Prince William and Kate Middleton

Here's the 'philatelist' portrait of Prince William and Kate Middleton - made entirely of stamps, mostly Machins!

Peter Mason, or the 'Post Pop Art Man,' as he is known, created the portrait of the royal couple by recycling British postage stamps into a pixilated image of the pair.

See and read the whole story here.

For the tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales, on the 10th anniversary of her death, seen left, more than 100 stamps of a set of five featuring Diana’s portrait were used on the candle alone, symbolizing Elton John’s memorial song “Candle in the Wind.” A huge amount of thought went into the creation of the portrait and its use of symbolism.

You can see more pictures of Peters work and read how he makes up the designs on this website.

New Definitive Rates & Values.

I have had a couple of emails from collectors who are concerned that they are having difficlty finding stocks of the new 2011 Self Adhesive Machin Definitives. Most Post Offices at this time do not have stocks of these values which are if you did not know 1p 2p 5p 10p 20p.

The new specification is being introduced to the five make-up values above and the date for 3rd April was given for release. They were actually released in March 2011. The stamps include, security slits but no iridescent overprint. They will have 2 Phosphor Bars. Just a thought, perhaps they have something planned to impliment the overprint at a later date.

The current PVA gummed Machin Definitive sheet stamps of 200, are still sold at Post Offices in 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p and 20p values, and from what I have seen and told they will be available for quite a while untill stocks are exhausted. Eventually being converted to this uniform self-adhesive format, in sheets of 25.

These new designs incorporate the new revised slit features. As with previous self adhesive security stamps the slits do not affect the removal of the stamps from the backing sheets, but are designed (together with the new gum) to prevent the removal of used stamps from envelopes for misuse. The new features will (as with previous security stamps) impact on collectors of used stamps as the new laminate and slits do not allow stamps to be removed from the envelope without a great deal of difficulty.

Royal Mail have said " whilst this is unfortunate for collectors of used stamps, it does reflect the need for them (Royal Mail) to ensure that postal revenues are protected."

As these definitives are not being classed as a new issue there is no First Day of Availability so there will be no First Day Envelope, First, Day Cover or Presentation Pack.

I have been informed these 5 values values will however be added to the Tariff pack planned for 06 April 2011. Is a tarif pack not a Presentation Pack?

The 2011 New Tariff Change Values issue date was 29.03.2011, they are all Self Adhesive Machin Definitives, values are 68p, 76p, £1.10 & £1.65. These are all printed by DLR in gravure with the iridescent overprint. They will have 2 Phosphor Bars, and incorporate the iridescent M11L year coding.

Roy

Stanley Gibbons Specialised Volume 4 Part 2

The SG Great Britain Specialised Catalogue is a comprehensive reference for British stamps. It comes in five volumes, with Volume 4 - Queen Elizabeth II Decimal Definitive Issues split into two parts. Historically, Gibbons has updated each volume every few years.

The decimal definitives, however, have gotten to the point where Gibbons can't seem to handle them. After updating Volume 4 roughly every three years since 1976, progress came to a halt after the 2000 edition.

Because of the number of stamps, Gibbons split Volume 4 into two parts. A new edition of Part 1 appears in 2008 but part 2 didn't show up until late 2010, a full ten years after the previous edition.

Part 1 contains the denominated Machins with water-activated gum. Part 2 contains non-denominated Machins, Machin and pictorial regionals, all self-adhesive Machins, castle high values, greetings stamps, Faststamps, and more.

You may have heard or read about this recent Part 2. I just finished writing a review of it that will be published in The Great Britain Collectors Club Chronicle. Here's the summary:

The new two-column layout with color accent is not well thought out in some respects. The organization is a mess. The volume is riddled with errors. (Gibbons posted a partial list of corrections on their web site.) And, most insulting, no one did even cursory proofreading to catch obvious errors and inconsistencies. It is really sloppy work.

A member of the Machin Forum posted a letter he received from Hugh Jeffries, Catalogue Editor, who said the problems resulted from the unexpected departure of the volume's editor during its production. That doesn't explain why mistakes that would be noticed by any literate high school student weren't fixed before publication.

I can't recommend this volume, and I can only hope this represents Gibbons' nadir, and things will improve from here.

--Larry

Adding Insult to Injury

The Royal Mail announcement for the William Morris & Co issue on May 5 was recently published. That issue will include the second prestige booklet of the year. For the first time, Royal Mail will charge a premium over the face value of the stamps. The booklet will sell for £9.99 compared to face value of £9.04.

The history of prestige booklets is well-known to regular readers and experienced Machin collectors, but I'll provide a simplified review here. A prestige booklet is a large, colorful booklet, generally with four panes of stamps and several pictorial interleaves. Today, it generally accompanies an issue of commemorative (or special) stamps.

The booklet is primarily aimed at people who are buying the postal products because of their interest in the subject. It is not generally (or perhaps ever) purchased by someone who is just looking for stamps to frank a letter or parcel.

The booklet generally contains stamps that are in some way different from other issues, which means that anyone who wants a complete collection of British stamps needs at least some stamps from the booklet.

At least one pane in each booklet contains Machins, so many Machin collectors will require stamps from the booklet. The Machin pane from the Morris and Co booklet is shown above. It contains a three different Machins and a total of eight.

Collectors of Machin singles will need one each of the 5p, 10p and 50p, so if they buy the booklet, they will pay nearly £10 for 65p worth of stamps.

Collectors in the UK can, of course, use the other stamps on mail. Some of us outside the UK can also find uses for the stamps. However, these booklets are a costly inconvenience at a minimum.

