Machin News August 2011

Deegam report number 94 has now been published online. The content which is always of interest to Machin collectors ranges from his occasional series of questions and answers to iridescent overprint shifts.

It also gives some new information on the latest Machin 1st class forgery, first brought to our attention by Ian Billings. This new forgery is printed on bright paper, with no phosphor and appears to be printed in Litho. It also appears to have varnished 'phosphor bands'.

The new Arnold Machin miniature sheet is also mentioned.The sheet will be printed by Walsall using Gravure. Douglas also mentions the new booklets which we disclosed to you a few weeks ago.

To receive online Deegam Reports,you must purchase the Deegam Handbook on CD. Full details are available on Douglas,s website. The next Deegam Report is due for publication on 20th October 2011

The 1st class MA10 coil code MRIL is now available on eBay, A report by Ian Billings informs us that he has limited numbers of these for sale to regular customers.




Adrian Bradbury has produced A first day cover commemorating the centenary of Arnold Machin . This cover will be issued on 14.09.2011 and will have a Centenary Special Hand stamp and will be printed on textured linen paper. It will then be hand made into envelopes. A limited edition of just 150 numbered copies will be made available Worldwide.

It has been reported that De La Rue have printed more of the gummed 20p bright green stamps. These are from a new D5 cylinder, printed before the self-adhesive versions and have a date code of 16/09/10. Ian Rose also reports a date block dated 15/09/10.

The Future Of Machin Printing

I had an interesting email from Ian Rose today in which he pointed out that the world's largest banknote printer has announced plans to shut two of its UK sites, in Dunstable and Basingstoke.

Apparently De La Rue has announced plans to move its Security Print production in Dunstable to Gateshead. A question that is not answered in the press release, will this also affect the printing of stamps?

De La Rue have stated "it was too early to say how many jobs would be lost and it hoped many staff could be relocated."

A spokesman for De La Rue, which prints notes for the Bank of England and 150 other countries, said: "It is envisaged that this relocation will be completed within 18 months."

An update will be given with De La Rue's half year results at the end of November. You can read the full report here