Collectors Pack' containing the basic values in Open Value format.  This pack was PG15, and it was first issued on 07.07.14.  Most Post and Go collectors bought one, even though the stamps were not produced from an NCR machine but from the RM2 machine C001, with datastring B7GB14-C001-1840-015.

As with the Union Flag and Spring Flowers stamps, when stock was exhausted a reprint was produced, but not announced.  Can you see the difference?

It isn't obvious, and doesn't affect the pack, only the stamps:

Still not got it?

The difference isn't the same as on the Union Flag reprint, and only affects the weight -version 1 has kg and this is Kg on the reprint (version 2).  The pack is no longer available from Tallents House.

A Royal Mail spokesman said:

“The reprints of the Union Flag, Spring Blooms and Collectors Packs were different to the original printings because in the intervening period there was a software upgrade which impacted on the appearance of the font. The capital ‘K’ on the Machin reprint was a set up error and should not have happened.”

This is what I wrote originally:
Apart from the reader who originally drew my attention to this last year, no collectors or dealers I have spoken to are aware of the reprint.   The original is most likely to be the more common, as regular customers of both Royal Mail and dealers would have got the original.  Only latecomers and dealers replenishing their stocks would have had the reprint - and some dealers I spoke to still have some of their original supplies unsold!  The few collectors who have only got the reprint in their collections will have no difficulty in finding the original; those who have only the original will find the reprint hard to obtain.

This is what I have since been told:
Version 2 first appeared in packs after Flags and Spring Flowers had changed; they were very rare even if you knew what to look for.  I found some at Stampex and bought some direct from Tallents House, the ratio was about 6 times normal (version1) packs to one of the large K type (version 2).

HOWEVER.  This first day cover appeared on eBay.  Even allowing for post-dating - where collectors can send covers to the Special Handstamp Centres for a short period after stamps are issued (because of late delivery of the stamps or covers) - this must mean that Version 2 was available at more or less the same time as Version 1.

Even with this new information, my original comment probably remains valid.  Only a small proportion was version 2 with the big K.  And the early availability* would also account for the fact that the rest of the text - weight, datastring, value - is the same as on version 1.  

The Big K is not so much 'Version 2' as 'Error, upper-case K'.

* The Union Flag reprint was first reported in February 2015, and the Spring Blooms in March 2015.

UPDATE 21 March
Dennis has reminded me of an earlier blog post from July 2015, when Dominic noted that in the pack he bought from Tallents House the 97p airmail stamp was printed on MA13 Machin stock.  Now this makes the waters even more muddy.

If we assume that each of the values was printed on a separate roll, and then the stamps guillotined for machine-inserting into the packs (as is usual), it is fair to assume that a mix of rolls was available. The two blue rolls would be the same MA12, two of the brown rolls were undated, and the third was MA13.  MA13 has not been used for either the 1L or 1LG stamps.  But the 97p MA13 has only been found with a lower case 'k'.   Which rather casts doubt on the suggestion that the upper case K was printed as part of the same run as the lower case.  It is unlikely that Royal Mail can provide any reliable explanation of any of these differences.

Of course it makes no difference to Royal Mail at Tallents House what stamps they use, though a degree of consistency would be useful!

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Software error causes Post and Go printing to be inverted.

I don't normally blog at the weekend but thought I should share with you a Post and Go error that I received on a letter this morning.

At first sight it seems easy to explain - the reel of stamps was mounted in the machine the wrong way - but that actually wouldn't produce this invert unless the whole reel of stamps was wound the wrong way, because the feed would present the back of the strip to the printer.

The enclosed letter explained: A software fault in the NCR Self-Service Kiosk, which occurred bizarrely only at Sydenham BO, caused the stamps to be to be inverted on a normally-mounted reel of stamps.   On a collectors set of 6, the 1st class stamp was printed first, followed by the 1st Large, Euro 20/World 10, etc.  Apparently despite this the stamps are still usable as printed, so the Branch Manager was told to continue to use the machine (presumably because of the Christmas post pressures), and it took 8 engineer visits (yes, eight) to put this right.

My correspondent, it seems, asked if other stamps could also be loaded into the machine just as I would have - I would have wanted an example of each.  [Apologies for poor editing of this paragraph earlier, it's almost impossible to do on a pad as there is no mobile interface and the web-editor version is clunky beyond belief - Google used to provide an App, but no longer supports it!]

