Ol' Brown Eyes is retiring - again!

If Ol' Blue-Eyes can do it, so can I!

Frank Sinatra (USPS)

Well, I'm not really retiring from this hobby and business, but I'm taking the next steps to divest myself of 'stuff' that I no longer need.  That way I shall be able to concentrate on the subjects that I am more interested in, and do some research, organise, and expand my collections. Along the way I shall be finding things and offering them here or on one of the social media channels, or maybe even giving them away.

Don't get me wrong, the last 20 years have been interesting, exciting even, especially the innovation of the security printing on Machin definitives, which meant that - for the first couple of years at least - we never knew what was coming next with year codes and source codes dropping on us at random times during each year.

Follow that up with change to the source codes, peculiar fluorescence in the iridescent ink and even the colour ink, while on the country definitives the grid positions and primary sheet sizes seemed to be constantly changing.

But now that era has ended and all those stamps have gone at least from here.   Royal Mail printed so many datamatrix stamps with the Machin head that they are still sending them out under their SwapOut scheme, and King Charles stamps are only just making an appearance. Those are, however, widely available in Post Offices now although they don't seem to have the allure of the Machins - unless you closely examine and interpret the datamatrix codes. 

Post and Go machines and branch Self-Service Kiosks kept us all engaged for many years - and there are still some surprises in store as our regular contributors report.  But can you imagine the chaos that would have ensued had the museum machines continued through the era of two tariff rises a year?  We had varieties enough when prices went up slowly!

Meanwhile the programme of 'special stamps' continues to astound and amaze.  We're astounded at the audacity of some of the subjects, and amazed that Royal Mail continue to find it worthwhile to produce so many different stamps each year at ever-increasing prices although they will say that the change to 2nd & 1st class only will be a help.  Yes, it is - but the 2nd class is only 13p shy of the £1 values that they were including, and the 1st class now only 20p shy of the £2 values.  The change is simply a reflection of reality - or am I being too cynical?

On the Stampboards forum one dedicated member tracks the cost of new issues worldwide every year, and publishes the data weekly in a league table.  Despite the plethora of junk being printed around the world from philatelic agencies exploiting thematic collectors in the name of third-world nations (see Commonwealth Stamps Opinion blog here and on many other posts), guess which postal authority tops the list?
 

Top of the league table for new issues, compiled by DJCMH 30 March 2025.

Even if you take issue with the methodology, the inclusion of everything - 46 stamps, 3 souvenir sheets, 5 collector sheets and 1 prestige book - puts Royal Mail at the top of the list with a face value of £185.55 - or nearly £15 per week.  (And even then he might have it wrong, because we've had 2 PSBs!)

SO what to do?

As I have shown on my other blog, I am actually more interested in the stamps being used.

So I am now selling off all stock of special stamps and modern definitives for postage. If,you need more stamps you will find some good prices I hope. And if you have been a regular customer or contributor here email me for a discount code to get even lower prices.  If you want any particular commemorative stamps, sets, miniature sheets before 2010 then let me know.

 

The prices for datamatrix definitives are lower than for commemoratives because I really want rid of those that are taking up a lot of space.  When I sent all my Machins and Country definitives to Royal Mail's incinerator, they sent me a lot of green or purple DMX Machins.  If you know of a business which still uses stamps, this will be a way to help them and me (and possibly yourself). 

And I've put into separate categories the definitive-sized stamps and airmail Post and Go stamps which are useful if you send postcards or small letters. Post and airmail letter or card for as little as £2.25 instead of the £3.20 Royal Mail now charge. Useful for Postcrossers.

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On the subject of Postal History, I have been collecting stamps on cover, card and parcel wrapper for many years.  When the Security Machins were rampant I put aside examples of the different source and year codes on cover.  It was this that led to the conclusion that counter sheet stamps (at least for 2nd & 1st class) were far less common than booklet or business sheet stamps.

I never did sort them all out and make a selection for myself, but when I do that I am sure I will find a lot of duplication.  If anybody else has been undertaking a similar exercise and  has gaps to fill please let me know and I will try to help before I consign all the rest to kiloware.  This could be especially useful for overseas collectors wanting domestic use of these stamps.  The only cost to you will be the postage to get them to you.

