Machin News April 2010

We start with more news on the Centenary to Accession of King George V. Part of the London 2010 Festival of Stamps extravaganza. Today I received more information on some of the printing details. Starting with the 1st class double head (George V / Elizabeth II) special issue stamps these will be available from three different sources.

1/ Miniature sheet,
2/ Counter sheet
3/ Prestige booklet pane (pane one)

All the above are printed by Cartor with all over phosphor / PVAl gum.

A second version of the miniature sheet will also be available overprinted with the wording "BUSINESS DESIGN CENTRE, LONDON 8 - 15 MAY 2010". The presentation pack for this product will include both London 2010 miniature sheets.

A uncut Press sheet of 20 x miniature sheets will also be made available, no doubt WELL over face value.

If you collect cylinder blocks (cylinder C1), presumably these will be obtainable in 6 formations depending on the box and sheet position. These come from (via) the counter sheets (50 single 1st class stamps). Each sheet will also contain 5 x gutter pairs.

Pane one of the Prestige Stamp book "The Kings Stamps" produces another 3 combined se-tenant with 3 of the £1 George V stamps.

I am not slagging these stamps off as I like the design, but my god, they are milking this opportunity to grab as much cash as they they can from the poor old collectors hand bag. I say hand bag as a wallet would need to several feet thick if you purchased everything on offer. The old saying "does Dick Turpin own Royal Mail" comes to mind? They do seem to get away with highway robbery!


Anyway, moving on to the other panes in this Prestige Booklet. It seems that the self adhesive (security) Machins (pane 4) will be printed by Walsall Security Printers.

The other panes, 2 x £1 Sea horses (pane 2) and (pane 3) which produce 4 x British Empire Exhibition 1st class (both panes intaglio), are printed by Joh Enschedé of Holland. As is the miniature sheet showing 2 of each of these same stamps.

I have not mentioned any of the other products, there are far to many. But not forget to save some cash for the Machin miniature sheet and the Britain Alone Prestige Booklet.

I did say handbag didn't I? Perhaps I should alter this to read shopping bag!

20gr Airmail Stamps

Thanks to the web site of Norvic Philatelics( Ian Billings) I can now post (actual) images of the two new 20 gram airmail stamps for Europe (dull green) and Worldwide (light mauve)

Ian has also posted larger images of the new Machins, country pictorials and the actual airmail booklets x 4. Click on this link to view.

I have tried comparing the colours to the equivalent sheet Machins, 60p (Emerald green) and 97p (mauve) it seems to me they are of a completely different shade.

All the new Machin definitive and country stamps will be printed by De La Rue in gravure, in sheets of 200. Cylinders D1 D1.

The 20gr airmail booklets are printed by Walsall Security Printers Ltd, cylinders known to date for the booklets of 4 + 4 x airmail labels are W1 W1 W1

Britain Alone Machin Pane

I am so pleased that Machin Mania attracts others who are well known in this field of philately.

As well as Larry, and David, we have other experts who visit and reply to posts on a regular basis.

Many thanks go to Robert Bostock (MBPC) who has sent me a larger picture of the Machin pane (1) from The Britain Alone Prestige Booklet.

Now that I can actually see the stamps without the fuzz, I notice the 5p values on this image have reverted back to the Matthews font.

The Deegam Handbook & CD

I was intrigued to read in Deegam Report (86) a hard copy of the 2nd edition of the Deegam handbook sold on eBay recently. According to Douglas it attracted several bidders and eventually sold for around the £52.00 mark plus £5 postage.

I actually prefer books to Cd's and was hoping against the odds that a new hard copy may be issued one day.

I recently asked Douglas if he intended re publishing "The Handbook" in the near future. If like myself were holding out from buying the CD version, in the hope of a new hard back here is his reply.

"The Handbook now runs to more than 2000 pages and commercial printing is no longer feasible. I would never recover the costs of printing and it would be out of date as soon as Royal Mail issued another of their "products".

The CD files are in colour, are easy to maintain and worldwide postage is very low compared with that for a 2 or 3-binder book weighing nearly 5 kilograms. These savings are passed on to collectors as the whole thing costs only £39 and worldwide airmail postage is free.

