Norvic Philatelics: Modern British Postal History

How much longer will Queen Elizabeth Horizon Labels last?

2026-09-17T14:52:21.460+01:00

Although I don't buy anything from eBay these days I do get quite a lot of mail from eBay sellers. This is because many sellers won't send to the People's Republic of China. I have a contact there for whom I used to make UK maximum cards, and having built the trust I readily agreed to act as a clearing house for his all purchases of Shanghai and other postcards, and then I ship them in bulk every few months.

The introduction of the Tracked 24 and Tracked 48 services (which can't be paid for with stamps) meant that more letters and packets were sent using plain white labels. rather than Horizon labels.

Additionally eBay has made many changes since I last bought, one of which is the provision of postage labels, bought either through PayPal or eBay held funds. I won't go into details but this has been the subject of much debate among those who do use the system.

So most of the modern postage labels are printed either at home or at the post office on plain white labels such as this.

Postage label paid and printed from eBay.

When I do get something with a Horizon label it is usually a King Charles III one, so it was a surprise when this one arrived this morning with a Queen Elizabeth II version.

QE2 Horizon label used 14 September 2026 from Eynsham Drive SE2.

This is from the branch at 166 Eynsham Drive, London, Greater London SE2 9PT.

So, this set me to wondering where else still has stocks of these old labels?

If you receive any please let me know.

Hey, I got a letter with a stamp on! How many 2nd Large solo use have you seen?

2026-07-30T11:02:21.018+01:00

The cover shown below was posted in Norwich yesterday and was delivered here near Dereham today, which is unexpectedly good, especially as a lot of local mail is routed through Peterborough mail centre before being returned to Norfolk.

King Charles III 2nd Large definitive M24L used on cover 29 July 2026.

The cost of this is £1.55, which pays no other rate, domestic or international, so this is the only way to get it used by itself (aside from deliberate underpayment). You could use it with a 5p and 20p to make the basic 1st class (standard) letter, but that might confuse.

Unlike some rates (eg 1st class domestic x 2 = 100g standard airmail worldwide), there isn't even a neat way to use two of them together: one would need to add 20p to make the 1st Large rate.

If - and it's a big IF - collectors are trying to build a collection of usages of King Charles definitives, this could be one of the more difficult if you live outside the UK.

Mail to Australia - correctly paid in 1990 but underpaid in 1970.

2026-07-25T11:35:21.258+01:00

Reader MikeM has sent two examples of mail to Australia. The 1970 letter is underpaid, the 1990 postcard properly paid but with an unusual postmark.

Starting with the postcard. 29p paid the worldwide airmail postcard from 2 October 1989 to 16 September 1990 when it rose to 31p. For the collector of 'solo use' this is the obvious way to find them.

29p Machin solo use on airmail postcard to Australia 25 May 1990.

The original deep mauve stamp was issued in 26 September 1989 in sheets printed by Harrisons on phosphor paper (SG X979). It was also printed in booklets of 4, in litho by Walsall, and issued on the date the rate came into force, 2 October 1989. These litho printings are quite distinctive, not least because the stamps have two phosphor bands and the booklet pane is imperforate on three sides. These (SG X1054) should not be difficult to find.

Although these booklets were available from most post offices they were also sold by tourist destinations in addition to the domestic rate booklets. Having one worldwide rate meant that they only had one airmail booklet to stock.

The booklet was reprinted on phosphor paper and issued on 17 April 1990 with imperforate edges as before (SG X1055). This is probably more difficult to find due to its shorter usage period.

From 17 September 1990 the 29p stamp paid the under 10gr airmail rate for Printed Papers to Zones A and B (basically the whole world outside Europe excluding Australasia and the far east of Asia. I suspect these are much more difficult to find.

Mike's other piece is pre-decimal, a 1970 letter also to Australia, bearing the rarely seen 2 x 10d stone stamps, SG 741. The potential problem here is that 2 x 10d = 1s 8d, and the correct rate was 1s 9d. evidently the Post Office didn't take the time to surcharge this international item for 1d, but they were not slow to do so for domestic mail.

Pair of 10d drab stamps on Airmail letter to Australia, May 1970, underpaying the 1s 9d rate by 1d.

The question which will never be answered is why were the 10d stamps used at all? I don't think it was because the writer used them for an 8 ounce inland letter in July1968 when issued, or for a 10 ounce second class letter after the introduction of two-tier post from 16 September 1968.

Much more likely is that they had some for sending airmail postcards to Australia, as 10d was the rate from 3 October 1966 to decimalisation on 15 February 1971.