For special/commemorative stamps there is less opportunity for adding to your collections as I have so few, but I do have some sets and odds of some commemoratives from 10-15 years ago.  When I find them I'll let you know!  Here's a taster pic:

2014 set of 10 fishes used on covers.

What about you and your collections?

It's quite clear that the readers of this blog do so because they are primarily interested in British stamps (and postmarks).  But few collectors don't have sidelines, even if it is based on childhood collections.

In fact, now that some collectors have given up Great Britain new issues, aside from turning back to earlier issues they are looking for other things to collect.  This might be something thematic, associated with another hobby or their work, or another country (or area), or picture postcards.  I have them all!

Well no, I don't have every country and certainly don't cover the world with postcards and postal history, but I've bought all sorts of stamp, cover and card lots over 50 years and not had time to deal with them all (see paragraph 1!).  

So if you have particular interests outside GB philately do let me know and I will keep a register of interests and contact you when I find anything significant.  Or if you see something I post here or on either of my other two blogs (Great Britain Postal History or the embryonic World Postal History), email me at the usual address (please, not through the shop system as I can't easily reply that software) and we can proceed from there.

I look forward to hearing from you, and I hope you will join me in further interesting posts on the three blogs.

 

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On and off at Christmas - or, did you know?

The Christmas stamps of 2001 were innovative; the first after the complex Millennium series of special    issues, they were self-adhesive for the first time.  To help post office counter staff to get used to them without spoiling any sheets of special labels were printed in the same format (sheets of 50) with the De La Rue logo in black on a white background.  These training sheets, and the actual stamps retained the paper around and between the stamps, known as the matrix.

This format continued for 2002, but in 2004 the matrix was removed at the factory, which made it much easier for counter staff and customers to remove the stamps.  This was to be the model for all future self-adhesive issues and was extended to booklets and business sheets.

Except that it wasn't the case with all the stamps.  Each year Royal Mail (and at that time Post Office) employees were given 50 x 1st class stamps at Christmas (on condition that they did not sell them to collectors!).   The 50 stamps were usually in two panes of 25 and the matrix was retained.  Of course this made them attractive to collectors, so some were swapped for normal ones while others were given away or sold (yes - really!)

The difference can be seen clearly in this example of the 2006 stamps.

Christmas 2006 1st class: 'Public' version; above 'Staff' version below.

I have examples of many years available at current face value or less for blocks.  A pair or a marginal single is essential to show the difference, but bigger blocks are quite impressive.

Availability - as well as singles and pairs from the middle of the sheet, I can offer the following.

2004 - printing date marginal strips or blocks; sale date marginal strips or blocks.

2005 - cylinder blocks and colour dot blocks or strip.

2006 - printing date marginal strips or blocks; sale date marginal strips or blocks, dot block/strip, half-sheet of 25.

2007 - printing date marginal strips or blocks; sale date marginal strips or blocks. 

2008 - colour dot strip/block; very few others.

2009 - half-sheet of 25 with cylinder and  colour dots; colour dot block/strip.

2010 - colour dot strip/block; very few others.

2011 - printing date marginal strips or blocks; sale date marginal strips or blocks, half-sheet of 25.

2012 - half-sheet of 25 with cylinder and colour dots; few others.

These were distributed in half-sheets of 25, the top half has the dates, the lower half has the cylinder numbers and colour blocks. While available sheets can be split into blocks, strips and singles.

Please email ian[at]norphil.co.uk with your requirements.

I'll try to keep this updated with available stock.

 

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April 2025 Slogan Postmarks and other interesting postal markings

After my criticism of Royal Mail's publicity machine in last month's news, I can praise them for the announcement of a slogan in support of the UK's Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC's appeal to help the thousands of people injured and displaced as a result of last week's powerful earthquake which struck Myanmar and the wider region.  

This was shown on social media but so far there is nothing on their Media website to say when it is being used. (It certainly needs to be before the dummy date of 5 May shown in this mock-up!).  Please send examples for publication.

