2009 issues

Looking ahead to 2009, I think the first items you'll need are:

13 January 2009
Design Classics
16p and 50p Walsall

22 January 2009
Burns miniature sheet
Scottish regional 1st, 2nd, 50p and 81p to be printed by Enschede in gravure and so new items.

12 February 2009
Charles Darwin
5p, 10p and 48p and 1st DLR

There is also talk of self-adhesives in booklets and business sheets having security features to prevent re-use being incorporated in the form of four U-shaped die cuts in the design. No doubt we'll hear more soon as the changes are planned for early in the year.

Christmas chaos

Although not Machins, I regard the Christmas issues as pictorial definitives - a rapidly expanding collection with items like the NI pictorial 1st pair released in the miniature sheet recently and all the 'Smilers'.

Christmas 2008 follows Christmas 2007 which I didn't get round to reporting. The offering is very similar, with the Angel theme appearing as:

2nd s-a in books, Smiler sheet and sheets and gummed in miniature sheet

1st s-a as above

50p s-a in just sheets and gummed in miniature sheet

81p s-a in just sheets, Smiler sheets and gummed in miniature sheet

The 'Large' 1st and 2nd are also available as s-a in sheets and gummed in miniature sheet

Thankfully, there's no £1.24 (2007) or £1.19 (2006) value this year.

In addition the Madonna 1st and 2nd issue will be reprinted and is effectively the same stamp as 2007 but I bet there'll be a good reason to have both years' items.

I make that 19 separate items required just for Christmas! Maybe you should stick to Machins after all! Very few Christmas issues seem to appreciate in value much (due to the huge print runs and common usage) but I just know that the ones I don't get will be the ones that do!

Happy Birthday, Sir

Prince Charles' 60th birthday is marked on 14 November with a miniature sheet which will include a 1st Welsh regional.

Lest we forget 2008

Another beautiful main stamp with 4 regional 1st in the miniature sheet. Out on 6 November, with several other items, including reprinting of each of the three years' featuring this design.

Wilding 50th Anniversary

I had thought that the Wilding section of my catalogue had closed but September brought a massive new bundle of them. Nice 1st re-workings of 3d, 6d and 1/3 original designs for Scotland, Wales and NI.

You'll need the miniature sheet as well as the prestige book, each being quite different printing. The book also has 1st regionals too, yielding what will no doubt prove to be different 1st Scotland, 1st NI and 1st Wales pictorial definitives.

Catalogue and site update

I've been using some free space with Tiscali for the site but now can't access the space unless I use a Tiscali connection which I haven't had for ages. I have plenty of other web space and will transfer everything to somewhere I control on a more sensible basis.

The Machin Catalogue is now almost up-to-date, just a few 2008 entries to go.

Apologies for the time out.

8 January 2008 James Bond

The prestige book contains a 1st Gold in Litho, so far the only source.

1 April 2008 New values and colours

The fourth is a 9p bright orange - very similar to the 2005 issue but this has a slightly lower set value.

Smiler sheet ellipses

The 29 September Glorious UK sheets do have ellipses in the perforations - so these are the first source of these stamps in Cartor printing with ellipses.

You'll need each of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales sheets (or, less costly, individual stamps if you can get them!)

20 September 2007 Uniforms

Several goodies in the British Army Uniforms booklet

1p crimson 2 band Enschede gravure

46p old gold

54p brown

1st regionals 2 band Enschede litho

Also on this day NI 1st 2 band and 2nd 1 band DLR gravure