Or perhaps the sender was a collector, using a variety of stamps on different letters? Whatever the circumstances they got the rate wrong!

Relaunch of the Postal History of the World blog.

2026-07-19T11:35:27.886+01:00

Five years after I set it up I have made the first substantive post to my World Postal History blog.

Read about the connection between a registered airmail cover from Soviet Russia to England and a famous Hollywood film star.

Exploring Russian language, political place-name changing and industrial development, this story took an unexpected turn.

Christmas 2025 produces a mixed bag of modern postal history!

2025-12-30T15:39:00.000+00:00

We always expect at the busy Christmas period there will be oddities in the mail. No longer postmarks from Universal machines, but sometimes oddities of other sorts.

Of course the invalidation of the old Machin and country definitives has opened up more opportunities for Royal Mail Revenue Protection teams to show how they have been confused by management decisions and a lack of clear information.

It is obvious that they need huge posters in the mail centres that can be seen from the other side of the room: then maybe individual operators would not refer so much to the RP teams, and the RP teams wouldn't find so many occasions to get it wrong.

Of course some just can't be bothered, hence this one was delivered in December 2025 - no date sadly - but it was, without postal markings or surcharge. (And no, it wasn't hand delivered with the stamp just a decoration.)

This one, on the other hand.... if you don't follow the GB new issues blogs (mine and Commonwealth Stamps Opinion) you might be forgiven for not recognising that this is a recently issued stamp.

Sure, it looks a bit like the 5d one issued in 1970 but I doubt that anyone working as a postman now remembers that. No, this has the head of King Charles on it and was issued on 27 November 2025.

And here it is, used and processed through Birmingham Mail Centre on 18th(?) December 2025. Three weeks and it's surcharged as being 'No Longer Valid for Postage', surely the quickest invalidation of any British stamp! (My thanks to Not Bruce on Stampboards for this.)

If anybody has other examples of Christmas season madness, please email them to me for inclusion here.

More properly used special stamps - but they aren't very common

2025-12-09T15:19:00.003+00:00

It's 12 months since I started the last post on usage of special stamps in a normal period of use, usually reckoned to be up to six months after issue. There are so many new issues nowadays that unless people specifically want to use one from a particular set, you are likely to use the latest one that they can get. With Christmas coming it's a chance for some examples of the less common Large Letter and Airmail Christmas stamps to make an appearance.

But first some older ones which were provided by readers.

2nd class dog stamp issued in June used in September 2024

2nd class dog stamp issued June 2024 used in September.

2nd class Churchill stamp issued 30 November used 19 December 2024.

2nd class Churchill stamp issued 30 November used 19 December 2024.

Valour & Victory Stamps used in the months after issue

Valour & Victory 1st class stamp, featuring Lillian Bader, used 29/07/2025

Valour & Victory Thomas Pierson Frank used 26/08/2025.

Valour & Victory Mahinder Singh Pujii, used from Cornwall 24/09/2025.

Valour & Victory William Tutte, Bletchley Park Codebreaker, used from Cornwall, 18/10/2025.

Dungeons and Dragons: a reader in the Phillipines wanted the D&D set, so these are two covers I sent to have them properly used. A pair of 1st class, a pair of £2.50 and a 10p definitive paid the rate for International Signed For. Contrived philatelic? of course, but still used at the right time.

Monopoly - a pair of 1st class used for the £3.40 rate to Canada (thanks to SS)

Se-tenant pair of 1st class Monopoly stamps paying the £3.40 rateto Canada November 2025

Christmas 2025 - we'll all get some, but how many of us will get all of them?

2nd class on postcard used internally

£3.40 airmail rate to Canada used 14 November (thanks to SS).

2025 Christmas £3.40 (airmail rate) to Canada 14/11/2025

Will there be more? Of course, it would be especially nice to see the Queen Victoria stamps on stamps. Send us scans and we will add them here.

Unusual surcharge label appears over two years after stamp invalidations

2025-11-07T14:44:00.002+00:00

Following on from the previous post of an Antigua stamp being accepted through the mail at Sheffield Mail Centre, JW has sent this image from Reddit of a Christmas stamp being rejected by Royal Mail's Revenue Protection team somewhere.

Christmas 2010 1st class stamp declared invalid in 2025.

This one has a 2010 1st class Wallace & Gromit Christmas stamp which has been declared 'No Longer Valid for Postage'. I'm hesitant to say that this label hasn't been reported before - I certainly can't recall it but surely it has been recorded somewhere?

Surcharge label with QR code - try it, it works!