Mock-up of slogan for DEC Myanmar Earthquake Appeal to be used in April 2025.

Thanks to MM for a live example, from a square envelope for which the postmark missed any stamps, so it's the clearest postmark for a while.   From Mount Pleasant Mail Centre 02-04-2025

DEC Myanmar Earthquake Appeal slogan used at Mount Pleasant 02-04-2025

Update 6 April. Thanks to flip on Stampboards for the other layout of this postmark, from the Bristol Mail Centre [BA,BS,GL,TA] 03/04/2025.  Thanks also to DP & GS for other examples of the one above.

DEC Myanmar Earthquake Appeal slogan used at Bristol Mail Centre 03/04/2025

 

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Other postmarks and postal markings

One of the consequences of the regulation of postal services is the limit on the amount by which 2nd class post can be increased; this regulation does not apply to 1st class.  A consequence of this is that in recent times the rate for a 2nd class Large Letter up to 100g is lower than that for a 1st class (small) letter - £1.55 vs £1.65 until today.  

This might account for the marking on this envelope supplied by SH.  

Revenue Protection Treat as 2nd Class (2025)

 

I have seen several other similar Revenue Protection marks.  This one, as I wrote at the time 

"is fully paid for 2nd class up to 100g.   It is a c5 envelope and could be heavy but I would think the company sought to keep the sending under 100g.   

"After checking, it has been marked 'treat as 1st class'.  Would this be because it has been delayed by the checking process, or because there was a shortfall and it has been recovered in bulk?" 

Whatever the reason for treating this as 1st class (and I think the delay would be a good enough reason for promoting from 2nd to 1st) the latest one works in the opposite way.

Fully prepaid for a 1st class letter up to 100g and up to 5mm thick, it seems as if this was thicker*, so it was treated as (just over-)paid for a 2nd class Large Letter.   I nice piece of postal history all the more so because most people would discard it as of no consequence. ( *SH confirms that it was actually square and just oversize for an ordinary letter, rather than thick.)

 

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Remember, all postmarks appearing in April will be added to this post, so check here before you spend time scanning and emailing.

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Special Stamp Calendar 2025 almost complete

My thanks to my fellow-blogger on the Commonwealth Stamps Opinion blog for finding and posting the latest version of the Royal Mail Special Stamp Calendar for 2025.

A probable second Music Giants does not appear now (unless it's a late November issue), and we have a Snoop(y) Dog in Peanuts, with his friends presumably.

'Mushrooms' appeared in the original list, which was withdrawn, as 'Fungi'.

Steam Locomotives was widely predicted, but not Monty Python.  I wonder what new version of Monopoly is being launched (or maybe a film?).   

I'll produce an updated table later and link to it from the January entry.

 

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Advanced Myths and Legends set of 8x 1st class now due 27 March 2025.

The stamp programme for 2025 was changed in early January and then for a second time, as this issue was brought forward from April.

The Landscape of the United Kingdom is steeped in myths, legends and folktales that have captured imaginations for centuries. Royal Mail are exploring the mythical creatures and legendary figures of folklore with a set of 8 illustrated stamps, looking into the deeper meanings and values these stories convey.   

The stamps in detail
these 1st class stamps are sold at £1.65 each but the price will rise to £1.70 on 7 April. 

Beowulf and Grendel, England
One of the most important works of British literature, Beowulf is an Old English poem composed between the 8th and 11th centuries. At the centre of this hero tale is Beowulf, a Geatish warrior who travelled to Denmark to help rid King Hrothgar of the monstrous Grendel, who had been terrorising his mead hall. 

One night, after the feast, Grendel burst through the door and began devouring the sleeping warriors. Beowulf, renowned for his bravery, challenged the monster armed only with his strength and courage. In frenzied combat, Beowulf tore off Grendel’s arm, and the monster slunk off to its lair to die. Beowulf later defeated Grendel’s vengeful mother, cementing his hero status in one of England’s greatest legends.

