The Arnold Machin Loco

If you go back to 29th March 2007 I wrote about A railway engine with the name of Arnold Machin.



Well I can now inform you that it does not refer to "Our Arnold" as we (I) thought at the time, that is unless he was also a manger at Eccles Slag Works at Santon. It was he (the manager) who the engine was named after.

Some interesting (new) information by email has come in from Charles Ashley who worked at Eccles Slag Works for twenty years before he emigrated to Australia. Charles has also left a comment to the original post.

"The locomotive is still running at Corus Steel, only it it is not used as a work horse any longer, it now has a less laborious task and takes tourists and visitors around the Corus Steel Works at Scunthorpe.

Not sure who the driver for Eccles was though,either W.Bagley,or H.Carnaby"

Thanks for the info Charles. Shame really I quite liked the idea of a train with Arnold's stamp upon it (pun intended), but there we have it after a year and a half from the original post my sneaky notion was totally wrong, never mind eh? It was still a nice bit of trivia at the time.

High Values To Go High Security

I would like to highlight here what an anonymous poster mentioned in a comment to our earlier post about the new security features to be added to some Machins.

The 50p and £1, along with the current high values £1.50, £2, £3, and £5, will also get the new security features, which are:

1) Four small semi-circular slits that prevent the removal of the stamp from envelopes
2) Iridescent ink featuring a security pattern on the background of the stamp
3) Printing in self-adhesive format only. For high values, that will mean self-adhesive sheets of 50 replacing the water-activated gum sheets of 200.

As the poster noted, it seems strange that the high values are being subjected to this treatment, since they are not on general sale and not frequently used anyway. We don't see piles of uncanceled £5 stamps offered on eBay (do we?).

Of course, cynics might say that the only reason to do this is to sell the high values to collectors - again! But we don't have any cynics writing this blog. No, definitely not.

--Larry

Regional Machin Symbols - Part 2

Continued from Part 1.

There is good news and bad news for collectors with regards to the varieties of lithographed regional Machins of the mid-1980s.

The good news is that most denomination/color combinations have only one type of symbol, either the old one or the new one. For example, the 14p regionals with the old symbol are steel blue, and the 14p’s with the new symbol are deep blue. There’s no need to identify the symbols; the colors are sufficient.

Other denominations have only one type of symbol. The 11 1/2p regionals have only the old symbol; the 12p regionals have only the new one.

The bad news is that there are a handful of denominations where the stamps of the same color were produced with both symbols. In some cases, there are more than two varieties to consider. All of these are listed in these blog entries.

The challenge for collectors, beyond acquiring them, is recognizing them. It is still possible to find these varieties in mixtures of used stamps, but obviously you must know how to identify them in order to find them. You can, of course, buy them from dealers, but it is certainly wise to be able to confirm the variety, especially for the expensive ones.

Compounding the problem of identifying these varieties is that the various catalogs have taken different approaches to listing these varieties and therefore use different, and conflicting, nomenclature.

Most of the specialized catalogs – the Complete Deegam Machin Handbook, the Connoisseur Catalogue of Machin Stamps and the Queen Elizabeth II Specialised Definitives Stamp Catalogue produced by the Machin Collectors Club – assign Type I to the original lithographed symbols and Type II to the redesigned symbols. In some cases, there are subtypes that are indicated by a suffix, for example, Type IIa and IIb. These catalogs identify the symbol type for all of the lithographed regionals, at least up to the introduction of elliptical perforations in 1993, by which time the symbols were standardized.

The Scott Catalogue and the Stanley Gibbons catalogs – the Concise and the Specialised – only provide differentiation when there are two symbol types for the same denomination/color combination. The first variety, whatever it happens to be, is assigned Type I and the second is Type II.

For Scotland and Wales, these two methods happen to work out the same. For Northern Ireland, they don’t.

Each of the three regions will be discussed in turn. All of the regional Machins that have more than one symbol type on the same color/denomination are described and listed. These stamps also have paper, phosphor and gum variations, but those are beyond the scope of this article.

Scotland

Scotland is the easiest region to work with, although it has two of the four scarce varieties.