Ironically, if Revenue Protection officers who applied this label had scanned the code it would have taken them to the Royal Mail app, specifically this page:

From the Royal Mail app Swap Out Scheme page

Whilst the 2010 stamp isn't shown, there is a Christmas stamp there. Basically it's nonsense, incompetent and it's about time Revenue Protection sorted themselves out.

And if they can't get it right, why should the general public?

There are over 50 comments on that Reddit thread at least 7 users were telling everybody else, sometimes repeatedly, that all stamps had to have baarcodes. One of the people putting them right was a postmaster however, so hopefully seven more people now know the true position. Sadly none of them appear to work for Revenue Protection.

But back to the QR code - has anyone seen this before?

Aything goes - sometimes!

2025-11-05T13:48:00.002+00:00

There is little distinctive now about Royal Mail's stamp issues to make them stand out from those of any other country - save that they have a tiny profile of the monarch's head on - and they aren't unique in that respect.

Wildlife, comic-book heroes, film and tv franchises - not quite as prolific as Australia but many of these subjects have appeared from other stamp-issuing territories around the world.

That's the only explanation for this escaping the attention of Revenue Protection officers.

Antigua & Barbuda $2 Star Trek stamp depicting Lt Sulu used at Sheffield Mail Centre 31/10/2025

Yes, it's StarTrek, marked 5 years ago by Royal Mail and covering the whole franchise which explains the omission of Lt Sulu from the set.

But Sheffield Mail Centre happily passed this one through as if it was, what? 2nd class? £2? The British stamps didn't even have the name of the show on them, the only caption being to identify the characters.

(Lest anyone thinks that inclusion of 'Great Britain' in the address means that it originated outside the UK, my correspondent assures me that it came from Goole.)

But it's not the first, and won't be the last. Last year (as shown on the other blog) Royal Mail - and possibly Post Office Ltd - accepted this set of WWF stamps - from Tristan da Cunha!

And we have previously been able to report this one from 2015 with a couple of stamp-on-stamps from St Helena, a pair of kestrels from the Falkland Is, and one Jersey stamp making the £1.41 rate - and cancelled at a post office branch in Rochdale.

With millions of mail items being processed daily of course some will slip through - that's how 60/70 years ago it was possible to have letters delivered bearing national insurance stamps, green shield trading stamps, and other non-postage stamps.

But there aren't so many now and the equipment is more sophisticated. But really, one thematically illustrated postage stamp looks much like another. 70 years ago it wasn't worth charging postage due when it was only 6d and it cost more to collect it. With 'Unpaid' charges now being astronomically higher, that argument doesn't apply.

But they are all fun to collect - let us know if you have any more,

Some Royal Mail operatives still getting it wrong on validity.

2025-08-16T15:54:00.003+01:00

It's been quite a long time since anybody reported having perfectly valid stamps declared invalid, and then two arrive almost together. I think I can see why there might be confusion, but at by now, there shouldn't be.

The first one, from JR, had the 2007 1st class Lion for the World Cup 2007 Smilers Sheet, or MS; of course the similar definitive is no longer valid but....

The complaints process has been started!

£2.50 surcharge on 1st class 'Wembley' Lion stamp, used July 2025.

The second, from IY, has the 2018 2nd class Christmas stamp. It's pre-datamatrix (which started in 2021) but that doesn't matter, because in 2021 the 2nd & 1st class stamps were issued in both formats and both remain valid!

In this case a refund of a booklet of 1st class stamps was 'paid out' by Royal Mail - but the customer is not only inconvenienced initially but then again in the effort to get a refund.

£2.50 surcharge on 2nd class 2019 Christmas stamp used May 2025.

Who else has had this problem this year?

It's sadly no surprise that there are more. This one from CP shows the 175^th Anniversary of the Penny Black 6 x 1^st retail booklet, processed at Chester Mail Centre. Unfortunately the yellow labels don't indicate where they were applied. This time the stamp is identified as 'Counterfeit', rather than 'No Longer Valid'. This seems like guesswork to me.

1d black 175th anniversary stamp mis-identified as Counterfeit

Blog updates.

2025-06-09T12:41:00.001+01:00

I'm sorry there has not been much added here recently but that it largely down to far fewer instances of mail being surcharged, and less confusion over validity. It also seems that the crackdown on the use of forged definitive and commemorative stamps is paying off, as there haven't been many of these either.

I've today added to this post Proactive methods to avoid surcharged or delayed mail

Universal Mail UK - International Postcard Stamps usage

2024-12-31T17:10:00.001+00:00

From time to time I get asked about these stamps, which are widely sold from tourist attractions, and often exclusive to them. I suspect that is largely because my original webpage on the story of these still features at or near the top of search engine listings.

