Another Exhibition Smilers Sheet- Bangkok World Stamp Exhibition - 2 August 2013

The Fédération Internationale de Philatélie (FIP) nominated Thailand as the country to host the World Stamp Exhibition in 2013, which will be held in Bangkok from 2nd to 14th August 2013, and will commemorate the 130th anniversary of Thai postage stamps and the establishment of the Thai postal service.

As usual the self-adhesive sheet containing 20 x Hello stamps is printed by Cartor Security Printing in lithography.

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De La Rue 78p sheet stamps now available - to some.

The 78p stamp printed by De La Rue has now appeared in counter sheets.  The stamp was issued on 26 March, available at Post Office branches printed by Walsall Security Printers, and in presentation packs and on Royal Mail fdcs printed by De La Rue.

Now, thanks to Ian R, we can report that a cylinder block from a DLR counter sheet has appeared on eBay, either from a Post Office counter, or from Royal Mail Edinburgh.

(Update: at my post office branch this morning the new delivery of 78p were all Walsall printings - and the DLR printings of other values are still without date and sheet number.)

Freshwater Lakes Faststamps from Midpex Hytech machines.

As previously announced Royal Mail took Post and Go along the Fosse Way to Midpex - but there were two machines, not just one.  

Machines A3 and A4 which were taken to Melbourne for the Australia 2013 show were available with, for the first time from the Hytech machines, the Freshwater Lakes designs issued in Post Offices on 25 June 2013.

Freshwater Lakes collectors set, receipt, and Union Flag collectors set.  The Flag set from Hytech machines were first issued 26 September 2012.

 

As can be seen the receipt records the First Day of Availability of the Freshwater Life II stamps at Midpex, on 06/07/2013.  There is an error on the receipt as the postcode of the venue is CV31 1XN not CV11 and, as pointed out in the comments, Leamington is spelled incorrectly!

Unfortunately the machines were also operating while dealers were setting up on Friday afternoon/evening, so some receipts are available with the 5 July date.  (or not! - see below)

UPDATE 9 July

On the Saturday morning (6th July) I was told by a dealer "I got some Post and Go for xxxx, and they all have yesterday's date!"  From that I concluded that some were dated 5th.  It seems that is not the case, as Vince has now sent this:

"On Friday afternoon (5^th July) the two machines were set up. Due to location of the venue (i.e. country side) there was a week WiFi signal. It was taking longer than usual to process each transaction.  Fortunately there was a telephone connection in the office next to the machine, the Engineer managed to use the cable and get the connectivity. Receipts for the stamps purchased that afternoon were dated 6^th July. I don’t think that there were any receipts dated 5^th July.

"As the machines were left on during the night of Friday 5^th July, early users (mainly dealers) of the machine on Saturday 6^th July found that the receipts were dated 7^th July (i.e receipts were dated 6^th on 5^th so it would change to 7^th on 6^th). This was noticed and date corrected before the show opened at 10 am. "

Thanks Vince!!

IMPORTANT NOTE for Collectors:
When I go to events like this, I will often buy some of what is available, especially for long-time customers who have asked beforehand.  Inevitably after I have posted images here, more people contact us to ask if we have any for sale.  Usually the answer is no, or not in the form required.

In future I will make more effort to solicit your orders within the blog, before I go.  But if I don't and you would like me to try to get what you want, then please ask before the event, or by email/phone early on the day (see website for phone and email details).  

There is nothing easier, and cheaper, than selling something to somebody who has asked for it.  There is much more effort in buying for stock, judging what to buy, adding it to the shop, and waiting for people to pay for it. So take advantage of the opportunity, and ask before the event.

I won't be attending the York Fair.

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Our e-commerce site, Machin security definitive & Horizon FDCs added

In the latest update to our new shop, we've added Machin definitive FDCs, starting from 2009 when the first stamps with security features were added.  And there are also a couple of Horizon label FDCs.

So while we're off to Midpex tomorrow why not browse our latest offerings, and see if you can find something for your collection.  There are many covers for the hard-to-get security stamps, and covers for single stamps (like the Aerial Post above), rather than whole PSB panes.

We'll be back on Monday, and there will be some news from the show, and pictures of the latest Faststamps.

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150th Anniversary of the Birth of Bertram Mackennal commemorative sheet and Seahorses facsimile pack

This year marks the 150th Anniversary of the birth of Sir Edgar Bertram Mackennal, KCVO, the Australian sculptor famous for designing the stamps and coinage bearing the likeness of King George V.  A Commemorative Sheet to be issued on 19 September 2013 explores his life and work.
Royal Mail product codes are shown below but these are not yet available to order on Royal Mail's website and probably not by telephone either.  I suppose there should be some available at Stampex as that is when they are being issued. 

Priced at £14.95 the sheet contains 10 x self-adhesive 1st class 'Royal Mail Seal' stamps and the labels include the ½d and 1d profile stamps, and the 5 shillings Seahorse, as well as some coins or medals.   Royal Mail Philatelic Product Code - AV025

Also on sale (not at most Post Offices) will be a Seahorses Facsimile Pack (at £8.95) and a press sheet of the facsimile sheet at £59.95.  Neither of these products is postally valid.

