Barcoded Machin and other forgeries - but why bother?

I received these forgeries recently.  The person who sent me these singles received them as samples from a 'wholesaler' in Hong Kong (or Mainland China*) of British and French stamps.

I can understand why the crooks would want to forge the 1st and 2nd class stamps, and maybe the Large versions - but the airmail values?  The £1.85 stamp doesn't even have a current postage use, without make-ups.

Which is which? 

£1.85 Barcoded Machin Definitive - and forgery

£2.55 Barcoded Machin Definitive - and forgery

£3.25 Barcoded Machin Definitive - and forgery

£4.20 Barcoded Machin Definitive - and forgery

The forgeries are on the right. What is not visible in these pictures is that all these have source code MBIL at the top right, suggesting that the origin of the iridescent image is business sheets.  

As usual with these forgeries the ROYAL MAIL text over the Queen's profile is in horizontal parallel lines,  but unlike some forgeries, the barcode printing is raised and glossy rather than flat.

Glossy barcode on £3.25 forgery.

ROYAL MAIL iridescent printing in parallel horizontal lines

Glossy barcode on £4.20 forgery.

ROYAL MAIL iridescent printing in parallel horizontal lines

Coming from the same stable is the England barcoded country 1st class definitive.  (I don't have a genuine one for comparison.)

Glossy barcode on 1st class England forgery.

.... and the lower values from the Aardman special issues (also self-adhesive) issued in October 2022.

Forged 1st & 2nd class Aardman commemorative stamps.

An interesting thing about this set is that the same stamps have also been reported on different backing paper.  This version has only one row of small text on the backing paper:

Forged 2nd class Aardman commemorative stamp - different backing paper.

These are the pictures sent to our correspodent by the 'wholesaler' offering him some bargain prices. The writer was an eBay user who had been a member since April 2022 and had - apparently - no dealings at all through ebay, with zero feedback and no products offered for sale.  (* they used an email address ending .hk, but their eBay location translated as 'Mainland China'.)

Whole sheets which would fool many users and some collectors and dealers. 

Another source has sent me these 2nd class 2021 Christmas forgeries.  Again, I don't have genuine for comparison but the backing paper is trademarked on the reverse, and the barcoded piece even has a join!

 

 

Two different 2nd class Christmas 2021 stamps, with the barcoded one having two sheets of paper joined.

Oracal is an international company supplying 'vinyl' for printing. That is, from what I can understand, the sort of easy-fix vinyl used in advertising and customising vehicles, which may be peelable (temporary and repositionable), or permanent (with a 2-3 year guarantee).  This vinyl has backing paper.  The paper shown above stamps appears to be backing paper from that sort of product.  Certainly that's what comes from a search for 'Oracal Print Vinyl permanent'.

I can find nothing in Oracal which suggests that they have a product suitable for stamp printing with an Oracal backing,  The backing paper used for these stamps is much thicker than modern backing paper, even for business sheets.

Update: Closer examination reveals that these Christmas stamps have been restuck onto this backing paper: they are not properly aligned and some have folded corners or creases.

Obviously in time Royal Mail will not be supplying Machin stamps when their supplies are exhausted and replaced by the King Charles III definitives - although we expect that those might also be forged before long.  The forgers are being careful not to offer them before they are widely available from legitimate sources!

Swap-out surpluses

But what about those collectors and dealers who have genuinely acquired barcoded stamps from Royal Mail's swap-out scheme, and now find - as I predicted last year - that they have far more than they use and need to sell them at a discount.  How will the people who have been buying from China be persuaded to buy from us instead !?

Maybe the United States Postal Service (USPS) has the answer? 

Defeating counterfeit postage – In Financial Year 2022, the Postal Service and Postal Inspection Service seized more than 340,000 packages with counterfeit postage and more than 7.7 million counterfeit stamps with an estimated $7.8 million loss avoidance for the Postal Service. Expanded actions to crack down on fraudulent postage include:

* Postal Service interdictions of packages with counterfeit labels affixed. The Postal Service will fully exercise new authority to take possession and dispose of packages identified with counterfeit postage.