The Scottish regionals printed by Harrison and Son, issued from 1971 through 1980, do not present any identification challenges. The 4 1/2p Scotland is shown in the first blog entry. The Harrison stamps have the earliest symbol, and since the symbol did not change during this period, no type is assigned.

The first lithographed regionals for Scotland were printed by Waddington and were issued on April 8, 1981. The symbol , the one copied from the presentation pack artwork, is assigned Type I by all of the catalogs. The 31p of this type, issued in 1984, is shown here with an enlargement of the symbol. The 13p, 17p grey-blue and 22p yellow-green were also issued on that date.





There are a number of differences between the photogravure symbol (as on the 4 1/2p) and the lithographed one. Most notably, the eye on the photogravure stamp is solid and connected to the background. The eye on the lithographed stamp is completely enclosed by the lion's face and has a white dot in the center.

By this time, the error in the symbol had been noticed, and the revised versions had been developed by Jeffery Matthews and distributed to the printers. Waddington gradually reissued the stamps with the new symbols, but these changes were not announced and were not immediately noticed by collectors.

The revised 31p is shown here with the symbol. This symbol is called Type II in all the catalogs. The eye has returned to its original shape, open to the background.




All four of the 1984 values were reprinted. The 13p and 17p are fairly common and command only a small premium over the Type I versions. However, the 22p and especially the 31p are scarce and expensive.

All stamps printed by Waddington are perforated 13 1/2 by 14. This is important to remember because in 1985, Waddington bought the House of Questa and combined the two firms under the Questa name. The next year, the four Scottish regionals were reprinted again by the new Questa. These new versions have the Type II symbol but are perforated 15 x 14. The Questa versions are common.

So if you are hunting for the scarce 22p and 31p (and the common 13p and 17p), you need to identify both the symbol and the perforation. (If you don't happen to have a perforation gauge handy, you can count the teeth along the top of the stamp. The Waddington printings have 14 teeth and the Questas have 15.) The 31p printed by Questa, with perforation 15 x 14, is shown here.



Two other Scottish regionals have varieties worth noting. The 26p red was issued in 1982 printed by Walsall with Type I symbol and perf 13 1/2 x 14. The 28p violet was issued in 1983 printed by Walsall with Type II symbol and perf 13 1/2 x 14. Both of these were later reprinted by Questa in 1987 with Type II symbol and perf 15 x 14.

Questa continued to print Scottish regionals through 1996, with the introduction of elliptical perforations towards the end of 1993. All Questa printings have the Type 2 symbol and are perf 15 x 14.

At that time, Royal Mail requested that all Machins, with a few exceptions, be printed by photogravure. Printing of Scottish regionals was transferred to Walsall from 1997 to 1999, at which time the Machin regionals were discontinued for Scotland. All Walsall sheet stamps are perf 15 x 14 and have the Type 2 symbol, though the catalogs do not assign a type number to them. (Some Walsall regionals also appeared in prestige booklets, and these were perf 13 1/2 by 14.)

Below is the list of Scottish Regional Machins that have more than one type of symbol on the same denomination/color combination. Paper, gum and phosphor varieties are not included.

"Spec Catalog Type" is the type used by Deegam, Connoisseur and MCC. "Scott/SG Type" is the type used by Scott and Stanley Gibbons.

13p Chestnut

Issue: 10/23/84
Printer: Waddington
Spec Catalog Type: I
Scott/SG Type: I
Perf: 13.5 x 14

Issue: 4/-/85
Printer: Waddington
Spec Catalog Type: II
Scott/SG Type: II
Perf: 13.5 x 14

Issue: 11/4/86
Printer: Questa
Spec Catalog Type: II
Scott/SG Type: -
Perf: 15 x 14

17p Grey-blue

Issue: 10/23/84
Printer: Waddington
Spec Catalog Type: I
Scott/SG Type: I
Perf: 13.5 x 14

Issue: 4/-/85
Printer: Waddington
Spec Catalog Type: II
Scott/SG Type: II
Perf: 13.5 x 14

