Norvic
Philatelics
New Machin definitive
& Country stamps - 29 March 2011
Royal Mail announced its
annual stamp price rises in December which will take effect
from 4 April 2011.
Postage rate changes which take
effect from 4 April - some over 12% - will require several new
stamps. The basic inland
rates will rise, 1st from 41p to 46p
& 2nd class from 32p to 36p.
There will be no 46p or 36p stamps as these rates are satisfied by the
existing 1st
class gold and 2nd class blue. The 'balancing' 10p in orange-brown
continues
in use.
Presentation
Pack - alert - scroll down!
Pre-issue images
of new Machin definitives and images of actual stamps. The first
show
an irridiscent overprint
but no year code.
The code is actually M11L (2011) - colour variation is
partly
due to scan settings.
   
 
|
|
The
Country Definitive 68p
& £1.10 values.
These images are of the actual stamps showing the addition of the
£ sign to the England top value.
The pre-release image of the £1.10 has no
'£' sign - they were probably not printed in this way, but it
would be interesting if they were.
|
The
basic rates for Large
Letters increase from 66p to 75p
(1st class) and from 51p to 58p
(2nd class) - satisfied by the existing NVIs.
The difference between the 1st
class and 1st class Large rates will be 29p (75p-46p) -
requiring 4 stamps unless the 9p is retained.
The difference between the 2nd class and 2nd class Large rates will be
22p (58p-36p) - satisfied by the existing 20p & 2p
stamps.
The difference between the 2nd class Large and 1st class Large
rates will be 17p (75p-58p) - satisfied by the existing
10p, 5p & 2p stamps.
The
Recorded Delivery fee is increased to 77p from 75p, which means that
the
(small) letter stamp will rise to £1.23 (from
£1.15) and the Large letter to £1.52 (from
£1.40).
International
rates also rise at this time:
Basic
Europe rate 20gr and postcards:
+8p to 68p
blue-green
and
country
stamps. Earlier
'E' rate stamps
still valid, as is the 20gr NVI issued last year.
Europe 40gr rate
increases from 88p to £1 - existing £1 ruby-red.
Basic
Worldwide rate 10gr
and postcards: +9p to 76p
- new stamp 76p pink.
Worldwide
20gr rate: +13p to £1.10,
new £1.10 sage-green
and
country stamps.
Worldwide
40gr rate: £1.65
up by 19p. New £1.65
olive-brown
The Surface mail 20gr
rate is increased from 58p to 66p,
no new stamp has been created.
New
Country Stamps
valued 68p and £1.10 will be issued for
England,
Scotland,
Northern
Ireland and Wales in existing
designs and colours.
Effect
on the Small Packet
rate used by us to send packets of stamps around the world!
The basic 100gr rate rises from
£1.31 to £1.49 for European destinations, and from
£1.82 to £2.07 for the rest of the world.
Higher weights are similarly affected, of course.
As an example the 260g rates rise from £2.37(E) and
£3.96(W) to £2.49 & £4.06.
However, 300g rates are reduced and subsequent rate steps
have been reduced with the new rates adding 55p and £1.11 for
each 100g respectively for Europe and Worldwide (previously 12p, 11p or
10p (E) and 24p or 22p (W) for 20g steps). See all the
details in the Royal Mail rates pdf (see link at the top of the page).
Presentation
Pack - alert!
This
is what the presentation pack looks like. All around the
country packs are being sold from Post Offices without the low value
stamps issued on 8 March. This is a mistake in make-up by
Royal Mail or their suppliers. The price of the pack
£5.10 includes the five low-value stamps worth 38p.
If you have bought a pack with only 4 stamps in, go back to
the Post Office or phone Post Office Customer Services to complain -
(on 08457 22 33 44*. Lines are open from 8.15am - 6.00pm Monday to
Friday and 8.30am - 2.00pm Saturday.)
Note that the stamps in the
pack have been guillotined (possibly from coils) not torn from sheets.
The backing paper is thus much smaller than on the sheet
stamps. If your pack is missing the 1p - 20p stamps you want
the guillotined ones to put in it, not
stamps torn
from sheets.
Technical
information
All the new Machin definitive stamps will be self-adhesive, printed by
De
La Rue in gravure in sheets of 25/50. They will have security cuts and
the iridescent overprint.
The Country definitives will be
litho printed on ordinarily gummed paper by Cartor Security Print ialso
in sheets of 25/50. They will have no security features.
Special
postmarks available on the day of issue will be shown here.
|
Ref
FD1114 -
official pictorial FDI Windsor postmark
Ref FD1113 -
official pictorial FDI Tallents House postmark
Ref FD1115 -
official pictorial FDI London postmark
Ref FD1116 -
official pictorial FDI Edinburgh postmark
Ref FD1117 -
official pictorial FDI Cardiff postmark
Ref FD1118 -
official pictorial FDI Belfast postmark
And co-located non-pictorial postmarks for all except Tallents
House,
same
reference numbers with suffix 'NP' |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
| Ref S6039 -
Belfast
operational cds postmark |
Ref W6038 -
Cardiff
operational cds postmark |
Ref S6040 -
Edinburgh
operational cds postmark |
Ref S6041 -
Glasgow 2
operational cds postmark |
Ref S6042 -
Glasgow 10
operational cds postmark |
A postmark
similar to
this is available on
29 March from the Midland Special Handstamp Centre but the number
has
not yet been announced. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Additionally,
any postmarks available on this date may also be applied
to FDCs
- see Permanent
postmarks and Other
one-day
postmarks |
|
| Ref W5097 -
Cardiff
permanent handstamp. |
Ref S4653 -
Edinburgh
permanent handstamp. |
Ref S4641 -
Belfast
permanent handstamp. |
Ref E4680 -
Windsor
Castle, Royal Mail permanent handstamp |
|
If
you wish to be told
when
this page is updated, please use the ChangeDetection panel alongside
the stamps.
This
page updated 1 April
2011
Instant
Printing Prices
from Webmart