UniversalMail UK Ltd was established in 2006 following deregulation of the UK postal industry.

While most of Royal Mail's competitors have concentrated on the high-volume mass-mail and business market, leaving Royal Mail to do the final sorting and delivery, UniversalMail UK has an access agreement with Royal Mail which enables any postcard or envelope(*) bearing a UniversalMail UK postage stamp to be posted to any detination outside the UK through the extensive network of Royal Mail post boxes, located throughout the country.

All UniversalMail UK postage stamps are also accepted over the counter at Royal Mail Post Office branches. UniversalMail UK’s clients include tourist operators, regional tourist offices (information centres), hotels, general retailers and souvenir shops.

The first stamps were self-adhesive, produced in October 2008.

Although they originally provided stamps for 20g letters this was a short-lived facility and now only stamps for postcards are sold. Nonetheless, they are all only for international addresses.

Some people who write about these complain to me, despite the clear statement that we are not involved in the UMUK service at all. The latest, just before Christmas, was to a UK resident "sent by a friend from New Zealand staying in London at the time".

Christmas card stamped with Universal Mail UK International Postcard stamp, rightly surcharged as being unpaid.

If anybody has any examples of these properly or improperly used I'll be pleased to add them.

I tested the system in the early days and some were improperly processed through the Royal Mail international system and passed to the postal authority in the destination country. I'll add examples later.

More Great Britain special stamps on cover.

2024-11-08T12:55:00.006+00:00

I am starting a new post on this since the postage rates were increased again in October. Please send images of any special stamps (except Christmas low values) used on letters or parcels.

A customer is still using up Peppa Pig stamps (issued 16 May) when writing to me: sad to see that using the £2 stamp produces a cover only overpaid by 35p at the new 1st class rate.

Peppa Pig £2 stamp (issued 16 May 2024) used 7 November to pay first class rate of £1.65

Porridge 2nd class used quite soon after issue.

2nd class 'Porridge' stamp used soon after issue probably early October.

Update 29 June 2025. I've received a few more special stamps on cover, some from customers using up stamps so occasionally well over the rate for 1st class. But not really valid for a collection of proper usage.

Porridge £2.50 x2 used inland for £1.70

Porridge £2.50 used inland for £1.70 1st class rate May 2025

The other Porridge £2.50 used inland for £1.70 1st class rate June 2025

Valour & Victory Violette Szabo 1st class used 21/06/2025

I'll repeat the conclusion of the previous post:

So what can we conclude? Use of modern stamps is scarce - missing from the 2024 issues are Spice Girls, Dinosaurs, Dungeons & Dragons, Porridge (but used in 2025), Spiders...

But I will harvest a few usages from the Stampboards forum where some others have been shown. I do have a report of a Spice Girls 1st class used with a 1st class Machin on a postcard to Australia, but there is no postmark.

If you receive any, especially from businesses or friends and family, then I would be interested to record them, obscuring addresses. Given their general scarcity, it would also be useful to record when dealers and other collectors are using new stamps, given the relatively cheap postage deals available.

Scans, rather than photos, please and no more than 200 dpi - smartphone photos are megabytes tooo big!

Special stamps are so scarce when new, that they should be kept on cover/parcel piece.

2024-07-15T17:28:00.009+01:00

Hardly a day passes without somebody writing on social media, stamp forums, in the philatelic press, or as a comment to me, that "nobody uses modern stamps".

What the commenter really means is, "ordinary people don't use modern stamps", because some dealers, some collectors, and many many Postcrossers do. And whilst even correspondence between dealers and collectors in either direction could be classed as 'commercial' (ie 'in the course of business/commerce') rather than purely philatelic, the numbers are declining year on year.

One reason is that Post Office Ltd do not allow sales of special stamps at a considerable number of branches, most often those operating out of small shops, with limited secure storage. Another is the large number of Outreach/Mobile branches, where the postmaster often doesn't take special stamps 'because nobody asks for them'. The old Catch-22 situation: if nobody knows they exist, they won't ask for them. And of course PO Ltd pay a larger (though still small) commission for the use of labels rather than stamps.

So I thought I would use this post to show some of the special stamps that have been used in the last few years, just to show that some do get used.

1st class Red Arrows stamp used within a month of issue 12 July 2024 (from customer).

Another 1st class Red Arrows stamp used within a month of issue 17 July 2024 (from another customer).