Blodeuwedd, Wales
The tragic tale of Blodeuwedd is found in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi, a collection of medieval Welsh stories. In the tale, Lleu Llaw Gyffes is cursed to never have a human wife. To foil this fate, magicians Math and Gwydion concoct a plan: they create Blodeuwedd from flowers. Yet, in a twist to the tale, Blodeuwedd falls in love with someone else. 

To escape her marriage, she and her lover plot to kill Lleu by tricking him into revealing the secret of his immortality. Yet their plan fails. Though wounded, Lleu transforms into an eagle to escape. Gwydion transforms Blodeuwedd into an owl for her treachery, doomed to forever roam the night, shunned by other birds.

Loch Ness Monster, Scotland
Sightings of this legendary creature have a long history, with a Pictish carving supposedly depicting the flippered beast. A 7th-century text describes Saint Columba encountering a ‘water beast’ in the River Ness in AD 565. First, the beast killed a swimmer with a savage bite, later pursuing another man with a great roar. Invoking the name of God, Saint Columba banished the monster with the sign of the cross. 

In 1934, the iconic image of the humped, long-necked beast was solidified in the global imagination when an alleged photograph of it appeared in the Daily Mail. This and many other photographs have been revealed to be hoaxes, and sonar explorations to locate the monster have been fruitless. Despite this, the legend of the fabled creature endures.

Cornish Piskies, Cornwall
These sprightly fairy folk are small creatures, often wearing red pointed caps and clad in green rags, lichen or coats and breeches. Piskies love to play tricks on humans, and tales abound of their mischief, from stealing and hiding household items to knotting horses’ manes into fairy stirrups. Their common pastime is leading travellers astray by luring them off the path in the bogs and moorlands with their ‘pisky lights’. 

They are fond of revelry, especially singing and dancing in rings. Ever dualistic in nature, piskies are also known to help with chores around homes and farms, churning butter and stacking hay, especially if supper is left out for them overnight. It is sensible to turn your coat inside out to protect yourself from the piskies’ mischief.

Fionn mac Cumhaill, Northern Ireland
Fionn’s heroic deeds were chronicled in the Fenian Cycle, one of four major cycles of Irish myths recorded in the 12th century. Renowned for his strength and wisdom, Fionn (also known as Finn MacCool) was the leader of the Fianna, a band of warriors who defended the land from harm. One tale explains how the Giant’s Causeway came into existence. Fionn boasted of his strength so loudly that his claims reached the Scottish giant Benandonner, who issued a challenge. 

In response, Fionn built a causeway across the sea to reach his opponent. Yet on nearing Scotland’s shores, he saw Benandonner’s towering form and hastily retreated. The Scottish giant followed him, and Fionn’s quick-thinking wife disguised the hero as a baby. Astounded by the gigantic size of the child and imagining the father, Benandonner fled, destroying the causeway behind him. 

Black Shuck, East Anglia
The spectral black dog appears across many regions, as well as across Europe, yet nowhere is his spirit more alive than in East Anglia. Said to foretell death and destruction, this enormous hound wanders the countryside, his fiery saucer-like eyes aglow. He goes by many names, yet Black Shuck is the most familiar. 

A chilling tale tells how a fiendish dog appeared in flashes of fire at Bungay Church in 1577 during a violent storm. Cavorting like the devil himself, he wrung the necks of two praying parishioners. Soon after, he swung down from the roof of Blythburgh Church killing two men and a boy, as well as burning the hand of another, before bolting away. The church door is said to bear the hound’s claw marks to this day.

Grindylow, Northeast England
Lurking in the rivers, ponds and marshes of Lancashire and Yorkshire, grindylows are sprites with green skin and long arms, with sharp claws and teeth to match. Some of these water demons have garnered their own tales and earned their own fearsome identities, from Jinny or Jenny Greenteeth to Nelly Long-Arms and Peg O’Nell. Peg Powler, a water hag from the River Tees, is known for her green hair and unquenchable thirst for human life. 

In cautionary folktales used to keep children away from dangerous currents, Peg lures wayward souls to the water’s edge. Dragging them into the murky depths, she chooses to drown or devour them. River foam was often called Peg Powler’s ‘suds’ or ‘cream’. Strangely, Peg is believed to be particularly bloodthirsty on Sundays.

