Review of the year 2025.

So we come to the end of another year.  A strange one in many respects as all the fuss over Machins - whether news or their being invalidated - has died down, Self Service Kiosks dispensing Post and Go stamps have almost disappeared, but the relentless money machine of Royal Mail special issues continues.

Definitives

The provision of King Charles III definitives to Post Office continued as they slowly replaced the Machin series.  Queen Elizabeth stamps with datamatrix codes were withdrawn from philatelic sale in the summer, although sales through post offices - and indeed Royal Mail online - continued while stocks remained.

The King adopted the Tudor Crown and in January Royal Mail announced that this would be used in their logo affecting, initially, booklets of 8 stamps and 1st & 2nd class business sheets.  

The booklets of 4 were not released at this time and the 1st class x4 was found on eBay.  It was made available through Tallents House once they were aware that it had been released to post offices.  It seems that Stamps and Collectibles aren't being told; the arrangement seems to be that Post Office stores are calling off ready stocks from the printers, stocks which Royal Mail have ordered but then don't take into their own stocks?  

The 2nd & 1st class King Charles III definitives for Scotland were issued as were more insipidly coloured airmail rate stamps.

Subsequently the long awaited 1st class Large business sheet - not issued with the other values in April 2023 - was found in November at a Scottish post office.  How ironic that it should be found just a few miles from the place from which we should get supplies in order to produce first day covers if we wished, when the philatelic service knew nothing of it.  We're waiting for details of ordering and product code from Tallents House.

The Swap-out system for invalidated stamps continues: early in the year there was a 7-week turnaround time although this later improved.  A reader reported just before Christmas that exchanges from batches sent in September and October were still awaited.

Commemorative or Special Stamp products 

The 2025 programme has been much the same as other recent years with much emphasis on 'entertainment' subjects which would be big sellers to the programme/film/artist fanbase, and less on subjects actually marking cultural and historical anniversaries important to the United Kingdom.  There were exceptions, which, I'm sure not coincidentally, brought well-designed stamps rather than photographs.  

There were several elements in the designs of the sets marking the 350th anniversary of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich and the Steam Locomotives set which coincided with the 200th anniversary of the Stockton to Darlington railway, and the Valour and Victory issue. The latter coincided with the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II (in Europe anyway) with 10x 1st class designs celebrating the courage and dedication of individuals.  Just to bulk up the issue and fill the prestige stamp book there was also a miniature sheet honouring Dame Vera Lynn. Whether the two elements should share equal note is perhaps a matter for debate.

On the thematic side, apart from the locomotives, there was garden wildlife, fungi and ducks, and the year finished with an inexplicable Victorian stamps-on-stamps set.  

In February Royal Mail announced that special issues would consist of 1st and 2nd class stamps only, although not until after they had issued the ones printed before the decision was made.

A new product, the 'Celebrating Britain Sheet' for Jane Austen (like a Business Customised or Commemorative Sheet) was a late addition to the programme appearing in mid-December.  

Errors

There were few errors in stamp products this year: the Royal Observatory prestige stamp book was found with pane 2 duplicated; in the same issue the coin cover was found with only one postmark leaving two stamps uncancelled; and a less noticeable and more specialised error - but error nonetheless - was discovered on the 2024 Christmas stamps with 1st & 2nd class both having the same (2nd class) datamatrix code date and value.

Postage Rates

As has become the norm, selected postage rates changed in both April and October although most basic inland rates remained the same. The basic 1st class Large Letter rate increased from £2.60 to £3.50 in two steps affecting booklets, business sheets and SSKs. The foreign letter airmail rate also increased from £2.80 to £3.40 annoying social letter writers and Postcrossers.

Forgeries and penalties Forgers, having been thwarted by Royal Mail's efforts to combat the use of forged definitives, continued to work with the special stamp issues even going as far back as the self-adhesive 2001 monochrome Cats & Dogs set. Gummed stamps were not spared with forged sheets of the gummed 2022 cats found.  

Some of Royal Mail's Revenue Protection Teams continued to have difficulties deciding what should or should not be surcharged.   This is despite Mail Centres being provided with posters indicating what should and should not be surcharged.  I've explored this more on the Postal History blog on this and in preceding posts which also show non-British stamps which escaped the attentions of the Teams.

A new surcharge label was reported, with a QR code link to the Royal Mail website, where it was revealed that the surcharged stamp remained valid! 

Slogan and other postmarks

Readers have recorded 24 slogans this year, with the Christmas one/s still to come as I draft this, which is well up on last year's 20.  No national saints' days (only Valentine), none for new stamp issues, but one novelty was the slogan for the state visit of the German president. I don't recall any other heads of nations being honoured in this way.  

Thanks also to readers who have sent in examples of branch counter date stamps and other postmarks used on incoming letters, and other unusual postal markings.  I already have one to write up for January but I am hoping to get more information about it before doing so.