And so the MA16 Poppy, MA14 Machin, and Ladybirds are also currently available on eBay with this error - which is much more than 'an example of each'.

UPDATE 12 December
I'm reminded that when a roll of stamps is replaced in a PandG or SSK machine, either due to a fault in the machine or when new designs are issued, the old roll is often dropped into a storage area within the machine - I've seen that myself and I and my customers have benefited from it.   If the 'part roll' - let's say they are Machins - has sufficient stamps on it to make it worthwhile using it it may be reloaded when the temporary (say Winter) stamps are removed.  If there are too few to use they ought to be destroyed of course.  

Back in 2014 new rates of Europe 60g and Worldwide 60g were introduced when rates changed. Many of these were able to be produced on stamps which were thought to be long out of use.  We reported the following from around the country: All three water life, all three farm animals, union flag, Machin, spring flowers, robin, and lastly Birds 2, 3 and 4.  Obviously these were not all from the same branch but several different branches had some very old stock, and boosted their turnover as a result.  Most branches only had two designs active, but could produce others if asked.

This is unlikely to happen again, not in the near future.  But errors can occur - albeit not many on NCR SSK machines.  But all of us have the opportunity to pop in to SSK branches and buy a stamp - if it turns out there is an error, then buy more.  Of course if you not are a regular visitor you may not be able to persuade the staff to add something different, but if you cultivate your sources by being a regular visitor and finding friendly staff, then you can achieve more - a fact that applies to ordinary post office branches and buying booklets or other stamps as well.  

And don't begrudge others their good fortune and the work they put into sourcing different stamps.  Without these people I wouldn't have anywhere near as much to report!

UPDATE 15 December
We've had a very interesting comment from Paul who is a software designer with NCR - see 15 December comment.  Paul writes:

"I'm the software designer and lead developer at NCR for the Post Office self-service machines. My first inclination is usually to assume that our software is at fault until proven otherwise, but in this case it seems quite unlikely. It is possible to generate this kind of reversal if the media have been removed from the roll and fed into the printer the wrong way, which I suppose could happen with a left-over roll."

My response to this, which doesn't actually explain how the problem occurred:

"Invert the image and the stamps will be correct, and the printing will be in the correct order, ie the first stamp to be dispensed in a Collector's Strip is the 1st class (stamp number 43 on the Machin). The second stamp is the 1st Large - stamp number 44, and so on to the Worldwide 100g, stamp number 48.

So the printing is in the right order on upright stamps, but the print is inverted appearing at the right of the stamp instead of the left. The printing on each stamp *must* have been printed with the datsstring printed first, and the top line of '1st class' printed last."

As an aid to understanding what has happened here is the Machin strip up the right way - see right.  The top stamp is number 43, the next is 44, then 45, and so on.

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More Post and Go Stamp news, Flags, Poppies, and Animals.

In the absence of anything new happening on the Machin definitive front, I can bring you some more news on the Faststamp or Post and Go scene.

John G has added to the news about the on-off Union Flags, introduced to coincide with the Rio Olympics.  John was pleasantly surprised to find them already installed in the Cambridge NCR Self-service Kiosks (SSKs), and even more so when he found that they had the year code MA13, as shown here:

John also took me to task about my comment (under the earlier post) that I was "less than enthusiastic about Post and Go these days".   He writes: "My guess it is the Royal Mail shenanigans that have put you and lots of others off Post and Go...", and I suppose he is correct in that.  Furthermore, as mentioned in another comment on that post, which I was too busy to grasp the full significance of:

... the MA13 Union Flag stamps hadn't appeared in NCR machines before, so there was a whole load of new material to obtain. And these are real Post and Go items dispensed for the public to use on letters and parcels, not the purely philatelic items dispensed by the Royal Mail machines! 

I can let you have images of various Open Value stamps - the most widely dispensed stamps from Post Office NCR machines - if you want to see them. These will be the items for postal history collections in the future - and very few people seem to be bothering with them!

Yes, I firmly believe in collecting modern postal history, and have most of the basic rate security

Machins on cover from all sources.  I do have a small collection of Post and Go stamps, some from SSKs, but very few Open Value, and the ones that I do have, from any source are nearly all from other collectors or from dealers.   I would certainly agree that to find and accumulate a comprehensive collection of 'used-on-cover' Open Values would be very worthwhile, and would definitely be a challenge.