* Reviews of shipments on Postal Service docks and during warehouse outreach visits

* Shut down of websites and closure of eCommerce accounts selling counterfeit postage

* Engagement and partnership with eCommerce companies to disrupt activity

* Customs and Border Protection (CBP) collaboration

* Promotion of the Inspection Service’s rewards program which provides rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a person that unlawfully uses, reuses, or forges postage stamps, postage meter stamps, permit imprints, or other postage; or uses, sells, or possesses with the intent to sell any used, forged, or counterfeit postage stamp or other postage.

Throughout the year, the Postal Inspection Service will continue to partner with federal, state, and local authorities to enforce the laws and bring criminals to justice. The Postal Service and Postal Inspection Service will continue to adapt to evolving security threats and implement expanded measures to safeguard Postal employees and preserve the security of the mail that Postal Service customers expect and deserve.

They seem to be making some progress especially with the rewards programme which rewards those who shop the criminals.  But it is clearly not enough.  With echoes of Royal Mail's 'the innocent recipient pays' policy, the USPS recently made this announcement - which was not received well!. (My emphasis.)

In recent years, a surge in the use of counterfeit postage has been found in the mail stream. The intentional use, or sale, of counterfeit postage is a crime because it seeks to obtain services without payment. This activity reflects an intentional effort to defraud the Postal Service of the funds it needs to provide services to the public.

 In response to this problem, the Postal Service is filing a federal register notice about changes to the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®), that will allow the Postal Service to treat items found in the mail stream bearing counterfeit postage as abandoned. “As the most trusted government agency in the nation, we will continue to work together with other law enforcement and government agencies to protect the sanctity of the mail,” said Chief Postal Inspector Gary Barksdale.

The Postal Service’s proposed changes will provide the public notice of the handling of items bearing counterfeit postage. Under the revision articles found in the mails with counterfeit postage will be considered abandoned and may be opened and disposed of at the Postal Service’s discretion. The mission of the Postal Service and the Postal Inspection Service is to ensure the safety, security, and integrity of the U.S. Mail. The implementation of these new regulations will continue to support and enhance this mission.

Consumers purchasing online items may be surprised to find out that the vendor mailed their goods using counterfeit postage. Under the new regulations, such items will be considered abandoned and disposed of at the Postal Service’s discretion. When this occurs, consumers will have to seek recourse from the vendor.

USPS stamps are being forged extensively and advertised as being shipped direct from China. But given Royal Mail's record with identification of forgeries - or misidentifying genuine stamps as forgeries - there is ample evidence that a legal challenge to such a policy here could be successful.

Let's hope it never comes to that, but I do wonder what Royal Mail can do to stop this influx.

UPDATE: I have been provided with this email address for people to send information about new forgeries and new outlets to Royal Mail.

But of course for new forgeries, we would like to have the information and images at the same time!

email address stampsintelligence@royalmail.com  

 

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Warhammer - 8 June 2023: at last something really British.

Warhammer is a tabletop miniature wargame with, originally, a medieval fantasy theme. The game was created by Bryan Ansell, Richard Halliwell, and Rick Priestley, and first published by the Games Workshop company in 1983.

Founded in 1975 by John Peake, Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson, Games Workshop was originally a manufacturer of wooden boards for games including backgammon. It later became an importer of the U.S. role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, and then a publisher of wargames and role-playing games in its own right, expanding from a bedroom mail-order company in the process. It expanded into Europe, the US, Canada, and Australia in the early 1990s. All UK-based operations were relocated to the current headquarters in Lenton, Nottingham in 1997. 

(Readers of a certain age, especially those with children now in their 40s, may remember the Fighting Fantasy, series of role-playing gamebooks produced by a company of the same name co-founded by Sir Ian Livingstone CBE and Steve Jackson.)

£2.20 Old World Dwarfs stamp

As in other miniature wargames, Warhammer players use miniature models (minis) to represent warriors. The playing field is a model battlefield comprising models of buildings, trees, hills, and other terrain features. Players take turns moving their model warriors across the playing field and simulate a battle. The outcomes of fights between the models are determined by a combination of dice rolls and simple arithmetic. Though the gameplay is mostly based on medieval warfare, it incorporates fantasy elements such as wizards, dragons, and magical spells.

Warhammer was the first commercial miniature wargame designed to use proprietary models. Prior to this, miniature wargames rulesets were designed to use generic models that could be bought from any manufacturer.

