Football: 150th Anniversary of the Football Association Challenge Cup - 8 March 2022

What is likely to be one of the most popular of this year's stamp issues is next off the blocks from Royal Mail is issued on 8 March to mark the 150th Anniversary of the FA Cup, properly known as the Football Association Challenge Cup.

Royal Mail's briefing note includes the following:

Royal Mail is marking the 150th anniversary of the first FA Cup with a new set of special stamps celebrating the heritage and tradition of the oldest and most famous domestic football competition in the world.

For 150 years, few other sporting events can have produced as much joy and heartbreak or as many moments of raw emotion. It is a competition in which part-timers can play in the finest stadia in the land and the world’s best players run out in grounds holding only a few thousand people. Just 12 teams took part in the inaugural 1871–72 season, and while they might not have had much else in common with the 729 taking part in 2021–22, they shared the same dream: glory. Like the game itself, aspects of the competition have changed over the course of those years.

To give just one example, the Semi-Finals of the competition, as well as the Final itself, are now played at Wembley Stadium. But one thing hasn’t changed: the FA Cup’s capacity to produce the unexpected, somewhere, and almost every year. From the ‘Matthews’ Final in 1953 – when Blackpool came back from 3–1 down to beat Bolton 4–3, largely thanks to 38-year-old winger Stanley Matthews – to Second Division Sunderland’s defeat of mighty Leeds in 1973 or Keith Houchen’s legendary diving header for Coventry City in the 1987 Final. Think of the FA Cup and, young or old, you think of names, places, matches, moments. The FA Cup has always been a unique competition. For many fans it is about memories, about moments on a football pitch they associate with a time in their lives. Memories matter, they give our lives context. And one thing’s for sure: the FA Cup will keep creating memories for generations to come.

Six new special stamps celebrate some of the themes which make the FA Cup such a prestigious
competition, steeped in heritage and tradition. A mixture of colour and black and white photographs relive some of the moments in the 150 year history of the world’s oldest national football championship.

Set of six stamps to mark the 150th Anniversary of the FA Cup, issued on 8 March 2022.

Stamp designs

1st Class - Lifting the Cup: 90th FA Cup Final, 8 May 1971
1st Class – Wembley Stadium: 48th FA Cup Final, 28 April 1923
£1.70 – A Big Day Out: 87th FA Cup Final, 18 May 1968
£1.70 – Classic Finals: 106th FA Cup Final, 16 May 1987
£2.55 – FA Cup Upsets: FA Cup Fifth Round, 18 February 2017
£2.55 – Royal Patronage: 62nd FA Cup Final, 1 May 1937

I am showing these on a yellow background because of the unusual perforation. A black or white background would not show this well.  As you can see (especially if you click and enlarge the image) the perforation is off-centre; the lower part of each stamp design runs into the perforation.  But this is not just on one value, it is on all three.  And it is not just on the mint stamps, the stamps affixed to the Royal Mail first day cover are exactly the same! [And the picture on the stamp cards is also the same.]

The Miniature Sheet contains an additional four stamps which feature a selection of FA Cup artefacts from the National Football Museum, photographed specially for the stamp issue.

The background to the Miniature Sheet lists all the FA Cup finalists and winning teams since the first competition in 1872 right up to the most recent season in 2021.

Miniature sheet of 4 stamps to mark the 150th Anniversary of the FA Cup, issued on 8 March 2022

Designs: 

1st Class Supporters Memorabilia
1st Class Winners Medal and the original Trophy
£1.70 Official Match Day Shirt and Ball
£1.70 Supporter Souvenirs
Background Supporters at the 1948 Cup Final, photograph.

Technical detail and acknowledgements (as provided by Royal Mail)

The six stamps designed by The Chase, are printed in litho by ISP in 'Olympic landscape' size, 60 x 30 mm, in three sets of se-tenant pairs.  The stamps are perforated 14½.

The FA Cup is an official trade mark of The Football Association Limited. Official FA Cup product. Images: Lifting the Cup – photograph Neil Leifer/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images; Wembley Stadium – illustration from Wonderful London, edited by Arthur St John Adcock, Volume I, published by Amalgamated Press (London, 1926–27). Photograph The Print Collector/Getty Images; A big day out –
photograph Gerry Armes/Birmingham Mail/Popperfoto/Getty Images; Classic Finals – photograph   David Cannon/Allsport/Getty Images; FA Cup upsets – photograph Chris Vaughan/CameraSport via Getty Images; Royal patronage – photograph Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy Stock Photo. 