The CD is updated every 10 weeks and is burned to order so it is always up-to-date whenever it is brought under change scheme owners can return their CD for the latest version at a 50% discount as often as they like. All of the CD files are printable in colour at high resolution.
Many owners print the catalogue section for example."

"

I can see the logic in this, so I have now decided to save my spare pennies and get myself a copy. I will still keep my hard copy, there is nothing like curling up with a good book. Besides this if someone was prepared to pay £52.oo in 2010, what will it be worth in 10 years time? :-)

As a long time Deegam fan I can attest you will not find a better read (or detailed information) on Machins anywhere else! The publication should not need plugging as it sells itself, to get your own a copy, visit www.deegam.com for more information.

You do not have to be an expert to get involved with this site, if you have a question, or need to get something off your chest this is the place to do it. May I also say without your emails comments and replies I could not continue to write as often as I do. Please do keep them coming!!

Machin News March 2010 Update

On Tuesday 9th March we we wrote a page giving you the latest Machin News. Although it was a quite a long report it did not really contain much on the main news front. I am now able to continue this post with some up to date snippets.


Left: we have The London 2010 Festival of Stamps - Machin Exhibition Souvenir Sheet in all its glory.

Definitely one for the album this one. I like it! Issue date 8th May. Sheet price £5.05

I have no news of the printer, paper type or phosphor layout as yet. It is presumed that all stamps will have two phosphor bars, but It would be nice to see something different from the counter sheet stamps. Perhaps like the Matthews sheet this COULD BE, if Royal Mail thought in advance OFPP, but I doubt it..


If you have any news of the missing information above I would like to hear from you. Either drop me line or leave a comment on site.


This is not a very good image, but its the only one available at this time. Left is a pic of the Machin mixed value pane from the Britain Alone Prestige Booklet (issue date 13th May).

The booklet will contain four panes of stamps. The price is suggested as £9.76, and it is assumed it will be printed by Cartor in Litho. The values appear to be 4 x 5p, 2 x 10p and 2 x 60p + a central label. The other three panes will contain special issues (3 x different blocks of 4) se-tenant from the Britain Alone set.

If you have any money left over for more stamps. The next image (below) is a mock up of the next mixed self adhesive booklet entitled Action for Species 4. The issue date for this is suggested as 15th June 1010. It will be printed by Walsall and cost £2.46. Another chance to obtain Machins with a hidden code C in the background?

I know they are ears, but is it me or does it look like the otter has 4 eyes? A nice booklet just the same.

The Bookmark Journal

In my last post I mentioned an organisation entitled The Modern British Philatelic Circle( MBPC). The CIRCLE was inaugurated on 1st January 2006 and came about as a result of a merger of two former philatelic associations, The Great Britain Decimal Stamp Book Study circle (GB DSB SC) and The British Decimal Stamp Study Circle (BDSSC)

GB DSB SC was founded in 1971 and, since then, has been concerned with the study, reporting and cataloguing of decimal stamp books. Its reputation is such that its cataloguing nomenclatures are now widely accepted as the standard worldwide.

BDSSC was founded in 1975 and dealt primarily with the collating and reporting of information on the decimal stamp sheet issues.

I will not go into detail of what this excellent club can do (does) for its members, this can be obtained from their web site. But I will say as a member it is the best value for money one can get from any philatelic organisation today.

Once you are a member, you can purchase any of the circle publications which are available on compact discs. As paid up member you also receive a hard copy of their latest Bi monthly publication. (Bookmark.) You also receive the latest hard copy of the Deegam Report.

Listed below is a short list together with the price of products:

The Bookmark Catalogue of British Decimal Postage Stamp Books (7th edition) £25.00

The Bookmark plating charts £9.50

The Bookmark Journal Volumes (1 ) 1971 - 1972 to Volume 38 - 2008 -09.

The cost of obtaining the Journals depends on the number of volumes purchased at any one time supplied on the same CD. these are as follows.

5 or fewer volumes £2.50p each
6 -10 volumes £2.25 each
11 -15 volumes £2.00 each
16 - 20 volumes £1.75p each
21 - 25 volumes £1.50p each
25 or more volumes £1.25 each

All volumes are fully search-able (except vol 1) using Adobe reader, commencing with vol 37 Number 2 all journals are in colour. CDs are postage free to any address worldwide.

