Country definitives: shades of grey, and other colours

When the Gibbons Great Britain Concise catalogue appeared this year I mentioned that the new Scotland 2nd class stamp listing that had appeared in Gibbons Stamp Monthly had had it's description changed in line with what we all knew rather than what had been mentioned by John Deering and misinterpreted by most readers.  Heads on both were shades of grey, not metallic silver.

A blog reader comment  pointed out that there was a new listing for the England 1st class stamp from the Visions of the Universe booklet which also gained a separate number (EN53a) due to its shade, which is described by Gibbons as 'Venetian Red', with the sheet stamp being 'Indian Red'.

Not for the first time, we had Cartor printing significantly different stamps in the prestige books to those that are in sheets. 

I mentioned in June that there were new printings of some country definitives and I have now had time to examine these, and compare with previously issued stamps.  I think Gibbons' catalogue editor will have some thinking to do!

Scotland 2nd class
The first Cartor printing with the new font was 27/12/2017, cylinder C1.
The second printing was 27/08/2018, from cylinder C2.
The third printing is 16/04/2020, back to cylinder C1  (Column 1 in a grid of 2x2.)

The first two printings are very similar in shade of blue, and the head, which is the light- (or silver-) grey: SG159.   The third printing is markedly different, with the blue much darker, and the head also qualifying for the description 'dull-grey' applied by the editor to SG159a.  But is the blue dark enough to mean yet another new stamp, ie three in total?

The stamp from the James Bond PSB (left) compared with the new sheet printing:

I suspect we will see a further amendment to the catalogue indicating that this stamp also exists from sheets.

England 1st class
As mentioned above, the 1st class stamp from the Visions of the Universe PSB is listed as EN53a, Venetian Red.  The original sheet printing is no longer available from Tallents House, which will be why it was necessary to have a new printing on 25/06/2020. 

This stamp, from Cylinder C2, is also Venetian Red!  (Column 1 in a grid of 2x2.)

Again, the catalogue will have to indicate that this is not only from the Visions PSB. 

However, what the catalogue doesn't mention is that the head on the stamp from the Visions PSB (shown in the centre below) is lighter than that on the sheet stamp.

Is it lighter enough to qualify as 'silver-grey' as in the original Scotland 2nd class above?  Do we have three different stamps here?  I'm not sure that it is light enough: the editor will have to decide how specialised the Concise is going to be in the absence of a Specialised catalogue.

England 2nd class
This stamp hasn't appeared in a prestige book so the 2018 sheet issue (EN52) is the only one with the new font.  As with the 1st class, the original 2017 printing is out of stock at Tallents House, so this also has a new printing on 25/06/2020.

When it was issued in 2018 I mentioned that the white denomination made "the 2nd class England stamp join the top value for Northern Ireland in having a face value that is almost impossible to determine."

The new C2 printing (col 2 from the 2x2 grid) certainly changes that!

Over the years the shades of this stamp have got lighter, and in the case of more recent printings, yellower or creamier.  This printing takes us back almost to the shade of the original 2001 printing:

As with the Venetian Red 1st class, this must have a new sub-number, probably EN52a.

Wales 2nd class
The latest printing of this stamp on 16/04/2020 is a good match for the original 26/12/17 printing.  It's slightly yellower (ie less red), but within the normal tolerances for printing.

Scotland 1st class
When it was issued in the Visions of the Universe PSB, I said that this stamp was a good match for the original 2017 sheet printing (issued 2018).  But I perhaps overlooked the head.  It is lighter grey than the original - is it different enough to have a separate listing?  (Or does it just look lighter because the background is slightly darker?)

Other country stamps
The 1st class Wales stamp was issued in the Visions PSB but unlike the Scotland and England stamps, the head and denomination are reversed out (ie white), so the only difference is the slight shade (slightly less yellow)- we await the sheet reprint with interest.

Similarly there are no new printings for Northern Ireland stamps yet which, given reports of their scarcity at post offices in the province, is not surprising, but they could come.  Watch this space!

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Just print some stamps, we don't care what they look like!

It's beginning to look that way, with Royal Mail seemingly not exercising any quality control over what their print contractors are doing. When I worked for a security print organisation we had our own people in contractors' premises, at least when printing started and finished, to check that what they were producing matched what we asked for and what we thought they should be printing.