Issue: 4/29/86
Printer: Questa
Spec Catalog Type: II
Scott/SG Type: -
Perf: 15 x 14

22p Yellow-green

Issue: 10/23/84
Printer: Waddington
Spec Catalog Type: I
Scott/SG Type: I
Perf: 13.5 x 14

Issue: 1/-/86
Printer: Waddington
Spec Catalog Type: II
Scott/SG Type: II
Perf: 13.5 x 14

Issue: 1/27/87
Printer: Questa
Spec Catalog Type: II
Scott/SG Type: -
Perf: 15 x 14

26p Red

Issue: 2/24/82
Printer: Waddington
Spec Catalog Type: I
Scott/SG Type: I
Perf: 13.5 x 14

Issue: 1/27/87
Printer: Questa
Spec Catalog Type: II
Scott/SG Type: II
Perf: 15 x 14

28p Violet

Issue: 4/27/83
Printer: Waddington
Spec Catalog Type: II
Scott/SG Type: II
Perf: 13.5 x 14

Issue: 1/27/87
Printer: Questa
Spec Catalog Type: II
Scott/SG Type: II
Perf: 15 x 14

31p Lilac

Issue: 10/23/84
Printer: Waddington
Spec Catalog Type: I
Scott/SG Type: I
Perf: 13.5 x 14

Issue: 11/-/85
Printer: Waddington
Spec Catalog Type: II
Scott/SG Type: II
Perf: 13.5 x 14

Issue: 4/29/86
Printer: Questa
Spec Catalog Type: II
Scott/SG Type: -
Perf: 15 x 14

--Larry

Collecting Multiple Strips of Multi Value Coils

Multi Value Coils are normally collected in strips of 4 or 5 values. In most collections these strips are in unmounted mint condition, or in the case of the actual Readers Digest promotional strips if on the original card they are secured to the card with the original wax line. I have also seen them off the original card ( classed as mounted mint ) still showing the wax strip on the reverse. Some multi value strips are also known used and on on first day cover.

For my example of multiples I am going to deal with (coil) 02 of which in the original format is usually collected in the order as: 2p + ½p +½p + 1p +1p

To add a bit of variety to your collection of these Coil Strips they can ( are ) also collected in different se-tenant formats, these are separated from longer or multiple strips from the original Roll.

I quite like these and have a few in my own collection which I THINK look quite striking when mounted on an album page. These different se-senant strips are now quite difficult to obtain compared to the norm and as such seem to carry a higher premium over the usual catalogue price.
See the images above for one such presentation which shows. MV 02 ( Five different ) 5p Se-tenant strips of 5 stamps. Printing details of these strips are : Head B1, 150 Screen printed by Harrison and Sons.

This item is known to exist with a variety of several different papers and gums, it would be quite a challenge to obtain them all in the five formats shown I would think.

OCP/GA (Original Coated Paper Gum Arabic) 15/02/71
OCP/GA Silicone Coated (Original Coated Paper Gum Arabic) 1972
FCP/GA (Original Coated Paper Gum Arabic) 22/09/72
FCP/DEX (Fluorescent Coated Paper Dextrin Gum) with thin paper 04/74

Regional Machin Symbols - Part 1

When you look at the listings of regularly-issued Machins (that is, excluding errors) in any of the catalogs, you find most of them are reasonably priced. There are a few selling at a modest premium, and then there are a handful in the range of $50 to $100 or more. The most famous of these is the 1/2p with left phosphor band, from the 1972 Wedgwood prestige booklet.

Then, among the many Machin regionals selling for a few dollars each you’ll find four at pretty steep prices. This series of posts explains what those issues are, how they came about, how they are listed and how to identify them.

With the regular Machins, changes in characteristics such as paper, perforation, gum, phosphor/fluor and gum are enough to keep any collector busy. The regional Machins have an extra element – the symbol in the upper left corner. The symbol, too, varies and is one of the keys to the scarce and costly varieties.

Royal Mail celebrated the anniversary of the regionals in 2008, and we were all reminded that they were first issued in 1958 in response to nationalist sentiment in the various parts of the United Kingdom. The earliest issues featured the Wilding portrait of the Queen, the central feature of the regular definitives of the time, along with various symbol that represented each region.