Royal Mail and Post Office operations

Post Office Ltd decided to divest the business of the costly directly managed Crown Offices around the country, manned by their employees, and arranged franchises with several experienced organisations.  

Meanwhile Royal Mail seemed to be doing their best to avoid customers using post office branches altogether by further promoting online postage purchase and introducing a certificate of posting on the mobile phone app - which only guaranteed that the parcel was near a postbox, not that it was actually posted.  

Further developments lead to modifications to postboxes which had solar panels to activate a larger 'packet' flap much to the annoyance of the many people who yarnbombed the boxes. 

Across the country Royal Mail installed various parcel lockers for the collection and posting of parcels, often close to sub-post offices which also had 'their' postboxes converted.  Fortunately many postmasters have a loyal band of local customers who insisted that they would continue to use the services inside the branches.

Royal Mail acted with commendable urgency when the United States administration announced that they would require tariffs to be paid before goods were sent to their country. That is to say, instead of customs duty being collected by the US authorities when packages arrived in the mail, they would instead be collected by the sending postal administration.  This came about because the US abolished the previously $800 (£600) de minimis limit at which goods became liable to charges.  

Regular readers will recall that the US first raised the problem of imports from China in 2015, but then it was related to Terminal Dues - the amount that the Chinese had to pay for delivery within other countries, notably the USA.  Whilst that was a valid argument, which led in 2018 to higher postage rates to the US reflecting the higher terminal dues agreed at the UPU, it didn't stop the flow of packages from China, and only marginally increased the cost to the consumer.  And there was still no duty charged because of the ridiculously high de minimis limit. (The UK limit was £18).

The new system doesn't affect stamps and philatelic products (which remain at zero%), except for the processing fee charged by Royal Mail (if postage is purchased and labels completed online) of 50p, and by Post Office for items sent at a branch, which is £1.50.   

The King Charles cypher appeared on more postboxes, and vehicles, including the large fleet of electric vehicles now being used across the country.  A small KC3 box was sent to the British Antarctic Survey station at Rothera.

As Royal Mail were fined yet again for poor delivery performance and postal workers continued to complain about an excess of parcels for the time available to deliver, we had two Royal Mail deliveries on Sunday 14th December, one from Tallents House the other from Amazon. 

Post and Go 

As NCR Self-Service Kiosks are reaching the end of life Post Office started working on alternatives. However more and more machines are becoming 'card only' or out of service altogether.  This, coupled with the franchising of all former Crown Offices as above below, means that there may well be a period when none are in operation.   When asked much earlier in the year, Post Office were unable to say whether the existing stamps would continue to be used - which, given that PO had not yet chosen a new provider, was not surprising.  

As I see it there are three possibilities: 

a. the new machines will dispense stamps and labels just as the old ones did;
b. the new machines will dispense stamps of a different size, in which case Royal Mail will be involved and these will without doubt bear the head of King Charles;  
c. the least palatable option will be that only labels will be printed, or 'stamps' with all the detail including the head printed at the point of delivery as with the (abandoned) Horizon replacement. 

Meanwhile the people with their fingers on the P&G pulse and their ears and eyes well and truly open in branches, principally Trevor and Malcolm, have contributed over 150 additions to the annual P&G blog entry providing an important up-to-date history of this dying aspect of British philately.  Thank you on behalf of all readers.

The Horizon Scandal

I have not written about this during 2025 because it is still being covered by the BBC and Private Eye,  and to a lesser extent by Nick Wallis.  Several prominent figures (Sir Alan Bates, Christopher Head) have now settled having fought the derisory offers original made.   Lee Castleton, Janet Skinner and one other SPM are taking legal action against Post Office, with Paul Marshall leading.  

The first volume of the Public Inquiry's final report has been published: this and more news in the team's year-end newsletter, including work on the Legacy Project working with the Postal Museum to deliver one aspect of the Project to mark the Horizon scandal in history, and record the impact on ordinary people.

Third, unexpected, paragraph!  News broke just this week about a 2006 contract between Post Office and Fujitsu.  Well, you say, of course there was a contract, and this isn't new because it was mentioned in the Inquiry session with Paul Patterson of Fujitsu, but it has only recently been published on the Inquiry website.   And it's the detail that matters: Fujitsu were liable to penalties if it couldn't properly reconcile financial information generated by the Horizon IT system, and it requires Fujitsu to obtain Post Office's permission before "amending the centrally held Transaction data."

The blogs, longer articles, and the business

As mentioned in the opening paragraph the blog has been affected this year by the lack of important news on Machin definitives and the SwapOut scheme, and the limited news - other than updates provided by others - on Post and Go and Self-Service Kiosks.  And so the number of individual posts has fallen slightly again.  Nonetheless we are now approaching 11 million views thanks almost entirely to all the input from readers, supplemented by news about new stamp issues.

