Butterflies

Royal Mail's New Retail Booklet

On 11 July, Royal Mail issued a new Custom Booklet that I think is rather charming. The booklet contains 4 1st Class stamps in the new 'Royal Mail Red' with M13L date code and MCIL source code. The 'C' stands for Custom. The booklet also contains two 1st Class commemoratives. The Chalkhill Blue butterfly and the Comma butterfly. Although Royal Mail have this booklet listed as having been printed in Lithography it has been done in Grauvre. Royal Mail lists the printer as Cartor. It has been brought to my attention that these booklets were likely printed by Walsall. The two commemoratives are all-over phosphor. The definitives have two phosphor bands.

Stay Stamp Crazy!

Machin Diary 5

Bags of Fun!!

Recently I purchased a bag consisting of 1 Kilo of Machin stamps on paper. I haven't had much of a chance to delve into the mysterious depths of said bag just yet, but today I will be tackling it full force!!

These shots were taken on the day of arrival. Naturally I was exceedingly excited. Don't those bags, choke full of stamps, look simply marvelous? I believe is it time now to remove myself from the computer and start digging!!

I assure you, as readers of this blog, you will be the first to discover the bounty locked within these plastic bags!

Stay Stamp Crazy!

Machin Diary 4

Covered in Machins!!

Hi all. I just realised I haven't made a blog post in quite a while. I've been busy, busy, busy with my new Machin collection. 

Since the last dairy entry I wrote, I've been happily stockpiling lots and lots of new and used Machins. I have come to the decision that, not only do I want to build a collection to fit into the album pages I recently purchased (no mean feat!), but I also want to build a specialist collection of 1p Machins. Why, you may ask? Well, put simply, I have always been fascinated with 1p or 1d stamps. Especially red ones. I have a large collection of Australian KGV 1d reds that I've been working on for several years now that, at present, doesn't have an end in sight.

Anyway, back to Machins. In future diary entries I'll keep you updated on my progress with my 1p collection. But for now I thought it might be fun to share some of the covers I have recently received that are adorned with beautiful Machins. After all, postage is what these tiny masterpieces are for!!

This first cover has a 2012 Diamond Jubilee 1st Class self-adhesive stamp as well as an 8p rosine. Incidentally, the Diamond Jubilee stamp has no source code in the iridescent overprint, which means it is from a counter sheet.

This next cover has a 1p Dark Crimson (first printed 8 March 2011) with security U-slits. It also has a 5p Red Brown (8 March 2011) with security U-slts. Two lovely 9p orange stamps and a 63p Wales definitive are added to the mix.

When I saw this next cover in my mailbox, I instantly fell in love. It is delightful. Not only does it have a Doctor Who Mini Sheet affixed, it also has three spanking new Machins. First we have the 20p Light Green. This stamp was first issued on 8 March 2011. It was reprinted and released again on 3 January 2013 with an M12L date code. It has no source code so it is from a counter sheet. 

    The 50p Slate Grey was issued on the 3 January 2013 also. It too has a M12L date code and no source code. It is a real stunner, is this cover!!

Last but by no means least, we have a great make-up set of Machins totaling £1.88, the current overseas airmail rate for under 20g.

That's it for now. As always...

Stay Stamp Crazy!!