Free Stamps From Royal Mail

Ian Billings (Norvic Philatelics) reports on the Delphi Forum The Virtual Stamp Club.


A nice find for one lucky collector. An Anniversary Prestige Stamp book with 5 panes of stamps instead of 4!

"The lucky collector received two books from Royal Mail's Philatelic Bureau, and one book had 2 sheets of pane 3, the se-tenant Arnold Machin and 4d brown Machin commemorative stamps.

A second report (also from Ian)

"A dealer has reported a different error on the same book.
In a sealed pack of 10 books from the Bureau, one book had Pane 2 duplicated. This is the pane with 2 x £1 stamps in, so he gets £2 extra value!"

Thanks Ian

"Sounds like sloppy work from De La Rue Security Print, and we should expect more reports."

Scotts Article on the Machin

Collectors of Machins are worldwide, below is a post reproduced from

The SoGB news Group

"The July issue of Scott's Stamps arrived with a very neat article about this long lived series.

It is not filled with technical information so the average collector looking for an interesting field should not be put off. The color photos are super. The author is James Mackay who is no doubt well known to most of the regular posters.

Any serious collector who is looking for an explanation as to what causes this series to be so popular might enjoy the article".

Charlie: Lecanto, Florida, USA

Charlie is going to send me a copy of this, when (if) it arrives I will write a short article on the contents.

Thanks Charles

What is your Favourite Machin?

"What is your favourite Machin"? I have been asked the question many times.

Can readers respond to this question and let me know what they consider to be their all time favourite? I will post the results from this thread (along with images) here on this blog in due course.

IE: This can be a single stamp, coil, pane, block or miniature sheet

I can confirm I have many favourites, I will not go into detail and post them all but my all time one off special favourite is this one.

Pane DP303

The Special by Design Prestige Booklet printed in gravure by Walsall Security Printers produced a striking pane of 8 x Millennium Machins surrounding a centre label of the Post Office crest.

Issued on 05th February 2000. I can confirm that this pane produced several new single stamps which are sought after by specialists.
Inset bands left, inset bands right and short bands both top and bottom have been discovered.

Another interesting fact came to light when this pane was studied by specialists in detail.
Stamps on this pane are perforated to a different size than other Millennium stamps issued by Walsall. The perforations measure 14 x 14 compared to 15 x 14 on other issues.

Happy Birthday

Today we celebrate the 40th birthday of the first Machin definitive 1967 - 2007

On behalf of Machin Nuts everywhere, may you have many more happy returns.

At this time most of the official products from Royal Mail have already been dealt with, so I am looking for something different to show you.

One anniversary cover I have come across made me chuckle . This is a mock cartoon of Arnold Machin from Phil Stamp Covers. The illustration depicts Machin biting his nails and his apprentice ( Phil Stamp ) putting the final touches to a sculpture of HM Queen Elizabeth II.

Phil Stamp is shown hitting the sculpture with a mallet and chisel, in the processs breaking the head from the body. Now we know how the famous head came about!

The cover bears a 40th anniversary miniature sheet with a Stoke on Trent hand stamp (Machins Birthplace) and is one of a limited edition of 100 numbered copies.

For more Phil Stamp covers visit the web site http://www.philstampcovers.co.uk/

Below The cover of the 40th Anniversary Prestige Stamp Book

Generic Versus Smilers

Before I start I have to admit I have never been an admirer of "Generic Smilers Sheets", not that some of the stamps are ugly or anything like that. I am a firm believer that the Royal Mail are just taking collectors for a ride with these products.

In fact if it were not for the 40th anniversary of the Machin and the proposed Generic Sheet they would not get a mention on this Blog.


What is the difference?


Generic Sheets are designed and issued along with the stamp program by Royal Mail to compliment every set of stamps and miniature sheet. Mentioned above, the latest to be issued comes out this week (6th June) it is the 40th anniversary of the Machin.

Right on its tail ( soon to follow) is The Harry Potter Generic Sheet. Several others were issued previously and more are planned for the rest of this year (at least one per month).

I am not saying to collectors do not buy these products (each to his own) but, if we as a body of collectors and customers complained more, perhaps Royal Mail would just issue the odd one or two a year.

Below is the Machin Anniversary Generic Sheet.

Personal and Business Smilers Sheets

These are basically the same product as above, it is just that the name has changed. Certain businesses can promote their companies with a logo or message on the attached label. Again this is just another method of extracting more cash from the collector via the back door.

Businesses, use them to design more and more (overpriced) limited edition first day covers.

Some labels even have reproductions (or facsimiles) of stamps that were issued in times past. These all look very nice, but I feel they are ruining the hobby to an extent.

Royal Mail says"Customised Sheets give businesses the freedom to create a unique stamp product, branded with your very own choice of label and background designs.

Businesses can choose from a wide range of stamp designs to use on the sheets adding your logo, sales message or image, to add valuable impact to a promotional event or to maintain your company’s day to day profile.

Special limited edition sequentially-numbered sheets are also available to mark special events or achievements".

Personal Smilers are also designed for Joe public, these are perhaps the only ones I may consider buying, If I wanted to send a personal photograph attached to a stamp.

These sheets them selves are not cheap for businesses or Joe Public to order, so with these inflated prices there is only one winner. Royal Mail. Collectors buy the covers from the dealer, so he/she ( the dealer) has a return on their investment, it is collector again that ends up with empty pockets.

Another new gimmick to attract Businesses is the new Generic Coil: Known as Customised stamp rolls

The Royal Mail website informs customers" Customised Stamp Rolls are the smart way to add to your businesses promotional and direct mail campaigns – providing an instant hit and lasting awareness in the marketplace.


With Customised Stamp Rolls the campaign starts the minute the mailing lands on the doormat thanks to the eye-catching combination of self-adhesive stamps and personalised labels.

Each label can feature a company’s logo or personalised message sitting alongside a 1st Class pictorial definitive stamp. Specially developed for bulk mailings the stamps and labels are provided on rolls of approximately 700 stamps".

I have been informed this information is incorrect, the rolls are in 7000 units, this has not been confirmed by Royal Mail at this time.