Straight Edges on Machins

On this blog I try to give out Machin information that is difficult to find on other web pages . This next short piece is on one of those subjects that are rarely explained or indeed rarely wrote about. I hope you will it find interesting.

Imperforated (yes) Error (no!)

During the late nineteen eighties (1987) Royal Mail experimented with with the way in which some of their bar code booklets were manufactured. As a result of this, for a period of about three years some completed booklets were trimmed or guillotined after the assembly, resulting in several new stamps issued during these times having straight edges instead of perforations on all sides.

As the experiment went on for three years or so, there are many straight edged single values to collect, including double headed anniversary stamps, which were issued to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the penny black in 1990.

The complete list of stamps issued runs into many variations of different values, including 1st class, second class and numerical values, and different colours of the same values with bright or dull papers papers. The list is to long to name them all here, but I can show you a complete pane which will give you an idea of what to look out for.

These stamps are often overlooked by philatelists when they are forming a Machin collection, as they are only mentioned ( listed) in specialised catalogues. All the varieties of straight edged stamps are collectable and some of the rarer types fetch very good resale prices.

The booklet pane below right originaly cost £1.56 on the day of issue, today (as singles ) it is catalogued perhaps 10 x or more of the initial face value.

What to look for

You will notice that there are four different stamps in the make up of this pane.

Stamp one has a straight edge to the top, stamp in position two is cut both on the top and right edge, stamp three, just on the bottom and stamp four has straight edges right and bottom.

Booklets are still readily available on auction sites if you are prepared search for them and pay the premium, as are some of the singles both used and mint.

First day covers on the other hand showing these issues are getting harder to find, so if you come across any, tuck them away for that rainy day, you will not regret it.

Keep em peeled

Sorting High Values

Hi Roy

Many thanks for describing the High value recess printed stamps (25/02/07). Can you explain how do I tell the difference between Contractors paper and Post office paper ? I am also confused / having trouble sorting the 50p values printed on Phosphor Coated Paper. Also if possible more information would be helpfull regarding the £1 values and cross hatch design.

I hope you can help.

Hi James .

Thanks for your your email. My internet post bag is getting larger by the day, at least is shows that some people are reading this blog. Please continue to do so and recommend it to your fellow collectors, in return I will do my best to answer these questions.

There is no easy way to describe these issues in laymans terms. It is recommended when separating these issues to use a short wave Ultra Violet light for phosphors and a long wave for papers. (UV lamps are described in an earlier post)

Post Office papers / Contractors Papers

( 17/06/70 ) when viewed under the light this is comparatively dull in the margins compared to the Brightness of (Bradbury Contractors Paper) 30/11/73. If in doubt use a pre decimal 2/6, 5/- or 10/- value to compare, these are on dull paper.

PCP

The 10p value only exists on phosphorescent dull Post Office paper. The use of this paper was due to a continued experiments with AOP to provide information to the boffins as to what weather conditions would place upon the phosphor when stamps were printed in recess.

All over Phosphor paper or Phosphor Coated paper as it has come to be known, has an all over after glow under short wave UV light. Use the 10p value as a base template to compare with the 50p values on PCP. Again this 50p was printed on dull Post Office paper 01/2/73.

As with the 10p value, the AOP stamp has an all over after glow under short wave UV light. This was printed on the residue of paper left from the 10p printing. Earlier 50p values were on normal (dull) Post office paper without phosphor or an after glow.

20p , and later printings of the decimal £1 values can be found on both contactators and post office paper without a phosphor coating.

Early printing of the £1.00 value with the original pre decimal £ sign can only be found on Post office paper. Later ( FIRST) printings (1970) decimal issue with the old type £1 sign were printed on new plates, these were made up from the same master die , but the settings changed to a single pane of 100 (10 x 10 ) in place of the original plates of 4 panes of 40 ( 8 x 5 ).

To recognise single copies of the decimal issue from pre decimal one must use a high power magnifier or microscope and study the background shading. Top left and bottom right corners are the best to study and compare. If in doubt again compare the new £1 script under magnification with a 2/6, 5/-, or 10/- value.

The pre decimal print has thicker horizontal lines of shading and the none engraved area to the eye looks like square white patches, the decimal printing has thicker horizontal lines of shading and the none engraved area shows up as white vertical boxes.

If you are still unsure, about the £1 differences, purchase a plate block, look for plate 3, these are distinquishable from plate 3 of the pre decimal printing in the fact the decimal printings show part of the TOTAL SHEET VALUE IN THE MARGIN opposite R9/10.

I hope this helps you in your quest to sort and understand these issues more.

Rare Machins

The Millennium Machin

Printed by Walsall Security Printers, this is an interesting exhibition piece showing Millennium Machins in the form of a Cylinder block of 8 ( 2 x 4) with the numbers W2 W2 in the selvedge.
All indications point to the fact that the source of the block is from un-cut part of the original primary sheet.