1st class Peppa Pig stamp used within weeks of issue 26 May 2024 (a different customer)

1st class Vikings stamp used a week after issue - 26 February 2024

1st class Weather stamp used a few weeks after issue 9 March 2024 (customer)

1st class Weather stamp used two weeks after issue17 February 2024

Blackadder 2nd class stamp issued 17 May 2023 and used within the following week.

Blackadder 2nd class stamp used December 2023 (issued May 2023)

1st class Robin Hood stamp used 14 April 2023, the day after issue (collector/contributor)

UDPATE 20 August

Yeoman Warders Tower of London 1st class stamp issued 13 August used 19 August 2024 (Customer)

A selection of others recently acquired and not in any particular order. Some of these have been supplied, others are mine (click on them to see a larger image):

Only Fools & Horses 1st class issued 16 Feb, used 8 November 2021.

Rupert Bear 2nd class issued September 2020, used July 2021.

2nd class Battle of Tewkesbury (Wars of the Roses) issued May, used December 2021

Rupert Bear 2nd class issued September 2020, used October - greetings card, social.

2nd class Roman Britain issued June 2020, used July 2021 (ebay postcard seller)

Gruffalo 1st class issued October 2019, used January 2020.

UPDATE 31 July 2024: Another 1st class Peppa Pig (issued in May)

The other 1st class Peppa Pig stamp issued in May, used 30/7/2024

So what can we conclude? Use of modern stamps is scarce - missing from the 2023 issues are Iron Maiden, X-men, Flying Scotsman, Flowers, Coronation MS, Warhammer, Windrush, River Wildlife, Discworld, Paddington Bear, Shirley Bassey, and Harry Potter!

Scans, rather than photos, please and no more than 200 dpi - smartphone photos are megabytes tooo big!

War is a tragedy but can sometimes throw up unexpected postal history

2024-06-19T14:39:00.003+01:00

If you tried to send a letter from the UK to Palestine at the present time you would find it rejected at the PO counter (I hope) or returned if you dropped it into a postbox as the service is currently suspended.

Likewise mail to Israel experiences delays due to disrupted flights. Mail to both Russia and Ukraine is still being despatched but is subject to delay, while there has been no service to Crimea or the Donbass regions since 2014.

On the other hand, the United States Postal Service suspended sendings to both Russia and Belarus in March 2022.

SH has sent pictures of a cover shared with him by a Postcrosser. The letter was addressed from the UK to Belarus but mis-sorted to the United States. Normally such mis-sorts would simply be re-routed to the correct destination. But in this case there is no US-Belarus service, so the item was returned to sender, suitably endorsed.

A great item to add to a collection of postal history of the UK, US or Belarus, Russia or Ukraine!

UK - Belarus letter mid-2024 returned to sender after mis-sorting to the USA. Yellow USPS 'Unable to Forward' label.

USPS's fuller explanation of suspension and advice to claim refund of postage paid.

This is the first item I have seen of this sort. I shall post it on a couple of stamp forums to find out if there are any others - there should be from the USA, but not so many from the UK!

Ultra-modern Postal History: the transition period 2023 onwards

2023-11-21T17:22:00.005+00:00

The first definitive (NVI and £2.20) stamps bearing the likeness of King Charles III were issued on 4 April 2023 and are detailed in our 'new stamps' blog.

As His Majesty had stressed that there should be no waste arising from his succession, to minimise any environmental impact, existing stocks of definitive stamps that feature Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth would continue to be distributed and remain valid for use.

Although further valued stamps were issued in August these have not, at the time of writing, been seen in Post Office branches after the day of issue. Stamps supplied in the Royal Mail Swapout scheme (exchanging now invalid Machin and Country definitives) have only been Queen Elizabeth stamps.

This can clearly only continue while stocks of Queen Elizabeth stamps remain available in Post Office stores and at Royal Mail's warehouse. Before long we will see non-philatelic examples of mail with postage paid by King Charles stamps - or a mixture of those and Queen Elizabeth stamps.

Here is an example of a packet sent to Canada by the International Signed service, costing £11.20 with postage paid by 11 x £1 and a single 20p Queen Elizabeth stamp.

November 2023 International Signed 101-250g letter sent to Canada, with £11.20 in Datamatrix Machins all properly cancelled at Petersfield, Hampshire.

Unfortunately for collectors of Postal History, current practice at Post Offices is to use Horizon labels for postage on this sort of post. So this was more than likely sent by a dealer or collector.

Mixed frankings

Mixed frankings have, in the past, been eagerly collected. There will always be philatelic examples produced by collectors and dealers, but as supplies of some QE values are exhausted other values may continue to be available.