Selkies, Orkney and Shetland
These elusive creatures take on animal form while in the sea, yet both male and female magically transform into human form when shedding their seal skins to come ashore. Some engage in illicit affairs with humankind, even residing on land for a time, though they can ultimately never resist the sea’s call. 

A folktale first recorded in the 19th century recounts how a bachelor stole the skin of a frolicking selkie and soon became overwhelmed with love at her pleading for its return. She reluctantly consented to be his wife, bearing several web-fi ngered children. Yet her endless yearning for the sea remained. Finally retrieving her skin, the selkie wife rushed to the shore, greeting her selkie husband with delight, and forever disappeared into the waves.

(Text courtesy of Royal Mail, from the Presentation Pack - no attribution.)

Technical Details 

The 35 mm square stamps were designed by Godfrey Design with illustrations by Adam Simpson. They are printed in lithography on ordinary gummed paper perforated 14½ by Cartor Security Printers, in two sheets of 48.

Products available

Set of 8 stamps, first day cover, presentation pack, stamp cards, Beowulf & Grendel Medal Cover (5,000), framed stamp set.

Re: Comments 

In response to "Where was the publicity?", well, here for a start.

And here or here on the Royal Mail website.  Or in any Postmark Bulletin.

And the news media had it in spades:

BBC News website

 

Click on any image to see a larger version.

 

 

 

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Proof of posting now available at your local postbox, for parcels with online postage

Press Release 11 March 2025

Royal Mail customers can now use one of the 115,000 postboxes in the UK to drop off smaller parcels and packets and still receive a proof of posting receipt, using the Royal Mail app. The process takes a couple of clicks and takes advantage of GPS and the customer’s phone’s location services to make getting a proof of posting as simple as possible.

 

This new service enhancement has been launched as more and more customers are sending smaller parcels and packets due to the soaring popularity of selling clothes on second-hand fashion marketplaces.

A large proportion of parcels sent by Royal Mail customers fit in a postbox, making it a convenient option for those who have paid for postage online and printed a label, or who have a pre-printed return label. 

Royal Mail offers trusted services, including fully tracked options with next-day delivery. Prices start from as little as £1.55 online for a Second Class large letter or small parcel that fits through the letterbox. 

To use the service customers simply need to open the Royal Mail app, select ‘proof of posting’ and the postbox they are at will appear. They then scan their barcoded label, select ‘post now’ and the customers will receive their proof of posting confirmation message.

Nick Landon, Chief Commercial Officer at Royal Mail, said: “It is really important for customers to be able to prove when and where they posted their items, as well as having convenient drop off locations. This new service ticks both of these boxes.

“We are seeing more and more customers using second hand marketplaces to sell clothing and these items are likely to fit in a postbox. With the convenience of a UK-wide network of 115,000 postboxes located within half a mile of 98 per cent of addresses, customers don’t need to go out of their way to drop off their parcel.”

Royal Mail is rapidly expanding its number of parcel points to meet growing demand as people send and receive more parcels. In December, the company announced it was launching its own locker network, in addition to giving customers access to around 1,200 lockers and 6,500 Collect+ points at convenience stores in the last year.

This is in addition to 1,200 customer service points, 1,200 dedicated parcel postboxes and access to the Post Office’s 11,500 branches.

I can't wait to try it next time I have a small Amazon return!

 

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Denmark's Postal Service won't deliver letters after 30 December 2025.

Danish Post Box

According to an announcement on it's website, Denmark's state-run postal service, PostNord, is to end all letter deliveries at the end of 2025.   Letter numbers have fallen since the start of the century from 1.4 billion to 110 million last year.

Press Release

PostNord will deliver its final letter in Denmark at the end of 2025 and focus its business on one core service from 2026: Parcels. Our goal is to become the Danes' preferred parcel courier. We want to be the very best where Danes need us - and that's in parcels.

Danes have become more and more digital, and what was once sent by letter is now received digitally by the vast majority of people. This means that there are very few letters left in Denmark. In fact, letter volumes have decreased by over 90 percent since 2000, and the volume of letters continues to decrease rapidly.