Special thanks to the players, families, clubs, organisations and many others who have supported this
stamp issue.

The 192 x 74 mm miniature sheet, also designed by The Chase, contains four stamps of 41 x 30 mm printed in litho by ISP. Perforations are 14½ x 14.  

The FA Cup is an official trade mark of The Football Association Limited. Official FA Cup product. Background image – supporters at the 1948 Cup Final, photograph Fox Photos/Getty Images; all stamp images National Football Museum, except Leeds pennant – photograph Royal Mail Group Ltd 2022.

Other products

First day covers, presentation pack, stamp cards, press sheet of 12 miniature sheets in an edition of just 150 (PZ060, price £67.30).  Coin cover (choice of £5 UNC, £5 Silver Proof, £5 Gold Proof), mounted and framed set and miniature sheet.

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Updated version of the Norvic Security Machin Checklist is now available.

I am pleased to announce that the latest version of our long-running and ever-developing Checklist has now been made available for free download.

The main development this time is the inclusion of the new NVI stamps issued at the start of February which incorporate a datamatrix code, and are issued in new colours, the Royal Mail 'brand red' having now been abandoned on stamps.  As the issue of the make-up values (1p-£1, £2-£5) has been announced for early April, these have been incorporated on a provisional basis.

It is likely that a number of new airmail values will be issued at the same time, and news of these should be publicised in March while we are away.  Details will be added to the blog on our return and a new Checklist issued as soon as possible.

Download here, or always download the latest version by clicking on the Link (On desktop computers and tablets this is in the right-hand column; if you are using a smart phone you will probably have to click on 'View Web Version' at the foot of the page and proceed from there.)

As usual, if you spot any errors, do please let me know by email as soon as possible.  Many thanks.

ERRATA:

- New 2nd Class Large grey-green business sheet shows MNIL instead of MBI.

- Table on page 3, 2920E and 2921E should be 2921F and 2921F;  colour of 1st Large should read Turquoise-blue.

- page 10, 1st purple book of 4 should be code MFIL rather than MEIL.

- page 12, 2nd Large gre-green should be code MBIL not MNIL (finger slip).

- pp 13, 14,  colour of 1st Large should read Turquoise-blue.

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March, North to Scotland

This is advance notice that our office and e-commerce store will be closed for most of March 2022.  We are visiting the far north and, as when we had our long break in 2016, it would not be appropriate to take orders and money up to a month ahead of being able to fulfill the orders.

Please do not telephone during this period as alterations are being made to our telecoms and messages may not be recorded or may be lost after recording.

We will have limited internet coverage in some areas so it is unlikely that emails will receive a response. We may be able to moderate (ie publish) blog comments which will keep discussions going.

Blog posts will be scheduled for some forthcoming stamp issues but we may not be able to provide full information until we return.

Customers who are waiting for responses to emails etc, can rest assured that we will use as much as possible of the next week to finish those tasks and get your stamps to you.  However, some domestic matters will take priority over everything else, so I am sorry but we cannot guarantee a response.

If you have any questions, please email as soon as possible.  Thank you for your patience.

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Machin cylinder blocks and date blocks - sideways confusion

With the new Datamatrix stamps being laid sideways on the sheet, there is no some confusion about the format for cylinder and date blocks (CBs and DBs).

The Modern British Philatelic Circle has decided to use the conventional format for CBs, with the cylinder/plate numbers in the left margin and so two columns of 3 (sideways) stamps.

However my supplies from Royal Mail philatelic for blocks of 6 and 10 produced two very different formats.  Whilst the cylinder block of 10 was simply a block of 4 included above the conventional 6 (so 2 x 5), the date blocks were supplied thus (in two different orders):

What you collect is a matter for personal preference.  

We may find that the make-up values to be issued in April will be in sheets of 25.  If so and the date is in the same margin as the cylinder number, a CB10 will serve both purposes in 10 stamps instead of 20 (or 12 or 14 depending on how you collected previously).  {edited}

How do you collect?

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Thoughts on Royal Mail's Invalidation of Definitive and Christmas stamps - no 1

Royal Mail's invalidation of definitive and Christmas stamps

1990 2nd class dark blue

1. What does it mean for me, and do I do now?

I'm sure these are questions that many collectors and dealers will be asking themselves. I know I am. I don't have all the answers – Royal Mail don't have all the questions yet, let alone the answers!

Where shall we start?

