D-Day Minisheet to be reissued with Stampex Overprint

Royal Mail have announced this autumn's Stampex limited edition miniature sheet.

"To support attendance at the premier UK stamp show; London Stampex International, a numbered limited edition Minisheet will be on sale only at Autumn Stampex. The D-Day miniature sheet will carry a special Operation Overlord overprint along with the Stampex logo."

To ensure all visitors to the show have a chance to buy the show exclusive there may be restrictions on sales at the show to ensure that stock is available from the Royal Mail stand each day of the show.
 
Note: After considering customer feedback the show exclusive minisheet will be priced at face value of the stamps (£3.50), as such there is no pack and the minisheets will be supplied like all other mint Minisheets.

There will be only 7,500 of the sheets.

This has been announced in the latest Philatelic Bulletin and also in the latest information to dealers. Dealers will be able to pre-order for collection at the show, but there will be no supplies from Tallents House.  (Thank you to readers who have emailed the report from the Bulletin.)


As before, we are not going to Stampex this September.  If any customers would like one of these sheets I will ask my associates to try to obtain them for you.

---

World War I Centenary – 1918 stamp issue 13 September 2018

This is the fifth and final set in landmark series that commemorates ‘the War to end all Wars’.   Not only did the First World War claim millions of lives, it changed the course of history and transformed the lives of generations to come.  Each year of the war is explored though a stamp which covers six key themes: Poppies, Poetry, War Art, Memorials and Artefacts. These themes combine to form a beautiful and poignant collection which serves as a fitting way to commemorate this tragic conflict. 

 

The stamps in detail
1st CLASS - 100 POPPIES, ZAFER AND BARBARA BARAN
The poppy has been one of the enduring symbols of the First World War and has come to be associated with remembrance. To mark the centenary of the end of the war, Zafer and Barbara Baran photographed one hundred poppy flowers, layering the images together to create 100 Poppies. Each of the poppies was freshly cut and carefully lit before being photographed, to capture the flower’s delicate luminosity. In the final artwork, the light gently filters through the overlapping petals, giving this composite image a ghostly, fleeting appearance and suggesting movement.

1st CLASS - ‘ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTH’, WILFRED OWEN
In ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’, British Army officer and poet Wilfred Owen mourns the waste of young lives, cut short by wailing shells and the rattle of rifle fire. Killed in action in 1918, a week before the armistice, Owen has become one of Britain’s most celebrated war poets. In this woodblock print, illustrator Andrew Davidson has hand-carved the opening lines of Owen’s poem. Using an illuminated letter style that evokes the shattered treescapes of war artist Paul Nash, the design reflects the rawness and power of Owen’s words.

1st CLASS - SECOND LIEUTENANT WALTER TULL
Second Lieutenant Walter Tull was born in Folkestone in 1888 and orphaned after the death of his English mother and his Barbadian father. He became known as a professional footballer. After war broke out, he served in the Footballers’ Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment and fought on the Somme. Commissioned in May 1917, Tull became the first mixed-race Army officer to command troops in a regular unit. After fighting in Italy, he returned to the Western Front. On 25 March 1918, he was killed in action. Having no known grave, Tull is commemorated on the Arras Memorial.

£1.55 - WE ARE MAKING A NEW WORLD, PAUL NASH
In 1914, Paul Nash enlisted as a private in the Artists’ Rifles and was later commissioned into the Hampshire Regiment. Invalided home in May 1917 following an accident, he returned to the front in November 1917 as an official artist. He was appalled by the sight of the Ypres Salient. In We Are Making A New World – titled with bitter irony – Nash depicts a bleak and hopeless sunrise over a copse of shattered trees. The ground is pitted with waterlogged shell holes. Nash was deeply moved by the destruction of trees, seeing in their degradation a metaphor for human suffering.

£1.55 - THE GRAVE OF THE UNKNOWN WARRIOR, WESTMINSTER ABBEY, LONDON
On Armistice Day, 11 November 1920, an Unknown Warrior was buried at Westminster Abbey, after being chosen at random from several unidentifiable sets of remains and solemnly conveyed from France. Enormous crowds gathered in silence to witness the procession through London, and King George V unveiled the Cenotaph at Whitehall before following behind the coffin to the Abbey. For a nation reeling from the enormous loss of life, the burial of the Unknown Warrior provided a focal point for grief.