Copies of the Bookmark Catalogue of Self Adhesive Stamp Books, both the original published in September 2005 and the supplement published in 2009 are still available. Please contact Keith Woodward for details and costs.

14 Chedington Avenue, Mapperley, Nottingham, NG3 5SG e-mail keith2@mbp-circle.co.uk

The Circle maintains low rates of membership subscription. The present annual subscription rates are: UK: £8.00; Rest of the world: airmail £12.00; Rest of the world: surface mail £8.00.

Details of recent issues and 'finds' are posted to the website as soon as possible after issue. Catalogue details are confirmed in the next issue of 'The Bookmark' Journal.

New members, whether beginners or experts, are always welcome and all receive the full benefits of membership. Interested individuals should write to the Honorary Membership Secretary, Mr Tony Wilkins. His address is:

3 Buttermere Close, BRIERLEY HILL, West Midlands, DY5 3SD e-mail:

Enquirers will receive an information pack, full details of membership and a sample copy of 'The Bookmark' Journal. The Circle year runs from July to June and those joining part way through the year receive all relevant publications for that year.

If you are still unsure log on to their web site for more in depth information.

Back To Normal

I do not know about you, but it is always nice to get rid of the wife for a week or two. Mine has just returned from a 10 day trip to the UK. It gave me chance to chill out, laze around a lot, go fishing and do some of the jobs I have been putting off for the last 12 months.

I have also had a little uninterrupted time to spend with my stamps. Anyway she is back now, she arrived on Sunday. "Are you pleased to see me" she asked.

Of course I am I replied, I have been counting the days. "That's nice to hear" she perted back. Little did she realise I have been counting the days so I could get my hands on the ton of mail which I asked her to bring back with her. I have a lot of mail delivered to my daughters in the UK as it tends to get lost or returned if it is sent direct to Spain.

At long last I have got to grips with reading back dated copies of the Bookmark (October 09 - February 2010) and the printed versions of Deegam reports (June 09 - February 2010.

Most of the basic Machin news in the publications I had already covered to a degree. Thanks to incoming emails from regular readers with their reports and by visiting other websites / blogs.

It is there for time to give thanks to the people who have helped me to keep you in the picture via this blog over the last few months.

The list is a long one, so if I do not mention you please forgive me, you know who you are.

Douglas Myall gets first mention for sending me emails with news and links to his written work in pdf form (Deegam Reports.) Ian Billings (always first) with images and behind the scenes news gets a special mention. Dave Arthur and members, Vinay Patel, Keith Woodward editor of MBPC website and last but not least Alec Withall for news and images of of the security stamps in coil form also posted to the MBPC website.


I could go on & on, so without naming names thanks go to all that send me news by email and those who reply via the comments dept on site.


I guess I should say thanks also to Trevor Jones who via the Bookmark gave me a link to a Machin type mirror advertised on the hiddenart website.

Described as: A little bit of England. The Queens Head Mirror is the perfect patriotic tribute to the prestige and tradition of the Royal family. With a 2-dimensional cutout of our monarch’s profile, referencing stamps, coins and all things British, she wears 3-dimensional pearls which give her the edge over your average silhouette mirror.

Another report mentioned in Bookmark from member Peter Taylor who received a prestige Booklet ( British Classics Album Covers) with the Machin pane omitted. I hope you got a refund off them Peter :-)

I will write a few lines on the Modern British Philatelic Circle (MBPC) and what they have to offer the specialist collector later this week.

Got to go! - Did I mention my wife is back? Yes love, COMING dear - wont be a sec :-0

Revised Presentation Pack

Here is another (revised) mock up image released by Royal Mail of the presentation pack that will be issued for the rate rise in April. The air mail stamps do depict 20 gr although they are difficult to see at this resolution. I am presuming these will also be the correct colour.

The End of Make-Up Rate Machins

In recent years, Royal Mail has issued Machins to make-up the rates from one class of mail to another. For example, the current rates (from April 2009) are 30p for second class letters and 47p for second class large letters. Royal Mail issued a 17p Machin to make up the difference between these two rates.