So start looking for Open Value stamps on letters, cards and packet wrappers: I'll be happy to have scans of these to demonstrate that they do exist and have been collected - but please don't send them until November.  Remember, postal history is best if it is dated, and most Post and Go/NCR stamps going through the post is not postmarked.  In the Special delivery case pictured nearby, the sender is another dealer, so obtained the counter datestamp on it.

[Even collecting Faststamps from all the various Royal Mail 'event' machines would be a challenge, given that some of them have been used with no publicity, for instance at the political Party Conferences.   That news doesn't appear on the Royal Mail Post and Go News webpage.  I suppose the reason is that they are restricted events, but it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that one of the delegates or volunteers is a collector, or is known to collectors and could actually obtain some.]

Which brings me to other news from Royal Mail's News page.

Trafalgar Day
Royal Navy Museum (except Fleet Air Arm and Submarine) machines will carry a ‘Trafalgar Day’ additional inscription on the Union Flag design from 23 September until 23 October 2016, when they will be replaced by.... 

Poppy
The Poppy design from the Symbolic Flowers Post and Go set will be re-introduced from 24 October until 13 November 2016. The stamps will be available from Post and Go post offices, The Postal Museum, Royal Navy and Royal Mail Enquiry office machines.

Hibernating Animals
Hibernating Animals Post and Go stamps will be issued on 14 November 2016. There will be two designs for multi-value reels and two 2nd Class designs. The 2nd Class designs will carry ‘2nd Class’ wording in the background text. Stamps will be available from Post and Go post offices as well as The Postal Museum and Enquiry Office machines.  (Pictures of these cannot be published until much nearer the time.)

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Great Britain Stamp and postmark news update.

Before we go for our main summer break, a quick round up of news items that have been reported recently.

1.  BE reports that the Dog Awareness slogan postmark has been used at Chester Mail Centre in the last few days.  I'll add a picture when I have it.  Not the first time that Chester has been out of step - they were still celebrating the Royal Princess on 16 June!

 

1a. BE also provides a picture of this Edinburgh Fringe Festival slogan received today (7 August) from Peterborough Mail Centre -apparently used on 5 August.  According to Royal Mail's press release:
"The postmark will be applied to stamped UK mail from Friday 7 to Monday 31 August", ie delivered in that period, and thus used before.

2.  RW sent this picture of part of a Battle of Britain first day cover with the BoB slogan postmark: not easy to get, well done!

3.  The 1st class Machin from retail books of 12 has been found but we have no stocks (or pictures) yet.


4. Our website has been updated with two new pages for the September Stampex issues.

The Sea Travel Post and Go stamps will be issued on Wednesday 16 September (the first day) at Stampex from Royal Mail Series II machines and in Bureau packs, and at Post Office NCR self-service kiosks in branches around the country.  These will be available for all Inland and International Services except for 2nd class mail.  Something of a surprise, the stamps do not show the luxury liners that were expected, but the views from those vessels.

The other Stampex issue is usually on Thursday, but this time the Rugby World Cup special issue will be issued on Friday 18th, as that is the day when the opening match in the tournament is played.

On the Thursday, the Animals of World War I Commemorative Sheet will be available, and is shown below.



5.  We'll be back on 25th August, part of the time away searching for those elusive 12 x 1st Machin booklets, one of the last of this year's coded red stamps to find.

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Post and Go Faststamp Checklist now available

I am very pleased to report that the Post and Go Checklist is now available to examine online* or download.  A tremendous amount of work has gone into it and it is a worthy addition to your Philatelic Library!

After we produced the Machin Security Definitives Catalogue last year, several people asked about a similar list for Post and Go Faststamps.   I made it clear in October that this was not something I would undertake and invited interested parties to contact me about production and distribution of a new list.  As I wrote at the time, "There is a demand out there - who's up for it? "

I'm happy to say that Stuart Leigh has produced a comprehensive illustrated check-list in multiple parts with a section for each stamp set/design - so if you aren't interested in the Channel Islands, you don't have to download those parts.

Visit the postandgochecklist.yolasite.com website, click on 'CHECK LISTS' below the page title, and then choose the sections that you want.

Part of Title page (right) and sample pages on the machines, and on the Union Flag Faststamps (below).  Click on these images for larger versions.

* Depending on your browser settings you may be forced to download these pdf files, or you may be able to see them in your browser and then decided whether to download them.

Like our own Machin checklist, there may be errors or omissions in the Stuart's list despite the assistance of some well-known authorities on the subject so do use the contact form on the website, to help make sure this is the definitive reference material.

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