Great Britain 2010 Programme Update

Royal Mail have firmed up their stamp issue programme for 2010 and announced some additional products connected with the London 2010 Festival of Stamps. These notes are in approximate chronological order and are necessarily brief.

First up is another Souvenir Sheet in the Classic Album Covers range. The new sheet is in the same format and the same size as the last, but contains 10 Pink Floyd stamps, and some artwork and text specific to the band and Dave Gilmour. This will also carry a premium price (to be confirmed) and will be issued on Saturday, 6 March (yes, one week tomorrow).

30 March - examples of the 20gr Europe stamp that we were shown were not the same colour as the 60p Machin, but more a dark blue-green colour. The issued stamp may not be the same as the essay we were shown.

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London 2010 Festival of Stamps 8 May
- Prestige Stamp Book: the Machin pane will be self-adhesive with security features. My scribbled note shows 4 x 1st, 4 x 2nd and 2 x 50p stamps but that makes 10, so I have an error there. The security code on these will show a P for Prestige - position to be confirmed. (Not ROYAL PAIL, surely?)

- There will be an Exhibition Souvenir Sheet echoing the Jeffrey Matthews sheet from StampShow 2000. The new sheet will contain all the valued non-security stamps currently available in three rows, ie

1p,  2p,  5p,  9p
10p,  20p,  60p,  67p
88p, 97p, £1.46, London2010 Logo.

A strange combination (total value £5.05) omitting the 50p & £1, and 1st & 2nd class stamps.

- To mark the 10th Anniversary of Smilers Stamps there will be a Generic Sheet containing the four new Smilers Stamps issued in February. At the Show four Smilers Sheets were available for personalisation, with the show Logo in the margin.

- An Exhibition Generic Sheet will be available, as issued for overseas Exhibitions since Hong Kong in 2004.

- 6th May Accession Miniature Sheet was overprinted and on sale for the Exhibition Period only.

- A Postal Union Congress Souvenir Pack will also be available. Details here.

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18 May - Commemorative Sheet Halley's Comet (Centenary of first appearance which was photographed).

15 June - House of Stuart confirmed (Monarchs known, MS: Wm Harvey, Battle of Naseby, John Vanburgh, John Milton)
15 June - Retail booklet, Mammals, 2 plus 4 x Machin gold.

8 July - Commemorative Sheet British Grand Prix

27 July - Olympics/paralympicsset of 10 & Commemorative sheet.
27 July - Olympics Retail booklet 3, 2 plus 4 Machin gold.

10 August - Commemorative Sheet - London Eye

19 August - Stage Musicals, set & MS (details to follow - think modern)
                  - Great British Railways, monochrome set of 6

15 September - Retail booklet: British Design Classics (Spitfire)
15 September - Generic Smiler (Spitfire)

16 September - Medical Breakthroughs (originally scheduled for February 2011)

17 September - Bird Pictorial Faststamps

12 October - Children's Literature. Despite the designated first day site association with AA Milne Royal Mail are not yet in a position to confirm that this is Milne, Winnie the Pooh or to say how many authors, how many books, or how many characters will be featured.
We now know that this is a set of 6 and a MS, all Winnie-the-Pooh

12 October - Olympics Retail booklet 4, 2 plus 4 Machin gold.

October - Lest We Forget se-tenant strip of 3 to be reissued from existing stock, no new printing.
28 October - National Arboretum Remembrance Commemorative Sheet.

2 November - Christmas, secular, Wallace & Gromit. Range and size as 2009, ie definitive and large definitive size, 7 stamps, MS & Smilers.

Great Britain 2011 Programme (updated)

Royal Mail have provided their outline programme for 2011 as follows:

11 January - Classic Children's Television: Gerry Anderson set, MS + retail booklet

24 January - Pictorial Faststamps - Birds 2

1 February - Classic Railway Locomotives miniature sheet

24 February - West End Stage Musicals - set & MS expected (postponed from autumn 2010)
24 February - Retail Booklet: Medical Breakthroughs Beta-Blockers, British Heart Foundation

8 March - Magical Heroes of Fiction
8 March - Low value self-adhesive definitives: 1,2,5,10,20p

22 March - World Wide Fund for Nature (formerly World Wildlife Fund)
22 March - New retail booklets, 1st Large, 2nd Large

