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Friday 30 March 2007

Machin News

IT IS OFFICIAL
Love stamp is accepted

Ok, I know it is not a Machin, but I feel this is worth a mention as I wrote about it some time ago recommending readers to purchase a few copies for investment. It seems my information was right, this stamp will become a sleeper in due course.

The Love stamp ( with ellipsed perforations) issued ( 16th January 2007 ) in the mixed Machin booklet celebrating Valentines Day has been given a selective Gibbons Catalogue number SG 2693. I do hope you took my advice and tucked a few away for that rainy day.

Now we can move on to the latest Machin news . I will try not to confuse you.

New Machin gummed sheets of ( 200) first & second class stamps with conventional gum, are to printed by De La Rue and will be issued on 5th June 2007.

It seems as though that there was no real need of a new definitive for normal first and second class mail up to the second PIP stage so the recently new stamps with a bigger value tablet will be phased out.

Details of changes to self adhesive booklets and business sheets have not been announced at this time, but it seems these will also revert back to the original design eventually.

I think this change back may be due to the fact that as the value tablets were larger than the originals, either the Post Office staff or the general public were confused and thought they were valid ( the same as the large stamps) for the PIP rate over and above the limit of ( 240 mm long x 165 mm Wide x 5mm in depth)

I have been informed that PIP (large) stamps will continue to be printed and used as normal for the larger letters ( max 353 mm long x 250 mm wide x 25 mm in depth.

Don't you just love changes? Well at least they give us more stamps, and Machins in particular to collect.

The new issues will be a reprint of the original ( normal sized ) 2nd & 1st class Non Value Denominated stamps with the service indicated in the bottom left corner which were in use prior to the recently new Pricing In Proportion stamps with the bigger value indicator at the top left.

Cylinder numbers for these new issue will no doubt be D1 Phos D1 for the second class and perhaps the same for the first class. Even though the 1st class stamps have been printed on the same cylinder by De La Rue previously.

PUZZLED?

So was I until I found out that the new values issued 27th March 2007 for the rate rise due in April do not show the De La Rue logo on the sheet, this includes the reprint of the 46p sheets, which must be a new cylinder, as the logo and the cylinder numbers D1 phos D1 was present on the previous printings. Old cylinders are disgarded or re worked when a certain value comes off sale.


The 50p value ( change of colour) which was also issued 27th March 2007 ) had no change and retains the De La Rue logo in the sheet ( see pic left) selvedge and the cylinder number D2.

So conclusions are, this is printed from the same cylinder as the previous 50p value and the change of removing the logo will not take effect until the cylinder wears out or needs changing.

According to my logic and the new cylinder blocks that I have seen , these sheets and future counter sheets will no longer be printed with the De La Rue Logo in the bottom left corner. Does this make sense?

I can think of no reason for this change, other than the fact that De La Rue or the Royal Mail no longer think their logo on the sheets is necessary.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

There's another possible reason for why the 50p grey still has the printer's logo on it. The new cylinder may have been created before the decision was made to remove the logo (and add the colour name). In that case, of course, it should have been cylinder D3, but perhaps the same person who didn't bump the new 46p cylinder to D2 also neglected to bump the 50p cylinder to D3.

Machin Man said...

A good argument, however as all the new issues (exept the 50p) had the logo removed from the selvedge, I think my original theory still applies.

The 46p cylinder was destroyed or disgarded.

Anonymous said...

I understand that the reasons for these changes to the Machin margins will be revealed in the Philatelic Bulletin in the near future.