Here's one I sent earlier(!), in May 2023 when old-style Machin stamps were still valid. I sent this to the USA with a mix of old Machins (to use them up) and a few datamatrix stamps. It's a bit messy because the Norwich Mail Centre decided to cancel the stamps which had already been cancelled at the Post Office Counter.

The rate for the up to 100g letter was £4.20 (£3.62 old plus 58p new). The King Charles low-value stamps had not been issued at this time.

Under 100g letter sent by International Standard mail to the USA; postage of £4.20 paid by £3.62 still-valid old Machin and 58p new datamatrix stamps.

However, as with early First Flight covers (many sent by the leading dealer Francis J Field) this sort of thing may not exist if it was not for dealers and collectors.

MIXED FRANKINGS PART II - UPDATE 5 December

The next stage in Mixed Frankings comes after the invalidation of the old Machin and Country definitives on 31 July 2023. Now there is the opportunity for a mixture of Queen Elizabeth and King Charles definitives.

When the latter were first issued on 29 August collectors and dealers took the opportunity to create philatelic mixed frankings, but not all post office branches received any significant stocks, in line with the King's instruction that there should be no waste and that the stamps of the previous reign should be used up rather than being wasted.

At the time of writing there have been no reports of King Charles stamps being supplied in the Swap Out scheme.

It is only now, in December that King Charles definitives are being supplied to post office branches as a matter of course. PA sent this picture of two covers produced from this situation; his description is below the picture.

Pair of covers from different post office branches with a mix of Queen Elizabeth and King Charles definitive stamps, November 2023. [1] 5p, 20p QE, 50p KC. [2] 5p, 10p QE, 3 x 20p KC.

"Whilst they might appear philatelic, in fact the Cruden Bay Outreach (lower cover) is as supplied by the P.O. (28 Nov) and in the case of the Chudleigh one I supplied the 5p and 20p whilst the P.O. added the 50p King (25 Nov)"

Cruden Bay is in Aberdeenshire, and Chudleigh is in Devon.

So that is the start: the King Charles stamps are starting to appear, so check out your local post office branches, especially those that do a lot of business, and please let me know what you find, or receive through the post.

UPDATE 8 January 2024 - sheet versions of the 2nd class Charles stamps were on sale in my Crown PO in Dereham last week, but not booklets. I wonder how long it will be before the supermarkets start asking for Charles stamps - they have been known in the past to influence what they are supplied with.

UPDATE 10 June 2024 - Royal Mail decided to stop selling Queen Elizabeth Machin datamatrix definitives from 1 June, but country definitives continue. However, Post Office branches and other outlets continue to sell the stamps that they have: King Charles stamps are becoming more common, and the first have now been received from their SwapOut scheme.

Royal Mail have been strongly criticised by the public and politicians for their policy of raising a £5 surcharge on mail with allegedly counterfeit stamps. The pressure built up when postmen said that the free stamps they were given at Christmas had been surcharged (they would have been Christmas stamps rather than definitives), as had mail with the stamps people received from the SwapOut according to other reports.

So this - although without any definitives - may be an indication that Revenue Protection are being more careful or checking more.

For full write-up on the 'why' of this mark, see our other blog.

I'll use this post to add more covers, both inland and international, with any of the new stamps and especially either mix of old and new.

Proactive methods to avoid surcharged or delayed mail

2023-11-07T12:12:00.006+00:00

I recently found a cover from America with a label on the reverse which I showed in our regular blog. It was applied to incoming mail to remind the UK recipient of the correct postage rates if they sent a reply.

Royal Mail rates reminder label, USA or Canada 2001

In that blog I asked if anybody had any others, and I am grateful to a couple of readers who sent me copies of other examples, which I will show in chronological order. Remember these are always applied to the reverse of the cover.

From the website of the Great Britain Philatelic Society*

On 20th October 1986 a concessionary rate for members of the EEC (EU from 1993) had been introduced for all-up mail – the lowest weight step letter rate (up to 20g) became equal to the minimum inland first class rate. The distinction was retained for European airmail in 1991 but the rates became equal again in 1998.

This label was introduced as a reminder that the EU rate no longer applied and that the basic rate for all letters to Europe mail was 30p from 6 April 1998.

26p first class rate no longer valid to Europe (including the Republic of Ireland), the rate now being 30p.

One price of 30p for Europe up to 20g - this applies to the Republic of Ireland.

