Postcode Anniversary postmark update

Update on the Postcode Anniversary slogans which Royal Mail said would be applied at mail centres from 6-12 October and at Norwich from 5-18 October.

I spent the last week on the Welsh borders and postcards posted in the Shrewsbury area received the ink-jet postmark as late as Friday 23 October and the old-style machine slogan at least as late as Tuesday 20 October (no images available).

Late usage from the Norwich area:
CFC 1 using Pass On with inverted date die on 12 October.
CFC 1 still using Pass On on 26 October.
CFC 2 still using Get the most on 23 October.
CFC 3 still using Code it Keep it (pigeon) on 30 October (zero not visible on any copies).
CFC 4 still using Sealed & Postcoded on 23 October.
CFC 6 still using Help us push on 19 October.

CFC5 not seen after due date. Non-CFC usage shown in the previous gallery has been seen only once, on a department store Mailshot. It might have been used only for that mailing.

Gatwick Mail Centre IMP using the ink-jet slogan on 24 October (with Croydon w/l 'overprint').
South East Anglia IMP using the ink-jet slogan on 24 October.


And Preston IMP using the ink-jet on 23 October - thanks Dave!

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We've seen no postcode slogans with November dates from Norwich, and other slogans have been used in at least some IMP machines, but of course we will publish any other reports here.

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Perforation Shift Produces Major 'Worldwid' Error

No, it's not my error, the stamps actually are Worldwid Postcard stamps!



Thanks to our correspondent, another Ian, who reports:

There is a very short band on the bottom stamps but a full band on the top stamps. I understand that two books were found -- which is not to say that there may not be 10,000 more out there waiting to found! As this is a plain (non-cylinder) book, I'm not sure if these are from the recent reprint from grey cylinder W3, but I think that they are.

Unlike more recent sheet-printed stamps, the phosphor on these and the 40gr booklets was printed on the central matrix as well as the stamps, meaning that only the bottom row could have short bands at the foot, and only the top row could have short bands at the top. Even if this is a new printing, it would make sense for the phosphor cylinder on books of 4 to continue if possible.

Here's a picture of all 4 stamps:

Undated 2009 Strike Mail - so that we don't know how long it took to arrive?

Well the postal strikes are over for the present to enable negotiations to continue and for Christmas post to be dealt with normally, much to everybody's relief.

Here's an interesting item we received this week from the the mid-Wales coastal area, which has been processed with no date in the ink-jet postmark!

Big Ben Medal Cover uses Unavailable Smilers

150th Anniversary of Big Ben Commemorative Sheet: 18 September 2009

The Big Ben Commemorative sheet is self-adhesive with 20 definitive-sized Union Flag stamps, as shown.



On the same day, Royal Mail sold a Philatelic Medal Cover, which included a commemorative medal (not coin) from the Royal Mint, with a special Smilers stamp, and special postmark. The Smilers label is in the same design as the final label on the sheet, but smaller - because the stamp is the large-size Union Flag on conventionally gummed paper. Whatever form it was printed in, this stamp was not available to collectors of dealers. The perforation is the same as the Rule Britannia Smiler of 2004, but the shade is quite different.

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(Oh, and the postmark is pretty rubbish - looks like it was done with a dot-matrix printer!)

Christmas Stamp Printing Dates & Cylinder numbers

Printing dates seen on this year's Christmas stamps:

2nd class - 10 July
1st class - 6 July
56p - 2 July
90p - 2 July
£1.35 - 4 July
2nd L - 9 July
1st L - 7 July

Cylinders on sheet stamps not yet seen.

Cylinders on booklets:

2nd class - D1 x 6, including a barely visible phosphor cylinder
1st class - D1 x 6, including a barely visible phosphor cylinder

Smilers makeover- 4 new designs for consumers.

Royal Mail's Smilers (personalised stamps) service has been running since Stamp Show 2000 and over the years many stamps have been added and removed from the menu. Many of the stamps have also been available in the Business Customised Service [BCS] (those expensive sheets which look like posters with stamps stuck on, which are sold for prices even higher than Royal Mail's premium-priced Commemorative Sheets).

But despite the introduction of some new designs, some maintain that the menu has been getting tired, especially for the BCS, there being no stamps relevant to the subjects chosen for the sheets (which really proves that the stamps are irrelevant). Last year Royal Mail invited suggestions as to new stamps for the service, and Adrian Bradbury proposed some new designs which you can read about and see on the Smilers-Info website. (You can read some more of my thoughts on the subject there as well!)

Royal Mail have taken on board some of the suggestions, and recognised the fact that they can't issue new stamps in the Smilers service without making them available to collectors at face value (or nearly), by issuing a conventionally-gummed miniature sheet of all 10 new stamps:



There will also be a self-adhesive generic sheet.

As my headline says - 4 new designs for consumers, those on the right, which are two 1st class and 20 gr stamps for Europe and the Rest of the World. The left-most 6 stamps with themes of transport, remembrance and royalty are for the Business Customised service only at this stage.

You can see more details of this in due course on our website. FDCs and special handstamps will be produced.

Design Classics 2 = Classic Album Covers - 7 January 2010

After the success of 2009’s British Design Classics, 2010 opens with a look at the classic art of the album cover. For decades the album sleeve has been the canvas for some of the most imaginative graphic artists in the world. This stamp issue salutes this unique art form and celebrates some of the greatest examples, used by UK artists.



(Click on the image for a much larger one)

In the set of 10 self-adhesive stamps the albums, artists and cover artists are:

Sheet 1 - strip of 5
a. The Division Bell – Pink Floyd - 1994, design by Storm Thorgerson;
b. A Rush of Blood to the Head - Coldplay - 2002, design Sølve Sundsbø;
c. Parklife – Blur - 1994, design Chris Thomson / Stylorouge, photography: Bob Thomas;
d. Power Corruption and Lies – New Order - 1983, design by Peter Saville;
e. Let It Bleed – The Rolling Stones - 1969, design Robert Brownjohn

Sheet 2 - strip of 5
a. London Calling – The Clash - 1979, design Ray Lowry;
b. Tubular Bells – Mike Oldfield - 1973, design Trevor Key;
c. IV – Led Zeppelin - 1971, design Graphreaks, Art Directed by Jimmy Page;
d. Screamadelica – Primal Scream - 1991, design Paul Cannell;
e. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars – David Bowie - 1972, design Main Artery

The Souvenir Sheet, in the form of a 'Best of...' album cover, contains the same 10 stamps, the same size, conventionally gummed and perforated. This sheet is 223mm x 188mm (8.8 x 7.4 inches)



The stamps and sheet will be issued on 7 January 2010. Other products include -

Presentation Pack. This is a fully illustrated folder which contains all ten Classic Album Covers Stamps.

Stamp Cards - postcard-sized enlargements of the stamps, sold in complete sets only.

First Day Covers (FDC) - special envelopes with designs to compliment the stamps.

Prestige Stamp Books consist of pages of stamps interleaved with information about the subject.

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You can read more about these stamps and stamp products on our website. (If you are new to stamps, click on the 'newcomers' link to the right of the stamps image.)

In due course we will add an ordering page which will include the ability to order any quantity and pay. Otherwise we will take email orders, through the website.