For millions of hobbyists around the world, Warhammer is more than just a game – it is a way of life. From collecting, customising and painting model figures to constructing battlefields and landscapes for them to rampage through, and from playing online games and reading novels set in these huge fantastical universes to joining fellow enthusiasts for mammoth tabletop battles decided on the roll of a dice, Warhammer is an endlessly creative, competitive and collaborative hobby. 

Now collectors of stamps may regard this as all a bit extreme - but game players are enthusiastic as many stamp collectors and philatelists are. 

Stamp details

A set of six stamps depicting some of the characters used across the three games of Warhammer- Warhammer: The Old World, Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer: Age of Sigmar. Presented as three vertical se-tenant pairs.

Set of 6 Warhammer stamps issued 8 June 2023, 2 each 1st, £2, £2.20.

1st class - Space Marines, Orks. Warhammer 40,000 announced itself to the wargaming world in 1987. Drawing on a whole range of science-fiction influences, while also incorporating a unique fantasy element.  Over nine editions (so far), the creators have introduced a rogues’ gallery of foes for the Space Marines to battle against. Warhammer 40,000 is the best-selling miniature wargame in history, and this is probably why this series has been chosen for the 1st class stamps.

£2.00 - Stormcast Eternals, Slaves to Darkness. In 2015 a more ambitious new game was produced. Reinventing the mythic fantasy landscape of its predecessor on a much grander scale, Warhammer: Age of Sigmar takes place in the eight Mortal Realms.

£2.20 - High Elves, Dwarves. The first edition of Warhammer was set in a mythical medieval landscape populated by knights, elves, wizards and goblins, where fierce battle could be joined according to guidelines detailed in the first rule book. This immersive fantasy world was explored further in Games Workshop’s in-house magazine, White Dwarf, and in an ongoing series of popular novels published by their own imprint Black Library, allowing players to imagine in ever greater detail the legendary domain in which their games took place.

Minisheet

Since its inception, Warhammer has been defined by its unique visual style, incorporating elements of fantast, sci- fi, horror, religious iconography, surrealism and black humour.

The Miniature Sheet captures this aesthetic style in four stamps featuring paintings and illustrations used in Warhammer’s codexes and rule books across four different worlds.

1st class: Warhammer 40,000 - Rogue Trader. 1st class Warhammer The Old World - Battle for Skull Pass.
£2.20 Warhammer Age of Sigmar - Yndrasta, the celestial spear.  £2.20 Warhammer The Horus Heresy - The Emperor of Mankind.

Technical Details

The stamps and miniature sheet were designed by Common Curiosity and printed in litho by Cartor Security Printers. All the stamps are 60 x 30 mm, the miniature sheet 192 x 74 mm.  The stamps are printed in sheets of 36 with conventional gum, and the miniature sheet is in press sheets of 12 on - what seems to me very thin - self-adhesive paper.   © Copyright Games Workshop Limited 2023.

Unfortunately Royal Mail's information does not say who the artists of the miniature sheet paintings are.

Products available

Set of 6 stamps, miniature sheet, two first day covers, presentation pack, stamp cards, press sheet of 12 MS, collectors sheet, fan sheets, medal covers, silver plated ingots, framed set & collectors sheet.

Collector sheet

Warhammer Collector Sheet - 10 stamps with related labels - litho, self-adhesive.

Fan sheets - Warhammer 40,000 and Age of Sigmar - each containing three stamps, limited edition of 5.000 each at £7.50

Medal covers - Warhammer 40,000 with the set, and Age of Signar with the miniaure sheet. Silver-plate medals are also colloured.  Limited editions of 5,000 each at £19.99

SilverPlated Stamp Ingots - Spare Marines (Warhammer 40,000) and Stormcast Eternals (Age of Signar) - again 5,000 each at £24.99

 

Gaming mini models are usually sold unpainted allowing the players to create their own colour schemes. The FDC insert shows eight of the models against a plain backrgound.

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King Charles 1st Large Business Sheet delayed

Back in April Royal Mail announced the production and issue of King Charles III definitive business sheets, and they appeared on their website briefly - although with the caveat that they still had plenty of Machins to sell.

Later in the month I found that although three sheets had been sent to buyers, the 1st Large was still 'at the printers', or so we were told.

Royal Mail Stamps & Collectibles have now announced:

DS1656 - 50 x 1st Class King Charles Definitive Large Letter Business Sheet  will not be printed & made available for the time being

As stated previously, the stock control principles for the change of Monarch is that all stocks of QEII Machin stamps would be used up before reprinting with the new KCIII Definitive version.