I am reluctant to enforce the use of names and pseudonyms in comments but it isn't really isn't difficult to understand why.  This typifies what happens with Anonymous comments: 

Remember that in almost all cases you can click on any image to see an enlarged version, sometimes very much bigger.

This time last year I had intended to list definitive first day covers, and Post & Go oddities.  Instead with the additional time available I found myself sorting through my own collections of postal history, and reminded myself just what a fascinating and absorbing journey can be taken through examining stamps that have been properly used.  

I prepared a 12-sheet display of pre-World War II  postcards and covers entitled 'Around the World for a Penny'.  I discovered I had items sent not only to all the expected destinations - USA, Canada, Western Europe, Russia - but to Fiji, Mauritius and Chile!  I will turn this into an online display somewhere which I shall in due course provide links to.  Whether or not you already collect this, I hope that you - as a true philatelist - should be entertained and informed through these displays. 

As I consolidate the material accumulated over the decades a great deal of duplication has been revealed and I hope that some of this will be of interest to readers.  Towards the end of the year I started listing some oddities, like the machine-vended booklet wrappers which, I am pleased to say, the new owner incorporated into his collection to make a display to his local stamp club. 

I've restarted selling stamps for postage again so when you have used all your surplus I will probably still have some available.   

I know some readers are still relatively young (ie under 50!) but it is never too late to really examine what you have in order to share it with others.  It is possible, certainly with postal markings, that you have something seemingly innocuous which will turn out to be the first example seen, or to extend the 'known use'  period backwards or forwards by months or even years.

Again, if you have any particular interests in worldwide stamps, cards, postal history and oddities, please do ask, as this takes up far more space at present than the core collections that I want to keep.

So we turn the corner of another year with an uncertain outlook around the world and despite efforts are still no closer to Peace on Earth than we were this time last year.   But we can take solace in our philatelic collections.  

Even if it means we are hiding from the realities of current affairs, it can give us some peace and relaxation, and is usually good for our mental well-being - and physical, if we remember to get up and walk around a bit.  Don't have everything within easy reach of your desk!

THANK YOU for your seasonal greetings by email and cards, these are much appreciated.

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our readers.

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This won't be Peanuts - Basic products £64.80, the full bundle another £95! Set of 8, issued on 24 July 2025.

Ever since the stamp programme was announced we wondered whether there could possibly be a redeeming factor in this issue: that is, something other than an American comic strip. But no, the 75th anniversary of the Peanuts comic strip is being commemorated by Britain's Royal Mail.

Royal Mail reason and inspiration

Royal Mail are celebrating the internationally loved comic strip ‘Peanuts’ on the occasion of its 75th anniversary in 2025.

The first black-and-white Peanuts daily strip launched on Monday, 2 October 1950, in a modest seven newspapers. As many more papers signed on, it led to the longer Sunday episodes in colour, from 6 January 1952. It expanded to the UK in February 1953, first featuring in the Daily Sketch, before switching to the Daily Mail in May 1971.

Charles Schulz devoted himself to putting his pen to paper and turned his ‘repertory company’ of assorted children, a beagle and a little bird into the American comic-strip masterpiece Peanuts. Seven days a week for nearly 50 years, the comic was enjoyed in as many as 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries by an estimated 350 million readers. Reprints still run in some 2,000 papers in print and online – proof that Peanuts remains highly popular with young and old a quarter of a century after Schulz’s final original strip appeared on 13 February 2000.

Each stamp in the set of eight, se-tenant pairs, features Charlie Brown, Snoopy and friends in a British style theme of the much-loved comic strip including: the classic Snoopy pose on a Royal Mail Pillar Box, playing Football (or Soccer as Charlie Brown may have called it), Charlie Brown and Snoopy “enjoying” the British Weather and a Birthday Tea Party among others. 

The stamps 

8 x 1st class stamps marking the 75th anniversary of American comic strip 'Peanuts'.

Technical Details

The 41 x 30 mm stamps were designed by Interbang and printed by Cartor Security Printers in lithography with regular gum, perforated 14½ x 14.  Copyright © 2025 Peanuts Worldwide.

Collectors Sheet & Fan Sheets

I don't recall a previous collector sheet having only 8 stamps - if the set had 8 normally two were duplicated.  This sheet is litho and self-adhesive making the stamps different to those issued in counter sheets. (Price £14.80)

 

 

The Peanuts Gang Fan sheet and Snoopy Fan sheet contain four 'gang' stamps (the eighth one shown above) or four Snoopy stamps (the first one above) respectively. Price £8.

