Non- pictorial 10p Bookets

UPDATED 09.01. 2012

It really bugs me, I go and pay £34.95 for a Gibbons specialised Machin Catalogue and find it is nothing of the sort. I would go so far as to say it was a waste of money.

I wanted specialised information on the different 10p non-pictorial booklets and find that they do not even mention the imprints or different settings to the cover of SG FA3. Perhaps they do not even know about them?

I did eventually find what I was looking for when I reverted to checking my collection which are housed in a large stock book together with some old notes on the subject.

It got me thinking, perhaps you as a reader do not know that there are subtle differences either? so I will try and provide some of the information I am referring to.

Basically there were 3 different printings of this booklet all with the same pane of stamps. 2 x ½p (Turquoise), 3 x 1p (crimson) and 1 x 6p (light green) all were printed by Harrison & Sons.

FA1
Starting with the first printing FA1 it is dated on the inside of the cover November 1975. The date is found at the bottom of the text. The stamps are affixed to the cover with a wide binding margin .

minus Harrison and Sons imprint

There are 2 types of cover to be found either a white cover or a cream coloured cover. In either case there is not to much difference to the catalogue prices unless you compare the different perforation types. There are several of these but I will not go into detail as this is another story.

FA2

The same as above. This booklet is dated March 1976 and the date on this booklet is found at the top of the text, curiously this has either a thick card cover or a thin card cover. I am assuming the thinner card was used via a vending machine and the thicker card sold via philatelic counters. The stamps are affixed to the cover with a wide binding margin . Again with this booklet there are several perf types to collect.

FA3

This cover shown above has the date 13th June 1977, the date is at the top of the text . Easy to spot as the stamps are affixed with a narrow binding margin . The words Harrison and Sons is printed horizontally on the back of the cover.

Now for the good nitty gritty stuff, I hope you do not get to confused. Booklets inscribed 1977 have two variations of the imprint of the words Harrison and Sons. This can either be level with the bottom of the text when compared to the text on the front cover or set higher and level with the top of the text on the front cover.

Top Imprint 1 Setting 1

Bottom Imprint 2 Setting 2

The setting of the word SE Asia (inside cover) is either to the left in the text (setting 1) or set more centrally (setting 2).

Now it is time to get out your own collection if you have one and check what you have. Covers of FA3 are known with combinations of imprint 1 setting 1 or imprint 1 setting 2 - and a third type imprint 2 setting 2.

When you have found out what you have , check out perforation types for these booklets also look for miscuts , depending on the perforation type (there are 5), a simple booklet valued at £1.00 or so could be worth £25.00 or even £60.00. Let us know if you find anything of value.
Happy Hunting

UPDATE I have been informed that the scan of the settings and imprint was actually taken from the Machin Collectors Club QE 11 Catalogue. I now remember scanning a few years ago and inserting it into my stock book for easy reference.

Brian Morris informs us these varieties are listed and mentioned in this catalogue. I there fore thank Brian for his observations. I would also like to thank Melvyn Philpot and members of the MCC for use of the scan. We have written about the MCC catalogue and have recommended it to readers on several occasions.

Douglas also informs of the listings in the MBPC catalogue this is another society well worth another mention.