On the other hand, Danes are shopping online like never before. This means, that there is a growing need for fast and good delivery of Danish parcels, and we at PostNord are well equipped to help. That's why we're now focusing on becoming even better where Danes need us most - on parcels.

What this means for you

In the short term, this will not affect you - we will continue to deliver letters as you know it for the rest of the year. From 2026, this means that you will no longer be able to send and receive letters with PostNord in Denmark.

If you need to send basic letters (Letters, Business Letters, Direct Mail and Magazine Mail), it must be handed in to us by 18 December 2025. The last day to hand in Quick Letters, Registered Letters, Letters with Return Receipt and Postal Services is 29 December 2025. We will deliver the last letters on December 30 2025.

We've made sure that all postal labels purchased in 2024 - or to be purchased in 2025 - can be refunded for a limited time in 2026 if you don't use them in 2025. We'll let you know more about how you can do this as soon as possible.

On 1 June 2025, we will begin removing the 1,500 mailboxes that are currently located around the country. We expect all mailboxes to be removed no later than 31 December 2025. The mailboxes that have not been removed can still be used. It will be marked on each mailbox well in advance when it will be removed.

From the FAQs

- You can send letters to and from abroad with PostNord for the rest of the year. PostNord Denmark has been appointed by the Ministry of Transport to handle international mail until 31 December 2025. After that, it will be up to the Ministry of Transport to decide, e.g. through a tender, who will handle the task in the future.  

- Throughout 2025, you will receive letters as usual with PostNord, but from 1 January 2026, it will no longer be PostNord, but other actors on the market, who delivers letters to Danes.

(PostNord's 29 krone inland letter rate has been undercut by an new parcel operator which also handles letters, for a still high 23 krone (£2.59). But since 2024 stamps could only be used on international, not inland mail.  The value of collections of Danish stamps has plummeted and if you like well produced colourful stamps as a sideline, now would be an opportunity to provide a mint collection for a fraction of the catalogue prices. Collectors and dealers will be feeling mightily disgruntled!)

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Postal rates 7 April 2025 - basic airmail rate and 1st Large Letter see biggest increases.

By now many of you will have seen news of Royal Mail's next price increases on stamp/Postcrossing forums or social media, but as yet there is no press release so we don't know what weasley words Royal Mail will use this time to justify some quite large rises.

Press Release added 2106 7 March:

Royal Mail carefully considers prices, balancing affordability with the increasing cost of delivering mail. 

Letter volumes have fallen from 20 billion a year in 2004/5 to 6.7 billion in 2023/4, and could fall to 4
billion a year within the next four years. Over the same period, the number of addresses has risen by four million meaning the cost of each delivery continues to rise.

Nick Landon, Chief Commercial Officer at Royal Mail said: “We always consider price changes very
carefully but the cost of delivering mail continues to increase. A complex and extensive network of trucks, planes and 85,000 posties are needed to ensure we can deliver across the country for just 87p.

“Ofcom has recognised that reform is urgently needed to protect the one-price-goes-anywhere Universal
Service which requires Royal Mail to deliver letters to around 32 million UK addresses six days a week.
Reform will allow continued investment in the modernisation and transformation of the business to
provide a more financially sustainable service.” 

Ends

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The new rate chart can be downloaded here.  New prices in bold, unchanged rates in italics, reduced price in red.  The differential between 2nd and 1st for a 100g Large Letter rises from £1.05 to £1.60 (and 12 months ago it was only 55p!). 

The 2nd class rate for 100-250g is reduced to below the April 2024 rate and is now only 15p more than the April 2023 rate, presumably reflecting market forces.  If it doesn't matter that 2nd class will only be delivered on alternate days this seems to be a much better option than 1st class. 

