Do you collect Postal History the Modern way?

Many people think that stamps issued these days are only for collectors.   There certainly isn't much variety on the mail these days, unless you count the variations in the 2nd class blue and 1st class gold.  Incidentally, how often do you see these stamps from ordinary counter sheets, ie without any hidden security code?  Most of the ones I get are from booklets, with business sheets a close second.  Ordinary sheet stamps could be quite scarce!

Over on my other blog, I'm showing stamps actually used.  I'm stuck in the late 1960s/early 1970s at present but will add to it from time to time, and I'll be interested to have your reactions.  Some of these stamps are not in many collections - on cover, doing the right job!



If you're interested in this aspect of collecting, please follow the Postal History blog as well as this one.

Battersea Cylinder update

We've had a response from Royal Mail about the Cylinders used on the Battersea issue, and have amended the original message here.

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Temporary website for Norvic

As announced on our website, we will be undertaking some technical changes this weekend involving moving servers.

There will almost certainly be an interruption in service on our e-commerce site (www.norphil.co.uk/catalog).

Update: although the e-commerce site is visible, the search facilities, the country-drop-down and some other aspects are broken: actual products cannot be seen this way. They can be seen by clicking on "What's New".

Later Update: we believe the broken aspects are now fixed - those that we have tested are.  If you find something wrong, please do tell us.

We'll have all sections back to normal as soon as we can and apologise for any inconvenience.

Multiple Cylinders for Battersea Dogs & Cats

Most people know that Litho plates or cylinders don't last as long as those used in gravure printing, meaning that for long runs, multiple plates or combinations of plates might be necesssary.

Way back in 1969 Harrisons printed nearly 140 million of the 5d Christmas stamp from one set of cylinders - though apparently they had to have two tries at making the brown. According to Stanley Gibbons specialised catalogue the cylinder numbers are:
1A blue, 1B yellow, 1c magenta, 1d green, 2E brown, 1F light blue, 1G red, 1H gold.

The 271 million 4d second class stamps resulted in two combinations of cylinders:
1A brown, 1b vermillion, 2C orange, 1D purple, 1E blue, 1F or 2F green, 1G violet, 1H gold

In the 21st century few stamps are printed for each issue, and it seems that one set of gravure cylinders or litho plates is usually sufficient. But it would seem that Cartor have had some trouble with Battersea's Dogs & Cats - either that or there are many more millions printed than usual.

We've now had a response from Royal Mail which explains why this problem occurred, and they have provided a full list of the 9 cylinder combinations used.


"The reasons for this unusual range of plate combinations are twofold. Firstly, this issue was printed fine screen litho to get the best translation of the images as we could get. Because of the delicacy of the images on the plates this results in a shorter life for each plate. The second impact was the phosphor ink. At the time these were printed we were having problems with the quality of the phosphor ink on hand. Cartor's attempts to compensate for this resulted in a number of plate changes before a new batch of the ink was received."

Thanks to Martyn for providing this information which is, I'm sure, of interest to many collectors.

So far the combinations found by us or reported to us are numbers 1 to 8 in the above list, leaving number 9 still to be found. (Type 3 just reported in a delivery from Tallents House - thanks, Marc.) See comments for locations of some combinations.

Please let us know what you have found; remember you need two sets to include the phosphor and gold numbers.

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Pink Floyd Souvenir Album Sheet - 6 March 2010

From a Press Release:

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

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

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

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

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

Post Office Philatelic Sales in London

Occasionally we receive emails from overseas collectors who are visiting London, and who would like to buy their collectable stamps and other philatelic products from the Post Office at face value.

The old 'Philatelic Counters' are long gone, of course, being replaced by Post Shops - which sold a lot more non-Post Office products (greetings cards, souvenirs) than just stamps. There are two POs remaining in central London which cater for collectors.