When the Machins were introduced in 1967, the regionals didn’t follow along. The old design was kept until decimalization in 1971.

In keeping with the simplified design of the Machins, Jeffery Matthews developed a single heraldic symbol for each region that would have its own stamps. He reduced the size of the Machin portrait and put the symbol in the upper left corner. His symbols were the crowned six-pointed star with the red hand of the O’Neills for Northern Ireland, the Scottish lion rampant, the Welsh red dragon and the triskelion ([pronounced try'-skel-ee-on], also triskele [try'-skeel], the three legs of man) for the Isle of Man.

Harrison and Sons had been printing all of the low value Machins using photogravure, and they were to print the regionals as well. Matthews designed the symbols knowing that photogravure would be used to print the stamps.

On July 7, 1971, about five months after decimalization, four values were issued for each of three countries in the U.K. – Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales – and one Crown Dependency, the Isle of Man. The stamps were sold only in their respective region, but they were valid for use throughout the U.K.

The Isle of Man began its own postal service in 1973, so no further British stamps were issued for them. The regionals would be issued for the three countries from then on. Over the next several years, new values of the regionals were issued as needed to meet new postal rates.

The late 1970s was a period of rapid inflation and frequent postal rate changes. To insure that it would always have an adequate supply of stamps, Royal Mail decided to use two new printers to complement Harrison and Sons. John Waddington of Kirkstall and The House of Questa both began producing regular Machins in 1980. Both firms used lithography to print stamps, rather than the photogravure process used by Harrisons.

The next year, the two firms began producing regionals – Waddington printed Scotland and Questa printed Northern Ireland and Wales.

Not long afterwards, it was noticed that the symbols on the lithographed stamps were different than those on the photogravure ones, and the design of these symbols was not satisfactory. Later it was discovered that the printers had used the symbols from artwork developed for the 1976 presentation packs (souvenir folders) of the photogravure regionals.

Jeffery Matthews was again brought in, and he designed a new set of symbols that was suitable for stamp-size lithographic printing. The printers switched to the new symbols gradually over the next few years, but without always announcing exactly when they were doing so. The result was a few varieties that were not noticed and/or were not widely distributed.

To be continued.

A previous post on the subject of regionals is here, and the article on Roy's web site is here.

--Larry

More from the BMPA

I would like to add to Larrys post (below) with this latest press release from the BMPA. Although this does not refer to our subject of Machins, it will be of intrest to many.

Stamp artwork from the reign of George V digitised for the first time.

The British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA) is pleased to announce the release of the first catalogues of stamp artwork and registration sheets from the reign of King George V.

On Monday 8 January 2009, it will be possible to view nearly 800 records describing the issue of commemorative stamps in the reign of King George V via our online catalogue. For the first time, people will be able to search for and see the original artwork submitted by artists alongside the final, approved stamp issue. Registration sheets for all George V commemoratives and the first Downey Head definitives as well as the Seahorse high value will also be online.

The overall project aims to give wider access to a range of stamp artwork and encompasses stamp issues from the reigns of George V, Edward VIII, George VI and Elizabeth II. It covers the entire process of each issue, from submitted artwork, through essays to the issued stamps.

This first phase of catalogues includes all the submitted artwork for the competition to design Britain’s first commemorative stamp for the 1924 British Empire Exhibition. Commemorative issues for the 1929 Postal Union Congress and 1935 Silver Jubilee followed, as well as a proposed memorial issue following the death of George V.

The BPMA hold a number of objects such as metal dies and rollers that were used in the production of the commemorative issues of George V. These were engraved by JAC Harrison, arguably the finest engraver of the day.

The project will make widely accessible the work of notable artists and designers, such as Eric Gill, Edmund Dulac, Eric Ravilious and Tom Eckersley. The artwork shows how each artist reconciled the problem of achieving a satisfying artistic design within the constraints of a stamp displaying the King’s portrait. At times this led to artists abandoning the King’s head altogether, as in the case of Edmund Dulac who submitted a King-less design for the Stamp Centenary Issue, commenting ‘I don’t suppose [it] will be considered for a moment’.