I'm starting from the assumptions that these will be invalidated:

All Machin definitives since 1971, and £1 values before that;

All Christmas stamps after 2005 when definitive-size started;

Commemoratives, Post and Go*, and Country Definitives≠ will not be invalidated.

Those assumptions leave plenty of grey areas, such as the Long To Reign MS which includes one single definitive and four larger commorative stamps, the Wildings both national and regional, and the greetings/smilers definitive-sized stamps sold in booklets of 6. There are many more.

≠We also don't know about the country definitives for sure. 

Update * Another Royal Mail source has told a reader that Post and Go will no longer be produced, which must include the SSK versions.

What will dealers do?

I believe that many dealers will continue as before, but may rationalise their stocks, trading-in the over-stocks for new stamps. But some older dealers who were contemplating retirement and wondering which other dealer would want their stockholdings may use this as a reason to retire sooner, disposing of much of their stock to Royal Mail on trade-in.*

Much depends on Royal Mail's plans and how the grey area stamps are dealt with.

What is the impact for collectors?

Most collectors who have been collecting for many years must have, at some time, thought long-term, and about the eventual disposal of their collections. With nobody in the family interested, they would have been hoping eventually to sell their nest-egg collection, whilst knowing that they would probably not receive as much as they hoped, for anything more than the really choice items, if any. They will now be reassessing their options for the future.

As with dealers, the older ones may well decide to stop collectiong mint defintives, booklets, etc, trading in their collections to Royal Mail. *

Newer collectors and those for whom this does not represent a threat should be looking to add to and complete their collections as quickly as possible, while the stocks are still there to be bought. Never was “when it's gone, it's gone” truer.

*The dealers who trade in a lot of stock for new barcoded stamps will then posses more of those than they can use and they are likely to sell many as postage, at a discount.

Similarly trading-in collectors will be left with surplus valid stamps which they can't use. The only option is to sell them below face value for postage.

1st class black 1989

Cost and Value

When the first 2^nd class blue and 1^st class black stamps were released in 1989, they cost 14p & 19p respectively. These are currently 'worth' 66p & 85p in postal value. That (or the new tariff rates) will be what they get back on trade-in – but that will be in stamps of which there will be a surplus.

The other option for dealers is to satisfy the requirements of the continuing collectors by selling these older stamps which may be missing from those collections. Selling below current postal value may not seem attractive, until you realise that they may have to sell their new valid stamps at a discount, for postage (because they aren't dealing any more, or certainly don't need that quantity).

It makes more sense, therefore, to sell older stamps for a smaller profit at a discount to the previous selling price, realising ready cash. Offering a discount for larger purchases and time to pay in instalments could be quite an attractive propostion for both collector and dealer.

Next steps

If you are a collector, it is time to sort your collection and check all packets and stock-books for mint duplicates, or for gaps in your collection.

If you are a dealer it is certainly time to stocktake and work out what is most likely to be in demand, to fill those collector gaps.

The stamp trade will be highlighting the grey areas with Royal Mail, to establish the future validity or otherwise of those stamps. When we get clarification it will be reported.

If you are going to carry on collecting, look out for dealer special offers. 

 

Berlin Airlift book of 4, 1999, with cylinder numbers SG HB17.

More 'thoughts' coming soon - meanwhile this post is closed for comments.  I'll put a post up now that the details have been announced and all comments can go there.  Thank you for your patience.

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Christmas comes late for one FDC collector.

We have often seen in the popular press reports of postcards and letters arriving decades after being posted.  For postcards especially this is often attributed to mischievous collectors putting a common and relatively worthless Edwardian card back into the post just to see what the press make of it.  But this is a story with a difference, and I am indebted to CE of Bristol for sending it to me.

As you can see, these are first day covers of the 2012 Christmas set and miniature sheet.  But if you think the postmark doesn't look right, then click on it and you will see that the postmarks were the 2021 versions.

The story is this:  

In 2012 I was buying my First Day covers from the Crown Office in Bristol City Centre.  On the first day of issue I had to be in Bath so decided to buy my stamps from the Crown Office there.  

I seem to remember that the staff did not seem very knowledgeable but I was able to buy what I wanted.  The stamps never arrived at my home so eventually I complained and I was sent a replacement set.  

I then forgot about the whole thing until recently when these turned up.  What amazes me is that a 2012 First Day cover should still have received a stamp from 2021.  I thought First Day covers were always hand stamped, so did not the clerk notice there was something wrong? 