Trafalgar Square PO has recently been reorganised following the installation of Post and Go machines and a 'take-a-ticket' queueing system. The system allows for speedy processing of customers for different products (special delivery especially is a fast-tracked system). But there is nothing on the menu for philatelic products, and their dedicated Post Shop counter (previously at the east entrance) has gone.

So this is the system.
- The philatelic products are on counter position C.
- There is no need to take a ticket.
- If the person at 'C' is serving, wait near the counter until the customer has gone, and then approach the counter for your philatelic products.

Trafalgar Square PO is at 24/28 William IV Street, London, WC2N 4DL - it is open 0830-1830 Monday - Friday (Tuesday opening 0915), and 0900-1730 on Saturday.


The other office is The City of London PO at 12 Eastcheap, London, EC3M 1AJ

This office is open Monday - Friday, 0900-1800. Not open on Saturday.
They aim to carry most stamps of the last 12 months in stock, and if they are not in stock will try to get them and then to telephone the customer. So if you are visiting and are in London for a week or so, then they should be able to get anything on the stock list.


According to Royal Mail's list the only other Greater London PO with philatelic services is at Croydon.

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Update on Security Stamp oddities.

Sources within Royal Mail have confirmed that the 1st class gold security-cut stamps with no security overlay are a genuine product. Exact details are awaited but we understand that the combination occurred when there was a need for 1st class coils* business sheets ahead of the release of the security stamps in February 2009 and the printers used the security die-cut template on stamps with no ROYAL MAIL security print layer. (* Corrected - sorry!)

On the other hand the stamps with 4 security slits have been denounced as a total forgery. The first to be seen were De La Rue, but then Walsall stamps appeared. All these were used. However the real confirmation came when 40gr Airmail stamps appeared with 4 security slits (we haven't seen them!) as these have never been issued with any security features!

Great Britain 2010 Programme Update

Royal Mail have firmed up their stamp issue programme for 2010 and announced some additional products connected with the London 2010 Festival of Stamps. These notes are in approximate chronological order and are necessarily brief.

First up is another Souvenir Sheet in the Classic Album Covers range. The new sheet is in the same format and the same size as the last, but contains 10 Pink Floyd stamps, and some artwork and text specific to the band and Dave Gilmour. This will also carry a premium price (to be confirmed) and will be issued on Saturday, 6 March (yes, one week tomorrow).

30 March - examples of the 20gr Europe stamp that we were shown were not the same colour as the 60p Machin, but more a dark blue-green colour. The issued stamp may not be the same as the essay we were shown.

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London 2010 Festival of Stamps 8 May
- Prestige Stamp Book: the Machin pane will be self-adhesive with security features. My scribbled note shows 4 x 1st, 4 x 2nd and 2 x 50p stamps but that makes 10, so I have an error there. The security code on these will show a P for Prestige - position to be confirmed. (Not ROYAL PAIL, surely?)

- There will be an Exhibition Souvenir Sheet echoing the Jeffrey Matthews sheet from StampShow 2000. The new sheet will contain all the valued non-security stamps currently available in three rows, ie

1p,  2p,  5p,  9p
10p,  20p,  60p,  67p
88p, 97p, £1.46, London2010 Logo.

A strange combination (total value £5.05) omitting the 50p & £1, and 1st & 2nd class stamps.

- To mark the 10th Anniversary of Smilers Stamps there will be a Generic Sheet containing the four new Smilers Stamps issued in February. At the Show four Smilers Sheets were available for personalisation, with the show Logo in the margin.

- An Exhibition Generic Sheet will be available, as issued for overseas Exhibitions since Hong Kong in 2004.

- 6th May Accession Miniature Sheet was overprinted and on sale for the Exhibition Period only.

- A Postal Union Congress Souvenir Pack will also be available. Details here.

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18 May - Commemorative Sheet Halley's Comet (Centenary of first appearance which was photographed).