Douglas Muir, Curator of Philately at the BPMA commented:

“This is the first phase of an exciting project to make our unique collection of philatelic material available to everybody. More artwork and registration sheets will be added to our catalogue in the coming year. Look out for announcements on our website”.

The BPMA will be releasing further catalogues through the course of 2009 and 2010, taking the cataloguing of Stamp Artwork into the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.


About the BPMA
The British Postal Museum & Archive is the leading resource for all aspects of British postal history. It is a combined museum and archive, bringing together The Royal Mail Archive and a Museum Store. With collections ranging from staff records to stamps, poster design to photography and from transport to telegrams, it cares for the visual, written and physical records from over 400 years of innovation and service, illuminating the fascinating story of British communications. Records in The Royal Mail Archive are Designated as being of outstanding national importance.

For more information see : www.postalheritage.org.uk.

Swindon, Here We Come

It's been more than 10 years since the National Postal Museum in London closed. I was fortunate to have visited it several times, and I still have fond memories of it.

After the museum closed, the organization floundered a bit, but eventually Royal Mail merged it with the Post Office Archives and it was reborn as the British Postal Museum & Archive, known as BPMA.

Today, BPMA is thriving, but it has been cramped in its temporary home at the Mt. Pleasant postal facility.

Recently, the BPMA announced that a new home and museum would be built in Swindon.

Being a Yankee, I had no idea where Swindon was, so I turned to Google maps. It’s directly west of London, just off the M4 motorway. The new site is about 87 miles from the old NPM, which was in the King Edward Building near St. Paul’s Cathedral.

The new location is in a development known as Churchward Village, which was previously the Great Western Railway works. Also on the site is “Steam” - the museum of the Great Western Railway, the National Monument Records part of English Heritage and the headquarters of the National Trust. Finally, there’s a leisure shopping retail outlet that attracts several million visitors per year.

No date has been given for when the museum will open, but Tony Conder, CEO of BPMA, called this a “four-year programme to reopen full public access to the collection,” so I guess 2013 seems to be it. I can’t wait. See you in Swindon.

--Larry

More Data on New Security Stamps

I have heard no more at this time about the proposed new 50p and £1 values with new security features and cut perforations , but more information on the other values and formats is now in general circulation.

Several formats and values will be affected (all self adhesive) these are listed below:

4 new sheets will be printed by De La Rue, these will now be in sheet sizes of 50 stamps

2nd class NVI, 1st class NVI, 2nd class NVI Large, and 1st class NVI Large.

4 new stamp coils stamps will also be printed by De La Rue, these will range from rolls of 500 x 2nd NVI, 1000 x 2nd NVI, 500 x 1st NVI, and 1000 x 1st NVI.

5 new booklets to be printed by Walsall Security Printers, these are:

6 x 1st NVI, 12 x 2nd NVI, 12 x 1st NVI, 4 x 2nd NVI Large and 4 x 1st NVI Large

4 new business sheets will also be printed by Walsall Security Printers these are:

100 x 1st NVI, 100 x 2nd, 50 x 2nd NVI Large and 50 x 1st NVI Large.

If anyone has, or if you hear any more news of the proposed 50p or £1 values please let us know by replying to this post, thanks.

More Machin News

On the 29th September we saw the issue of a set of Machin definitive stamp cards showing the current 17 denominated values and 7 NVI 's. This postcard set was priced at £9.60. Does anyone actually purchase this overpriced rubbish?

I used to look forward to new Prestige booklets, but sadly they are not every one's cup of tea these days, unfortunately they are growing out of favour (fast) with many collectors. This is mainly due to the to the greed of Royal Mail as there are now far to many new issues per year.

Two P B's per year was OK for most, and we could handle the odd times when three per year were issued. We now know that at least four Prestige Booklets are earmarked for issue in 2009. Far to many in my humble opinion!

Anyway for those who do still buy them, I have new information on some of the Machin panes that will be available to you from these.