Of course one could argue that it doesn't really matter as long as the stamps are fit for purpose, ie they will do the job that is required.  We've had prestige book make-up errors with duplicated or otherwise wrong pages (see blog posts - as they write in Private Eye - passim, ad nauseum).

We've had the long elliptical perforation hole at the top instead of nearer the foot of the pane.

We've had an entirely wrong colour, again in a PSB, where - arguably - it matters far less than elsewhere because those stamps rarely get used for postage. And the change to the colour of the 1st class 'red' wasn't consistent in PSBs either.  The 2p & 50p stamps in the Marvel PSB are so different from earlier ones that they may have full catalogue listing!

We've had phantom or missing cylinder numbers on counter sheets.

So what do you make of this?  

Since the printing of country definitives was moved from De La Rue to Cartor in 2012, there have been several reprints.

The original printing of the Wales 1st class was on 10 & 11/07/12  (released January 2013) using Cylinders C1.   What we believe to be the second printing was on 07/04/15 and these cylinders were also C1, but this was during the period when cylinders were not always renumbered as they should be.  The black was clearly a new cylinder as the printing date was part of the cylinder.

Cylinders C2 were used on 17/11/16.   And the next printing, on 26/12/17 was from a new set of C1 cylinders with the font revised to that used for the airmail values and the Machin definitives. 

A recent list from Royal Mail showed a printing from Cylinders C3.  This wasn't regarded as odd: it would be quite possible for Cylinders C2 to be produced but not used because they were - for some reason - not of the right quality.

It was only when a customer asked if he had had a C2 block, that I found the C2 that he had had, and realised that C3 is the same font.  So what gives?  Royal Mail asked Cartor to print some more 1st class stamps for Wales - and they used the previous master images and made a new cylinder.

Maybe Royal Mail didn't feel the need to specify "use the latest design" - I'm not sure that I would have.  Why would you?  Why would a printer NOT use the latest design?

 

 

 

Many people don't collect cylinder blocks and date blocks, and to be fair there isn't much to choose between the stamps printed by C1, C2 & C3 in the old font - minor shade differences excepted.

But if anybody wants date blocks or cylinder blocks - or even singles - of the latest printing I will make them available on our webshop shortly, although there will be a delay in supplying while I obtain more stocks from Royal Mail.  They will be listed here.

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Country definitives by Cartor...... and Wales 1st

Clearly the opportunity for first day covers for the remaining Cartor-printed country stamps is going to be very limited.  Following on from the England 2nd class (see previous post), we have now been told about the Wales 1st class (and a date new to us for the 87p).

Thanks to Stuart for these pictures:

The grid position for the England 2nd class is upper left ONLY, and that for the Wales 1st class is lower right only.  Logic says that the England 1st and Wales 2nd will occupy the other two positions.

UPDATE 15/11/12: A printing date of 10/07/12 is also reported for the England and Wales stamps.

This 87p was printed 02/07/12 which is new to me, although it may have been reported elsewhere.

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Country stamps: change of format and printer starts this summer

Royal Mail have announced that the printer for 1st and 2nd class Country Stamps is changing, starting this summer with the Scotland stamps.

The stamps have been gravure printed by De La Rue in sheets of 200 since first being issued in 1999.  In future they will be printed in litho by Cartor Security Printers, in sheets of 50. The new Scotland stamps will be issued on 27 June 2012 from Tallents House and philatelic offices, and will be distributed to other offices as needed to replenish existing stocks.

The sheet grid alongside the final row suggests that these two values are printed on the same plate.

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As the stamps are essentially unchanged from a postal viewpoint we do not expect Royal Mail to produce first day covers or have any official first day postmarks.  Operational postmarks and permanent philatelic postmarks will be available.

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Major developments in British philately over the last 20 years.

At the start of the year the American weekly, Linn's Stamp News, ran an article by respected philatelist and writer on British stamps David Alderfer about what he regarded as the major developments in British philately over the last 20 years (January 9, 2012, edition).

His five key factors/events are shown, with a summary of his reasoning:

1. The introduction of elliptical perforations to Machin definitives. Initially album pages had an odd look as some stamps had traditional and others the new perforations, but now we all expect them as a matter of course.

2. Unsoakable gum - a development also adopted by the US postal service. Many collectors collect the new security-featured stamps on paper, neatly cut out.

3. Computer-generated labels, specifically the Horizon label - are they stamps?  Collectors had to decide whether to include these in their collections.