Products available

Set of 8 stamps, first day cover, presentation pack, collector's sheet, stamp cards, Peanuts character pack of set of stamps, Peanuts Gang Fan sheet, Snoopy Fan sheet. silver-plated medal cover, framed stamp set, framed collector's sheet, limited edition (1000) gold stamp ingot of the Snoopy stamp.

 

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New duplication on Greenwich Observatory PSB.

I think it's over six months since we had a new prestige stamp book error, so it's my pleasure to show this duplicated pane in the Royal Observatory book, courtesy of JF.

It's difficult to take a photo of such errors as there is a risk of damaging the stamps, so this has been slightly enhanced.  As you can see, there are two copies of pane 2.

Duplicated pane 2 in Royal Observatory prestige stamp book.

 

UPDATE:

My thanks to the new owner of this booklet (MB) for a better picture

 

 

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Amazing Prestige Stamp Book Errors - the latest episode.

Ever year, though not every issue, we report different types of error on Prestige Stamp Books: missing panes, duplicate panes, inverted pane, perforation errors, miscuts, and so on.

But we've never had anything quite like the one in the image that was sent to me today.

Churchill PSB definitive pane on Tallents House FDC - with duplicated datamatrix code!

My thanks to IG for sharing this with us all.  It's an amazing error - and of course there must be more because however these are printed, in whatever sheet or reel format (probably the latter as it is especially for automatic addition to Royal Mail first day covers) - each of the stamps should have a unique datamatrix code.  The two codes on each stamp are indeed different.

If anyone else has received a similar error, it will be very interesting to know just how many we can record.

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PSB make-up errors are back - Dungeons & Dragons with two definitive panes

It's four years since we reported on duplicated stamp panes in prestige books (the last duplicate of any sort was the cover of the Platinum Jubilee book), but I am pleased to say that another one has occurred.

My thanks to PMJ who bought this book in Reading Post Office.  The first image shows the back of one self-adhesive pane and the front of the other.  The second image is unfortunately out of focus but it's difficult to take a photo one-handed while splaying the pages with the other hand.  But obviously there are two definitive panes.

Dungeons and Dragons Prestige Stamp Book with the plain reverse of a definitive pane on the left facing a second pane.

Dungeons and Dragons Prestige Stamp Book two definitive panes.

Please let us know if you find any other errors on PSB make-up.  And browse here to see many previous instances.

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Christmas 2023 booklet with missing barcodes sold over PO counter.

In October last year a postmaster found, in his new stock, a sheet of 2nd class stamps with no datamatrix barcodes, which we reported here. 

Well before the stamps were due to be issued an image of this sheet was shared on a postmaster chat forum and, although we don't know the full facts, it came to the attention of Royal Mail and it seems that Post Office Ltd arranged for the stamps to be withdrawn. They were apparently never sold over the counter, nor direct to collectors or dealers.

Not so in this case.

Earlier this month I was alerted to another case.  The writer had found the earlier blog post and wrote with details and an image, and this time the error is on a 2nd class booklet. 

Christmas 2023 2nd class booklet with missing barcode

The writer tells that the booklet was sold at a branch in Surrey.  

This error is previously unreported: nobody has mentioned this or similar errors to me before, nor to the Modern British Philatelic Circle (MBPC), the Great Britain Philatelic Society, and no dealers have reported it, and nor have the three monthly magazines with wide circulation in the UK.

The owner is interested in its value.  As I explained, 

The way they are printed, there must be - unless quality control only let a few out in error - a dozen or more, maybe 50.  The fact that they haven't been reported means that:

- they were spotted after your booklet was sold, reported, and returned to the warehouse;

- they were sold but haven't been used, which would be unlikely for Christmas stamps at Christmas;

- they were sold and people who bought them are holding on to them to see if any others are reported - if everybody does that of course it is down to the first one to blink. 

---- or a combination of these.

UPDATE 3 March

I suppose it is a sign of the times that the first comment on this is that the booklet might be counterfeit, never mind the fact that there would be no point in counterfeiting an error rather than a stamp-as-issued. This reflects the plethora of forgeries on the market now, not only of Machin and KC3 definitives, but also many Christmas stamps and, more latterly, gummed special stamps.

To my mind it is an error, nothing more nothing less.  Let me remind you that these were probably printed in the summer, at a similar time to the sheet stamps with missing barcode which were recalled before they could be issued. 

Christmas stamps are printed well in advance of issue. Other special stamp issues are not printed quite as far in advance of the issue date.  Also issued last summer was the River Wildlife set which included the error of a single phosphor band on the 1st class stamps. 

And in February the King Charles valued definitives were printed in sheet form.  We don't know exactly when the coil stamps for first day covers - produced erronesusly without U-shaped slits - were printed but it would have been well before November.  What seems evident is that all these - River Wildlife, Definitives, Christmas sheets and Christmas booklets - were produced during the first 9 months of 2023. 