13th January

Design Classics will be printed by Walsall Security Printers, priced at £ 7.68. In this Prestige booklet there will be a Machin mixed pane, this will have: 4 x 16p; 4 x 50p and a central label.

12th February

Darwin: This booklet will be printed by De La Rue, and will be priced at £ 7.75 . It will also contain a mixed Machin pane : values 2 x 5p; 2 x 10p; 2 x 48p, 2 x 1st class NVIs and a central label.

18th August

Treasures of the Archive Prestige booklet: No details of mixed panes or content at present.

17th September

Royal Navy Uniforms Prestige booklet: Again no details at this time.

Machin News Nov 08

For your information, these are the (initial) stamps that will be affected by the new security measures from January next year.

It is a fact that 50p and £1 Ruby stamps will be affected (as Larry reported below) but it has not been made clear at this time if these are to be re issued as self sdhesives.

"The other part of the announcement that has gotten little attention is that the water-activated versions of these Machins are being replaced with self-adhesives. (I'm not sure if this is only for sheet stamps or for coils as well.) Could this be the beginning of the end of water-activated British stamps?gives rise to the possibility that (all) current sheet stamps could be in for the change over at some later date".

This date has been mentioned by some for more values to join the ones detailed below "could be March /April 2009 when we see more values join the list".

April 09

This is the date when new values will be needed for a postage rate change. What are the new values that are in the pipe line? Does anyone know?

Here is the list of stamps that will be affected as it stands.

1st class gold, ( booklets and business sheets)
2nd class blue, ( booklets and business sheets )
1st class gold Large letter, ( booklets and business sheets)
2nd class blue Large letter, ( booklets and business sheets )

50p light grey, counter sheets (unless these are to be reprinted in self adhesive format?)
£1 ruby (ditto?)

1st and 2nd self adhesive rolls or coils.

We will be keeping a close eye on these developments and any new information will be posted here as soon as it has been confirmed.

If you have new information please reply to this thread or email my self or Larry.
Thanks

Linn's Editorial on Slit Stamps

In the November 24 issue of Linn's Stamp News, editor Michael Baadke (a Machin collector, by the way) raises an alarm about Royal Mail's addition of security slits to non-denominated Machins. The purpose of the slits is to make it impossible to remove a stamp once it has been attached to an envelope, thereby preventing fraudulent re-use.

Sadly, it is also likely to prevent a collector from soaking off and saving the stamp.

Baadke is concerned that this will discourage new and casual collectors who get a lot of their stamps from envelopes.

This has been a big topic recently here in the US. Last year the USPS gave printers the permission to use self-adhesive paper without a water soluble layer, making the stamps nearly impossible to soak off. The USPS claims that soakable paper is becoming harder to find and therefore more expensive. Many collectors are very unhappy about this and are saying that it deals a serious blow to the hobby.

Baadke asks, "Is it really possible that the British also plan to thwart stamp soaking, the one simple activity that leads an individual directly to becoming a stamp collector - and a Royal Mail stamp customer?"

I think Baadke's concern in the case of Royal Mail is a bit overdone, especially at this time. First, we won't really know about the soakability and savability of these stamps until they appear in February (though we can probably assume the worst). Second, at the moment it is limited to non-denominated Machins, which are probably only of secondary interest to beginning and casual collectors (though Baadke mentions that the Machins are "immensely popular").

This is of more concern to serious collectors of used Machins. There are quite a few of these, at least in the US, but certainly not enough to be of concern to Royal Mail. Since Royal Mail is accepting the added expense of creating the slits, they must perceive a net savings from the reduction in re-use.

An interesting question is whether Royal Mail will extend the slits to denominated Machins. Nothing has been announced, and perhaps they are waiting to see how well this works out on the non-denominated ones. Conversely, maybe the usage of denominated Machins is so small now that it won't be necessary to add the slits.

Baadke makes an interesting point in passing. He notes that the slits may "make canceling stamps irrelevant." If the stamp cannot be lifted from the envelope and reused, why bother canceling it at all? And if this is indeed Royal Mail's plan, that would make the slits a form of precancel. I wonder if the catalogs would list them that way.

Two other things are worth mentioning.

