Machin News March 2009

For those of you who do not subscribe to the Philatelic Bulletin, I can pass on some interesting news via this blog. I know it is perhaps a bit early for March News but I may just add to this post later on.

First a blow up of the new 22p Machin showing the wrong perforations. This stamp is described as having the Matthews Palate colour "stone", but looks more of a sh***y brown shade to me.

A little late, Machine vended Machin fast stamps are to be issued in packs of 5 values from Royal Mail's Philatelic Bureau in Edinburgh. We wrote about these last October.

The third mixed Machin / Special issue booklet to contain Spitfire and Concorde stamps which we mentioned recently will now go on sale early next year (2010 ) . Perhaps the reason for this delay or date of issue change is the fact that a new (extra) booklet will be issued on 21st May this year.

This extra booklet is described in the Philatelic Bulletin as 4 x 1st definitives and two flower greetings stamps ( Iris Latifolia & Tulipia ). These could be the same designs as the 1997 greetings stamps, they will go on sale prices £2.34. If this the flower stamps are the same they will have a new catalogue number as they will be of the self adhesive type.

The booklet is to commemorate The 50th anniversary of NAFAS which is the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies. It is written that these will contain the security (slit) stamps and will be printed by Walsall Security Printers.

Preview Of New Machins 31st March 09

Royal Mail have now released a preview of the new Machin Definitives & Country Stamps - issue date 31 March 2009. these are for the postage rate changes which take effect from 6 April 2009.

If you look closely you will notice that the perforations show three holes below the ellipse, this also occurred with the preview for the rate rise last year. The actual stamps, last year, when released were however perforated correctly with two complete holes below the ellipse. Expect the same this March.

It is also noticeable on this preview that no security slits are evident, as we all know these were introduced on certain stamps in February this year.

We were informed in advance by certain people that this issue would not be of the self adhesive variety and would have conventional PVAl gum.

Bits & Bobs

I had another house guest turn up (out of the blue) on Wednesday. My son in law ( left) came over on business and paid me a short visit. Braver than me, it was not that hot!!

Anyway whilst he was here he gave me a packet of used stamps (uncancelled on paper) in among them are half a dozen of the new security type Machins. Later today I will have some fun and try to remove them using the different techniques we have talked about. I will let you know how the operation turns out in a later post.

I also had a mail delivery from my address the UK. The Bookmark Journal arrived (February 2009) and the Deegam Report (80) both are interesting reading.

From the Deegam Report 80 (page 4) is a public announcement regarding the two terms Douglas Myall will use used to describe the two types of Self adhesive gum. In order to explain will have to quote his report here, I hope he does not mind.

"The laminate used for current self adhesives has several layers, including two gums ( acrylic and PVA). This type is denoted by the term OFNP/PSA the letters PSA may be regarded as made up of an amalgam PVAl = the letter (P). Self adhesive = (SA) and Acrylic adhesive (A), thus indicating the duel nature of the gum. The water soluble PVAl layer was originally included to make it easier for collectors to soak used stamps of the backing paper.

With the new security (slit) stamps this facility has now been abolished. Since the (P) element will no longer be part of the laminate, the new version will be designated OFNP/SA. This term will now be used in his level two handbook headings. Thus all sheet and booklet stamps will be new at Deegam level two."

Public Announcement:

The two terms of OFNP/PSA and OFNP/SA are placed in the public domain in the hope that they will be used by other publishers and by dealers, with the meanings he has assigned to them, to the benefit of all collectors.

Current Machin Issues

Some printing dates and cylinder numbers (thanks to the editor Keith Woodward, Bookmark Journal)

1p D2/D1 20/01/07 - 20/03/07
5p D2/D1 16/03/07 - 19/03/07
48p D1/D2 08/05/07
£1.00 D2/D2 15/03/07 (mauve)

9p D1/D1 19/03/08
1st L D1/D 25/02/08 - 26/02/08
2nd L D1/D1 27/02/08

British Stamp Market Values

In the words of Tommy Trinder "you lucky people", two posts today, the previous post was an added bonus. My I am getting old. Who remembers Tommy Trinder? Anyway as I said the previous post was an added bonus. This ( below) is what I originally had in store for you.

