Another Favourite & A Machin Quiz

"Sorry Roy, I'm a bit late. I guess I didn't think it would end so soon.

Anyway, for what it's worth, my favourite is the Matthews Colour Palette Miniature Sheet from Stamp Show 2000. I also liked the large Machin White embossed Pane, delicous!!!

The worst is the very disappointing 3 Kings Miniature Sheet".

London Bus:
A late bus this time (still, unlike the real thing, at least I turned up)


The Kings miniature sheet

This carries a £3.00 Machin Definitive and reproductions of 1d stamps (one penny ) definitives issued during the reigns of the three monarchs.

The sheet was designed by Katja Thielan of Together Design and printed by De La Rue in gravure. It measures 127 mm x 73 mm.

The £3 stamps has two phosphor bars, although to specialists this is a different variety , it is basically, except for shade and the colour of the phosphor, the same as the high value stamp available in sheets of 200.

Machin Quiz


Indications are that A Machin Quiz may be welcome by collectors. Would you be interested if I devised such a quiz with a nice prize for the winner (drawn from a hat if more than one winner) and a second prize for the runner up?

If so just say yay or nay in answer to this thread.

I will warn you though, If I pick out the questions it will not be easy :-)

Roy

Machin News : Another New Stamp

Printings of the Machin Special issue Cartor generic sheet were issued late due to problems at the printers. Royal Mail seemed un perturbed by the fact. They arrived to special account holders 8 days late (12 June) so first day cover producers were unable service generic products.

Note: They have up to early July to send these out to customers.

Others (miniature sheets and prestige booklets) made their respective deadlines so I guess this is why Royal Mail did not rush the order.

5th June 07

Ian Billings (posted to Virtual Stamp Club)

" RM told Post Office Branches that they won't, after all, get them on Tuesday 12th, and the Trade Manager has told me that (now) we ought to get them by the end of this week. The Trade will still get them before the POs. The question has been asked, of the policy makers, as to whether it is correct for the stamp sheet which is not available on sale until probably 2 weeks after the scheduled date of sale, to be postmarked with the latter.

The Machin 40th Anniversary commemorative stamps were issued on 5th June. The fact that this part of it was not then available does not alter that, and Royal Mail does not regard this as a separate element: the stamp contained in the Smilers Sheet WAS issued on 5th June as part of the miniature sheet. It therefore doesn't matter to them that it was late, there are no official FDCs produced with the Smilers stamps on, only the MS and one pane from the PSB."

12th June 07

"The trade have received theirs but hey are not at PO counters yet, and no one knows when they will arrive.

We also do not know which printer was involved in the end"

( There were reports of the reprint Glorious England Sheet) saying "It was suspected that it was printed at Walsall".

One fact that has has been noted



The Machin special issue from the Generic Sheet is not embossed (as it should be) so even if you do not collect gravure / litho differences this will definitely take a spot in the next Gibbons, and all basic catalogues. It is a completely different stamp.

Buying the complete sheet of 20 is an expensive way of adding a single to stamp to a collection. So if you need a mint copy look for someone breaking up a sheet.

Ian Billings ( Norvic Philatelics) has indicated he will be doing this, I guess so will others who sell on eBay.

A Tribute to Czeslaw Slania

After the last posting I think it is only fitting to mention Czeslaw Slania, his name deserves to on a par with Arnold Machin as one of the greatest artists of all time.

Born: October, 1921, in Silesa, Czeladz, Poland

Died: March 17, 2005. Aged 83 in Cracow, Poland.

As a youngster Slanias hobby was that of making sketches, he liked to make miniatures. Showing a talent from early days often amusing friends and family by sketching banknotes where he replaced the faces with that of girlfriends’ faces.

It was after the second world war at the age of 24 that Czeslaw Slania knuckled down and learned his true trade of fine engraving. Joining the Cracow School of Fine Arts.

After just six years (1951) he undertook his first commission to make his mark in the world of stamp design, engraving a stamp for the Polish Government Printing Works.

He moved to Sweden in 1959, and became a full time employee of The Swedish Postal Service as an engraver.