Rates changed twice in 1999 but we don't have any labels for that period. The next change was from 27 April 2000 when another range of labels was put into use. I don't know when these were introduced nor why there are two different styles

Replying to anywhere in Europe, including the Republic of Ireland, now 36p for 20g.

Replying to USA or Canada 10g 45p, 20g 65p (from 27.4.2000).

Replying to Australia or New Zealand, now 65p for up to 20g (no mention of 45p for 10g).

A vertical format was used for some labels for the rate from 2 July 2001 and the label has a number - OE1060, but the previous "Don't guess it"style continued.


If replying, Airmail rates to the Republic of Ireland are 20g - 37p (from 2.7.2001)

If replying to the Republic of Ireland 20g 37p, 40g 52p (from 2.7.2001)

The rates were changed again from 4 July 2002 and the vertical format continued, form number OE1061.

If replying, airmail rates to US & Canada are 10g 47p, 20g 68p etc (from 4.7.2002)

My thanks to SC for the vertical Ireland label, and MM for the rest. I think I have some somewhere, and if you have any of these or similar reminder labels, please send images to the address at top right.

UPDATE 9 June 2025.

I'm sorry to say that I haven't had time look for any other labels, but I'm grateful to MM for sending this example tailored to the USA which covers postage rates from November 1993 to July 1996. This would have been applied to mail incoming from the US, so that the recipient knew the correct rate for the reply.

Reminder of the rates to the USA 1993-96.

* Postage rates and many other resources are available free on the website of the Great Britain Philatelic Society. But there is much more available to members only, so why not join?

Barcoded country definitive use - show us yours!

2023-09-20T09:32:00.007+01:00

As we all know, country definitive stamp usage was not high before the invalidation of the gummed ones and introduction of the barcoded self-adhesive ones. There was anecdotal evidence last year that the new ones were proving more popular.

I thought it would be useful to record non-philatelic use of these stamps in an attempt to get all of the 2nd & 1st class ones, at least, and find out how long it took to get the set of 8. If I can get international use of any, including the airmail rate, then I'll add that.

These were issued on 11 August 2022, so this first use is over 12 months after issue. If you have earlier ones that are not philatelically inspired, please send images and an explanation.

Update 13 January 2025. When compiling this post I overlooked an email from 2022 in which MM sent me this image of a Scotland 1st class barcoded usage on 5 October 2022. Apologies - still not many though!

1st class Scotland barcoded country definitive used in October 2022.

MM also wrote:

We have just returned from a week-long trip to Mull and Iona, and I am happy to report that barcoded regionals are seeing a healthy usage there.

Tobermory post office had 1st and 2nd class.

Craignure had 1st and 2nd class AND the £1.85 “thistle”. The two staff there were just the most OBLIGING people EVER. They came round to my side of the counter to check where I wanted handstamps applying!

Fionnphort had 2nd class

Iona had 2nd class.

The very pleasant lady in Craignure told me that it had been hard work getting hold of the barcoded stamps as it was difficult to find them on the online order form.

This post was prompted by the receipt by my mother from my cousin of the first one I have seen, the 1st class Wales used from Ceredigion and postmarked Chester & N Wales 08/09/2023.

1st class Wales barcoded country definitive used in September 2023.

Update 5 October:

My thanks to JF for sending this clipping of a 2nd class Northern Ireland barcoded stamp used locally on 2 October 2023.

2nd class Northern Ireland barcoded country definitive used October 2023.

These 2nd class England & Wales examples were sent in for the postmark and was first shown on the main news blog.

England 2nd class barcoded definitive used 16/02/204 in Birmingham - may be philatelic

Wales 2nd class barcoded definitive used 29/02/2024 in Lancashire - probably philatelic

UPDATE 1 February 2025. On the other blog, Lars Tåders reports buying the 2nd class Scotland in Billericay Essex, when he went for the Royal Armouries new issue!

Any more non-philatelic uses?

In the post after the Machin and Country definitives invalidation on 31 July 2023

2023-08-22T14:14:00.011+01:00

My plan in this post is to show how Royal Mail treat items posted with the postage paid entirely or partly with recently invalidated stamps. We know that a further unofficial grace period seems to have been granted in some areas for mail to work through the pipeline. Given the staff shortages and resultant processing and delivery delays, this seems a wise move.

My plan at this stage is to show

- examples of mail which should have been surcharged as it bears invalid stamps, but which has not;

- examples of mail correctly surcharged;

- examples of mail incorrectly surcharged (though not that which only has forged stamps on).

1. Mail which should have been surcharged.

a. Here's a 1st class Northen Ireland stamp (self-adhesive from a Smilers Sheet) used on 16 August in the Bristol Mail Centre area to Devon. (Thanks to RW).