In general, there were Machins to make up the difference between first class and second class letters, first class letters and large letters, and second class letters and large letters.

No longer. Starting with the 2010 rate increase, Royal Mail will apparently not issue stamps for those make-up rates, which would be 15p, 25p and 19p respectively.

In his announcement of the new rates and new Machins, Ian Billings notes that each of these make-up rates can be satisfied by two current Machins. The 15p is 5p + 10p, the 25p is 5p + 20p, and 19p is 9p + 10p.

The 5p, 10p, and 20p are permanent Machin values, so they will remain on sale. However, Royal Mail will not reprint the 9p after stocks are exhausted (see the March British Philatelic Bulletin, page 202). After the 9p is gone, the 19p make-up rate will require four permanent stamps, 10p + 5p + 2p + 2p.

I suspect this was done for cost reasons. For us collectors, it will mean fewer new Machins each year.

However, the introduction of a denominated Machin for the 40g worldwide airmail rate (to be £1.46 starting 6 April 2010) - and the expectation of a new stamp every year for that rate - will wind up costing collectors more in the long run.

While I'm always willing to point out that Royal Mail issues too many Machins aimed only at collectors (the upcoming souvenir sheet, for example), I'm willing to give Royal Mail the benefit of the doubt and assume that the decisions about the make-up rate stamps and, more importantly, the worldwide airmail stamp, were governed by operational requirements and not the opportunity to raid our wallets.

--Larry

The Se -Tenant Pairs Story

In my last post I mentioned se-tenant pairs briefly and the cost of acquiring them.

When I was just a novice collector, I was encouraged and advised to collect Machin stamps by my uncle, he was a very active collector himself and actually gave me a small mint Machin collection which got me into a nasty habit. It got worse as time went by and turned into what we call today "Machin Mania."

The pairs story is just one of many Machin stories and goes like this:

Once upon a time about forty (40) odd years ago there were four (4) se - tenant pairs. A mommy pair = 1d/4d, a Daddy pair = 4d/2d and 2 baby pairs, = 2d/3d and = 3d/1d, these were all with Original Coated Paper / Gum Arabic.

They were found one day on the grand daddy one shilling (1/-) se -tenant coil. My uncle advised me to collect these as they were nice formations and would look good mounted on a page.

The sheet stamps which I also collected had PVAl gum.

Hence a new chapter, to my Machin collection was added.

Left Mommy Pair

Over and during the next few months or so , I discovered that there were actually more pairs in this se-tenant family, my pairs family actually trebled in size overnight. I was at the time chuffed to find out about these new relatives, so I eagerly went out and acquired them all.

I found out from a dealers list that "The Post Office" had also released similar pairs to the coil stamps in booklets, but they had a different type of gum, they still had Original Coated Paper, but with the same gum as sheet stamps, deliciously tasting PVAl GUM.

Of these new pairs, I discovered some had new values, new colours and even different phosphor tags. 1d/3d , 3d/1d , 1d/4d (sepia) also 1d /4d (vermilion) with a side bar. Others were 4d/1d , 1d/5d and 5d/1d. They were all added to my growing Machin se-tenant pairs family and looked real nice.

A new album page was needed to house the family as it was getting to big for the small page that accommodated them, they were used to having lots of room.

The new pairs were soon joined by more cousins as they came to my attention, the vertical pair side of the family, these were actually attached to labels. The powers that be at the time said they were part of the family (so did my uncle) so they should be added to the collection.

The four new vertical pairs were added, bringing my pre decimal pairs family to a grand total of fifteen (15).

The new vertical pairs were named 4d (sepia) and label with words £4,315 at 55, 4d (sepia) and label with the words see other pages, 4d (vermilion) /label £4,315 at 55 and 4d (Vermilion) and label see other pages.


Left one of the vertical pairs £4,315 / 4d vermilion.

I was very happy keeping this small selection of pairs in my collection, they looked terrific. Little did I know they would soon have lots more joining them.

As Britain turned decimal in 1971 . More pairs wanted to join my collection, I thought why not! Someone at the Post Office must have started to feed them porridge, the family grew and grew until they got so fat, the album and pages that housed them was no longer big enough. I had buy extension albums just to separate them and keep some sort of order.