A strange tale indeed!

I think this is probably what happened.

The stamps were placed in a box, or a pouch, at the Bath PO to be sent to the Special Handstamp Centre (SHC), probably in Cardiff but maybe in Edinburgh.  I think by this time HPOs were no longer supplied with FDoI handstamps for local cancelling and return.

I would not have expected these to be the only ones at Bath, but they were either not sent to the SHC, or they were misplaced there on arrival.  By coincidence they were discovered around the time that last year's FDCs were being processed and were included with them without much thought.  Logically somebody should have asked questions, but I'm not sure what I would have done with them in the same circumstances.  Perhaps telephoned the addressee - that might have been a good idea!

So, when the 2021 FDCs were being processed, and these were included, they totally ignored the fact that these were not the current stamps.  And whereas handstamps which do not include the words 'first day of issue' can be applied to any old stamps, these should not have been.  These are fixed date handstamps, and the original 2012 would no longer be available.  

 

Does anybody have any other suggestions or similar stories?

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More barcoded definitives on 4 April 2022 - probably.

Following the patchy release of the new NVI definitives with datamatrix codes on 1 February, it is expected that more will follow on or about 4 April.

The date is "provisional and subject to change" according to Royal Mail, but they plan to issue stamps for the low- and high-value make-up stamps with datamatrix codes to replace the existing ones. This means 

1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, £1, £2, £3 and £5.

This will enable them to eliminate all definitives without barcodes from 2023.

There is also an implication that there will be new airmail rates, to replace the £1.70, £3.45 and £4.20 stamps issued for airmail rates on 23 December 2020. These are expected on the same day, with the rates to take effect on 11 April.

An announcement about new postage rates is expected around 3 March.

UPDATE 1 March.

Royal Mail have confirmed in the March Philatelic Bulletin that the above stamps will be issued on 4 April, along with international airmail stamps in values £1.85, £2.55, £3.25 and £4.20.  These are the existing rates, apart from the £1.85 which is an increase from £1.70.

I could mock-up some barcoded versions of these as I did the £1 above (which is why there is no printed perforation) but I'll let you use your own imaginations until the actual images arrive.

The usual presentation pack and first day cover will be produced by Royal Mail, and the stamps will be distributed to their standing order customers as usual.

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London 2022: The Stamp Design of David Gentleman miniature sheet - 18/19 February 2022

Royal Mail have chosen to issue a miniature sheet celebrating the stamp art of David Gentleman on the day before the London 2022 International Stamp Exhibition opens.

David Gentleman changed British stamp design for ever when in January 1965 he first wrote to the new Postmaster General, Tony Benn, in response to a general invitation for ideas about stamps. Gentleman recommended much more interesting subject matter than had been featured previously: special themes for stamp issues rather than commemoratives for conferences or festivals.

David Gentleman’s designs have featured on more stamps than any other designer (103 issued stamps) and have become iconic in their own right, and more than 50 years later the impact on the Royal Mail’s stamps programme can still be seen.

For this stamp issue, Royal Mail selected six iconic stamps from working in collaboration with David Gentleman himself to bring you this collectors delight, and homage to the work of an Iconic Designer.

Unfortunately this means that while the individual stamps are good examples of his work, the miniature sheet itself lacks cohesion as a whole.  The original four pre-decimal stamps are all the standard double-definitive size for the period, but the two decimal stamps on the 1st class were taller and are therefore shown out of proportion on this MS.

The Stamp Designs of David Gentleman, miniature sheet issued 18 February 2022

Stamp Designs

2nd Class: 3d National Productivity Year -1962
2nd Class: 9d British Ships, Elizabethan Galleon -1969
1st Class: 9p British Trees, European Oak - 1973
1st Class: 8½p Social Reformers, Thomas Hepburn - 1976
£1.70: 6d 900th Anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, Norman Ship – 1966
£1.70: 4d 25th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain, Spitfires - 1965

Technical Details

The 192 x 74 mm miniature sheet is printed in litho by Cartor Security Printers.  The 1st class stamps are 50 x 30 mm, the remainder are 60 x 30 mm.  According to Royal Mail, the 1st class stamps are perf 14, the others perf 14½.    (Update 18 Feb, thanks to a reader: there is more to this perforation business than meets the eye; more detail later.)

UPDATE 9 February.  My thanks to SM for a link to Gentleman on Stamps, an 18 page pdf which can be viewed and downloaded here.