Following a review of requirements, and stock held across all our Channels and Outlets, we have the delayed the next* print run of DS1656: 1st Class Large Letter Business Sheet.

 

A further announcement will be made when stocks of Machins have fallen to a level which requires the new stamps to be printed.

*The use of the word 'next' implies that there has already been a 1st class Large printing - can anybody confirm, please, as I have not bought any new king sheets.

Meanwhile the 1st class purple sheet stamp has been reprinted on 30 March 2023.

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Too many, too often, too much!

As a dealer I receive new stamps well ahead of the issue date.  This is to enable me to prepare orders ready to send at the appropriate time and send covers to handstamp centres in time to have them back by or soon after the issue date.

Today I received supplies of the last of the Windrush stamps - which isn't even issued until 22 June - and I haven't yet prepared the Warhammer (8 June) stamps.   I wouldn't be surprised to have the River Wildlife (5 July) very soon.  It's just relentless.

This reminds me of decisions we took 15 years ago, when we stopped producing our own series of limited run first day covers and then, a year later, all Royal Mail covers and (PHQ) stamp cards.

Long-standing readers who were customers may remember that I wrote:

We have been encouraged by the support we have received from many customers in this venture, but changes in our circumstances and the increasing volume of new issues by Royal Mail mean that this can no longer continue.  There is simply not the time to do justice to the product, and it is better to stop - or at least reduce our output - rather than let quality suffer.

In 2003 we produced 39 covers in 30 designs.  In 2004 this increased to 49 covers in 43 designs, 2005 had 50 covers in 36 designs, 2006 shot up to 70 covers in 45 designs and this year we have 73 covers in 49 designs!  And that doesn't include the definitive and country stamps and others which we do only on Royal Mail covers.  

Often we have stacks of three different issues as 'work in progress' waiting for all covers to be returned from the handstamp centres before orders can finally be sent to you. 

Cover production has been difficult when copyright issues got in the way - Lord of the Rings, The Beatles, and Harry Potter were problematic, James Bond also presents difficulties, and we have been told that, for the Rescue at Sea set next March, the RNLI are unwilling to allow any of their lifeboats to appear on covers!   What should be easy is becoming very difficult - this side of the business is no longer as much fun as it was when we started.

 A year later, we pulled the plug on new commemoratives altogether.

However with ever more stamps being issued by Royal Mail, often in close succession, our cut-back did not produce the hoped-for benefits – principally freeing up time to ensure that our e-commerce site kept pace with the new issues, and permitting the addition of more of our older stock of worldwide stamps, postcards, first day covers and postal history, whilst at the same time allowing me to get back to the actual hobby of philately for which the new issues have allowed precious little time over the last few years.

Last year I wrote, “We will continue for all new special stamps and definitives to service Royal Mail first day covers and PHQ cards (stamp cards) with any available postmark” and this we have done. In fact I would have cut back further last year, but our loyal band of customers have supported us over several years and I believe that loyalty works both ways. Some of you are accustomed to deciding at the last minute – once they are published on our site – which postmarks you want on your FDCs or PHQ cards. Some of you don't collect every new issue, so a basic standing order service would not serve your needs. In fact the very flexibility which you value so much is what takes time!   

But with effect from the end of this year, we will not service first day covers or PHQ cards to order.

And we found another cover dealer who could satisfy our customers - or at least those of them who decided to continue, as many had reached similar conclusions and decided to stop.

At the same time Royal Mail decided to introduce security features to their definitives, which filled the gap and took up time that I was hoping to use for other matters, and we all know how complex that got - but very interesting.  Real hunting some times!

But I do wonder how long the current Royal Mail policy will continue. 

The customer base must have fallen a long way - who now can afford to buy everything that is produced?  Royal Mail is not making it economically worthwhile for Post Office Ltd to sell stamps.  Large users, including dealers and auction houses whose mail is collected by the mail centre (rather than being posted at a post office) are being told that they can only use signed for and special delivery services if they buy postage online - which means that they cannot use the stamps that they got back from the swapout scheme.

At the same time Royal Mail has produced £2 and other commemoratives to encourage use on parcels - but they won't be properly postmarked unless they are taken to a post office (and even that is hit and miss).

The invalidation of older definitives has meant big changes to collector and dealer habits.  Dealers are reporting that trade in newer issues is way down, and interest in earlier periods is picking up, but not enough to fill the void.  