Repeating myself: (again)

On 13th January I wrote a short piece on Miniature sheets, in which I quoted some of the catalogue prices for these issues. Dave Feeney informed me that the prices which I quoted are not the true catalogue prices, but actual (market) selling prices. ".

Adding to this I should mention that I obtained my information from a well known dealer ( without advertising ) who sells packs and cards on the net at reasonable market value prices.

For further market prices this catalogue entitled British Stamp Market Values 2009 from the publishers of Stamp Magazine, has a comprehensive listing of every Great Britain issue from 1840 to date.

The prices listed inside relate to real values based on actual market activity, not catalogue prices.

More than 7,000 philatelic items are listed and priced, in over 230 pages which are in colour. One chapter deals with advice on how and where to buy your stamps. It also has a comprehensive watermarks guide.

This can be purchased from Dewalders of Salisbury England for £9.99, Postage UK costs extra at £1.50.

Comments From Readers

This is a message to ALL readers who take out time to visit, send e-mails and contribute to postings. Many many thanks, it makes it all worth while to know that the combined efforts to produce this blog are appreciated.

I have to say this latest message from B Horton made me proud that we started this blog in the first place. I hope together we can continue to share our passion for Machins for a long time to come.

Dear Roy / Larry / Ian / Adrian, Alan and everyone else who posts repllies and questions.

Firstly let me say that I think that The Machins Blog Spot is a great resource for Machin news. The set up allows for anyone in the know to share and post comments to the rest of us as soon as it becomes available. It is also a non profit site ( not filled with dealers advertisements) which is nice to see. It is always my first port of call when I go online ( more or less everyday).

Links to The Machin Forum and Ian's Blog are useful tools. I read them also...Both of these individual sites share and cross reference Machin information for the benefit of collectors with one other and yourself.

Just to pass on information on the net, rather than trying to out do each other for business, as I often find with many other online resources is rare. Thanks to everyone involved, keep up the good work.

Brian Horton (A converted Machin Maniac)

Postage Cost Calculator

It is amazing what you find on the Internet.

Do you buy or sell on eBay? Did you know that millions of pounds are wasted in excess postage or in fines for insufficient postage? Why waste your money or risk getting poor feedback on eBay for not putting enough postage on your parcels? By using a free postage cost calculator you don't have to worry about any of these issues!

Since Royal Mail's introduction of 'pricing in proportion' postage pricing scale, calculating the correct value of stamps you should put on a letter / package is more complicated as it is not just based on the letter's weight any more but now also depends on the dimensions of what you are posting.

Don't worry though, as the nice people at postage rates.org.uk have developed a really neat online postage calculator for calculating the domestic postal rates of parcels / packages / letters / 'larger letters' etc that sent within the UK... and the postage cost calculator is totally free to use!
Also, if you have a website by just including one line of code you can easily have the very same calculator shown on your website! Please add the code next to the version of the free online postage calculator you wish to select for your site.

Please note that postal rates are set to rise at the beginning of April 2009, either wait until postal rates have risen before loading the calculator to your site or be sure to check that your calculator can be updated to reflect the new rates.

De La Rue Business Sheets

Certain items are now on sale on eBay-described as short phosphor bands. One in particular is this. £1.50 security self adhesive single, with short phosphor bands at top, clear of the perforations.

Please be careful when bidding on items like this, from the pic supplied this is clearly a perforation shift, not a genuine phosphor shift with short phosphor band top. The seller may be unaware that his description is misleading, we all make mistakes.

On 13th January I wrote a short piece on Miniature sheets, in which I quoted some of the catalogue prices for these issues. Dave Feeney informs me that "these prices which I quoted are not the true catalogue prices, but actual (market) selling prices. " Sorry for the mistake and Thanks Dave for the observation.

One good thing about having a Machin Blog is the fact that when Machin news arrives it can be shared quickly. If you have any news ( new issues or otherwise) please do not keep it to yourself, either leave a comment on site or e-mail my self or Larry who will post it here for you.

I am not saying that all information is vital, it just allows us to post updates more quickly for everyone to read.

Larry once wrote on site.

"We do like to hear from readers. If you have a suggestion for a topic, or a Machin-related question, please leave a comment here and we will respond as best we can. If you disagree with something I have said, please let me know (politely!). And if you agree, please let me know as well."