£1.55 - LIEUTENANT FRANCIS HOPGOOD’S GOGGLES
Lieutenant Francis Hopgood joined the Royal Flying Corps in March 1918, transferring from the Artists’ Rifles. On 10 April – a few days after the Royal Flying Corps had been incorporated into the new Royal Air Force – Hopgood was shot down. Crash-landing behind German lines, he was captured and held as a prisoner of war. Clear sight was vital to a pilot’s ability to survive aerial  combat. Hopgood’s goggles are fitted with custom prescription lenses in Triplex safety glass, which  survived his crash-landing without breaking into pieces.

Prestige Stamp Book & Retail booklet

 

 

Of interest to Machin collectors is the final pane in the PSB, which includes the 1^st class MPIL stamp with M18L year code.  Unlike the stamps in the Game of Thrones PSB this clearly shows the 'P' in MPIL, although some of the other letters are indistinct. [The phosphor on the Poppy stamps is gradated, and quite different to that on the Machins, although that seems to be unnecessary on these white stamps.]

The retail booklet contains 2014 & 2018 Poppy stamps in self-adhesive form for the first time. The 1^st class Machin is coded MCIL M18L.  The iridescent printing is different (when viewed at an angle) to that in earlier 2018 booklets being not as reflective, but the visibility is the same. The security printing on the background is LsLs, as (some) previous versions.

Cylinder numbers W1 are Cyan, magenta, yellow, black, Royal Mail red, grey (for inscriptions on Poppies), iridescent, phosphor.

Technical details and acknowledgements
Printer: International Security Printers (ISP)
Stamp Size Square, 35mm x 35mm
Print process: Lithography,
Stamp Format: 6 sheets x 50 stamps per sheet
Retail booklet is printed in gravure and self-adhesive by ISP Walsall.


Products: Set of six stamps, FDC, Presentation Pack, Stampcards, Retail stamp book, PSB, Coin Cover x 3, Framed products.  Composite Sheet, Souvenir Pack. First World War Album.

The composite sheet shows the 30 stamps in 6 columns, one for each of the themes, and a row for each year.  The stamps are said by Royal Mail to be the same as those issued originally.  I'll leave it to those who buy them to do the comparison and share any differences found.

 

UPDATE 13.9.18: As mentioned in the comments to this post, there is a barcode printed on the back of the sheet behind the sheet number and onto the first stamp in column 6, as shown below.  This does not warrant the stamp being separately identified in catalogues - and quite honestly I can't understand why it has been done, unless for Royal Mail stock control purposes.  When barcodes were introduced on counter sheets and miniature sheets we were told that it was for Post Office Ltd stock control, rather than retail 'point of sale' purposes - and post offices don't scan the codes when selling at the counter, which bears this out.

We will stock and list shortly, the 1st class definitive from the PSB and a limited number of retail booklets.

Design: hat-trick Design
Acknowledgements: 100 Poppies by Zafer and Barbara Baran © Royal Mail Group Ltd 2018; ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ by Wilfred Owen, quotation used with kind permission of The Wilfred Owen Estate, illustration by Andrew Davidson © Royal Mail Group Ltd 2018; Second Lieutenant Walter Tull, photograph © Walter Tull Archive; We Are Making a New World by Paul Nash © IWM (Art.IWM ART 1146); The Grave of the Unknown Warrior, Westminster Abbey, London, photograph © English Heritage; Lieutenant Francis Hopgood’s goggles, featured with kind permission of The Museum of Army Flying, photograph by John Ross © Royal Mail Group Ltd 2018

---

Stampex: World War I Centenary, and Post and Go Mail by Bike.

An update on Royal Mail's plans for Autumn Stampex, held this year from September 12-15 at the Business Design Centre, Islington north London.

Post and Go
As in spring, there will be no Royal Mail Post and Go kiosk at Stampex so there will be no special printing for the Mail by Bike issue on 12 September.  The stamps will be in the machine at the Postal Museum so there will be a special inscription there.  We understand (not from Royal Mail) that the island Postal Administrations will bring their Post and Go machines.
   Guernsey will have a commemorative inscription for the Royal Air Force Centenary on their flag stamps.  The flowers issue will be available without additional inscription.  The RAF/Flag stamps will also be available from their bureau.
   Jersey Post will have a new set showing Nautical Knots which will also be available from their bureau.  At Stampex they will also have a RAF Centenary inscription on their flag stamps; this will also be available from the bureau.