	1st		2nd
Letter	1.70	1.65	0.87	0.85
Large Letter – 100g	3.15	2.60	1.55	1.55
- 250g	3.60	3.50	2.00	2.10
- 500g	3.60	3.50	2.40	2.50
- 750g	3.60	3.50	2.70	2.70
Small Parcel 2kg	4.99	4.79	3.90	3.75
Medium Parcel 2kg	7.19	6.99	6.29	6.15
- 10kg	8.99	8.69	7.89	7.65
- 20kg	13.69	13.19	11.89	11.55

Special Delivery rates are also increased.  The 100g rate rises by 40p from £8.35 to £8.75, the 500g rate by 50p to £9.85. Increases for delivery by 9am are between 11% and 21%.

UK Tracked rates see minor increases.  The basic 1st class Large Letter rate is again raised by 10p to £3.70, the Small Parcel rate by 16p to £5.15.  The 2nd class rate remains at £2.80 for 750g the Small Parcel is up by 10p to £4.05. 

UK Signed is up from £3.35 to £3.60 1st class and from £2.55 to £2.77 for 2nd class.

International rates.   The basic letter rates are increased, but not the Large Letter and Parcel rates.  The airmail rate which increased in October from £2.50 to £2.80 goes up a further 40p to £3.20, and the surface rate is up 50p to £3.10.  This is bad news for Postcrossers!  It will bring a new barcoded definitive of £3.20; however creating either rate from special stamp issues is going to be more difficult especially with the size of new barcoded stamps to make up any shortfall.

A quick look at Premium services - International Tracked, Signed, and Tracked & Signed see changes of up to 15% but not at all levels.

The stamps

Prices for Large Letter Airmail stamps have remained static since January 2021, so it should be no surprise that they are now higher and will require new stamps.

Airmail rate stamps issued 27 March 2025: £3.20 spruce green (100g letter rate)
£3.50 Wood Brown (100g Large Letter Europe)
£4.20 Bright Blue (100g Large Letter Worldwide).

Technical details are the same as for other definitive stamps: printed in gravure on self-adhesive sheets of 25 by Cartor Security Printers.  The security codes are MAIL M25L.  The printing dates are 13, 14 & 15th January 2025 respectively (lowest to highest).

 Scan of actual stamps:

 

This post is now open for comments - and corrections.

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Is this the second in a new series? Garden Wildlife set of ten - 11 March 2025

Ahead of the next tariff increase Royal Mail will issue a set consisting only of 2nd class and 1st class stamps depicting Garden Wildlife.  As pointed out on Commonwealth Stamps Opinion, this follows a similar series of River Wildlife two years ago.

Might this mean Woodland, Moorland and Seashore Wildlife in future years? (I hope this doesn't put ideas into the minds of the stamp commissioners at Royal Mail - they do read this!)

This stamp issue is a celebration of the plethora of amazing species that inhabit the UK’s gardens, from frogs to foxes, bees to badgers.

It is estimated that there are some 24 million gardens in the UK which support a huge diversity of wildlife. Gardens can contain a wide range of habitats, including flowerbeds, shrubs, fruiting trees, lawns, ponds, vegetable plots, compost bins and woodpiles. When managed with wildlife at heart, they provide food, water and refuge to enable many species to thrive.

 

Garden Wildlife stamps issued 11 March 2025

The stamps

2nd class: Fox, Blackbird, Common Frog, Blue Tit, Badger

1st class: Smooth newt, Hedgehog, Robin, Buff-tailed Bumblebee, Garden Snail.

Technical Details and acknowledgements

The 41 x 30 mm stamps, designed by Stop, Look, Listen, are printed in litho by Cartor Security Printers in sheets of 50. The 2nd class do have the single phosphor band this time.

Fox © Rosemary Roberts/Alamy Stock Photo; Blackbird © Kim Taylor/naturepl.com; Common Frog and Robin © Mark Hamblin/2020VISION/naturepl.com; Blue Tit, photograph by Ben Birchall © PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo; Badger © Lee Hudson/Alamy Stock Photo; Smooth Newt © David Kjaer/naturepl.com; Hedgehog © Guy Edwardes/naturepl.com; Buff-tailed Bumblebee © Ernie Janes/naturepl.com; Garden Snail © Stephen Dalton/naturepl.com.

 

Collector Sheet

Not able to let an money-making opportunity go, Royal Mail have also produced a collector sheet with all 10 stamps alongside labels depicting the same species.   I wrote this about the Business Customised Sheets in 2011 six years before the facility was ended.