 

Other products

First Day Cover, Presentation Pack, Stamp Cards (7), Press Sheet of 14 x MS.

London 2022, 19-26 February, Business Design Centre.

The London 2020 International Exhibition, due to take place in May 2020, was postponed due to the worldwide Covid Pandemic. Rescheduling in 2021 was not possible, and the best arrangement was for the international to take the slot already allocated for Spring Stampex in February 2022. 

Royal Mail will be in attendance as expected, and will be selling the usual Exhibition Sheet (aka Smilers) with the Hello Stamp and 20 images of the Mail Rail underground railway operated via The Postal Museum.  This will be supplied by Royal Mail to collectors who have such sheets on standing order.

Royal Mail London 2022 Exhibition sheet with 20 x 1st class Hello stamps and 20 labels depicting the Post Office Underground Railway.

There is no retail booklet to publicise the exhibition.

As has been the practice in recent years Royal Mail will issue a miniature sheet available only at the exhibition.  This year it is the Stamps of David Gentleman sheet with the exhibition logo added at the top left corner.  A limited edition of 10,000 will be available at face value (£6.42).  There is no presentation pack.

London 2022 exhibition variant of the 'Stamps of David Gentleman' miniature sheet.

Both the Exhibition sheet and the variant of the Gentleman sheet will be sold from the first day of the exhibition, 19 February.

UPDATE 15 February:  With many people here and elsewhere criticising the selection of stamps in the MS, AH has sent in this alternative version:

Readers will recall that the range of products available at Royal Mail's Autumn Stampex 2021 stand was very limited.  We have received this reply in response to clarification of the 2022 situation:

 "We are still finalising the actual product and print range that we have available but it is our intention, as normal, to bring the very latest print dates to the show. However, it is worth clarifying that we don’t anticipate that it will be practical to extend this to all print dates back to the last Stampex show in September 2019.  "

Which is good news for those attending, even if a little imprecise at present.

UPDATE 21 February: Our thanks to Doug who sends this report with his experience of the first day of the show.

Opening time was 10am; I was a bit late arriving so no outside queue. Went straight to the Royal Mail stand but only 2 in the queue! I was third at 10.10am. They had not set up the stand fully as the stock only arrived this morning. All hands on deck putting out stocks, cash machines and general setting up. Staff very good keeping us informed and the stand opened at 10.50am but the queue was only about a dozen people.

Stocks looked good. I got the high value Machins date blocks (2021 issue) taken from the full sheets which were being held ‘around the back’. Plenty of the David Gentleman special exhibition overprint. 

I also wanted a full set of the booklets with datamatrix codes but with cylinder numbers. Nothing had been sorted so a very helpful lady undid the packaging and searched the packs. A bit time time-consuming but virtually no queue waiting. They couldn’t find the Cylinders on the ‘large’ versions in the booklets. 

But I was advised to come back later as they would set someone to search for them. I went back an hour later, nobody in queue and as promised they had found what I was looking for. Most excellent service despite the challenges. 

Overall not too many visitors. Some stands missing and not set up. Some just setting up as late as 12 noon. The gallery areas looked quite busy but mostly people just browsing. 

Was it worth £10 entrance? Ok for me as I got everything I was expecting. So my collection for 2021 is complete except for the 100 x 2nd Business sheet (not the datamatrix sheets) of any 2021 printing date. No doubt dealers will have vast stocks to get rid of later in the year when these start being traded in!!

Doug later wrote this piece about a new book available from The Postal Museum. I don't do book reviews myself unless I have the book. The book has been mentioned in the philatelic press, and this review is from a reliable source!

I was just having a quick browse and spotted a new book with a Queen Victora cover but no indication what it was about!!  Being curious I had a quick browse and it looked quite good.  £25 so not too bad a price if the content was as indicated.  

Douglas Muir was on hand and the spine of the book reads “Just Large Enough” A Guide to the Postal Museum’s Philatelic Collections.  At first I thought it was just a Guide book but I did manage to digest a few pages.  

About 300 in all , and well illustrated, and printed on quality paper.  Douglas and his team must be fully congratulated on such an excellent publication.  Very well written in concise detail but despite this, it is a fairly easy read.  (To the point I cannot put the book down!) Any serious philatelist should have a copy – they will not be disappointed.  The historical chapters are packed full of facts and it is clear that the Museum has a very large and comprehensive research library (something often forgotten about).ISBN: 978-1-3999-1273-0 first published 2022.