World War I Centenary
The final set in Royal Mail's five-year series will be issued on 13 September and for the first time include a retail booklet.  This will contain the usual Machins (coded M18L MCIL) and two different Poppy stamps.

Royal Mail will also be issuing a Composite Sheet containing all 30 stamps in the series, at their original face values.  These are shown on two FDCs on the Buckingham Covers website.  This is a limited edition sheet which will not be distributed on standing orders.

Royal Mail have reminded collectors preparing FDCs that only one handstamp can be used on any one date, and that the official day of issue postmarks can only be used on the new stamps.  Therefore any FDCs of the Composite Sheet can only be cancelled with an operational or a sponsored handstamp.  This would, of course, include the WWI Centenary and National Arboretum variable date handstamps shown on our website.

---

New Machin source code this year?

Royal Mail have announced an issue to mark the centenary of the birth of Arnold Machin, sculptor who produced the iconic design of our current definitives (based on a photograph by John Hedgecoe). 

As announced:
Marking the centenary of the birth of Arnold Machin  .... a souvenir sheet of 10 definitive stamps... will be issued on the opening day of Stampex, 14 September 2011. The stamps are not new issues, they will have full security features except the security slits and will have conventional gum.

So these will not be self-adhesive, but coventionally gummed, so they are a new stamp for collectors because the year code should be M11L or MA11.  We doubt that Royal Mail will pass up the opportunity to introduce a new source code, however we can only guess at what that might be! We do not know which values will be included in the sheet - a face value of £4.60 suggests 10 x 1st class, but that is by no means certain!

More information will be published here as it is made available.

Special edition of PUC £1 sold by BPMA.

Back on 8th December the British Postal Museum and Archive announced the sale of an extra souvenir from the London 2010 Festival of Stamps.

Copies of the PUC £1 were printed at London's Guildhall by Enschede representatives on an antique printing press. The whole process was very interesting, and we wondered what would happen to the many examples printed in blue by this special hand-printing process.   Well, now we know.  Just 50 blocks of 4, printed in blue, were made available at a price of £50 each.  The website originally indicated that advance reservations could be made and that there was a limit of 2 per customer. But the 'rules' were changed more than once, and I was told that anybody wanting to buy must ring on Monday 13th December at 9am, and the limit was one per customer.


But some people who phoned in the week before that Monday were able to order and pay for 2 copies in one transaction - and they have received them!

I think that the BPMA needs to think carefully about how they market any future limited editions to ensure fairness to collectors around the world.

---

Litho ring flaw on London 2010 Festival of Stamps Souvenir Sheet

Two different ring flaws have been found on the 1p stamp in this sheet. 

From the position they could have the same origin - or they may be from two different parts of the press sheet.  We have seen several of each in our stocks - also on FDCs, now available on our e-commerce site.

Send us your finds!

Cartor heavy with the ink in Souvenir Sheet?

We now have copies of the London 2010 Festival of Stamps Souvenir Sheet, containing 11 Machin definitives printed by Cartor.  As is to be expected, these show marked differences to the normal sheet stamps printed by De La Rue.  Although Stanley Gibbons' Concise catalogue will probably only assign a number to the whole sheet, specialist catalogues should allocate numbers to individual stamps.

Here are the stamps, Cartor Souvenir Sheet stamps first, followed by the separate DLR stamps:

In fairness I ought to compare the Cartor printings of values they have printed before with their previous versions, but that can come later.  I think the comparison of the 20p & 60p values is most interesting!

London 2010 Festival of Stamps - stamps and other products

Royal Mail has made a significant investment in this year's international exhibition, and seems determined to recoup as much as possible from visitors and other collectors.  Prices shown here are face value or Royal Mail retail prices.

I posted some of this information in February with the pictures we had then, but more (I daren't say 'complete') details are now available, so this is an illustrated summary.

6 May 1st class single stamp (41p) showing the Machin head of Queen Elizabeth II and the Mackennal profile head of King George V.   Now that we have these stamps I can tell you that they - and the one in the MS - are red, not orange/flame - click on the image to see the full double-pane sheet, with gutter in the actual colour. (Edit: the Royal Mail order code for the single stamp is DS414 but at the time of writing it isn't possible to purchase it online with the rest of the stamps in this series.)