29 March - new Machins and Country Stamps on tariff change

12 April - Royal Shakespeare Company 50th Anniversary set & MS

21 April - Royal Wedding MS

5 May - William Morris & Co 150th Anniversary, incl PSB

19 May - Pictorial Faststamps - Birds 3

14 June - Rev Wm Awdry Birth Centenary (Thomas the Tank Engine author), set MS & booklet
14 June - Prince Philip 90th Birthday Commemorative Sheet

27 July - Olympics/Paralympics III, booklet 5, commemorative sheet and composite sheet

28 July - Philanippon, Japan, Exhibition Generic Smilers Sheet.

23 August - Crown Jewels
23 August - Classic Locomotives of England retail booklet

9 September - World's First Scheduled Airmail, Windsor

14 September - Arnold Machin Birth Centenary miniature sheet

15 September - Kings + Queens, House of Hannover (Stampex issue)
15 September - Olympics/Paralympics retail booklet 6
15 September - 350th Anniv of the Postmark - Generic Smilers Sheet

16 September - Pictorial Faststamps - Birds4

13 October - A-Z of the United Kingdom (A-L 12 stamps)

25 October - retail booklets with FSC Logo - 6 x 1st, 12 x 1st, 12 x 2nd, 4 x 1st Large, 4 x 2nd Large

8 November - Christmas (religious) [400th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible]

This programme list will be added to and amended from time to time: there will be Smilers sheets, retail booklets and commemorative sheets.  Let us know your views, now and as the extended programme unfolds, using the Comment facility.

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Nearly Christmas!

Due to other commitments I've been unable to provide details here or on the website about the 2009 Christmas stamps, which feature stained glass windows.

Seven stamps this year -

2nd & 2nd Large - Angel
1st & 1st Large - Madonna and Child
56p - Joseph
90p - Wise Man
£1.35 - Shepherd
... as well as a miniature sheet and Smilers sheet, the last of which you can see here .

I must admit this is one of the better designed Smilers in recent years. OK some labels show only arms rather than heads, but better than the Pantomime of last year, I think.

As in previous years, the Madonna and Child stamps will be reissued though I'm not sure why, as both 1st class stamps feature the Madonna and Child and the rest are quite obviously religious?

Business Sheets: DLR using 2 different die-cuts at the same time?

Back in March we reported that the Security slits on the Business Sheets proved conclusively that they were printed by De La Rue because the semi-circular arcs were the same as those on counter sheets, ie one continuous unbroken arc.

Now we have news that the latest 1st & 2nd (small) Business Sheets have been found with split arcs, similar to those on the Walsall-printed booklets. We're referring to these, for the time being as
Type 1 (continuous arc), Type 2 (Split arc)

At first it appeared that Royal Mail had asked De La Rue to change the die-cut, and this suggested that we might also see changes on subsequent printings of the PO counter sheets of 50p - £5 and 1st & 2nd including Large Letter.

The dates first reported to me were

1st class - 13/02/2009 &
2nd class - 18/01/2009

Latest reports
2nd small -
14/01 Type 1
15/01 , 16/01, 17/01, 18/01 Types 1 & 2
09/03 & 10/03 - Type 2 only

1st small
13/02/09 - Type 1 & 2

No changes yet reported to the Large stamps.


It would not be economical to have a printing press printing business sheets in single columns and it must be assumed that they are printed at least two or maybe three or even four columns wide*. As long as all the die-cuts are the same this would be unremarkable. But if two different die-cuts appear with the same printing date it suggests that two different die-cuts were used in different positions on the machine.

* This is not to say that all four columns would be printing the same stamps: there could be two columns of 1st class and two of 2nd class.

If the Walsall/DLR differences are recognised or mentioned in the specialist catalogues it is probably fair to assume that these differences will be as well. And it makes it all the more important to look at ALL stamps received in the mail. Suddenly the 'boring' 1st & 2nd class Machins are starting to look interesting!

Postboxes Miniature Sheet and Smilers Sheet 18 August 2009

For no apparent reason Royal Mail is issuing a miniature sheet containing four stamps depicting wall-mounted post-boxes:



The boxes shown are:
1st class - George V type 8 wallbox;
56p - Edward VII Ludlow wallbox;
81p - Victorian Lamp Box* (here inserted in a wall);
90p - Elizabeth II Type A Wallbox.

* The 'lamp box' is designed to be fitted to a post, telegraph pole, or lamp standard. I think few are attached to lamp standards now.