He was appointed as Royal Court Engraver in Sweden, Denmark and Monaco, and won numerous awards for both the beauty, speed and proliferation of his engravings.

A quote from the Royal Mail in 1999

"Czeslaw Slania has earned himself a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's most prominent and prolific stamp engraver."

He is the inheritor of a centuries-old skill that has been practiced by some of the greatest artists, including Rubens, Rembrandt and Dürer. His dexterity and attention to detail is quite remarkable; he has the ability to engrave at an astonishing 10 lines per millimeter. Slania's versatility is evident in the broad range of subject matter he happily tackles, from royal portraits and flora and fauna to film stars."

Press release from Sweden Post:

"The Royal Court Engraver of Sweden Czeslaw Slania died the night of Thursday, March 17 after a long period of illness. Czeslaw Slania was 83 years old. Czeslaw Slania was born in Poland on October 22, 1921.

A great artist has passed away. His over one thousand stamps are admired and treasured around the world. We at Sweden Post are grateful to have been part of his work,’ says Britt-Inger Hahne, Managing Director Posten AB, Sweden Post Stamps."

Czeslaw Slania was buried in March, 2005 in the Rakowicki Cemetery in Cracow, Poland.

Your Favourite machins

Many thanks to all that replied to the questionnaire. Your answers were varied, which did not surprised me, but one or two of you did pick out certain stamps that I guessed may be among the top 5. We also have suggestions of the ugliest or least favourite.

From various groups and emails here are the results. If I have misquoted or made a mistake please let me know.

Ian Billings (Norvic Philatelics)

For me it has to be 1st class large format, embossed self-adhesive in grey & white, printed by Walsall.

My comments

1st class in larger format printed in intaglio by Enschede of Holland, engraved by Czeslaw Slania is surly a great stamp. The detail on this printing makes this by far one of the best Machins ever.

The 1st class large format, printed in Letterpress by Harrison & Sons from the same booklet, is the ugliest Machin, but it was produced like this just to show just what leaps and bounds printers have made over the years.

James Conway email

"£1 large format Intaglio by Enschede. "

Someone in the same frame of mind as myself, so it deserves a picture.


----------------------------------------





Doug Moss


"I like the double-headed 150th anniversary Machins".




-------------------------------------------------

Charlie, Lecanto, Florida

"My favorite is the newest color variety that I acquire. I guess I am too fickle to become enamoured with one particular stamp".

----------------------------------------


Adrian

"My favourite one is (I think) the £1 black (pre-decimal version with elaborate pound sign). Engraving is so much nicer than Slania's work of the 1990s.






More favourites
(I never can choose!): The Enschedé printings of the 1990s, such a beautiful definition of the head. And the first ATN printings of De La Rue, I love the "mottled" colours of those!

Larry Rosenblum (GB Machins)

"My favorite is actually two of them, the orange and black ones, the pre decimal 1/9 and the first decimal 9p. A close second is the engraved 10p, the color usually called cerise".

Thanks Larry, sorry I do not have a pic of the 9p.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jamerson
"Never really thought about having favourites before, but thinking about it.

Favourite: Large, High Value 10/- blue from 1969. Least favourite: 29p grey from 1993"

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Another report

"I was thinking about this the other day and remember when I was back home in south Africa and saw my first GB stamps and by far my favourite had to be the 9p orange and black from 71,, not sure why that’s my choice, ive recently started my gb collection and once ive finished my GB commems ill move onto the machins maybe ill change my view then ..i do have one machin which is my favourite in my collection not for its image but for its post mark - I found it in a kiloware packet,,, It has a perfect circular PM with the words "worlds greatest hobby" in the circle - it has been struck right in the center of the stamp".

Unanimous choice of the ugliest Machin with 3 votes.

Black 1st class Machin in letterpress.

Well there we have it, it seems as though the engraved Machins come out as clear winners. I have not shown any of the small high values, but surely Czeslaw Slania was truely a master at his craft.

Once again thanks to those who took out time to respond.

What about a Machin Quiz? Send in your questions by email (and the answers) to gbmachins@lineone.net If we get enough I will publish it and offer a prize for the winner.