Here is a interesting e-mail from Douglas Myall with more news (unknown to me) regarding the proposed Business sheets due on 31st March. (Thanks Douglas)

"Hello Roy,

Just a quick comment re the latest update on your blog. The business sheets of security stamps available from 31 March are printed by De La Rue, not Walsall. I have this from a reliable official source."

Regards Douglas

Douglas Myall, author and publisher of the Deegam publications for Machin collectors, has established a web site at http://www.deegam.com/

New First day Covers

Above a nice cover from Tony Buckingham, who have produced two covers for this issue, one features a set of four Machin Definitives (First and Second Class standard plus First and Second Class Large) with the new security features plus a Windsor postmark.

The second cover on offer from Buckingham ( not shown) features the 50p and £1 Definitive stamps plus Windsor postmark. These I feel are a bit pricey at £8.95 each.

(Below) as Promised here are the scans of the two first day covers for the new security (slit) stamps ( high values and low values) that are now available from Royal Mail from 17th February 2009.

This is just an observation but if you look at the presentation pack in the previous post you will notice that the actual stamps in the pack are not die-cut through the backing paper and are torn from the conventional sheets.

Now all we have to wait for are the Walsall printings ( booklets and Business sheets). These are on sale from 31st March, it will be interesting to compare them to the De La Rue printings.

Also on 31st March we have the new Machin definitive and country stamps that will be printed by De La Rue in gravure, in sheets of 200 to look forward to. It has been said that "these new stamps will not have the same security features as were applied to certain ( slit) stamps in February this year."

As soon as more news arrives we will inform you if this is correct, another case of "wait and see")

Until next time enjoy your stamps

....Roy

New Security Stamps (Continued)

Presentation Pack Low Values

It has now been three days since these stamps were issued (17th February) and (as yet) I have not had the chance to attempt to remove a used one from a envelope to see what sort of condition the stamps once soaked and dried are in. Has anyone else tried? It will be interesting to see the various results as time goes by.

From one of the groups I belong to (S of GB) one of the members (Greg) has tried, here is his report . ( Thanks Greg)

"The gum appears to have the same effect as on many of the currently issued stamps from the countries above, ( American, Irish and Kiwi ) in that part of the backing paper is left on the stamp when you try to remove it. I normally roll this off gently with my thumb. I had a 50% success rate with the two UK definitives I tried - the little security tears make this a more difficult task to do, especially as they are so close to the edge of the stamp.

However the stamp paper itself doesn't appear to be as thin as some of the other stamps out there with this type of gum. Now for the bad news - having come back to the dried stamp, the gum is still present on the back of the stamp, to the extent that it would probably stick for at least part of a second journey through the postal system, and be very difficult to work with in stock books."

Greg continues "By the way, I tried with normal cold and luke-warm water, soaking a stamp in each for just over 15 minutes."

I have a theory that neat alcohol (the sort obtained from chemists) may remove this excess gum, anyway as Greg had a 50% success rate with just two stamps, It proves that with care they can be removed without damage to the actual stamps. If the alcohol does not work, am sure some bright spark will come up with a solution ( no pun intended) to the gum problem very soon.

I can now show you some of the formats these stamps are available in, starting with what appears to be and has been proclaimed as a gutter pair. What do you think should this be catalogued as?

Is it a gutter pair as such?

I personally do not think so, but that's just my opinion.

I also have a pic of the cylinder block of 6. It appears that only the no dot format is available from these De La Rue printings.

Presentation packs ( high and low values) and two different first day covers, high and low values are also on sale. I will post pictures of these two types of first day covers tomorrow.

Interrupted Phosphor Bars ( Part II )

Sorry I have not been posting so often lately, have you missed me? For those of you that have not, just don't answer this one :-)

Well I can report that my house guests have now departed these shores back to the snow, wind, rain and cloudy skies of Blighty, it is lovely and quiet (bliss) and I now have a little more time on my hands to devote to Machins.

I did a little research today as I wanted to refresh my memory regarding the interrupted phosphor bars that were mentioned in my post last week.

It was during 1993 when the initial Questa booklets came on the scene with new security stamps of the time (ellipses in the perfs). These booklets showed panes of 10 x second class NVI values which had an unusual phosphor arrangement to the norm. IE: Centre bars ( pic left) that were both short at the top and short at the bottom Deegam criteria (S3).