Although there were other errors, most notably involving prestige stamp books which had missing or duplicated stamp or interleave panes (or covers), or which had serious miscuts or other misalignments, these types of errors were occurring many times over the life of this blog.  

If you look at the word-cloud in the right-hand column of this page, you will see that 'Error' runs to 127 posts.  This does include pre-release usage, and various Post and Go errors, as well as errors in the design (Wales 1st class font types), the missing P from the source code in PSB stamps (M_IL), and errors of colour the 81p PSB stamp) or make-up/inclusion (The £1.17 stamp included in a PSB after it ceased to pay a postage rate), but it also includes many instances of "these should not have made it to the public"!

So errors of one sort or another have abounded, and they really came to a peak in 2023.  It doesn't seem to be unreasonable that the booklet under discussion is another one in the 2023 errors saga.

I hope that publication here and by the Societies and magazines will come to the attention of anybody else who might have one of these and we will then have a better idea of how many there might be.

If any dealer wishes to suggest a value for my contributor, then I shall be pleased to pass it on.

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Review of the Year 2023

Where has this year gone?

The first half of the year, and to a lesser extent the second half, was dominated by the decision by Royal Mail to invalidate ordinary Machin and Country definitives from 31 July.

From my point of view, I had already decided to sell as much of my stock as possible to people who might not have these stamps in their collections. As I had really only been selling the security stamps (Gibbons' 'U' numbers) this involved a lot of time sorting and identifying the previous two versions of decimal Machins, the original and those with elliptical perforations.

And I found a lot more than I expected to, in various stock books 'for later sorting' or in packets, boxes, and presentation packs. As I prepared Stock lists of stamps for sale I was also able to share – for the benefit of newer collectors – key information about the phosphor arrangements on booklet stamps from the 1970s & 1980s.

So while the first half of the year was largely writing about the system, and answering questions - here, by email, on social media, and even phone calls - the rest of the year has involved sorting more stamps to send in to the Swapout scheme, and to make up into lists for sale.

Penalties

The surcharge for using a non-barcoded stamp started at £1.10 (which was the then 1^st class postage rate) but in October a new range of charges was introduced pushing this charge up to £2.50 (the previous rate for unpaid letters), with the rate for using a counterfeit stamp or no postage at all rising from £2.50 to £5 (£7 for small parcels). The rates for insufficient postage remained at £1.50 for letters and £3.50 for small parcels.

With the invalidation, counterfeit stamps - about which more later - and simple error, the scope for postal history collections is wide.

Postage rates

Tariff changes came as usual at the beginning of April with a 15+% rise in the cost of a basic 1^st class letter and therefore of many of the collectible stamps. The Worldwide 20 g letter rate was abolished meaning that the £2.20 stamp now covered letters up to 100g anywhere in the world. This eliminated the need for anything other than a £2.20 airmail stamp – which was issued, along with all the King Charles NVIs, the day after the rate increase.

A second tariff change took effect from 2 October affecting inland post, with the £1.25 rate for a basic 1^st class letter being 31% higher than in April 2022. It will need only a 7p increase in 2023 to produce a rate double than in effect from March 2020. 

A new reign, part 2

Last year, I discussed what portrait would apepar on the first King Charles definitives, preferring the banknote full-face portrait over the coin profile.  Royal Mail duly used the unflattering profile – used without the sculptor's input – from the coins prepared by the Royal Mint for the first stamps issued

The second wave, the make-up values from 1p to £5 was issued at the end of August – with the £3 value being dropped from the range. Royal Mail confirmed that there would be no £2.20 country definitives as there were a lot of old stamps to use.

Following His Majesty's line that there was to be no waste and stocks of old stamps were to be used to exhaustion, it took many months for the first definitives of the new reign to appear apart from on the date of issue.

The need for a new portrait to appear on other products was discussed but so far only the Horizon label (in one location) and digital stamps for PPIs have appeared.

Commemorative or Special stamps ...

...  followed the pattern of previous years with many issues extolling the virtues of internationally

famous television, film, and game (etc) brands. The 'Coronation' issue was a big disappointment with only a miniature sheet being issued: if one of them had been issued as a single stamp in sheets it would have seen wider use. As if the programme wasn't full enough RM saw fit to have two Music Giants issues in one year.

An innovation was to produce stamps with face values without an equivalent postage rate: sadly, rather than produce a few lower-make-up-values, stamps were issued with £1 and £2 denominations (the latter actually paying the little-used worldwide surface rate).

Errors

Barely a year goes by without a Prestige Stamp Book being issued with an error, whether it's missing or duplicated panes or covers, or mis-cuts.  This year it was miscuts on the X-Men booklet and on the Shirley Bassey booklet - which was also inverted.  We were also sent some pictures of errors from the 1990s.