No official post office counter sheet stamps were printed by Walsall or Questa (only De La Rue printed Millennium Machins in counter sheet form for the Royal Mail). Questa and Walsall did however print Millennium stamps intended for use only in Retail booklets in multples of ten. *

The stamps :

The left phosphor band is 9mm wide overlapping into the sevedge by 4. 5 mm the remainder of the bands are also 9mm wide stretching across the stamps forming 2 x 4.5 mm side bars on each stamp. This information indicates that this block is from the top right of the primary sheet.

The left side of the primary sheet had 6.5mm wide phosphor bands to the left, 2 mm overlapping in the margins, and 9mm, stretching across the remainder of stamps forming the 2 x 4. 5 mm side bars.

This perforation type is known as AP4 (R) Rugby ball type ellipse, (one ellipse at the left and one at the right) they are approx 3 prforations in length, set two perforations up from the bottom of the stamps).

The perforation is the norm for Walsall booklet x 10 Machins which is 14.75 x 14.

You will notice that the cylinder number (W2 ) appear in row 2 and row 4 of the block. On normal De La Rue post Office counter sheets the cylinder numbers only appear once.

There is no phosphor cylinder number shown. Paper type is OFNP with PVA lay flat gum and overprined with DG A2B 2 phosphor bands which has an wave after-glow.

The direction of the print is inverted ( as are booklet panes). The margin is perforated through the top and bottom edges of every 2nd row and there is a single extension hole in the selvedge in the alternative (other) rows.

Where the complete extension of the perforations exist through the margin, this is usually the tear or cut line. Indicating that this is the format that the single panes of 10 must have before they are inserted into booklets.

Conclusions:

With this information above, all indications confirm that this is a genuine part of a un- cut primary sheet with two part booklet panes of 4 stamps showing a double cylinder number.

The GB DSB SC ( now MBPC ) code number for the individual panes of ten is DP301.

Booklets panes with W2 cylinders were printed in the latter period of the Millennium year 2000AD. W1 cylinders were used prior to this, being in use during the early months of the issue.
* Note: Panes of reduced size ( 8 Machin stamps) were used in mixed Millennium booklets of ten containing two different panes, the fist being a seperate pane of two 1st class Millennum special issue stamps ( also printed by Walsall ) .However the definitive Machin panes were the same pane as the one described above (DP301). Two stamps at the right of the pane were removed at the printers during the make up of the booklets, reducing the Millennium definitive panes to eight.

High Values Types and Values

Bradbury and Wilkinson were the printers of the first Machin high values in 1969, these were the recess printed pre decimal stamps. The set consisted of 4 values , 2/6d , 5/- , 10/- , and £1. None of the stamps had phosphor bands. the pre decimal issues are shown below.

The decimal series followed in 1970 (in fact issued 3 or 4 months before decimalisation).

Similar in design but but with 10p, 20p, 50, and £1 values.

The 10p was printed on phosphor Coated Paper, so were some of the 50p values.

These were also printed on two types of paper, one dull, one bright.

Due to shortages of the original papers the printers used their own paper, this is termed in catalogues contractors paper, the original refered to as post office paper.

The layout of the sheets also changed, on the decimal issues this gave rise to a variant of the one pound value. The first printings of the £1 value had thick horizontal lines of shading, and the reprint had vertical lines, known to specialists as cross hatch of the printing design, the difference in the printing layout and finish can only be seen with a good magnifying glass.


This variant should be checked on the pre decimal script £1 value as there are two distinct types.

In 1972 the value tablet on the £1 value was also changed from a script type to a more modern
block type (see picture left to compare) which gives a 3rd variant.

During 1977 things started to get exciting in the stamp world, a brand new set of high value stamps were introduced, printed in photogravure. These were of a large vertical format similar to the commemoratives of the day. They were also available in gutter pairs, which was also a first for stamps of high value. There are several values to collect from this series ranging from £1 to £5.

High values then reverted to the castles stamps for a short time (these were not Machins).

Small format :

After the castles issues of which there were several printings, high values reverted back to the Machin design, to that of the small format of today, the reason for the change , quote "the post office needed to bring in some sort of uniformity in the size". Enschede of the Ntherlands were the chosen printers.

This issue of high value Machins then changed again dramatically they were still in the small format but were re-engraved and more security features were added. These were as stated were printed by Enschede, but then the contract reverted to De la Rue. These are the current HV stamps on sale at this time.


The cut off point for high value stamps changed in 2003 to that of £1.50p. All stamps below this value are now classed as a normal low value, which makes for confusion to the layman as this includes the previous £1.00 issued before hand.

A new £1 Ruby Machin is to be issued in June 2007 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Machin design. This will not be classed as a high value.