It should also be noted that some panes from these booklets had misaligned bars (in error) with short bars either just at the top (s1) or the bottom (s2). I should also mention that I was correct in my assumption that these short bars were created deliberately to avoid wear and tear on the perforating machines at the time.

Walsall Security Printers also produced several booklets (various values) 35p, 41p and 60p to name some of the values that come to mind.

These Walsall booklets had panes of 4 stamps. For the same reason as the Questa booklets (perforator wear) these had inset bands on the outer edges of the panes. Phosphor was also printed between the adjoining stamps but this was divided into two separate bars, so in turn all of the stamps on pane had phosphor inset on both sides. known in Deegam criteria as inset three (I3). (see pic left)

The divided bands had a 1mm gap between them. This 1mm gap was positioned on the vertical where the line of perforations were added at a later stage in the process. Common names for these stamps at the time was "split bands or interrupted bands"

The layout ( layout one) was changed after a short period of time so that the stamps on the left of the pane now had inset bands left (I1) and stamps to the right (I2). A solid band replaced the bar to the centre of the pane. This pane became known as Layout two.

Another change (3rd) occurred later in the year ( layout three) the width of the bars was extended to all the edges of the stamps. The result of this third change was that all phosphor bands became solid bars on all stamps. It seems that the problems with wear on the perforators was solved once and for all.

Booklets of 10 first class NVIs were also produced these had split bands between all the internal stamps on the panes . A revised booklet of ten was introduced ( layout 2) as with the booklets of four above which had just the stamps on the outside ( left and right) of the panes with inset bands, no third state ( layout 3) of the booklet x 10 was recorded as being issued.

To refresh

Layout state 1: All stamps have inset bands left and right (I3)
Layout state 2 All stamps to the left had (I1) and stamps on the right (I2)
Layout state 3 All stamps had full phosphor bands.

I have several of these booklets (most values) in all layout stages, these are surplus to requirements so if you would like any of them send me a email with your wants list. I will sell them to readers at a 10% discount to the current Machin Collectors Club Catalogue prices. First come first served basis. I can accept paypal if you wish, please note: (airmail from Spain) postage will be extra. £1 or US$1.50

Gibbons Collect British Stamps

The 2009 Stanley Gibbons publication Collect British Stamps is now on sale.

This unique colour checklist is a simple guide to all British stamps from 1840 up to the date of publication and is designed to provide collectors with an easily understood pricing system.

An inexpensive, essential guide for beginners and medium (none specialised) collectors alike.

The scope also includes a full list of Machin Printings to date, First Day Covers, Presentation Packs, Year Packs and Year Books and a priced listing is included for Philatelic Numismatic and Philatelic Medallic Covers produced by Royal Mail in association with the Royal Mint.

It has been said that prices have been reviewed since the last edition with a number of significant increases to both early issues and to recent commemoratives, as a demand for GB stamps shows no signs of slackening.

Printing Dates & Cylinder Numbers

These are the printing dates and cylinder / phosphor numbers recorded for the De La Rue security (slit) stamps to date, please let me know if you can add to this list. gbmachins@lineone.net

1st 03/12/08 D1 D1 / pD1
2nd 04/12/08 D1 D1 / pD1 ( one centre phosphor bar)
1st-L 09/12/08 D1 D1 / pD1
2nd-L 10/12/08 D1 D1 / pD1( two side phosphor bars)

50p 08/12/08 D1 D1 / pD1
£1.00 08/12/08 & 09/12/08 D1 D1 / pD1
£1.50 20/01/09 D1 D1 / pD1
£2.00 20/01/09 D1 D1 / pD1
£3.00 20/01/08 D1 D1 / pD1
£5.00 20/01/09 D1 D1 / pD1

Interrupted Phosphor Bars

Ian has also referred to the interrupted phosphor bands which we mentioned briefly in the last post. He has wrote in the comments dept to visit his blog for more information. Click here to visit

Several sheets of the De La Rue stamps have been examined by him and his findings from each of the values he has seen are reported. Ian also shows some scans of the actual stamps, these do not show the phosphor layout.

Interrupted bands are not new, back in the early 90s we had several trial window booklets with contents that were described as inset bands and short bars. The panes from these bar-code booklets produced stamps that were short top & bottom on 2nd class values and inset left and right on the 1st class. If I remember correctly this was an attempt by the printers to stop wear and tear on the perforators.