But Royal Mail – and it's printer International Security Printers – was plagued by other errors through the year.  The River Wildlife 1st class stamps were issued with a single central phosphor band, and a reprint was necessary. Royal Mail offered to replace the wrongly-printed stamps with reprints!

The stamps applied to first day covers of the second tranche of King Charles Definitives were found to have no security cuts; Royal Mail did not admit it was an error (although it clearly was) and no reprint was necessary because the stamps were not made available to anybody in mint condition. In other words, there was no operational effect, so they didn't change them.

The third error of the year to escape scrutiny (I understand that others were caught with closer scrutiny after the first two) was the appearance of a sheet of 2nd class Christmas stamp with no datamatrix code. Unfortunately these were publicised by the postmaster who found them before issue and as yet none have appeared for sale either to the public or from dealers. 

Forgeries

Forgeries of many new stamps were reported regularly, including the datamatrix Machins (not just the NVIs but the airmail values), and the country defintives.  I can't make up my mind whether the forgers are producing some stamps to sell to collectors, or for use as postage, because the next to appear were the 1st and 2nd class Aardman Animations stamps and many Christmas stamps. 

After that the Classic Children's TV (Bob the Builder, Postman Pat etc) and other commemoratives appeared, along with Smilers Sheets!  It's been suggested that this is because there is no doubt that these are valid, as only the Machins and Country definitives were invalidated. Whether this is true or not, who knows.

I have seen, but haven't had occasion to report yet, the forging of the limited use stamps issued by Universal Mail UK.

I was asked to contribute to several radio programmes and newspaper articles; I provided the journalists concerned with ample information but declined to go on air. (Jeremy Vine? - no thanks!)

Post and Go

Stalwart reporters continued to provide information for everybody else on what was happening both at

museums and branch self-service kiosks. My thanks to Malcolm, Trevor, Chris, Stuart, Robert, and Anonymous contributors.

The shock news from Royal Mail in September that Post and Go was to end was tempered by the confirmation that this did not apply to Post Office branches, where at least the machines are likely to be used by people actually sending mail (when the machines are functioning, that is).

Three years ago I reported on a Post Office initiative to introduce the Next Generationof Self-Service machines. Nothing moves quickly, and while some machines may have been trialled, there is no sign of a wholesale replacement of the existing NCR machines.

Tariff changes usually affect Post and Go stamps if only to increase the cost! This year the redundant Worldwide 20g designation was still in use many months after the weight step was eliminated.

Slogan postmarks. 

In 2022 we recorded 26 different slogans.  By my count there have been only 18 reported in 2023 – and that includes the Wales and Northern Ireland variants of the NHS75 slogan. Adding interest, though, has been spotting late usages, with the Windrush and Coronation slogans seeing isolated use months after they originally appeared.   A few other interesting postmarks and postal markings have been reported.

Postboxes

Only two occasions led to Royal Mail's street postboxes being decorated.  The first was the Coronation, and the second was Christmas.

Royal Mail Operations and Philatelic Services.

Following a cyber attack at the beginning of the year, Royal Mail suspended all international mailings as they could not provide customs information to destination postal authorities, or use the internationally linked track and trace system. But fortunately the industrial action which caused them so many problems in 2022 was stopped after agreement of some sort was reached between the company and the union.

In 2022 those problems prevented Royal Mail from attending Autumn Stampex. No such problems prevented their attendance in 2023, however, they simply decided not to go. “following a strategic review”.

 

The Post Office Horizon IT Scandal

The Statutory Inquiry into this scandal continues. That, and Freedom of Information Requests have

produced some shocking headlines in mos of the mainstream media. The role of inhouse and external lawyers has drawn comment from academics and other lawyers and is likely to lead to action from their professional bodies/regulators.

More and more evidence from Post Office prosecutors points to the possibility of charges for perverting the course of justice. 2024 will continue to be interesting.  (And more still, since I drafted that!)

Mr Bates v The Post Office: an ITV drama series begins its run on 1 January at 9pm, and will be available on ITVX. Staring Toby Jones as Alan Bates, and Will Mellor as Lee Castleton, the series continues with three more episodes on consecutive evenings, and on 4 January an ITV documentary will be aired at 10.45pm. “People watching may need to remind themselves that the story is based on fact not fiction.”

The Business and the Blog

In August the number of page views on this blog passed 6 million. One of our readers pointed out that it was 3.3 million in January 2019 and 5.5 million in November 2022.

Looking at the 'all-time' statistics, the posts which are of interest outside the philatelic community (and therefore appear on search engine results) attract most visitors overall, with the 2014 new tariff hitting the peak at 51,200 visitors. The Swapout scheme has naturally attracted attention as well. The biggest hit for new issues was for the 2018 programme (11.4k).