The first class stamp also appears in a generic Smilers Sheet with labels showing 20 other (non-pillar-box) letter boxes.



Also on this day, another Prestige Stamp Book, but I'll put news of that in a separate message.

Fuller details of both sheets and book and (eventually) the special postmarks associated with them can be found here.

Security codes B B C T F & S - codebreakers!

In a move worthy of the codebreakers at Bletchley Park, Royal Mail has coded the new security definitives to identify their source. So as well as the variations in slits reported here earlier, we now know that there is a much easier way to identify the stamps.

As reported by Larry in the Machin Mania blog, Douglas Myall published the news yesterday that the non-denominated security Machins have a hidden code that identifies the format in which the stamp was issued.

I don't usually replicate entire threads, but this one is important for completeness.

The code is a change of one letter in the curvy ROYAL MAIL pattern, located at the top right, above the diadem.

The codes are as follows:

B replacing A in Royal - ROYBL MAIL - in business sheets (Large 1st and 2nd Machins) (corrected previous error)

B replacing A in Mail - ROYAL MBIL - in business sheets (standard 1st and 2nd Machins) (corrected previous error)

C replaing A in Mail - ROYAL MCIL - in mixed booklets with four 1st Machins and two commemoratives ("C" is for custom)

F replacing R in Royal - FOYAL MAIL - in booklets of four stamps (large 1st and 2nd Machins)

S replacing A in Mail - ROYAL MSIL - in booklets of six (standard 1st Machins)

T replacing A in Mail - ROYAL MTIL - in booklets of twelve (standard 1st and 2nd Machins)

There are no hidden codes in counter sheets, which means that no denominated Machin has a code.

Royal Mail says that these codes let them know the source of a stamp when a problem is discovered, for example, a sub-standard application of the phosphor bands.

So now we have different slits, different perforations, and ID letters. Who said Machins were boring!

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Constant flaw on Darwin's Machin PSB pane

An eagle-eyed collector in Singapore has spotted something that two dealers handling his stamps failed to spot, and that is a constant flaw on one stamp on this pane.

It might have been a fleck of paper, except that it appeared on all the panes in my stockbook. And it might have been on every Machin pane - except that it isn't any of the panes I have with the dark 5p stamp, and it isn't on any of the panes in the books I have, or the FDCs. But it is constant on at least 20 panes!

More next week when I will have had a chance to scan it.

Short phosphor bands on Faststamps

Several people have reported that the labels we know as Faststamps (but which Royal Mail refers to as 'Post and Go stamps') exist with misplaced phosphor - inset right, short top or bottom.

As you may know, the Philatelic Bureau (aka Tallents House) now sells sets of 5 labels in a specially designed carrier - not quite a presentation pack, but similar, along with badly creased cellophane sleeves. These are not dispensed from Post & Go machines, which produce labels with thermal print values etc, but are specially printed by Walsall in gravure.


It seems that short bands on these are more common than on the machine dispensed labels. Here are the findings from some of our batches:

1. Inland (2) and Europe very short at foot; worldwide slightly short at top.
2. World 10gr slightly short at top, World 20gr slightly short at foot; remainder OK.
3. Inland (2) very short at foot; World slightly short at top; Europe OK.

Remember, these are each sets of 5 dispensed from the same pack, so the packs are assembled from various parts of the print run.

I still have more to check, but I have 3 type 1, 4 type 2, and 1 type 3 packs. Not scarce at all, it would seem!

Walsall Booklets with security features 31 March 2009

I have received my first supplies of the new Walsall booklets containing Machin definitives with security features. Some have cylinder numbers, some don't so I'll only be able to report what I have. The phosphor bands seem to be more or less accurately aligned on all booklets.

6 x 1st - cylinders W5 W2(P) W1 (overlay) - Postcode advert inside front cover
12 x 1st - no cylinder received
12 x 2nd - no cylinder received
4 x 1st Large - cylinders W1 W1(P) W1(o) - blank inside front cover
4 x 2nd Large - no cylinders received - blank inside front cover


As reported before, the 1st class letter stamp was first issued on 10 March in the Design Classics retail book (with the red cover). Used examples may be distinguished from the current book in two ways.

The new booklets have flat-topped perforations; the Design Classics booklet has rounded tops to perforations.