More new pairs were released and more albums with lots of extra pages were purchased. This was now a great collection, I was very proud of it.

Cutting the story short, over the years it grew and grew and kept growing.

Forty three years later, new booklets and coils have given birth to more and more se-tenant pairs. Miniature sheets were also born which gave more to the fold. More and more booklets and prestige panes were needed to keep the growing family up to date. I also needed more money to house them all in suitable accommodation.

I dread to think how many joined this family, and more were still joining it month by month. They now had several albums, not to mention the extra accommodation for their booklet pane parents, single children and coils.

Sadly this particular caring adult ran out of money, he simply could not afford to keep this pairs family up to date. He just could not keep up with the birth rate. What do they put in that porridge where these blighters are born (now Royal Mail), they are breeding like rabbits.

All of this was costing a small fortune, they were difficult to look after as none of them worked. I came to realise, they have will have to be looked after and re housed by another capable caring adult who has the money to spare. My collecting habit needed to be curbed.

Parting with them (and the singles) was real hard but so was keeping up with the payments to acquire them. Some were fostered out and others sold to other caring adults who gave them the loving home they deserve.

I saved quite a lot by reducing the family, I still care for the cylinder blocks, coils, miniature sheets and booklet families as best I can, but even they do not have the luxury homes they deserve. One day I tell them, if I win the Lotto I will buy you a new set of albums, you can then move from these nasty stock books which house you. I could also re-acquire and look after your se-tenant pairs and single cousins again.

That would be a nice ending to the story, they could then all live together again, happy ever after.

2010 Exhibition Machin Miniature Sheet

Here is the first image of the Machin miniature sheet, produced for the 2110 London Festival of Stamps Exhibition.

The cover is showing HM Queen Elizabeth II trooping the colour. The sheet consists of 11 Machins and a London 2010 label. This is the majority of the current (sheet) non self adhesives that will be on sale on the day of issue ( May 8th). This particular product will be produced by BFDC.

A nice mini sheet I think, my opinion though, a shame about the post marks they spoil it a little. I bet Ian will do better.

The covers will be £20.00 a pop (again) a bit on the expensive side for my taste, even though they (the covers) are limited to 50 numbered copies. The actual sheets (mint) retail at face value £5.05p if you purchase them via Royal Mail.

As a final thought, I am also pleased I no longer collect se-tenant pairs A total of 17 (vertical and horizontal pairs) on this sheet. I wont bother doing the math of how much it will cost, or how many sheets you will need to obtain them all.

Machin News March 2010

There is not much to report that we have not covered elsewhere at the moment so I will be adding news here over the next week or so, as it comes to light.

Another update added below. ( Bernd Hallmann has the ANSWER to soaking off self adhesives)

One piece of news that may interest booklet collectors.

It has been reported to me of certain changes to the 6 x Gold 1st class retail booklets. Although the contents are the same, It has come to light that there is a change to the inside cover. A change which went unnoticed by many including myself.

If you collect booklet varieties (and want completion) this is one that you should be on the look out for.

The new standard retail booklets of 6x1st NVI Gold were reissued without publicity. I am unsure about the actual date of issue, but someone has reported it to be the 26th January 2010, this date could be wrong.

So so if you have any further information on this development we would like to here from you, just so we have the facts correct.

These particular booklets carried a change to the text on the Postcode label side . Apparently the web address has been changed from : 'www.royalmail.com/Postcodes4free' to 'www.royalmail.com/postcodes4free'.

Easy to miss (the 'P' of Postcodes now becomes lowercase). The book was produced by Walsall and is printed in Gravure. Cylinder numbers reported so far are W5 W1 ph W1

Previous dates and details:

Dates and cylinder numbers are as I received them (a bit vague) , but as this is the only information I have if I have it wrong please let me know.

Cylinder W5 W1 ph W1 ( 31 March 09)
Cylinder W5 W1 ph W2 ( 31 March 09)

6 x NVI gold with Bilingual Postcode label and additional security features . This is the date when additional security features were added. 'U' shaped die cuts have a bridge at the base. It was noticed that the die cut produced wavy (shallow) perforations.