The average age of dealers marches along with the age of collectors.  Expect to see more retiring (to some extent) when they have finished with the swap-out process and managed to find someone to take on their stock. 

Philately is not dead

There are still plenty of stamps - old and new - to be studied, and some very interesting things to find. But times are a-changing.

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Another collecting interest - Printers' Packing Notes.

Those of us who buy stock from Royal Mail that requires careful packing often find that that packing is cut from larger sheets of card which the printers have used to pack sheets of stamps for delivery.

Here is one from the Aardman set 

Printer's packing note for £1.85 Aardman stamps, Timmy + Morph & Chas (see below).

Whilst this sort of thing is not uncommon, sometimes it brings a surprise, such as this one.  From the limited information available this appears to be for the Warhammer miniature sheet - but the COIL version which is used by Royal Mail for first day covers.

Printer's packing note for coil version (used for FDCs) of 2023 Warhammer Miniature Sheet.

If you find any of these, I do know of people who collect them - and if you decide you want to keep it, then an image such as above would be most welcome.

 

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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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Royal Mail's cunning plan - Blackadder stamps and other products - 17 May 2023

Launched in 1983 by writer Richard Curtis and star Rowan Atkinson – with the vital assistance of BBC producer John Lloyd and co-author Ben Elton – the series is regularly named among the finest sitcoms of all time, while its scheming, amoral hero has become one of the UK's most adored TV characters.

From the mists of medieval England to the court of Queen Elizabeth I, from the glamour of the Georgian era to the grim trenches of the First World War.  As the superlative sitcom Blackadder celebrates its 40th anniversary, Royal Mail pay tribute to one of the pillars of British comedy, with a set of eight stamps showing iconic and memorable scenes.

The Blackadder stamp collection is completed with a minisheet celebrating the main character Edmund Blackadder, played by Rowan Atkinson, in all of his guises over each of the four series of the classic sitcom.

Set of 8 stamps.

Featuring some of the best-loved supporting characters played by familiar names including Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson and Brian Blessed. Four horizontal se-tenant pairs for, one for each of the four series.

Set of 8 Blackadder stamps illustrated by two stills from each series.

2nd Class - Blackadder The Third Episode 3 – Nob & Nobility: Hugh Laurie, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson; Episode 6 – Duel & Duality: Rowan Atkinson, Stephen Fry.

1st Class - Blackadder Goes Forth Episode 6 – Goodbyeee: Tim Mcinnerny, Hugh Laurie, Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson;  Episode 6 – Goodbyeee: Stephen Fry, Rowan Atkinson, Tim Mcinnerny, Tony Robinson.

£2.00 - The Black Adder Episode 2 – Born To Be King: Rowan Atkinson, Brian Blessed; Episode 3 – The Archbishop: Hugh Laurie, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson.

£2.20 - Blackadder II Episode 1 – Bells: Miranda Richardson, Patsy Byrne; Episode 4 – Money: Rowan Atkinson, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson.

Miniature Sheet

Miniature sheet showing 4 generations of Edmund Blackadder.

From left to right:

£2.20 - Meet Prince Edmund, aka the self-styled Black Adder: youngest son of the fictitious King Richard IV and accidental murderer of his predecessor, Richard III. Edmund is unpopular at court and constantly overlooked by his father, who barely knows his name. But Edmund is also driven by ambition, constantly dreaming up ways to plant himself upon the throne of England.

1st class - A favourite at the court of the capricious Queen Elizabeth I and owner of the sharpest tongue in all England, Lord Edmund Blackadder is a rakish nobleman with a finely sculpted beard and immaculate dress sense. But whether he’s scheming to have his rivals decapitated or planning a fake oceanic voyage, his crafty and ambitious nature does tend to land him in trouble.

£2.20 - Reduced to the status of a humble head butler in the extravagant 19th century palace of George, the Prince Regent, Mr E Blackadder is still possessed of a wicked wit, a Machiavellian mind and an enterprising nature. Along with his malodorous minion Baldrick, he’ll try everything from highway robbery to romance writing in his efforts to clamber back up the social ladder.

1st class - In the mud-swamped trenches of the First World War, world-weary professional soldier Captain Blackadder tries to keep his head while all those around him are losing theirs, sometimes literally. By now our hero’s only ambition is to stay alive, while that famous dry wit has turned to bitter black humour as with every passing day his chances of survival grow slimmer.