15 June - House of Stuart confirmed (Monarchs known, MS: Wm Harvey, Battle of Naseby, John Vanburgh, John Milton)
15 June - Retail booklet, Mammals, 2 plus 4 x Machin gold.

8 July - Commemorative Sheet British Grand Prix

27 July - Olympics/paralympicsset of 10 & Commemorative sheet.
27 July - Olympics Retail booklet 3, 2 plus 4 Machin gold.

10 August - Commemorative Sheet - London Eye

19 August - Stage Musicals, set & MS (details to follow - think modern)
                  - Great British Railways, monochrome set of 6

15 September - Retail booklet: British Design Classics (Spitfire)
15 September - Generic Smiler (Spitfire)

16 September - Medical Breakthroughs (originally scheduled for February 2011)

17 September - Bird Pictorial Faststamps

12 October - Children's Literature. Despite the designated first day site association with AA Milne Royal Mail are not yet in a position to confirm that this is Milne, Winnie the Pooh or to say how many authors, how many books, or how many characters will be featured.
We now know that this is a set of 6 and a MS, all Winnie-the-Pooh

12 October - Olympics Retail booklet 4, 2 plus 4 Machin gold.

October - Lest We Forget se-tenant strip of 3 to be reissued from existing stock, no new printing.
28 October - National Arboretum Remembrance Commemorative Sheet.

2 November - Christmas, secular, Wallace & Gromit. Range and size as 2009, ie definitive and large definitive size, 7 stamps, MS & Smilers.

Great Britain 2011 Programme (updated)

Royal Mail have provided their outline programme for 2011 as follows:

11 January - Classic Children's Television: Gerry Anderson set, MS + retail booklet

24 January - Pictorial Faststamps - Birds 2

1 February - Classic Railway Locomotives miniature sheet

24 February - West End Stage Musicals - set & MS expected (postponed from autumn 2010)
24 February - Retail Booklet: Medical Breakthroughs Beta-Blockers, British Heart Foundation

8 March - Magical Heroes of Fiction
8 March - Low value self-adhesive definitives: 1,2,5,10,20p

22 March - World Wide Fund for Nature (formerly World Wildlife Fund)
22 March - New retail booklets, 1st Large, 2nd Large

29 March - new Machins and Country Stamps on tariff change

12 April - Royal Shakespeare Company 50th Anniversary set & MS

21 April - Royal Wedding MS

5 May - William Morris & Co 150th Anniversary, incl PSB

19 May - Pictorial Faststamps - Birds 3

14 June - Rev Wm Awdry Birth Centenary (Thomas the Tank Engine author), set MS & booklet
14 June - Prince Philip 90th Birthday Commemorative Sheet

27 July - Olympics/Paralympics III, booklet 5, commemorative sheet and composite sheet

28 July - Philanippon, Japan, Exhibition Generic Smilers Sheet.

23 August - Crown Jewels
23 August - Classic Locomotives of England retail booklet

9 September - World's First Scheduled Airmail, Windsor

14 September - Arnold Machin Birth Centenary miniature sheet

15 September - Kings + Queens, House of Hannover (Stampex issue)
15 September - Olympics/Paralympics retail booklet 6
15 September - 350th Anniv of the Postmark - Generic Smilers Sheet

16 September - Pictorial Faststamps - Birds4

13 October - A-Z of the United Kingdom (A-L 12 stamps)

25 October - retail booklets with FSC Logo - 6 x 1st, 12 x 1st, 12 x 2nd, 4 x 1st Large, 4 x 2nd Large

8 November - Christmas (religious) [400th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible]

This programme list will be added to and amended from time to time: there will be Smilers sheets, retail booklets and commemorative sheets.  Let us know your views, now and as the extended programme unfolds, using the Comment facility.

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Special handstamps with the aaah! factor

The postmark designers have come up with some good ones for the Battersea Dogs & Cats Home issue. Here are just a few, click here for the rest of the stamps, and all of the postmarks so far.

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