W5 W1 ph W2, date reported (or printed) Oct 2009. The die cut perforations changed dramatically to something resembling battlements on a castle, collectors have named these as "Battlement perfs"

November (?) Cylinder numbers unknown, perforations revert back to normal ??

W5 W1 ph W1 (January 2010) text changed on postcode label. Perf type are thought to be normal.

If you are a booklet enthusiast, please do let us have your views on these, or any other booklets.

UPDATE: Mike Ellis "The new die cut perforation cylinder was introduced with the 6x1st, also 12x2nd and 12x1st Retail Booklets.

You are correct previous cylinders, cuts produced a 'wavy' shape with the crest having a small point. The new die cutter produces a more angular and broader crest, similar to as you reported a battlement. It was observed that the changes are similar to those that occurred on the 6x1st Retail Booklets printed by Questa issued 5 June 2002.

Also of interest: The bridge of the 'U' shaped security die cut appears slightly narrower to earlier printings."

UPDATE Added 10th March. The Bernd Hallman Method of how to remove the new security Stamps safely from envelopes using an old almost forgotten household cleaner.

The story is that Bernd got so frustrated when he was soaking about 100 of the new security stamps off envelopes. He worked very carefully to find when they were dry the glue was still sticking them all together. A common problem with all the methods we have come up with to date.

Looking for something to use to at least neutralise the remaining glue he opened the Cleaning Utilities Cabinet. The first thing he was staring at was - SUGAR SOAP. He gave it a try and put a few stamps into the undiluted solution, and instantly the Glue and the remaining thin paper came off.

He was now interested if an undiluted solution would soak the remaining 500 stamps of the envelopes. So he used lukewarm water with the sugar soap in a diluted solution of 300ml water and 100ml Sugar Soap (the liquid type).

95% of the stamps came off the paper, still carefully peeling the envelope paper off, but his glue problem was solved, as the solution (no pun intended) did neutralise the adhesive through the paper. The remaining 5% were backed by brown (carton like) paper - here he was not successful, yet - but he informs me he will keep trying.

Many thanks Bernd for this tip, now as you requested we have let the world know.

ASKING FOR HELP

It is not really important, but but I am asking you guys for a bit of help here. I registered The Machin Blog Spot with the Top 50 Stamp sites and they did not even acknowledge us. Do not ask me why, I have no idea!

Machins Made Easy however do have a listing (at the moment we are number 4 on the list). As this site is affiliated with this blog, If you appreciate the content that we give you please log on to the GB Machins website every now and again and place your vote. Thanks in advance www.gbmachins.co.uk

Festival of Stamps Prestige Book

The 8th May 2010 is the date you can get your hands on this new Prestige booklet, if you are to prepared to spend a staggering £11.15p per booklet. With out doubt this is the most expensive Prestige Booklet to date.

We were correct when it was reported that one pane (shown left) may contain Special issues of the Machin / George V Double Head.

What I did not expect was that this pane would also contain 3 x £1 George V double head stamps. In my humble opinion although it produces some unusual se tenant combinations (and I do like it) this is what pushes the price of this booklet over the top.


The self adhesive Pane (Pane 4) contains 4 x 1st. class, 2 x 2nd. class & 2 x 50p grey.

Ian was also correct in his preliminary reports that these will be of the security slit type and will no doubt have a hidden code in the wavy background print. Not that Royal Mail expect them to soaked off and reused. This is just my opinion again, the design was carefully created to ensure they (RM) maximise sales of the booklet


The other 2 panes we have shown before, Pane 2 - 2 x £1 stamps of the £1 & 10s Seahorse stamps. Pane 3 - 4 x 1st. class Empire Exhibition 1924 1d & 1 1/2d. Click on this link to view them.

A Blast From The Past

As I have nothing in particular to write about I thought you may like to see a few of the earlier prestige panes I picked up at the auctions recently.

Whilst I was studying them for inset or short bands , It got me to thinking how refreshing it was just to have only two PBs a year. There are other panes I picked up (later than these) but I do not think Larry or my self have shown these pictures or described the stamps on these panes up until today.