6 May Miniature sheet (£1.41) with two stamps, the 1st class shown above and a £1 brown showing both Downey and Mackennal George V heads.  Royal Mail standing order customers will apparently only get a First Day Cover of the miniature sheet, and not of the single stamps.  

6 May Uncut Press Sheet containing 20 of the above Miniature sheets, in 5 rows, and two se-tenant tete-beche columns. (£31)

6 May George V British Rarities ingot cover and Commonwealth Rarities ingot cover, priced at £32.95 each. 

---

8 May Miniature sheet (£2.82) with four stamps.  2 x 1st class showing the two 1924 British Empire Exhibition (BEE) stamps, and 2 x £1 showing the 10/- blue and £1 green Seahorse definitives.

8 May Uncut Press Sheet of 9 of the above miniature sheets (3x3). (£27.90)

8 May Presentation pack containing both 6 May and 8 May miniature sheets. (£4.75)

8 May Stamp card set of 8,, ie one for each of the 6 stamps and one each for the miniature sheets. (£3.20)

8 May  Prestige Stamp Book with 4 panes of stamps.   Pane 1 has 3 each of the 6 May stamps arranged checker-board fashion (£4.23); Pane 2 has the two seahorse stamps (£2.00); Pane 3 has four BEE stamps arranged checker-board fashion (£1.64); and Pane 4 has self-adhesive (for the first time) Machin 2nd class (2), 1st class (4) and 50p (2) definitives with security features (£3.28) (Total £11.15!).

8 May Prestige Stamp Book first day cover set.  Royal Mail will produce a set of 4 FDCs for all the panes in the book.  This may be a first.  In 2000 Royal Mail produced three FDCs for the Profile on Print PSB panes containing oversized stamps (these were new stamps not previously available elsewhere).  I have a recollection, however, that Royal Mail also produced FDCs for either the very first PSB - the 1969 Stamps for Cooks book - or the £1 Wedgwood PSB issued in 1972.

8 May Exhibition Souvenir Sheet containing 1p, 2p, 5p, 9p, 10p, 20p, 60p, 67p, 88p, 97p, £1.46 Machin definitives and perforated label with London 2010 Festival of Stamps logo. (£5.05)
EDIT: This sheet will not be sent to Royal Mail's regular customers as part of their Standing Order, but must be bought at the show or ordered separately from Tallents House - stock code S1003.

8 May Exhibition Overprint Sheet: 6 May sheet overprinted (or maybe the legend is incorporated into the printing?) BUSINESS DESIGN CENTRE, LONDON 8 - 15 MAY 2010 in the top right corner.
EDIT: This sheet will not be sent to Royal Mail's regular customers as part of their Standing Order, but must be bought at the show or ordered separately from Tallents House.  
Update: Two sources, a collector in the UK and a dealer in Australia, told us that they had been told by Royal Mail that this sheet would be available after the show, from the Bureau at Tallents House - we are now advised that this is not so.  Royal Mail also told dealers, before the show, that this sheet will be in the Year Book, due in November.  It remains to be seen whether this information turns out to be true. 

8 May Collectors Pack containing most of the current Machin definitives.  The low-value collectors pack will contain all the definitive stamps still on sale at post offices (as listed above) plus the self-adhesive 20 gramme, 40 gramme and postcard airmail stamps, the 2nd*, 1st*, 2nd Large* and 1st Large* NVIs, and the 1st and 1st Large Recorded Signed For stamps.  Not shown in the publicity picture, but included in the pack, will be the 50p* & £1*.  *Self-adhesive security definitives (£16.10).

8 May  Postal Union Congress Facsimile Pack Non-postally valid facsimile sheet of the 1929 PUC £1, printed from copies of original plate, in blocks of four in a pack.  (£4.95)

8 May  London 2010 Exhibition Generic (Smilers) Sheet.  A new-style Exhibition sheet, self-adhesive for the first time, with the definitive-size 1st class Hello stamp and twenty different pictures, iconic of London, on attached labels (£8.50)

8 May 10th Anniversary of Smilers® Generic Sheet, containing an assortment of stamps available in the Smilers service, including the new 1st class Birthday cake (x4) and Present (x4) stamps, 20gr Europe (x2) and 20gr Worldwide (x2) stamps, and the 1st class Union Flag (x3), Balloons, Firework, Thank You, Love, and Robin.  This will also be available for personalisation at the London 2010 exhibition, and these sheets will be overprinted with the Exhibition Logo (£10.00).
 