Royal Mail has stated that the stamps will be printed with "an iridescent ink with a security pattern on the darker background color around the Queen's head." I suspect Royal Mail means overprinted with the ink, in a manner similar to the way the high values are overprinted with Iriodin ink, but we will have to see.

The other part of the announcement that has gotten little attention is that the water-activated versions of these Machins are being replaced with self-adhesives. (I'm not sure if this is only for sheet stamps or for coils as well.) Could this be the beginning of the end of water-activated British stamps?

--Larry

Enter Jeffery Matthews

Last week we discussed professor John Hedgecoe, Lord Snowdon and Arnold Machins parts in the design of the Machin Definitive. What we failed to mention was that there was another name involved with certain elements of the design. The name is that of Jeffery Matthews MBE, FCSD, FRSA.

It is not only his role in the design of Machins that Jeffery has to his credit, Jeffery has had a long relationship with The Royal Mail going back as far as 1965 when his two first postage stamps (special commemorative issues) were released for the 20th anniversary of the United Nations. Two other issues of which are particular favorites of mine come to mind these are:

SG1236-1239. The 500th Anniversary of the College of Arms Issued: 17th January 1984 Printed in photogravure by Harrison & Sons Ltd. High Wycombe.

The second issue is that of SG1363-1366. The 300th Anniversary of the Revival of the Order of the Thistle Issued: 21st July 1987 .

There are many others, some have been documented by Larry on his website which I will deal with later.

One design which is not generally credited to Jeffery is that of design of a booklet cover DB14(22) first issued 22 Sepember 1992, This shows The Crest with Helm and Mantling and the badge of the Shrievalty Association. It was Printed by Harrison & Sons Ltd. Sold at 50p.

For those of you who need a mention we can get back to Machins for a brief moment. The booklet contained a se- tenant pane of 2 x 1p crimson 2 x 24p rust machins, shown below right.

There are several other mentions of Jeffery's work already on this blog, I do not want to repeat the articles which we have already written so you will need to go into the archives to view and read them. I do not have time at the moment to trawl through them to place a direct link so this should keep you busy for a while. I might mention that it is well worth the effort there is some great information on the Machin design.

Before you do the search, skip over to Larry's website and read Larry Rosenblum and David Alderfer interview with Stamp Designer Jeffery Matthews, MBE, FCSD, FRSA

A Machin That Caused A Right Stink

I was going though some old files today (deleting several) whilst tidying up my hard drive.

I found this amongst them. It was not dated but from memory I do recall saving it two or three few years ago.

I thought it very amusing at the time, but obviously Royal Mail did not see the funny side. Read on to see what was reported in the Press:

Artrepublic, an English enterprise, which sells so-called 'artprints' - one should see them as a kind of artistic posters - ran into trouble with the British postal services. The problem was with the stamp, it was very similar to that of the well-known Machin definitive type.

On the Artrepublic poster version, HM Queen Elizabeth II is wearing a gas mask. The 'artprint's' title: was: "Black Smoke, Stamps of Mass Destruction".

Royal Mail threatened to sue the company if it did not withdraw the posters from the market. Something which Artrepublic immediately did.

Garmelow Continued

Although this may not be everyone's cup of tea, we do like to diversify with the MACHIN THEME so as promised here is the second batch of photographs taken of Arnold Machins estate by "L".

There are several of the out buildings, A pergola and a phone box built by Arnold's son Francis and again a smaller picture showing Machins studio.

Francis was a avid collector of old farm machinery, aircraft engines, old cars were also a passion. Some of this machinery can be can be seen in a couple of the photographs

Well they do say that "variety is the spice of life", and for this you can thank the people who reply to these posts, without your replies I am sure I (we) would run out of material to show you.

Please continue to write to us and or leave your comments on site. You can remain anonymous if you wish to do so.

We welcome all ideas for publication on this blog, pictures from your collections, errors you may have found, Machin related questions, even introductions about yourselves. Another Idea , I could even offer to publicise stamps you have for sale or wish to swap with other collectors.

