New and old date cØdes appear

From Edinburgh today comes a somewhat less than inspiring bundle of 'new' items. The coil strips look exciting - strips usually are - but the 2nd Class is M12L MTIL which I featured in a February post. There may be something different that I haven't noticed and the first one did come from a specialist source. It would seem a bit unlikely, though, that it has taken the Philatelic Bureau staff six months longer to realise that this is out there. Then, of course, there's that 2012 date code! What is that about - or has this strip been around for two years and they've just realised?

My guess is that there's something else different. I just don't know what it is yet.  The first class is different, I am pleased to report. It is M13L MTIL which I haven't seen before, despite that being a 2013 code!

There were also five new booklets issued today. They have a new telephone number or something on them but what we're really interested in is the stamps and, yes, there are four that you'll need.

MA14 MFIL

MA14 MFIL

M14L MTIL

M14L MSIL

M14L MTIL

The 1st Class M14L MTIL has been around before but the others are all new.

I have always found it odd that everyone use MA14 or whatever on the Large issues but M14L on the normal sizes. There were some oddities in previous years but generally all the Large ones have an MAØØ type code and others the M1ØL style.

The Great War 1914 Prestige Booklet

Something for everyone with the 1914 First World War prestige booklet out today. The content is naturally sombre and factual, with an effective fold old illustration across a set of pages. As well as three new Machins, there are the four nation's 1st Class stamps in what I am presuming will be a distinguishable form.

The Machins are maybe not very 'new' as each of the 10p tan, 20p green and £1 pale brown (or wood brown as they call it) with the code M14L MPIL, printed by Enschedé could be found in the Buckingham Palace book. I am wondering if they do have any differences at all!

The Regionals are definitely new, though, as recent issues have been different designs so you'll need that pane anyway. I am not sure whether Cartor are any different to Enschedé now.

Rare stamps!!

I actually got some stamps on an envelope in the mail this morning. The fact that it was from another dealer in Machin stamps says it all really. Are we the only people who are now using these? Is this 'collecting' lark merely a sort of self-perpetuating affair where Royal Mail know that we're the only people buying them and just produce all sorts of variations for the fun of it and watch contentedly as people like me write articles encouraging you to acquire this or that?

Oh well, for the benefit of those who are still awake and wondering what is new out there, here are the latest developments and issues.

The first is a 2nd Large DLR with M14L date code. Then there's a book of 12 Walsall 2nd CB showing M14L MTIL which will doubtless be the most frequently found stamp on post this year so not exactly worth a fortune but needed nonetheless if you're going to keep that collection complete.

Next we have three more DLR items. A 10p, 20p  and 1st Large showing M14L.

Now there's is something surprising. A new Post And Go print showing both Euro 20g and World 10g which are now the same price but it must have been confusing for people wanting to send something 9g to somewhere that wasn't in Europe. To be honest, I get confused by the rates and weights anyway and really do wonder whether this idea of NVIing everything is that bright after all.

It all started with 1st and 2nd and then E came along when we had a perfectly adequate 34p stamp (or whatever the rate was at the time). I suppose it did mean that we could buy stamps and carry on using them after a rate change and got a little bit of satisfaction from the fact that spending all that money in advance had saved us a few pence later. So those made some sense and it always seemed pretty reasonable to buy an Airmail envelope (actually, maybe that was where it started now I think about it) and just pay whatever the latest price was for the flimsy sheet of blue paper.

The latest flurry of activity around these rates and weights, though, seems to be heading for confusion. They are trying to hang on to six for the 'collector's strips' as all sorts of problems will develop if there are numbers like 11 or 5. The NCR machine putting values on the labels seems to be going back to the original idea of a stamp but just adding the value at the end instead of us having to buy a range and make up the rate ourselves.

For now, though, the Post And Gos continue apace with these two overprint issues, 'The B.P.M.A. on Flags and Machin olives. Both these have the new dual value although here in Type 4 font at the same point size for both lines, unlike the NCR Type 2a font with its different sizes.