8 May George V Postcard Pack.   A pack of 6 picture postcards which will enable collectors to make their own maximum cards with the stamps and special postmarks available.  (No details or image so far provided.)


8 May Philatelic Bulletin Supplement - The George V Royal Cypher Issue.  A5 illustrated booklet "which provides a highly detailed look at many of the stamps issued during George V’s reign starting with the Downey head."  (£2.95)

---

13 May  Britain Alone.  Set of 8 stamps and Miniature Sheet of 4 stamps, the latter marking The Dunkirk Evacuation.   (£5.30 and £2.86).   Also a set of 13 Stamp Cards (one for each stamp and one for the MS - 35.20), a presentation pack (£8.70), and a Prestige Stamp Book (£9.76) containing the 8 stamps from the set and 4 from the  miniature sheet on 3 panes, plus a pane of Machin definitives 4 x 5p, 2 x 10p, 2 x 60p.

There will also be a Dunkirk Medal Cover at £14.95.

13 May  Also on this day, but totally unrelated, Royal Mail will issue coils of 500 & 1000 1st class and 2nd class definitives.  These will be conventionally gummed with the ROYAL MAIL* security overlay, but no security slits.   (*As reported in the Philatelic Bulletin - however, it is quite likely that one of the letters will be changed, maybe to MRIL, maybe not!) 
Keen observers will note that the 1st & 2nd class Large Letter booklets with source code MA10 should also be added to this list, having been found in Royal Mail's stock on 8 May.

---

To hold all these products there will also be 
- a London 2010 Album binder at £12.95
- slipcase for the above at £9.00
- inserts for George V - £4.99
- inserts for The King's Stamps - £4.99
- inserts for Exhibition items - £4.99
- inserts for Britain Alone - £4.99 

Pink Floyd Souvenir Album Sheet - 6 March 2010

From a Press Release:

Royal Mail and Pink Floyd have teamed up to produce a unique souvenir stamp product featuring the band’s final studio album, The Division Bell (which featured David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright), issued tomorrow Saturday March 6.
[Blog Note: by 'issued' Royal Mail means 'made available' in that the sheet will not be available at Post Offices. However, see note below in red.]
Issued on guitarist and vocalist David Gilmour’s birthday, the sheet’s design mimics a 7” record cover and features ten of the 1^st Class The Division Bell stamps, first released as part of Royal Mail’s hugely successful Album Covers issue of January.

The sheet also features the lyrics of ‘High Hopes’, the final song on the band’s final studio album, along with a Pink Floyd emblem against a background of the astonishing metal heads which featured on the record’s cover. And to celebrate the stamp sheet, fans can watch the band playing the song on Pink Floyd’s official website.
Since its release in 1994, The Division Bell has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide, and the sheet is issued as part of Royal Mail’s Big Month of Music which runs throughout March 2010.

---

The Sheet will be available to order from Royal Mail online and from their Philatelic Bureau but not apparently from Post Offices. Priced at 85p over face value, it is unlikely to appear in standard stamp catalogues.

To see Pink Floyd performing High Hopes live visit www.pinkfloyd.com

These sheets were delivered to us on Friday 12th March, a week after the official 'issue' date.

Whose shop did Royal Mail use for their Album Covers souvenir?

People who have bought Royal Mail's Classic Album Covers Souvenir Cover will probably agree that it is quite impressive - many buyers will be framing it for display.



But what about the insert? Informative and colourful, with the iconic Marilyn Monroe poster in the shop window, but where is the shop?

I don't suppose Royal Mail even know, as they use design agencies for this sort of thing. But the Norvic Sleuths have tracked it down to south London.

The shop, COLLECTIONS, is in Lewisham, at 70 Lee High Road.

Despite appearances on Google StreetView, the shop is still open for business (click on the name above the picture for their website) - and, no, they didn't know of their fame either!
(Update June 2014, the website is no longer working and from the new street-view picture above, the name has changed.)

---