On his Commonwealth Stamps Opinion Blog, WhiteKnight observes that "In a single issue the actor Rowan Atkinson becomes featured on more British stamps than any other non-royal, non-fictional person than I can think of." - a good observation.

Technical details

The stamps and miniature sheet have been designed by True North and printed by Cartor Security Printers in lithography.  The sheet stamps are 41x30 mm printed in sheets of 60 on paper with ordinary gum, perforated 14½ x 14.  The miniature sheet stamps are 27 x 37 mm on self-adhesive paper, perforated 14. 

Acknowledgements

Blackadder featured with kind permission of Rowan Atkinson, Richard Curtis, Ben Elton and John Lloyd. Blackadder television stills © BBC, used with permission from BBC Motion Gallery/Getty Images.  Miniature sheet background image – gold and red decorative textile pattern © debela/Getty Images; linen fabric background © Katsumi Murouchi/ Getty Images; picture frames © Tomekbudujedomek/Getty Images and © Stockbyte/Getty Images. Stamp images – Blackadder photographs © BBC Photo Library.

Other products

Set of 8, miniature sheet, first day covers (2), postcards, presentation pack, collector sheet, press sheet of 18 ms, platinum miniature sheet*, framed set, miniature sheet or collectors sheet (£34.99 each).

* "A highly collectible edition of the Edmund Blackadder Miniature Sheet finished in platinum. Limited to just 1,000 platinum stamp sheets and presented in a bespoke presentation case with a numbered certificate of authenticity - price £149.99.

Blackadder Platinum Miniature Sheet

Collector Sheet

Blackadder Collector Sheet - 10 stamps with labels showing a memorable
quote or still from the televsion series.

Comment

The £2.00 is a new value for special issues and is equivalent to the basic worldwide surface or 'economy' letter rate.

Royal Mail have said, "We have chosen to add the other values to ensure variety and also provide the option for more flexible use of special stamps for parcels." 

Time will tell whether this is useful or not, especially on parcels.  I would think they would be more likely to be used on airmail letters supplemented with 20p in definitive stamps.

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May slogans and other interesting postal markings

May's slogan postmarks continued from April with the Coronation commemoration, which lasts until 9th May (probably: although Royal mail say 10th they usually mean the delivery date).

May's slogan postmarks will be shown here; please check for latest updates before spending your time scanning, but if you have something new or another format, then please do send it in for publication. 

My thanks to JE who sent this example of the Coronation slogan used on The Day at Manchester.

Coronation slogan postmark Manchester Mail Centre 06/05/2023

UPDATE 17 August

I've been sent several other May examples, most of which are the same layouts as the April ones, but this reverse layout from Birmingham Mail Centre (probably on a square envelope) seems to be from May but it isn't clear.

Coronation slogan postmark, reverse layout, Birmingham Mail Centre 09/05/2023

Coronation slogan postmark Peterborough Mail Centre 09-05-2023

A reader suggested that there might be a Eurovision slogan, but I understand that this will not be the case. It seems a shame, but maybe there are rights issues over the name.

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My thanks to a host of readers who sent scans of the next slogan which appeared from 13 May.

Mental Health
Awareness Week
15 - 21 May
#ToHelpMyAnxiety

Examples from Swindon on 13-05-2023, and in the other format from Nottingham Mail Centre and North & West Yorkshire (Leeds) 13/05/2023, Gatwick Mail Centre 15/05/2023, Cumbria Dumfries & Galloway (Carlisle) and Chester & N Wales 17/05/2023.  Only the better examples are shown here.

Mental Health Awareness Week - Swindon Mail Centre 13-05-2023

Mental Health Awareness Week - Chester & N Wales 17/05/2023

Mental Health Awareness Week - North & West Yorkshire 13/05/2023

Thanks to OT, MM, JE, JH, and RW.

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My thanks to RW who has sent this example of the default British Heart Foundation slogan, the first use reported in May.  South East Anglia (Chelmsford Mail Centre) 25/05/2023

BHF slogan from South East Anglia Mail Centre 25/05/2023

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Other postmarks, postal markings etc,

On the subject of the Coronation a couple of people have sent pictures of the Postage Paid Impression used by Isle of Man Stamps on some of their recent mailshots.  This features one of the stamps from their Accession set which you can see on the Commonwealth Stamps Opinion blog.  It was issued on 3 April.