The Machin Post And Gos here all have an MA13 date code. I imagine there must be a lot of that year's backing around so it could be some time before we see MA14. The NCRs below are the 'normal' basic set which I think I have featured before but that may have been with no date code or a strip I had earlier. the Worldwide 10g and 40g values will exist as these were still in being when the first NCRs appeared and will be worth hanging on to.

Of course, there is still no mention from some dealers of the other NCRs - the ones with the actual values printed that I have written about recently. I am still none the wiser as to whether they are indeed likely to be a myriad different denominations for those. I am pretty sure there will be - a similar range to those we see on Horizon labels seems logical although perhaps the 'Signed For' denominations and one or two others can't be included because there would need to be some paperwork kept behind the counter and if someone had to queue up afterwards to hand that over it defeats the purpose of the automatic machines.

So far, I have to say that by far the most common labels I am seeing on post are the Horizon gold ones. They're awkward to collect but do seem to be the range that is surviving. I will write about them in an article soon.

Slightly more interesting... NCRs

 

So here are the first NCR 'Open Value' labels on Spring Flowers that I have seen. In fact they're the first on any pictorial Post and Go label that I've seen. These are the new denominations, as are the Machins that I have also acquired. 

Now I still don't know whether these represent all that can be obtained or whether, by pressing different buttons, other codes and denominations can be printed, as listed and suggested, or should I say, feared, in an earlier post. 

Whilst I think the Machin head issues are a must for any GB definitive (and, of course, any Machin) collector I am not sure I feel duty bound any more to keep up with the pictorials. It's good to have some early examples of almost any series but, if this style becomes standard then I am seriously considering collecting just the Machin head items. I suppose that'll have to include the ruddy overprints which I dislike but just feel very relieved that they're not on ordinary definitives!

I do collect pictorial definitives for Regional issues but they have been extremely modest in output. In 5 years there have been 67 different pictorial labels. That's just the picture, no account taken of fonts, date codes or whatever. The Regional Pictorials over 14 years have been just four main and a few odd additional items for each of the four nations. And if there has been a change then we haven't had to buy six denominations for each image! 

As it is my understanding that any roll can be fitted into the NCR style machines, there is a possibility of almost any of those 67 designs appearing. OK, some must be pretty remote but they're the ones that make the headlines and we all wish we'd found. This business of stamp collecting is all about completeness - you really do want to feel that you stand some vague chance of getting a complete set of things. I just don't feel that way about the Post And Go pictorials now, especially now with the NCR potential for huge additions to the series, old rolls being found in cupboards and six more of each for every rate change introduced.

If it wasn't for the fact that I have only recently added back in Post And Go overprints on a standing order with a dealer I would cancel any new pictorials now. I can live without Flowers II, III and whatever comes next. I could happily watch news of the latest overprint on Dogs IX appearing on NCR 60g varieties in font style 8.5. The Machins would be more than enough. I think I had better wait for a few months though and just try and sell all the pictorial stuff that I have and comes in.

I do think I have finally come to a conclusion. Basically - stick to Machins. Duh, of all people, I really should have figured that out long ago!

Possibly the most boring post in the world

I have to post this as it is the only reasonably accessible record of what comes in and to illustrate what I include in my catalogue. How long I can face much more of this, though, is unsure!

Undated, type 4

Undated, Type 4

Undated, Old values, Type 4 (from Jersey)

  

New values. Undated. Type 2. 

MA13 Type 4

Undated. Type 4

This has to be the most tedious post I have ever written! These items arrived today, being variations along the lines I had expected tp get plus a couple of oddities. One oddity is the old values in a strip using Type 4 font on Flags. That came from a Post Office in Jersey. I think they're getting their own Post And Gos. Good luck to them!

The other is a really amateur-looking Type 2 font with amended 60g values, also on Flags.

Otherwise these are just the BPMA and 85th Scottish Congress overprints on different backing with or without dates.

That's all I'm going to say.

Overwhelmed with overprints on Post and Gos

 

We start with no less than three new BPMA Post and Gos. A 'Series A' issue with code MA13 in the old values from mid February. Then the updated 'Series B' with MA13 and then the same 'Series B' on Flag type labels. These last two were only available from 24 March 2014 so you can see how few will have been produced with the old set of values, making these two strips particularly scarce.