Although I haven't reported as often on this blog in the last year, I have taken the opportunity to explore the postal history aspects of modern philately "Modern British Postal History".  I hope regular readers of this blog find the other one interesting.  

As more of you stop collecting new issues of stamps that you don't like, but still visit stamp fairs and clubs, I hope this will encourage you to look inside the box and see what dealers have to offer by way of stamps doing the job they were invented for.  Try and build up  a collection of Machins on cover, solo use.  Not easy, especially all the variants of the security stamps!

 

We hope all our readers have a happy Christmas holiday whatever religion you follow (if any). 
We think especially of those in the care and health sectors who are working while we are relaxing;  those who are no longer with us, especially those who have passed this year; and we think about those who have died awaiting justice.

We hope that you and your friends and loved ones stay safe and healthy. 

Remember those who are less fortunate than you and if you can help one person - try to make it two!  Don't forget the postal workers who we rely on, and who are working harder while so many of their colleagues are leaving for a less stressful life.

Make-up errors in Prestige Stamp Books.

It's some time since we reported on errors in Prestige Stamp Books, although at one time they were very common.

Mark Botting of Eric Arthur Stally Stamp Books has sent some examples which he hasn't seen before. Some of these predate not only our blog but the website, but one would have been included had we been aware of it.

First is the 1990 London Life (SG DX11) with text page L4 duplicated:

1990 London Life PSB with text page duplicated.

Second is the next book, Agatha Christie (DX12) with interleaf L3 misplaced after pane 3.

1991 Agatha Christie PSB with misplaced text page.

Lastly, the issue which we did cover on the website, RAF Uniforms with stamp pane 3 (Spitfire & Red Arrows) omitted.

2008 RAF Uniforms PSB with stamp pane 3 omitted.

If you find any other PSB - or stamp - errors, we will be pleased to report them.

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Cutting error on X-Men Prestige Book

It is some time since anybody reported an error on a Prestige Stamp Book and most of those were duplicated or missing pages.

This time it is a mis-cut, causing two stamps to be damaged, from the X-Men book.  This is a scan on a white background of a photocopy so apologies for the quality. 

The bottom row of stamps has been cut through, almost reaching the barcode and trimming off the lower perforations.  The white line at the top is where the cut should have been.  As the rest of the pages in the booklet were normal, this is a case of sheet of definitive panes being misaligned downwards.

Mis-cut definitive pane from X-Men Prestige Stamp Book.

UPDATE 29 November 2023 From the MBPC website:

Mark Botting has now purchased the book containing this error, and it has been discovered that the rest
of the book is also mis-severed.

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Platinum Jubilee of HM Queen Elizabeth II set and PSB - 4 February 2022

As expected Royal Mail will issue a set of stamps and associated products to mark the platinum jubilee of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, an event described not only as unparalleled in British history but also "this will be the only platinum jubilee ever celebrated in this country".

Their write-up continues 

For 70 years The Queen has been the ultimate symbol of the United Kingdom, representing her subjects at home and abroad through times of great joy and sadness too. Her Jubilee is a moment to reflect on a record of duty and service admired and appreciated far beyond these shores. Her Majesty is also Queen of 15 other nations, Head of the Commonwealth and the longest serving Head of State in the world today. 

Celebrations throughout 2022 will mark and celebrate this significant milestone in the life of our monarch and our country. The celebrations will span five months, from the anniversary of her accession on 6th February to the official, celebratory, long bank holiday weekend from 2nd to 5th June 2022.

The anniversary and the activity around the two key moments – in February and June – will help keep the anniversary in the public’s mind, with spikes of special interest and focus in February and again in early Summer.

Stamps

A set of 8 pictorial stamps - 4 x 1st class, 4 x £1.70 - show, predictably, Her Majesty in various situations and locations over the decades - 1957, 1966, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1999, 2005 and 2020.

1st Class:
Her Majesty The Queen during a visit to the headquarters of MI5, London, February 2020;
Her Majesty The Queen with His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh during a tour of the United States, Washington, October 1957;
Her Majesty The Queen on a walkabout in Worcester, April 1980;
Her Majesty The Queen during Trooping the Colour, London, June 1978;
£1.70:
Her Majesty The Queen after touring the Provincial Museum of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, May 2005;
Her Majesty The Queen during the Silver Jubilee celebrations, Camberwell, June 1977
Her Majesty The Queen during a tour of the West Indies, in Victoria Park, St Vincent, February 1966;
Her Majesty The Queen at the Order of the Garter ceremony in Windsor, June 1999.

Set of 8 stamps issued 4 February 2022 for Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee.

Technical and Credits

Design by Kate Stephens.  The 35mm square PVA-gummed stamps are printed by International Security Printers (Cartor) in litho, perf 14½ in two se-tenant strips of four.