As previously mentioned on the Walsall printings the security cut is actually 4 cuts, compared with De La Rue's two cuts. On the latest (31 March) booklets the gap at the apex of the curve is wider than on the Design Classics (10 March) booklets.
Correction: The current (31 March) booklets have a wide gap on the 1st & 2nd books of 12, and a narrow gap on the 1st book of 6 and the Large Letter books.


Of course we don't know at this stage whether these distinguishing features will be consistent, but at least it gives us something to look for on used stamps.

New Security Business Sheet printing dates

The Business Sheet definitives with security features, the issue of which was delayed from 17 February to an official 'first day of availability' date of 31 March have now been delivered to us.

Printing dates and serial numbers are as follows:

2nd class letter - 14/01/09 - lowest 0555748 highest 0555751

1st class letter - 12/12/08 - 0376826 -27

2nd class Large - 18/01/09 - 0035579 - 98

1st class Large - 19/01/09 - 0148758 - 784

Unlike previous issues the printer is not identified on the top panel (Walsall Security Print was previously printed below the barcode). The security slit indicates that these were printed by De La Rue, which clears up the final uncertainty over these.

All the LARGE sheets, 1st & 2nd, have the phosphor slightly inset from the right, some with most of the teeth clear of phosphor.

Industrial Pioneers issue brings attractive railway postmarks

A set of 8 stamps honouring key figures in Britain during the Industrial Revolution is issued on 10 March 2009.
The stamps show 1st Matthew Boulton – Manufacturing & James Watt – Steam Engineering;
50p Richard Arkwright – Textiles & Josiah Wedgwood – Ceramics;
56p George Stephenson – Railways & Henry Maudslay – Machine Making;
72p James Brindley – Canal Engineering & John McAdam – Road Building.

These are some of the special postmarks in use on that day. More background to the stamps, and more postmarks are on our website.

Security Machins - how to remove from paper

The Machin Maniacs blog has described one way to remove these stamps from paper. (You'll remember that the water-soluble layer between stamp and adhesive has now been abolished.) But that blog does advise against lighter fuel due to the carcinogenic properties of the fluid.

I received my first security stamp in the mail yesterday (thanks, Alan) and much as I wanted to keep it as a piece of postal history I have experimented in the interests of philately!

'Sticky Stuff Remover' from Betterware had the stamp off in a jiffy, applied front and back. However the slit area attracted the liquid and it looked as if 'grease' marks might remain. This is a good product and a little goes a long way. I've used it extensively (most recently to remove the adhesive tape that attached a service invoice to my wife's laptop - thanks guys!!)

It smells pleasant enough - of orange - and some say it is basic orange juice. The bottle is marked as a poison, with a warning that lung damage can occur if swallowed. The constituent chemicals are not mentioned on the label - I found this note from the "Wycombe Area MG Owners Club” Newsletter.

The active ingredients (among other things) are ethanolamine and petroleum­ based hydrocarbons.

I dried the stamp overnight, and the 'grease' marks disappeared. My stamp is still sticky, which poses some questions for storage, but at least it means that it can be stuck to other paper and I won't have a mix of manilla, white, red, azure and cream backing papers to my Security Machins. At present I have it stuck to backing paper from some self-adhesive labels. I'll be interested to hear from other experiments.

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Later edit.
I was using alcohol-based after-shave to clean something and thought that it might also dissolve the gum on these new stamps. The result was spectacular:



This wasn't just any after-shave, it was M&S After-Shave!

Royal Mail's 2010 stamp programme

Royal Mail have announced their basic stamp programme for 2010:

January - British Design Classics II
(Also Design Classics retail book 3 - Spitfire and Concorde)
Note: Design Classics book 3 & 4 issued in August and September 2009
February - Centenary of the Girl Guides
February - 350th Anniversary of the Royal Society (Stampex issue?)
March - 150th Anniversary of Battersea Cats and Dogs Home
March - Monarchs: House of Stewart (Scottish Kings)
April - Action for Species: Mammals
May - Stamps of King George V (London 2010 issue)
May - Great British Railways (London 2010 issue)
June - Children's Books (europa)
August - British Stage Musicals
September - Britain Alone (60 years on from 1940, Battle of Britain etc)
October - Monarchs: House of Stuart
November - Christmas

We can also expect on 1 March the Castles of Wales Smilers Sheet, some more Smilers for Kids, Commemorative Sheets, and stamp exhibition Smilers Sheets.
More details when they are made available.
Update to 2009 programme will follow later today.

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