Collectors can, of course, buy the stamps from a dealer. Dealers, however, have to cover their costs so generally the price of these individual stamps is relatively high.

To get back to the title of this post, the "insult" has gotten worse recently as Royal Mail has been issuing four of these overpriced booklets each year. And now they are adding "injury" by charging a premium over the value of the stamps.

On his page describing these stamps, Ian Billings of Norvick Philatelics valiantly mixes his metaphors and says that this premium price reminds him of the sound of a golden goose being shot in the foot.

But I wonder. We Machin collectors are a dedicated lot, and this premium, though annoying and insulting, probably won't be enough to deter too many of us. Others who buy the stamps, booklet, presentation pack, first day cover, stamp cards, etc. etc. because they are interested in Morris and Co and/or the thematic subjects of textiles and crafts are probably not going to be deterred by an extra pound. So I think Royal Mail will get away with this crime.

There is, however, one ray of hope. In 1993, Royal Mail announced that the Beatrix Potter prestige booklet would be sold at a premium over face value and even put the inflated price of £6.00 on the cover of the booklet. There were so many complaints that Royal Mail revised their plans and sold the booklet at the value of the stamps inside, £5.64.

But times change, and Royal Mail is desperate for revenue (even after the huge rate increase this year). I think this premium price will remain.

Royal Mail's issuing and pricing policies aside, there is one very noteworthy aspect to the stamps. From the image above, it appears that they will be self-adhesive. (Royal Mail didn't say whether they will be or not, but it certainly looks that way.)

This probably results from the fact that all other Machins are now self-adhesive - regular (non-prestige) booklets have been that way for a decade, and sheet stamps have been converted over the last couple of years. Only some water-activated gum coil stamps remain, presumably to be used in automated vending machines.

This year's first prestige booklet, the World Wildlife Fund issued on March 22, had Machins with water-activated gum. However, my guess is that all future prestige booklets will have self-adhesives. We will see.

--Larry

Incidentally, Royal Mail's image shows no security slits and no security overprint. (It also shows colors that are not likely to be accurate.) Assuming the stamps are self-adhesive, they will almost certainly have the security slits.

The sheet version of the 50p stamps has the security overprint, but the 5p and 10p do not. Will Royal Mail do the same in this booklet?

Not Even Close

You are probably wondering why there are two Norwegian stamps at the top of this post. (If you aren't wondering, you are probably reading the wrong blog!)

They are here to set the record straight.

Not my record. That's always straight.

It's the record of some lazy philatelic writers who look at the Machins' 40+ years of existence and assume that they are the longest-running series of stamps.

Not even close.

As Linn's Stamp News pointed out recently, Norway's post horn stamps hold that record. The first post horn stamp was issued in January, 1872, and the series is still going strong. It was modernized in 2001, but the basic design remains the same.

The left stamp above is from 1886, and the right stamp is one of the newest stamps, issued on November 15, 2010.

Now, there is one aspect where the Machins may have the advantage. One of the sites I read said that there were 135 major varieties of the post horns as of 2002. At that time, the Machins had about 350. This results from the fact that the post horns are not the only design used for Norway definitives, whereas the Machins are used for all regular values (low values since they were introduced and high values for part of that time).

Notwithstanding the uncertain future of postage stamps, the Queen would have to live a very long time for the Machins to catch up with the post horns' longevity, assuming Norway stops issuing them. Neither event is likely.

The Machins have rightfully earned many distinctions, but longest-running series of stamps is not one of them.

--Larry

(Back to Machins next time.)

Dummy Machins

Glenn Morgan is a collector, exhibitor, author, volunteer - a philatelist par excellence. He maintains a web site at www.stampprinters.info which is primarily about stamp printing and printers, but he has other topics as well.

A related topic that he is interested in is Dummy Stamps. He defines them as "items that have the general appearance of being real, but which lack the capacity to function in the postal system." Dummy stamps are a subset of labels known as cinderellas.

Cinderellas are any label that looks like a postage stamp, while a dummy stamp is a cinderella that has a purpose relating to the post office, its printers or its customers.

Glenn publishes a periodic (roughly quarterly) Dummy Stamps Newsletter. All issues are available for download on a page on his web site, and it is free.

Now, that I've explained all that, the reason that I mention it here is that Machins show up fairly frequently in the newsletter.

In the most recent issue, number 20, Glenn pictures all 34 known varieties of the 00p Machins. Glenn also gives some background on these dummies, including his educated guess (no dummy he!) that they were printed in miniature sheets of nine.

In the prior issue, he discusses a test printing of linerless self-adhesive coil format stamps. A ilnerless coil is one that has no backing paper. The roll sticks to itself, like Sellotape (cellophane tape to us Americans).

The dummy linerless stamps do not have the Machin portrait, but a sample hang-sell package (pictured here) produced by the House of Questa (in cooperation with American/Canadian printer Ashton Potter) features a Machin stamp. The pictured stamp is imperforate at top and bottom - presumably the way the linerless coil would be produced, but not a format that has ever been issued.

Though Royal Mail has never issued a linerless self-adhesive coil, the US Postal Service did some years ago. Apparently it was not considered successful because it was never repeated.

So go on over to Glenn's site and download all of his newsletters. After you've read them, you'll be so smart that no one would dare call you a dummy.

--Larry

PS Also on the web page is a flyer for the latest edition of Glenn's catalog of the sheets, cards, labels and packs distributed at British stamp exhibitions. If you are at all interested in these items, his book (available on CD) is worthwhile.