If you would like to join our team and write your own articles to share with your your fellow Machin- ites this can also be arranged, just drop me a line using the subject line Machin Mania.

Garmelow Manor

Nothing what so ever to do with The Machin stamp except for the fact that this post does represent Arnold, his wife Patricia and son Francis,s former home Garmelow Manor.

Even though the post is not about the actual stamps themselves I am sure that some of you will be interested in the content.

Yesterday I wrote that had an e-mail from someone who was employed at Garmelow Manor. I was waiting for a second e-mail from him with photographs taken of the estate at Garmelow. This has now arrived and contained some great unpublished pictures of Arnold's former home, estate and workshops.

As far as I know these are protected by copyright by the owner, but he has given me permission to share them with you. If you wish to copy or use them for your self please write to me for the owners email address to get his permission first.

The property itself was very large, has huge private lake and most of the barns had been converted, some in mind for the Machin arts foundation, and there was also a private museum.

There are pictures are of the fountain Arnold Machin created. The picture of the building with the three doors is of Arnold's studio where most of his work was carried out and where it sat untouched until the sale of the property.

All the wooden shelters you see were designed by his son Francis. I have several more to show you of the out buildings, but to save on loading time I will post these tomorrow if I can find the time, if not tomorrow I will publish them at a later date.

The owner has informed me that he also has interior pics etc but these are still on camera and as yet have not been down loaded. As soon as they are available they will also be forward onto me for publication. I have full advance permission to publish them.

Many Thanks to L (name withheld for anonymity)

Hedgecoe, Interesting Replies

Several very interesting replies by e-mail, Re: The hedgecoe story.

Now I do not know how true any of them are, so I will leave it to you the reader to decide.


From P. W
It was Lord Snowdon who, It was said " was first to have become involved in a row over whose photograph inspired the head of the Queen on British stamps".

The dispute developed following claims by John Hedgecoe, in a new book, that his work was the basis for the sculptured head that has featured on stamps for 35 years. Hedgecoe's book, called Portraits, was the subject of an exhibition at the Royal College of Art and the National Portrait Gallery. Lord Snowdon is said "to have written to the Norfolk-based professor of photography insisting that he took the original photographs"

www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-5260669.html

What actually occurred was Machin initially created a plaster-cast of the Queen based on photographs by Lord Snowdon, ( Machin had been successfully working on the head for the new, as yet unissued, decimal coinage) Photographs taken by Lord Snowdon were the source for the head on the new coins, and were first used for the new stamp profile.

With this done Machin "then proceeded to simplify it, refine it down, make it simpler and simpler – the idea being to hark back to the classic simplicity of the Penny Black. Eventually after various changes – such as the diadem head replacing the tiara, this was based on photographs by John Hedgecoe"
We have a three way split here? Snowdons Head, Hedgecoe's Diadem (and hair) and lastly Machins final Plaster Cast.

www.icons.org.uk/theicons/collection/queen-s-head-stamp-design/features/douglas-muir-curator-of-philately

Again from Dave F

The Stamp Advisory Committee preferred Machin's work, and he worked to refine his designs. By October 1966 he had produced a very simple design taken from a plaster cast of The Queen wearing a tiara.

Other photographs were taken by John Hedgecoe featuring the diadem worn by Victoria on the Penny Black. This made a strong statement about the iconic significance of the new design, and Machin revised his sculpture to include the diadem.
http://postalheritage.org.uk/exhibitions/onlineexhibitions/elizabeth?slide=10

I have another e-mail from someone who did some work at Garmelow Manor, he has sent me some interesting information confirming that he actually saw the Hedgecoe Photograph (which was on a card backing) and several others. I am waiting for a second e-mail from him and will add his story to this post when it arrives.


Lastly another account from my good self.

How would you like to own the camera that Hedgecoe used to take his Diadem photograph?

Left: The Camera used by Professor John Hedgecoe to take the worlds most familiar image & most reproduced photograph. The portrait of Queen Elizabeth ll that appears on UK & Commonwealth postage stamps.

The camera is up for Auction by Keys Fine Art Auctioneers of Norwich
Est. £1200 - £1800 www.keysauctions.co.uk