Post and Go Birds 3 with the old style font type 1!

All sorts of strange things going on in this set of Birds 3 Pictorial Post and Gos. The font appears to have reverted to Type 1 and the weight line has disappeared for the Worldwide 10g denomination! I have the complete set of 30 values. This is very rare. 

More 13 codes appearing and some scarce printings

New M13L + S code for 1st red 2B from Walsall booklets of 6

New M13L + B code for Walsall 2nd blue CB from business sheets

New M13L + T code for Walsall 2nd blue CB from books of 12

This Jubilee 1st grey-blue 2B Walsall with short bands at bottom and inset left band is very scarce and cost £15.

Even more scarce are the 5p ash pink 2B Cartor and 20p bright green 2B Cartor with inset left bands. £25 each! They come from the Dr Who pane and are quite distinct from the normal pane stamps

You've got MA13 (or M13L perhaps?)

Here's something nicely collectable that reminds me of the old days! De La Rue were unable to meet a deadline for these values to be available at Post Offices so they subcontracted the printing to their rival, Walsall who provided the initial counter stock for 2 April. De La Rue eventually got their act together (they were moving premises) and provided the stamps that were issued in presentation packs and orders that the Philatelic Bureau had delayed. I also understand that De La Rue stamps are now getting to Post Offices too. 

Now, why Walsall didn't simply continue and supply the Philatelic Bureau and maintain counter stocks until some future change I don't know. Maybe it's more convenient if there is just the one supplier of main type of definitive stock. Anyway, that should make Walsall items worth looking out for as they will be comparatively scarce.

They're also easy to distinguish, thanks to another instance of DLR slightly slipping up. Walsall stamps have M13L as the date code, following the traditional layout so far in this respect. DLR, for some reason best known to the guy setting up the plate at the time, used MA13! Great!

The Walsall prints (the lower row in this illustration) have a slightly lighter head and different security slits too.

New regional lines

All the 8s have now arrived and nice to see the real stamps. the £1.88 is in a lovely deep shade of blue and reminds me of the old 5d from long ago.

The 78p, 88p, £1.88 and 1st Signed For all have MA13 (although it took me a while to distinguish what was on the 88p which seemed quite indistinct or maybe I need new glasses).

I can detect no obvious code on the 1st Large Signed For.

What is new (to me, at any rate) is what looks like two types of coating on the regionals - thin vertical lines in  about the width of the phosphor bands and a cross-hatched band next to each. the cross-hatched area is narrower than the vertical lined area.

This came to my attention as I was about to write how the English had dancing 8s in 88 for some reason best known to someone but the Welsh, Irish and Scots just had side-by-side numerals. the Scots, however, have the luxury of silver numerals whereas the rest of us have white (or whatever colour the paper happens to be). The cross-hatching is clearly evident as a pattern on one of the Scots 8s at some angles. In the the photo above I have just managed to catch the different coatings on the left.