Front page (click on to see larger) Royal Mail Philatelic Product Code - ZP004

The Seahorses Facsimile Press Sheet consists of 12 blocks of four of the facsimiles with a specially designed border. True to the design and production values of the time, this limited edition product of 150 has also been numbered by hand.  (click on to see larger)
Royal Mail Philatelic Product Code - PV001

Enlargement of the Commemorative Sheet (click on to see larger):

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Enschede 2nd class coil MA12 MRIL commercial use

We reported in July last year that the 2nd class coil, printed by Enschede, was available in rolls of 10,000 with a 2012 year code MA12.  We've had mint examples available for some time (shop).  Now we can show the first on-cover example from a direct mailing source (rather than from a dealer or collector).

The two variations on the 4-line ink-jet wavy lines came from different mailings, the 'upper' one from March this year, and the 'lower' one from a recent mailing.

So if you support charities, take a good look at their mailings if they use stamps.  You might be the first to find the MA13 version, if it exists!

UDPATE: As you can see in the comments, it is not the MA13 version which has been found, but a new M12L version.  Thanks to the contributor we can show the picture.   This post is now closed for comments and comments may be made on a new current post.

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Our new e-commerce site: Faststamps, packs and covers added

If you have ever visited our e-commerce site (or 'shop') you will know that for about 3 years, maybe more, we have been writing about moving to a new one.  Late last year John found a new platform at Freewebstore and we have been developing it and adding stock ever since, in between keeping the website and this blog updated, and buying and selling stamps.   The home page for the new shop is here.

We've now got all the Security Machin singles and booklets listed, including the mixed booklets, but not yet the prestige stamp books, and the latest exercise has been to move all the Post and Go Faststamps from the old shop.  While doing this we've added some single sets with varieties that we have never listed before, and at reasonable prices (we think).  So if your Faststamp collection is missing anything, or if the basic collection is complete, take a look and find out if we can help you add anything.   Here's a sample:

Perth Scottish Congress 2013 pair on FDC

At the head of every page there is a navigation bar which includes 'Recent additions'.  This will be updated when we add each new group of stamps, covers etc.  Be sure to check it often.  This is the latest entry:

28 June 2013
All Post and Go Faststamps, packs and FDCs have been added to the shop: some of these have never been on our old shop.   Click here to view.  We recommend sorting into A-Z order as this will group types together.

Thanks for visiting!

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Another Machin definitive stamp 2013 printing discovered.

The 2nd class Large stamp printed by De La Rue in counter sheets made its appearance in at least two different parts of the country yesterday.  Thanks to Richard for the images below.  My PO branch still has MA12 stock, but these are MA13 stock - and as with the other values so far available, has no printing date or sheet numbers.

 

Right hand side of lower pane on the sheet showing no inkjet printing.

Olympic gold medal stamp trials, and publicity 'stamps' postally used!

Kiloware can be a source of rich pickings, and not only for the people who fraudulently re-use the very many uncancelled stamps that can be found nowadays.  We've been sent this scan of a 'stamp' found in kiloware - but if you look in your catalogue you won't see this one included in the 2012 Olympic Gold Medal Winners issues.

We've shown this design before, of course, because it was one of used in pre-Olympic publicity pictures.  Who used this example in the mail and where is of course impossible to tell.  But it's a good addition to any specialist Olympic collection - even better on complete cover of course!

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These would also be of even more interest to the Olympic specialist, and many other Great Britain collectors.   

The inscription indicates that they were used to test the overprinting process, see the text Leopard Heading - Overprint text trial at the left.

The Leopard head is in place of the Olympic/Paralympic logo.  At the foot of the stamp the Royal Mail logo takes the place of the Olympic/Paralympic logo in the margin, and the gold text there indicates that the phosphor area is 29mm deep.  (Readers will recall that the phosphor is applied only to the white background area, and on the right excludes the area of black text indicating the winner and the event.  (Click on the images to see them much larger.)

The wildlife design is clearly intended to make them very readily distinguishable from the real gold medal winners stamps (unlike the one used for publicity purposes) but we were told that they were printed, perforated and finished on 100% authentic Royal Mail stock.

We have no way of knowing - and cannot find out - where they were printed, when they were printed, how many (and how many different designs) were produced, or even whether they still exist.  We were made aware of these in November last year and tried to find out more but to no avail.

Has anybody else seen anything like these - or with animals instead of birds, perhaps? Please let us know in the comments or by email.

UPDATE 9 October:
We understand that no designs other than the parrots were used in trials.

The Cyclist stamp is still being used for postage.  Although undated we believe this one was used in the August - September 2013 period:

 

New 1st class stamp forgery - Paralympic definitive

It has been rather quiet on the forgery front recently with no Diamond Jubilee Machins, nor the new red ones.  But the forgers have turned their attention to something much easier - the Olympic/Paralympic definitive.

My thanks to Richard P for sending this scan of a Paralympic 1st class stamp which is an obvious forgery - the die-cut perforations are similar to some of those which were used on 1st class gold stamps.

UPDATE 5 Feb 2014 - some of these are for sale here

It's not clear why the grey printing of the value and Queen's head has been disturbed, this may have occurred during soaking.  But this design is a much easier one to copy than the Machin, having no security features.   We don't know whether the Olympic version also exists.

Update 8 July:

It's no surprise that the 'other' stamp has also appeared.   Thanks to Paul F for this image of the Olympic stamp.  Paul writes: I noticed while handling it the silver* does rub off.  

A different die-cutter has been used on this one in that (even inverted) the corners don't match.

Paul describes this as silver, I referred to it on the Paralympic stamp as grey - I am surprised to see that in the SG Concise the colour of the original is listed as black!!

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