That's all for today i'm afraid, I have house guests and they are keeping me rather busy, what with showing them around the area, visiting the local bars and restaurants I am a little short of free time. I will attempt to add to this post (next week) when I can find a little more space in my schedule.

Machin News February 09 (updated)

An email from Pete Bradley informs me "that I have also heard Royal Mail have issued a statement informing the trade that Telephone Box and Routemaster Bus booklets and 4 x 1st class gold Machins will include the (slit) security features" .

Other recent news that has come to light is that the De La Rue sheet stamps with new security features have a new phosphor layout. " All stamps on the sheets issued to date have interrupted bands ( left, right, top and bottom) these are clear of the perforation tips, the matrix has also been removed on the the sheets."

This news implies that a slight phosphor shift in any direction in any position on the sheet will produce inset and short bands, either left right top or bottom.

Original Post

Always first with Machin related material is that man Ian Billings. On his website he has written more news of the three mixed self-adhesive retail books to be issued this year. These are the booklets of 4 x Machins and key stamps from the Design Classics set.

We mentioned the first booklet and produced an image which will contain the Design Classics stamps depicting the Telephone Kiosk and Routemaster Bus stamps recently. British Design Classics Issue date 10th March.

Following up: ( update above) I was surprised to read that in his write up of this booklet Ian informs us that "The Machin definitives for this issue WILL have security features ".

This may have been written before the news came to light that the other retail Books and business sheets to be printed by Walsall Security Printers have been delayed to 31st March 2009. Perhaps Ian could verify the above statement for us?

The delayed Walsall booklets and business sheets (31st March 09) are listed below

6 x 1st

2 x 1st

2 x 2nd

4 x Large 1st

4 x Large 2nd

100 x 1st

100 x 2nd

50 x Large 1st

50 x Large

If the Mixed retail booklet will have security slits etc then does this mean this will be the first slit security Machin definitive stamp to be issued that will be printed by Walsall? If Ian's information (above) is correct, it would seem so.

Ian has also listed two mock ups of the subsequent booklets to be issued: These are the Mini-car booklet to be issued 21 April, and the Spitfire & Concorde booklet to be issued 17 September.

These pictures (left) are of a reduced size, so if

you wish to view the these in an enlarged size please visit the norphil website. www.norphil.co.uk/ . Whilst there you may like to read up on information about special issues, pictorial regionals, postmarks and covers. You may also like take advantage of the many great offers he has listed. Ian is a member of the IPDA and several other philatelic associations. So you can deal with him in confidence.

Machin Man or Macho Man?

Having nothing in particular to write about today, I thought we might go semi Machin so to speak.

In one of Larry's posts (cant remember which one) he mentioned that Machin in French translated into "thingy or thingamajig", another name when translated equals the words whatsit or gizmo.

As I am now resident in Spain I was interested to know what the equivalent of Machin translated into when it was changed into Spanish. I will give you a clue, it could be in a sense A Macho Mans idea of "finger lickin good".

I found this while playing on the net ( another post with a difference) and thought id share it with you.

"A lot of the of cooked chicken sold is here is called Pollo Rostizado - spit roasted chicken, it is seasoned with a secret blend of herbs and spices, a kind of KFC.

Pollos El Machin, left roughly translates as "The Macho Guy's Chicken." which is a seasoned Roasted Fried chicken. It is also referred to as Pollo asado, or barbecued chicken."

Well there we have it, I have shared some rubbish information with you guys , sorry I can not share the chicken) , :-).

By the way, El Machin is not located here on the Costa Blanca, Spain but in San Miguel Mexico.

All this talk about food has made me hungry, anyone for Pollo?

New Issues (More Information)

Thanks to Ian Billings we now have some new information and actual images of the new security (slit) Machins due to be issued this month.

His scans are really cool, showing all aspects of the security features, these can be enhanced if you click on the pics which show the features in great detail.

Ian also posts some of the printing dates that he has seen. These are reproduced below (Thanks Ian)

1st class - 03/12/08

2nd class - 04/12/08

50p & £1 - 08/12/08

1st Large - 09/12/08

2nd Large - 10/12/08

Click here to read Ian's account in full