Your Comments

Please note, when leaving comments to posts slanging matches will not be tolerated.

Anonymous is out of order with his / her views on the MCC in general ,which has one of best reference books available to Machin specialists. The price is very good and in my opinion it is excellent value for money.

Comment moderation has been not been enabled on this site (as yet). Unless you wish for all comments to be approved by the blog owners before publication moderate to constructive opinions. These are always welcome but PLEASE no slagging. Anonymous,s comment has now been deleted from the post in question.

This site can now boast that we now have the grand total 500 posts and are still counting.

Several comments over the years have also been added to these posts by interested parties. This is a lot of information for Machin buffs to read up on and digest.

Sometimes the site goes quiet for a time, as myself and Larry have busy periods when other things take up our time. Comments also tend to dry up at these intervals.

It is nice to see that our posts are once again attracting constructive comments from readers. This (allowing Machin buffs to communicate) was the main reason this blog was created. Seeing comments also proves to us that the site is appreciated by readers and has a small following.

Regarding the next Prestige Booklet discussed recently. Ian has threw another spanner in the works with this information.

"I don't believe they will be litho, I think they will be self-adhesive gravure by Walsall. I may be misguided by the presence of the MacKennal portrait on the centre label which is exactly the same as the one in the London Festival of Stamps booklet -which was self-adhesive."

Another comment re: this booklet states

."Royal Mails publicity department tend to get a lot wrong these days. Not only are the images often mock ups, but the information supplied is flawed and inaccurate. It Looks like we will have to wait for more information

When reading comments, please remember that they are the thoughts of individuals and not necessarily the complete facts. Corrections are normally added when actual stamps and booklets have been issued and studied by various specialists.

If you have any questions or ideas for future posts, please do leave a comment or get in touch with myself or Larry.

Some News you may not have seen yet.

Royal Mail are said to be issuing a miniature sheet of Machin definitives later this year. The sheet will be celebrating the centenary of the birth of Arnold Machin O.B.E, R.A. Machin was Born September 30th 1911.

It is thought that the sheet will consist of 10 stamps, it is not known which values will be used at this time. Speculation is they may be 10 x 1st class.

What we do know for sure is they will be new stamps. They will not have security slits but will have a security code. The code will be MA11 or M11L. The sheet will also have conventional PVAL gum.

More on MCC

Melvyn Philpott, founder of the Machin Collectors Club, replied to my previous post about the online version of the MCC QEII Specialized Definitive Catalogue.

He provides further information about the catalogue, the online version, and other club services. It is well worth reading to get a better perspective on the club than I was able to offer.

--Larry

(Note: Pursuant to his request made privately to me, I removed the MCC logo from my original post.)

Machin News Update

UPDATED

In the previous Machin News we mentioned that the 23 Aug 2011 was the date for release of a self adhesive customised booklet entitled Classic Locomotives of England.

I can now show a mock up of this booklet.

Douglas Myall, in his latest Deegam Report has also revealed some information on the Machin pane (pane 1) which will accompany the Centenary of Aerial Post Prestige Stamp Book - issue date 9 September 2011. The make up of the pane is thought to be as follows
top: 1st class - 2p - 68p , middle: 5p - label - 5p, bottom: 68p - 2p - 1st class.

Pane 4: Although these are not Machins they are worth a mention. The pane will be printed in intaglio. It is described as a Block of 4 x 50p Windsor Castle definitive stamps.

For those of us that obtained the Castles miniature sheet back in March 2005 which was printed by Joh Enschedé Security Print ,these may be of importance to you as this 2011 reprint may be printed by Cartor.

There is a very interesting comment attached to this post, so I decided to investigate a little more to determine if there was any more information on the web. Ian Billings has wrote something on his website which I repeat here. I hope Ian will not mind.

The Prestige Stamp Book is also designed by Robert Maude and Sarah Davies. Preliminary information has a note against pane 4 "(intaglio)", but the printing process is described as "Lithography, except pane 1 which is gravure", and the printer is identified as Cartor Security Printing.

However, we know that Cartor do not have gravure capability, so pane 1 will probably be printed by Walsall, especially if self-adhesive. Pane 4 will be intaglio, as was the 2005 Castles miniature sheet, which was printed by Enschede. We await the final product with interest to see who printed which panes!

Thanks Ian.

Royal Mails pre publicity pictures of this booklet show pane one as the Machin pane with the stamps described above, but a comment from Robert which is attached to this post informs us it IT will be the fourth pane which will contain mixed Machins with conventional PVAl gum.