Photo acknowledgements in order:
1st class: visit to MI5 HQ, London, 2020 © Victoria Jones/Pool/AFP/Getty Images; United States, Washington, October 1957 © Popperfoto/Getty Images;  Worcester, April 1980 © Tim Graham Photo Library/Getty Images;  Trooping the Colour, London, June 1978 © Anwar Hussein/Getty Images; 
£1.70: Edmonton, Canada, May 2005 © Jeff McIntosh/ The Canadian Press/PA/Alamy;  Camberwell, June 1977 © Graham Wiltshire/Getty Images;  Victoria Park, St Vincent, February 1966 © Royal Collection Trust/© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2022;  Windsor, June 1999 © PA/ Alamy

Prestige Stamp Book

Although there is no miniature sheet for this issue, there will of course be a prestige stamp book (the second of the year) which incorporates some previously issued stamps. 

Pane 1: Machin definitives - two each 2p, 10p, 50p, £1.50. These have security codes MPIL M21L and so the £1.50 will be the only new stamp - an odd choice as it is rarely available from Post Office branches in sheet form.  (* see foot of post for another Machin.)

The 2p was included in the Music Giants V book (DY38), the 10p was included in the Music Giants V & VI and Industrial Revolutions books (DY38/39/41), and the 50p stamp was included in the Music Giants V & VI (DY38/41) books.  The £1.50 will be included in our catalogue as 4150P.

Pane 2:  two each 1st class and £1.70 stamps from this issue.

Pane 3:  two 1st class from the 90th Birthday issue (SG 3827/8), and two 1st class stamps from the Diamond Jubilee issue (SG 3319B/20B).  As these are almost certainly* printed by the same process and printer, with the same perforation and phosphor, they will probably not have separate catalogue numbers.  [* Details awaited from Royal Mail].

Pane 4:  two each 1st class and £1.70 stamps from this issue.

Cover of Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee PSB - 4 February 2022

 

 

 

 

Panes 1* & 2 of Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee PSB - 4 February 2022

 

 

 Panes 3 & 4 of Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee PSB - 4 February 2022

 

Scan of actual definitive pane. The security code is M21L MPIL*.

I ordered only one PSB and - having checked the stamp panes - quickly sent it on to a Bulletin editor in France.  He sent me this picture today;  I didn't check the other panes or the cover!  He also confirms that there is no text pane between the first two stamp panes, which is unusual.

 

Platinum Jubilee prestige stamp book with duplicated cover.

 

 

Inside pages, pane 1 of Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee PSB - 4 February 2022, and cover of limited edition (1952)

MACHIN definitives.  Following this week's announcement that all Machin definitives would be replaced by stamps with datamatrix codes this is the first PSB since that announcement - and maybe the last ever - to contain Machins. 

If this PSB is sold for a year or more it will cease to be sold on 3 February 2023, three days after the Machins it contains cease to be valid for postage!

Other products

First day covers (set and PSB definitive pane), presentation pack, stamp cards, limited edition PSB (quantity 1952), stamp cards.

Jointly with the Royal Mint £5 coin cover (edition of 15,000) - also available as Silver Proof, Gold Proof and (of course) Platinum priced at £92.50, £2725, and £5495 respectively in editions of 1200, 100 and 20.  

Also, the set of stamps mounted and framed (£29.99), and two platinum stamps (ie coated with 0.1g of the metal) in limited editions of 500 each at £125 each.

Whatever floats your boat, and your pocket can afford!

UPDATE 9 February.  Thanks to the Commonwealth Stamps Opinion blog, we can show Canada Post's Platinum Jubilee offering, which is another opportunity for Machin collectors.  This design is issued as a self-adhesive stamp issued in booklets of 10 and a sheetlet containing a single, identical gummed stamp.  The 'P' stamps (=permanent) pay the basic inland letter rate.

Stamp issued by Canada Post for HM The Queen's Platinum Jubilee

 

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Look before you Break - a sorry tale of a Prestige Book error

Over the years we have been able to report - thanks to the generosity of our readers - very many errors in the make-up of Prestige Stamp Books, including these:

Harry Potter PSB duplicate pane

Star Trek duplicated non-stamp page.

Another duplicated non-stamp page.

Duplicate non-stamp page.

Missing definitive pane.

Today a comment was made on an earlier post:

I've broken up a copy of the xxxxxxx PSB to find the miniature sheet page missing. Has this been reported by anyone else?

As I have already deconstructed the booklet and it is 18 months past its first day of issue I have presumed no chance of a replacement form the Royal Mail, just wanted to make others aware there are errors out there.

I doubt the writer will ever do this again, without checking and double-checking, preferably as soon as he possibly can after he receives the book.  

And the lesson to everybody else is to do the same thing, not only to PSBs but everything else you receive from Royal Mail, from the Post Office, or even from dealers - we do occasionally overlook things!  

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