4. Discontinuation of postage due stamps in January 2000 - the end of a chapter and facet of British stamp collecting.

5. The introduction - and abandonment - of the £10 Britannia, the British stamp with the highest face value ever.  Comparison with the £5 Queen Victoria and its present value.

Such an article is always a personal opinion, and should encourage discussion among collectors. Whilst I agreed with some of the writer's suggestions I thought there were other events and changes which collectors of GB might think more important.  The editors of Linn's didn't have room for another article of the same size but were kind enough to publish some of my suggestions as a letter.

The three points which Linn's had room for (February 13 edition) were these:

a. The introduction of pictorial country definitives in 2001.  Machin collectors in particular had to decide whether to include these stamps in their Machin collections now that the main feature was not the Queens' head.

b. The introduction of Post & Go vending machines, producing not only the 'post it now' labels (which reduce the number of postage stamps used), but also the Machin Faststamps.  Again, Machin collectors were faced with a dilemma - is it a stamp, how many different ones to include in a collection. And then when the pictorial Faststamps were issued, up a whole new area of collecting opened up.

c.  Also of major significance in recent years has been Royal Mail's concentration on new markets, attracting 'niche' collectors. The 'Action for Species' started in 2007 and the Kings and Queens series started in 2008. All the stamps in these series have been kept on sale for a number of years, instead of being taken off sale 12 months after issue as previously. Royal Mail acknowledged that they no longer cater for 'completist' collectors but, with new thematic subjects, are targetting new collectors who may go on to buy more than they were originally attracted to. This has made acquisition of a complete collection – with all issued varieties – ever more expensive.

Two other points:

a. It was the security overprint rather than the introduction of water-soluble gum on the security stamps which was not the key factor, and which put the hunt back into collecting as most variations are not available from Royal Mail's philatelic service.  As we know, for one variation only 5 used copies are known.

b. The Horizon labels introduced in 2002 were not of interest to most collectors, apart from the fact that it reduced the number of stamps used.  Rather it was the later change to the Machin-head label which was of interest, particularly Machin collectors.

So what do you think?  Look back over the last 20 years, leave a comment, on what you think has been significant in the collection of British stamps between 1991 and 2011 !

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Country Definitive printing dates, cylinder numbers, (updated)

Royal Mail have confirmed that the printing dates for the 2011 Country Definitives are on the litho plates.

The printings for both England and Scotland ran over two days because they are still produced in reasonable volumes. Cartor currently has no ink-jetting facilities and so to change the print date required them to make a new plate. Wales and Northern Ireland printing was completed in one day so only one set of plates was used.

This is what inflation and unchanged designs produces

No, it's not an error, simply the March (29th) of time - the 68p stamp was originally issued on 4 July 2002 without white borders, and there was even time to reissue it on 14 October 2003 with white borders.  But now what previously paid the Rest of the World 20 g airmail rate now pays only the Europe 20 g airmail rate.  [Sad face!]

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Tariff increases spring 2010 - new stamps

As has been widely reported, postage rates in the UK will rise on 6 April 2010. The rises, which have been approved by the regulator, mean an increase of 2p each for 1st and 2nd class inland stamps (to 41pand 32p) but no increase at all for franked and PPI business mail.

Increases in other inland and international rates mean rises of 8-10% for some, which will naturally increase the cost of special stamp sets, as well as require new Machin and Country definitives.

The new Machins will be 60p, 67p, 88p, 97p, £1.46.
New Country stamps will be 60p and 97p.
The current 40gr airmail booklets are to be discontinued and replaced with 20gr airmail booklets - at present we don't know whether these will be in similar or new designs, but they will be NVIs

All the new stamps including the booklets will be issued a week before the rate increase on 30 March, which means that the 20gr airmail booklets will initially be sold at £2.24 for Europe (56p each) and £3.60 for the rest of the world (90p each). From 6 April these will be £2.40 and £3.88 respectively.

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New postal rates - new Machin and country definitive stamps 31 March 2009

On 31 March Royal Mail will issue new definitive stamps in advance of the change in postage rates which takes effect from 6 April.

Four new Machin definitives will be issued:
17p olive-green
22p stone
62p red
90p ultramarine
Of course these colours are Royal Mail descriptions so we can't be sure what they will actually look like until they show us, but the 17p is probably similar to the 18p & 30p, the 22p similar to the old 16p, red has been used a number of times (8p, 26p) and ultramarine is probably the 20½p blue.

New 56p and 90p country definitives will replace the 50p and 81p in existing designs.