 

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February slogans and other interesting postmarks and postal markings

Thank you to everybody who has contributed with images of the latest postmark, which started in January.  Now that the clamour surrounding barcodes has died down it is time to get back to normality (for a while!).

As always, ALL postmark news for the month will be added here, so please check here before you send images which we may have already reported: variations, of course, are always welcome!

And anything else in the postmark and postal markings line, is welcome as well.

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Celebrating the Queen's accession in 1952 this will be useful for first day covers.  Thanks to JH for the Jubilee Mail Centre, probably 01-02-2022, RW for North & West Yorkshire reversed on 31/01/2022, and I'm sorry but I can't find who sent the Lancs & S Lakes.  Other readers sent other examples during my silence, thank you!

Accession Day
6th February
70th Anniversary
1952-2022

Accession Day postmark slogan, Lancashire and South Lakes 01/02/2022

Accession Day postmark slogan, North & West Yorkshire reversed layout 31/01/2022

Accession Day postmark slogan, Jubilee Mail Centre 03/02/2022

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UPDATE 5 February.  With The Queen having safely reached the anniversary of her Accession, Royal Mail moves on.  This is National Apprenticeship Week, with a new slogan.

National
Apprenticeship Week
7-13 February
nationalapprenticeshipweek.co.uk

Two examples so far from opposite ends of the country.  The four-line version from Aberdeen Mail Centre 04-02-2022 sent by MM, and the five-line version from Plymouth and Cornwall 04/02/2022 from RW.

National Apprenticeship Week slogan from Aberdeen Mail Centre 04-02-2022

National Apprenticeship Week slogan from Plymouth and Cornwall (Mail Centre) 04-02-2022

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UPDATE 9 February. It's unusual to have two 'weeks' commemorated in one, and it begs the question just when the above slogan is running, given that another one started on 7 February.  Marking Payroll Giving Week, it will either run in parallel or replace the Apprenticeship one.

Payroll Giving
Week 2022
7th- 13th February
payrollgivingweek.com

Examples on our own post from Greenford/Windsor Mail Centre 07/02/2022 and the other format from Exeter Mail Centre 08-02-2022 courtesy of JH.

Payroll Giving Week postmark slogans from Greenford/Windsor Mail Centre 07/02/2022 and from Exeter Mail Centre 08-02-2022

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UPDATE 11 February: Yet another new slogan this week, now supporting the greetings card industry, this time for Valentine's Day.  Thanks to RW for the Tyneside NE/SR Mail Centre and LT for the clearer one from Nottingham Mail Centre both dated 09/02/22

Send a little love
this ♥︎
Valentine's Day
♥︎ ♥︎ February 14

Valentine's Day slogan postmark, Nottingham Mail Centre 09/02/2022

Valentine's Day slogan postmark, Tyneside NE/SR Mail Centre 09/02/2022

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UPDATE 16 February.  Its a while since I was sent a good image of Royal Mail's default slogan, the one that they use when they have no specific campaign to publicise.  So here is 

supporting youth
mental health with
ACTION FOR CHILDREN

from Nottingham Mail Centre 12/02/2022 (thank you RW).

Supporting youth mental health, Action for Children slogan used 12/02/2022 in Nottingham.

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UPDATE 1 March: the last slogan for February marks the 25th anniversary of World Book Day, which falls on 3 March 2022. 

WORLD
BOOK
DAY
25th anniversary
3 March 2022

World Book Day 25th anniversary slogan used at Greenford/Windsor Mail Centre 28/02/2022

Other variants of this (though used in February) are shown in the March post.

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OTHER POSTMARKS & POSTAL MARKINGS

Greenford/Windsor Mail Centre applied the 'do not recognise the stamp' version of their ink-jet postmark to one of the new Platinum Jubilee stamps this week!

UPDATE Feb 16th: Larry T has sent a picture of a recent use of the wavy-line canceller which was introduced to cancel stamps missed by the machinery.  It looks like an external ink-pad was used, and the whole frame of the device has been pressed into the inkpad, thus producing the frame.

UPDATE February 22nd: A surprise use of a Universal machine has been reported.  Although no year is shown, just 15-II, this die from Jubilee Mail Centre is on one of last year's Rugby Union stamps so it must be 2022.  The lettering at the foot (top) is KT-TW-GU for Kingston-upon-Thames, Twickenham and Guildford.

Universal wavy line postmark with inverted outer ring in date/place unit used 15 II 2022 at Jubilee Mail Centre.

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

We now move on to March.

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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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