The first is one of my favourites, it is the Machin pane from Brontë Prestige Booklet containing 4 x 2nd, 2 x 42p, + 2 x 39p Printed by Walsall in Gravure (Issued : 24th Feb 2005).



The second (below) contained 4 x 1st, 2 x 50p and 2 x 68p from Trafalgar Prestige Booklet produced by Enschedé and printed in Gravure (Issued : 18th Oct 2005)

The third pane (below) contained 4 x 1st, 2 x 35p and 2 x 40p it is from The Brunel Prestige Booklet produced by Enschedé and printed in Gravure (Issued : 23rd Feb 2006)


Number four on my list (below) is The Machin pane containing 4 x 50p and 4 x 1st NVI PIP from The Victoria Cross Prestige Booklet produced by Enschedé and printed in Gravure (Issued : 21st Sep 2006)


The fifth Pane (below) has more new stamps, 4 x 1st NVI PIP and 4 x 5p from Inventions Prestige Booklet produced by De La Rue it is printed in Gravure (Issued : 1st Mar 2007)

The next booklet issued was for the 40th Anniversary of the Machin, It contained no less than 3 Machin panes, all produced by De La Rue and printed in Gravure. The issued date was 5th june 2007.

I have not shown these as we covered the booklet and the 40th Anniversary extensively at the time of issue. However just to refresh your memories I will describe the panes for you. The first Machin pane contained 4 x 2p, 2 x 48p and 2 x 46p.

Second Machin pane containing 2 x £1 Ruby Machin. The third pane, (which was actually the fourth in the booklet) contained 2 x 1st NVI Large, 2 x 2nd NVI Large, 1x st NVI PIP and 1 x 2nd NVI PIP.

Sadly I am still working on the Prestige Booklets pages on my website. I must knuckle down and add some more content there. I think to date I have covered up to number 22 (a long way to go)which is the Profile on Print booklet. This is the one that was issued 16th February 1999 and contains 5 panes of Machins by 5 different printers and 5 x different print processes

Auction Feever

This Tuesday (02nd March ) I spent a few hours at my local Stamp Club, The Torrevieja Philatelic Society. It was a meeting I am pleased I attended.

The highlight of the afternoon was a club auction which was greatly received by about 25 -30 members who scurried back and forth between the tables checking lots, looking for bargains and making bids. I picked up my share of these after frantic bidding with several rivals.

Although I do not collect special issues I could not resist the many bargains on offer. All lots had low start prices with the start price as the reserve. My best bargain has to be a very fine used copy of 1st class die cut self adhesive SG 2207 (Swift Class Submarine) for the paltry amount 25 cents. No one seemed to notice it was the self adhesive variety. This is catalogued in Gibbons Concise 2007 @ £37.00. A very elusive stamp which I will tuck away, or If you really want a copy I am open to offers.

NB: The stamp shown below is a mint copy, not the one I won, this has a small wavy cancelation to the top left. I can send a scan if anyone is serious about making me a realistic offer.


Although I do not collect Special Issues, I have a friend who does, so I ended up with a fist full of packets which I will pass on to him, for a small profit of course :-) well I have to get more beer money back for the weekend don't I?

Other Bargains were miniature sheets including the Machin 40th Anniversary, The Regional Anniversary, The 2000 Stamp Show Millennium sheet, The 3 Kings and a Matthews Miniature sheet. Three of the Regional Celebrating sheets, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland. Another bargain was the Least we forget MS2685 with a nice inset band right (well past the ellipse) to the 78p Regional stamps. This was truly a snip at four Euros.

Many other lots were acquired which included early bar code booklets. An England Rugby Winners presentation pack. At three Euros for this, who can resist?

I must have won 50 lots, and could have bid on many more. I ended up spending my weeks pocket money, which I am pleased I took with me. Fortunately for me I have already managed to sell a few so if I do not see my pal straight away, I will not be doing a dry one for the rest of the week :-)

I am Looking forward to the next auction sometime in November. It had been so long since I went to one of these auctions (any auction) I had forgotten what fun it is. Lastly my personal thanks must go to Lynn Hickman who put in a tremendous amount of (unpaid) work to make the day a great success.