The stamp dealers, in conjunction with Royal Mail, were producing - in effect - glossy colourful posters, which happened to have 10 or 20 1st class stamps in them.  Purely money-making, not even philatelic. 

So Royal Mail are also producing unnecessary 'posters' which happen to have stamps in them, going so far as to use different printing process or paper (these are self-adhesive of course), so that collectors who must have everything want these as well.  It doesn't help that some preprinted albums and catalogues list the individual stamps separately even though they will never be used - at least not until sold for discount postage.  This is £13.70 compared with the £12.50 face value.  (After the tariff increase, of course, they will be worth more!)

2025 Garden Wildlife Collectors Poster with self-adhesive stamps

Products available

Set of 10 stamps, presentation pack, first day cover, stamp cards, collector sheet, framed set.

Previously from Royal Mail

Most people wouldn't regard the badger as a garden animal, though obviously some do visit gardens, though not as many as foxes, which are also not primarily garden animals, hence both featured in the 2004 Woodland Animals set on our website.  Incidentally we still have some of these limited edition (25) FDCs available for this issue: they marked the 1350th Anniversary of Dereham, and were postmarked at the town Post Office.

Woodland Animals 2004 first day cover - price now £7.50

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Marching on through 2025 another round of slogan postmarks and other postal markings.

Without any announcement from Royal Mail's press office (why do they not promote the organisations and campaigns they support?) we had a new slogan used on 1st March.  After that I expect a return to the normal default British Heart Foundation slogan, possibly with St Patrick's Day (though we didn't see anything for St David's Day).

Examples of the new slogan below - send us anything else you get that hasn't already been shown, please.

Alongside a logo, we have this slogan supporting uksaysnomore and Hestia .

TOGETHER WE CAN
END DOMESTIC ABUSE
& SEXUAL VIOLENCE

UKSAYSNOMORE.ORG | HESTIA.ORG 

The first example came on a letter from a customer in Cornwall - but the stamp made it impossible to work out what the postmark is all about.

UKSaysNoMore & Hestia slogan used Plymouth and Cornwall 01/03/2025

Fortunately this better image was offered by M, taken from a square envelope processed at Gatwick Mail Centre, also 01/03/2025

UKSaysNoMore & Hestia slogan used at Gtwick Mail Centre 01/03/2025

There should be the other layout from the other type of machine as well.

 

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UPDATE 6 MARCH: In predicting other slogans in use this month I didn't refer to previous years; had I done so I would have remembered International Women's Day which Royal Mail this time did mention on social media.

My latest return from the SwapOut scheme in Edinburgh was unnecessarily put through the ink-jet machine at the Mail Centre, which is how I first saw this new slogan used yesterday, I think.

International Women's Day slogan Edinburgh Mail Centre, probably 04-03-2025

UPDATE:  Thanks to RS for this example of the slogan from Medway Mail Centre 04-03-2025

International Women's Day slogan Medway Mail Centre, 04-03-2025

UPDATE 7 March.  Thanks to DB for this example of the other layout for the IWD slogan, from Lancashire & South Lakes (Preston) - but unfortunately with a mangled dateline.

International Women's Day slogan Preston Mail Centre, ??/03/2025

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Update 25 March.  I'm indebted to RW for a copy of the Mother's Day Slogan in use at Peterborough Mail Centre 24-03-2025.

Remember Mother's Day 30 March 2025 Peterborough Mail Centre 24-03-2025 (digitally enhanced).

UPDATE 30 March: Thanks to KD for supplying the other layout of this slogan, from Lancashire & South Lakes 26/03/2025

Remember Mother's Day 30 March 2025 Lancashire and South Lakes 26/03/2025

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Wrapping up March, after the Mother's Day campaign the British Heart Foundation default slogan was reused, and thanks to PE who posted me this one from Plymouth and Cornwall dated 29/03/25.

British Hearth Foundation default slogan incorrectly used on Horizon-paid letter at Plymouth and Cornwall mail centre 29/03/2025

 

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