Next we have two 85th Scottiosh Congress issues - one on the plain Machin labels and the other on Flags. These are both 'Series B' and also were issued after the rate change so have the new sequence of values. Let's give Post and Gos a rest for a moment and deal with something much simpler.

A Cartor printed England regional £1.28 has appeared with the vignetted style of phosphor. The 2012 printing just had very wide phosphor bands with the same density throughout. This has just sneaked out without anyone telling us so look out for it.

A strip of 'Series B' old values on undated Machin labels.

2nd Class Post and Gos now with MA13 codes - you really would think they'd be MA14 by now! Just shows how slowly some rolls are being used up.

The new values produced on the old Wincor machines. On commentator remarked how poorly the 60g had been set up by the engineers, hinting that they might not have been too bothered knowing that in a week or so's time their contract was up and the new NCR type machines would be replacing theirs anyway.

Now some more M14L and MA14 codes

M14L De La Rue

M14L De La Rue

M14L De La Rue

M14L MTIL

M14L MCIL

MA14 MBIL

This has been an expensive time and led me to wonder seriously if I should give up on the Post and Gos. I have had to reorder the overprints which I had abandoned briefly because they can be the sole source of some changes at times. If they were just an existing issue with an overprint then I am happy to let them go but where they appear first or even seem to be the only example of a particular type then I do need them.

It has been interesting to see how dealers are reacting to all this. One has very efficiently supplied as many pairs of the new values as they can whilst another is still looking as, theoretically, whatever roll can go in the machine could have the new values printed on it and no doubt some offices somewhere have an old roll or two lying around that will surprise us in years to come and mean that we can never be entirely sure which may or may not appear with the new values.

So far no-one has offered the NCR type of Open Values, other than someone on Ebay, where I got my 'set' of pre rate change values. B Alan Ltd appear to be thinking about supplying a few samples on each colour of background for those who order them. They are regarding them as similar to the old larger label that could also have a whole range of denominations. The difference, though, is that this label is distinctly stamp-like, specifically Post and Go-stamp like, same dimensions, perforations and so forth. So if you collect Post and Gos then I really do think you will kick yourself hard in years to come if you don't include as many denominations of the new ones as you can find or afford.

Just as the Post and Gos have changed in just a short while, so too will these Open Values - different alignment, font changes and, who knows, use on rolls of Flowers or whatever. Keeping my lists up to date, though, has been a nightmare with so many variations: Flag or Machin, date or no date code, font type 2 or 4, series A or B! Crazy. I am still on the verge of abandoning them but probably won't. As for the NCRs, I actually prefer them as 'stamps to collect' to the pictorial Post and Gos but whether I will be able to figure out any sensible way to determine what to collect has yet to be seen.

Palace News

While I wait for what I fear will be a massive bill and several envelopes full of Post And Gos of all sorts I thought I should update you with the latest expense - the Buckingham Palace prestige book with its tradional Machin pane. You do have to wonder what will happen to the World should a prestige booklet not be issued with a pane of eight Machin definitives (or some with a few Regional pictorials thrown in) and a strange label in the middle serving no useful purpose at all.

There are several pages of fine-looking pictorials with different stages of the Palace's development over the centuries and some internal views too. It's all quite interesting and well produced. Here's the pane that matters, though; the sole reason I buy these things.

Three new stamps here, obviously. Each of the 10p, 20p and £1 definitives has M14L MPIL code and they are gummed and printed by Enschedé.

There is also a booklet of two pictorials with four 1st Class definitives. these are the first appearance of M14L MCIL and come from Walsall.

More Post And Gos arrive

The good people at Norvic have been busy and today the two new denominations for a number of different issues arrived. The Robin pair have code MA13, the others undated. I have a feeling there are plenty more still to come. I am also dreading the arrival of pictorial rolls in Post Offices with the new NCR machines. Royal Mail will be getting more revenue from us collectors than people actually wanting to send letters.

These have a curious mixture of fonts!