Isle of Man Coronation mailshot with printed stamp from the Accession of King Charles III set.

If you have any other interesting postal markings, please send them to one of the email addresses in the top right of this blog.  Thank you.

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I was very pleased to find many post office branches in Cornwall last week, especially in small communities.  A big advantage of this is that post is collected at least in the afternoon, often as late as 5pm.  This is very useful if you are writing postcards to friends and relatives.  There is a chance that they may reach the addressee before you get home!

Remember, all postmarks appearing in May will be added to this post, so check here before you spend time scanning and emailing.  I'll add new ones as quickly as possible.

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No new lists yet, and order processing delayed.

I thought I should write an update on how we are getting on with processing orders and making new lists, as I know some people have been waiting for a while.

I am part way through producing a list of all the NVI Machins, starting with the blue and black, working through to the self-adhesive coils, airmail stamps, up to - but excluding - the security stamps.

Unfortunately family matters and processing orders has put this on hold, and processing of orders has also slowed.  Some readers will have noticed the blog post last month announcing a long weekend away without internet.  This was a break we needed just to relax and calm down after a trying couple of weeks.

Things are improving but some time still has to be devoted to non-business matters, with a succession of birthdays and public holidays meaning that family comes first.  And we have another long weekend now, with variable weather - good weather will mean gardening, bad weather may mean time in the office!

But on Thursday next (11th) we have another week away for another social occasion (this time I will remember to use the 'out of office' response to emails!).  

So everything will be on hold from 11-22 May (and there's another holiday weekend a week later! The Blackadder issue will be blogged on Friday this week.)

 

And I haven't even sent any more stamps into Royal Mail's Swap-out scheme (although I have been using them up!)

Orders in hand will be actioned as quickly as possible, and if you think you've been forgotten, please remind us.

Have a good weekend!

Post weekend update

a. I'm pleased to say that I was able to clear a few orders, one is awaiting the address to send it to!

b. If you send in email orders based on the many lists here, do please include your address.  Apart from anything else it will help me to calculate the postage if you are not in the UK, and if I complete picking and processing just on the same day that I am going to the post office, I'll be able to post it, rather than waiting for you to reply to an email asking for it, which may mean another week to wait.

c. I don't have any whole sheets of pre-barcoded Machins of any type.  

d. The 'more difficult' X, Y, and U numbers are mostly sold, but note that just because it's in a prestige book that doesn't make it difficult. (Only the ones from the mixed panes).

e. The sales list for NVIs is now on hold until towards the end of this month, although I will have to fit that round a project at home as well.  

f. From the Swap-out I do have good supplies of many of the barcoded stamps so if anybody wants to buy formats not readily available from Tallents House (where they seem to be remarkably inflexible when people want to spend money), please ask and if I have them they can be supplied at very good prices.

g. About four years ago I was writing about Machins on cover for people who wanted examples of modern postal history, especially inland rates for collectors abroad.  This, of course, has been interrupted by the Swap-out, but it is one of many things that I shall want to do - probably next year, at the rate things are going!

Any questions - please ask!

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What values should be used on Royal Mail's special stamps?

For decades Royal Mail has told us that they preferred not to use anything other than 1st class and airmail values for their special stamps, even though this meant that the cost of sets was high, and few were being used on inland mail by people who wanted to send 2nd class mail.

1929 PUC £1

There were always 2nd class stamps in the Christmas set for the obvious public demand reason, but in very few other sets - but things are changing!

I'm highlighting this hear now, although I cannot provide any details yet, but several of the stamp issues projected for the rest of the year have stamps with values other than 2nd, 1st and £2.20.

Royal Mail have said, "We have chosen to add the other values to ensure variety and also provide the option for more flexible use of special stamps for parcels."  

This would, however, mean that some stamps might being issued for which there was no specific postage rate, and therefore no solo use.

Given reports on how stamps are treated on letters and parcels, I can only hope that the Stamps and Collectibles division of Royal Mail had some influence on the Operational areas of Royal Mail, and on their retail partner, Post Office Ltd.  

This might just ensure that the pictorial stamps that they are making available for all users to actually use, might be treated in the mailstream in a way that made it worthwhile for people to use them.

Look out for these in future new issue announcements.

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