Another Post and Go Change - Zones 1 & 3

As reported by various readers and added to the earlier 'availability' blog, Museum machines which were not in use on 1 September are now being brought into use.

Both the Shakespeare Visitor Centre at Stratford-upon-Avon and the GWR STeam Museum in Swindon restarted on 17 September, with Shakespeare using Machin MA14 and Flowers MA17.  

We can now show pictures of these thanks to postagelabelsuk.com.  As you will see, the inscription for these (A009 & A010 respectively) IAR machines' Zone 1 and 3 stamp is the same as on the stamps printed from Post Office Self-Service Kiosks (SSKs)., ie Zone 1-3.

However, it is now reported - and verified on eBay - that these machines have already changed to show the more accurate Zone 1 & 3.   (Thanks to Chris for sending this image.)

Aside from corrected errors (and this isn't one), the original may be the Post and Go Faststamp with the shortest availability.  Anybody who found out about the reopening of the Museums and arranged to get the stamps has a Post & Go rarity!

 

UPDATE: the screen display from the Royal Navy Museum machine A002, thanks to Chris.

Comments about these only here, all other comments and changes on the original post please.

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Spear Thistle Stamps Compared - new digital printing and the original.

We have now had the opportunity to examine the new printing of the Spear Thistle Post and Go stamp released at the ASPS Scottish Congress at Perth.

As expected this is digitally printed, and is quite different to the original Symbolic Flowers stamps issued 17 September 2014.  As with other recent digital printings, the surface is glossy, especially the picture area.  There are no obvious phosphor bands - but I'll check them again when it is dark!  Most obviously - apart from the 88th Scottish Congress inscription, the new stamps have the year code MA17, whilst the originals are coded MA14.  In these pictures the upper stamp is the new digital one.

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Post and Go News: ASPS Scottish Congress, Perth 21-22 April 2017

Once again the Association of Scottish Philatelic Societies meet up in Perth for the annual Congress, and this year there will be two Post and Go machines dispensing souvenirs.  The organisers have again made arrangements to supply collectors with Post and Go and other souvenirs. 

Press Release

Royal Mail will again be attending Congress with their Post and Go kiosks. This year they will be bringing along two kiosks, A012 and A014.

Kiosk A012 will print

• Thistle (from the Symbolic Flowers Set) and,
• Machin

Kiosk A014

• Thistle (from the Symbolic Flowers Set) and,
• Heraldic Lion

The cost of Collectors Strips at new postage rates is £8.04, while a strip of 6 x1st Class will be £3.90.  All will have the additional inscription:

88th Scottish Congress 2017

[Note that this is the first appearance of the Thistle on a single-design reel.  It is a new digital printing, and its introduction means a new stamp, albeit one that is not available without the Congress inscription, nor from any other source at this time.]

All items are charged at cost (see above) plus postage and packing as detailed below.

UK Customers:

• Up to 5 items £4
• Over 5 Items £8
• Special Delivery £10 Extra

Europe/International Customers:

• Up to 5 Items £20
• Over 5 Items £25

All overseas items will be sent using International Tracked and Signed. Tracking information will be sent to customers once despatched. Customers should note that once the item has left the UK ASPS cannot be held responsible for non-delivery. The Customer should then contact the postal authority of the relevant country.

Large Orders:

The association is happy (as a service to collectors) to provide these items to collectors at face value with a modest additional charge to cover postage and packing. Where the order (or multiple orders) exceeds £100, we regard these as ‘trade’ orders and will make an additional 10% handling charge to reflect the time and effort involved in fulfilling the order.

Ordering:

Please use the interactive pdf form on the ASPS Website www.scottishphilately.co.uk and either:

1. print the form and send it to Norman Kelso

28 Applehill Drive

Wellbank

Dundee

DD5 3UD

United Kingdom

or b) save the completed form and e-mail it to aspspostgo@yahoo.com

Payment:

Use Paypal account: aspspostgo@yahoo.com

There will be a surcharge of 4% on the total order for payments made by Paypal.

or Cheque in Sterling made payable to ‘ASPS’ and sent to the above address.

More information on the ASPS Congress can be viewed at www.scottishphilately.co.uk.

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Because the Thistle is a new stamp we will obtain supplies of the 1st class stamp purely for the record.  We will not be stocking the Machin or the Lion.

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Post and Go at the BPMA

News release, Postal Heritage, 18 September

On 21 October the Poppy Post and Go issue, unveiled at Autumn Stampex, will be available from The British Postal Museum and Archive (BPMA), commemorating Armistice Day and Remembrance events. The Poppy issue will be on sale from a new Post and Go+ machine, which will be installed in the BPMA foyer at Freeling House, London on 17 October.

The Post and Go+ is the standard A001 machine but with an additional “pod” allowing up to four reels of stamps to be vended, and is the first of its kind in the UK. This will allow the BPMA to expand its offer to the philatelic community by creating a greater range of designs available for each underprint.
The Poppy design will be issued alongside the standard Machin, second class Machin and the Union Flag stamps. The text on the 'underprint' will read “The B.P.M.A.” as on previous issues.
Philatelic products featuring the poppy issue will be available from the BPMA online shop. Please check the website, postalheritage.org.uk for updates.
The stamp will be available from the BPMA foyer during standard opening hours until 5pm 12 November, being replaced with this year’s Winter Greenery Christmas designs on 13 November.

We are not planning to stock these BPMA stamps.

UPDATE 9 October.