This comprises of eight stamps printed by lithography:

Four 5p + two 1st class (top left and bottom right), two 76p (bottom left and top right), with the three-quarter portrait of George V by Bertram Mackennal in the middle.

The price is given as £9.97 for a total face value of £9.02.

Thanks Robert.

Rumours were Wrong

• We recently wrote a report that the Thomas The Tank - custom booklet should have a change of background code.
  
  I am sorry to inform that this is not the case. Douglas Myall recently wrote to me with the news that Brian (who brought it to our attention) has got it wrong.
  
  His e mail is reproduced below.

I have a copy of this book in front of me. The security definitives are MCIL M11L. They are identical to the Machins in the two previous custom books. I cannot see any sign of Brian's prediction that they "would break all the rules". Have I overlooked something?

MCC Catalogue Online

I was excited a few months ago when I read that the Machin Collectors Club Specialised Definitive Catalogue was to be placed online. Now that it has actually happened, my enthusiasm has waned.

The MCC Catalogue has its share of faults, but it is a comprehensive reference work, and I thought that having online access could only be good. However, the actual implementation leaves a lot to be desired.

The online catalogue is simply a set of PDF files duplicating the printed catalogue. The pages are low resolution - a colleague who has purchased access says that the images are blurry. In addition, printing is not allowed. The usability of this online version is questionable.

The only apparent advantage to the online version is that the club promises to update the pages on a timely basis.

Finally, access to the online catalogue costs extra, even for MCC members. The cost is £10 annually for members and £20 for non-members.

You can download some sample pages here, but these are high quality and not representative of the online version. (They should really offer actual samples, so that prospective purchasers see what they are really going to get. If you are considering buying access, I suggest you write to them and ask for an actual sample page.)

Compare this to the online presence of the Modern British Philatelic Circle (MBPC). Their custom web site covers all decimal definitives, complete with sharp images. The booklet and self-adhesive product listings are derived from their own catalogue, with other listings based on The Complete Deegam Machin Handbook.*

In other words, it is a true web site, not a copy of a paper catalogue.

It is available to members only, but there is no additional cost beyond the basic membership fee, which is less than that of the MCC. So when considering the MCC's extra fee for online access, the total cost of MBPC is one-third to one-half of the MCC.

I have not been a member of the MCC for several years, so I cannot comment on their current monthly newsletter, but I can say that the MBPC's journal, The Bookmark, is excellent.

So all in all, I believe the MBPC offers much better value. And as far as the MCC catalogue online, I'm afraid it doesn't add much to the hobby.

--Larry

*Corrected an error in the original post.

Machins 101

I really need to visit Robin Harris' excellent Great Britain Machins web site more often. I have recommended it previously, as has Roy, and Robin keeps adding new features as well as keeping it up to date.

Recently he added a booklet called Simplifying the Machins (aka Machins 101). It is available at no cost, but donations are welcome. He offers it as a guide to sorting an accumulation of Machins, but it really is a guide to the series as a whole.

It is excellent for a collector new to Machins, or just as a concise and well-designed reference for us old-timers.

So, hurry on over and download a copy for yourself. And when you meet someone who is new to Machins or struggling a bit with some of the subtleties, pass it along.

--Larry

PS While we are speaking of Machins for beginners, Adrian has a very nice post on his AKPhilately blog.

Reader's Digest Coil Arrangement

The early Reader's Digest multi-value coils have three stamps of one denomination and the fourth stamp with a different denomination. There's an example on my earlier post about these coils.

When these are seen on the cards used by Reader's Digest, or on the covers that have made their way into the collecting community, the odd value is on the left. However, I have a cover, shown above, with the 2 1/2p value in the second position from the left.

Does anyone know how common those are, either on cover or on the original card?

Incidentally, covers sent back to Reader's Digest are only available with the first multi-value coil, as above, and a few with the second (three 4p and one 1/2p). Writing in the January, 2011 issue of The GBCC Chronicle, the late Jerone Hart notes that a Reader's Digest employee smuggled out some 'NO' covers with the first multi-value coil from the processing center. The quantity is unknown.

When Reader's Digest found out about this, they tightened their controls. Apparently a few covers with the second coil got out, but no others.

You can, of course, find the coils that were purchased from Royal Mail by collectors and used on a cover, but Jerone notes these are rare.

--Larry

PS I've had several posts in process. Tomorrow I leave on a business trip, so I will post them today.