Thanks to one of our alert readers I can now add this from the IAR site:

A001 + Pod Signed Off

 

The new A001 kiosk and Side pod have been tested and signed off.

It will be installed on the afternoon of the 16th September – The BPMA kiosk will not be available from 15:30 of the 16th. The session number is automatically carried over from the previous kiosk,
The kiosk is the same design as A005 at Stampex, in that it has options for multiple side pods, it has speakers – so finally you can hear what Ellie is saying in her instructional video! Press the i button and press the video
The original A001 will be given a MOT check and new designation, ready to be installed in its new home – watch this space.

So this suggests that the new machine will print A001 on labels despite being a replacement, a bit like definitive stamps being printed from a new cylinder but the cylinder number remaining the same. Doubtless there will be some subtle difference in the printing - aside from the new base labels that will be available.  

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Examples of the BPMA Airmail Post and Go stamps recently appeared on eBay with 1st class and 1st Large printed on the blue Machin stamps.

An explanation of the software error which caused these is on the postagelabels.co.uk blog.

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Autumn Stampex update - an ongoing story

This brief message (in black) is a prelude to what will be a more complete story on Friday after I have been to Stampex.
Further news added below in blue.

Today is the first day of issue of the Symbolic Flowers Post and Go Faststamps at Stampex and at Post Office Ltd branches nationwide.

News on this today:
1. Some Post Office branches with Post and Go machines assert that they have not received the Symbolic Flowers stamps.
2. Some offices (with or without machines) have received the 'packs' of bureau-printed stamps.  Apparently in all of West Sussex no branches have blank FDCs.  In Leeds one branch had no stamps, the other had the stamps and the FDC, but with no inserts.
[This was mentioned to the Royal Mail team who promised to follow up as it really is not good enough!]
3.  Gloucester PO was selling Symbolic Flowers from the NCR Post and Go machine on 13 September (see right, from eBay).
4. Leeds and Harrogate have the new stamps for their Wincor-Nixdorf machines.

At Stampex the Royal Mail machines are also dispensing stamps from a solo-Poppy reel with an additional inscription (or overprint) First World War Centenary

According to the Jersey Post Philatelic Website yesterday (16th) they were selling stamps from their bureau (produced by the back-office machine) with a Stampex Autumn 2014 inscription/overprint.  Today the website has changed and no longer indicates what the overprint is.  This is because when they received the stamps to sell the inscription read First World War Centenary.

Thanks to Chris we have this picture from Stampex:

I asked the Jersey bureau if the Union Flag stamp from the JE01 machine would have the same inscription and the answer was an uncertain positive.  When I pointed out that the Royal Mail machines selling the Union Flag would not have this inscription, that was changed to an uncertain negative.

Update 19 September:
1. The Union Flag stamps sold from JE01 did not have the World War 1 inscription (as we suspected, really).
2. The Union Flag stamps that I have are all undated.
3. The Machin stamps from A3 and MA13 and those from B001 are undated.

It was good to meet up with friends old and new yesterday: Thomas - ATM specialist from Germany, Chris, Tony, Vince, Bob, Graham (Smilers) Howard, Brian, Torsten Weller and Michael Eastick from Australia, and the Royal Mail team (sorry for anybody I've missed from that list).

Royal Mail Stamp Programme for 2015. in brief:

6 January - Alice in Wonderland
20 January - new Smilers designs in MS and retail booklet
18 February - Post and Go: Working Sail
19 February - Inventive Britons
5 March - Bridges
1 April - Comedy Greats
6 May - 175th Anniversary of Penny Black MS
13 May - Post and Go: Heraldic Beasts
14 May - First World War Centenary
2 June - Magna Carta
18 June - Battle of Waterloo
16 July - Battle of Britain
18 August - Bees
16 September - Post and Go: Sea Travel
18 September - Rugby World Cup
6 October - details awaited
3 November - Christmas
16 November - Post and Go: Winter Fur and Feathers

Plus Generic Smilers and Commemorative Sheets. Further details will be announced in due course.

And lastly, Julia Lee leaves Stamp Magazine today for a new job outside philately.  We've been blessed to have had her hand on the GB tiller at the mag for several years now, and on twitter and the SM forum.  Good luck, Julia, and thanks !

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Post and Go Stamps at Autumn Stampex 2014

Royal Mail have at last formaly told us what will be available from Post and Go machines at Stampex.

Kiosk A003:                    Reel A - flag, Reel B - Machin

Kiosk A004 and A005:   Symbolic Flowers / Solo Poppy*

Kiosk JE01:                     A Jersey Flag, B Union Flag

Pre-orders§ from B001   Flag, Machin, Symbolic Flowers, Solo Poppy*

(The Bureau Pack of Symbolic Flowers is printed on machine C001 and all are 1st class.)


*We know from the Philatelic Bulletin that the solo Poppy Post and Go stamp will be available from Post and Go Kiosks from 21 October.

But we now know that it will first be available on 17 September, but only with a  

First World War 
Centenary

additional caption from machines A004 and A005.

§ Pre-orders: from past experience it is likely that stamps from the B machine will not be available on demand at Royal Mail's Stampex counter.   There is a minimum order level of £150 for pre-orders; ask for details.

UPDATE 4 September

Looking at the Jersey Stamps website today I find that they have listed:

Jersey Post & Go Jersey Flag Stampex Autumn 2014 Overprint - Mint Set 


As far as I know, nobody has mentioned an Overprint on the Jersey Flag and the site doesn't indicate what it reads.  This will be sold for 12 months subject to availability.

(Other new output is also listed on the site.)

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