Invalid 1st class Northern Ireland stamp posted 16 August 2023 not surcharged (should have been £1.10).

b. My thanks to CP for sending this example of a 1st class Machin, processed by North & West Yorkshire Mail Centre on 9 August 2023. Whilst one can understand the machine-processing of the Northern Ireland stamp above, hand-cancelling seems to suggest either that the message hasn't quite got through, or that some mail is going through because nobody can be bothered to apply the rules.

Invalid 1st class Machin cancelled North & West Yorkshire 9 August 2023.

c. PA (see also section 2) sent this picture of a 2nd class letter posted with pairs of 10p & 20p barcoded stamps but with a cylinder block of Northern Ireland 2½p Machin regionals - which are no longer valid. This was posted at the Castle Hedingham (Essex) Post Office on 1 August 2023 and processed through the SE Anglia Mail Centre in Chelmsford.

Combination cover with barcoded Machins and invalid Northern Ireland country stamps, with no surcharging, posted 1 August 2023.

d. This selection was not only accepted at the Post Office counter (sent by the Signed For service) but accepted all the way through the system and delivered without surcharge. (Branch and addressee details not known.) I don't know the details but there is potentially £8.38 of postage here (only £4.63 valid) neither of which makes a valid postage rate.

Scottish Parliament sheet containing invalid country definitives accepted at the Post Office and delivered without surcharge. (Date believed to be August 2023).

e. (4 October) This letter posted to Canada at a Southampton branch office has only the Machin World 20g rate stamp, and was not surcharged at Southampton mail centre - although we have seen other examples from Southampton MC which valid stamps which have been incorrectly surcharged.

Worldwide 20g stamp sent from Southampton to Canada 11 September 2023 but not surcharged.

f. (8 March 2024). Supplied by RL for the postmark to be used on the other blog, this stamp is invalid and should have been surcharged at the (new since October last) rate of ~~£5.00!~~ - £2.50 (up from £1.10), thanks for the correction! This is the rate for using a non-barcoded stamp.

International Women's Day slogan Cumbria Dumfries & Gallowy 05/03/2024, unsurcharged 2nd class Northern Ireland non-barcode definitive.

g. (15 July 2024!!). Supplied by TH, I at first thought it was just another postmark image, but then I looked again at the stamp! Yes, it's a 1st class red Machin, used nearly a year after invalidation and not surcharged at all.

1st class invalid red Machin used without surcharge, July 2024.

2. Mail which has been correctly surcharged

a. My thanks to PA who provided the first example of a correctly surcharged letter posted via Gatwick Mail Centre on 10 August 2023, which has a new type of yellow 'Fee to Pay' label, inscribed 'Stamp No Longer Valid for Postage'.

Stamp No Longer Valid for Postage 'Fee to Pay' £1.10 label on 1st class Machin definitive posted Gatwick 16 August 2023

UPDATE 22 December 2023. Surcharge rates increased from 30 October, which means that this one caught the new rate!

£2.50 'Stamp no longer valid', surcharge 1 November 2023 at new rate effective 30 October.

3. Mail which has been incorrectly surcharged.

a. Some confusion in southern England (Southampton Mail Centre?) where this letter to the Handwritten Letter Appreciation Society was similarly surcharged to 2a above, but with a valid 1st class Penny Black stamp - which was a commemorative, unlike the double-head stamps which are no longer valid.

1st class Penny Black stamp deemed invalid and £1.10 surcharge raised.

b. I sent this to a dealer in Birmingham on 11 August, returning the genuine Children's tv stamps that I borrowed for comparison with the forgeries.

Using a valid Decimal Wilding from the Diamond Jubilee PSB (nobody wanted these, they all wanted the Machin), not only was it surcharged it took 19 days to arrive at the conclusion that it was no longer valid!

Norvic outbound cover with 1st class (1/-) Wilding declared invalid by Birmingham Mal Centre.

c. It seems that the line at some offices is 'when in doubt surcharge it' judging by this from Sheffield Mail Centre which is wrong on all coounts.

2007 Wembley Lion 1st class definitive declared invalid and incorrectly surcharged at Sheffield or Mount Pleasant Mail Centres 8 August 2023.

d. (October 4). Another example of an incorrectly surcharged letter, this one stamped with a 1st class 1d red Smilers stamp.

1st class Penny Red Smilers stamp incorrectly surcharged either at South East Anglia or Mount Pleasant Mail Centres, 8 September 2023.

e. 8 March 2024. This is actually a stamp that we sold for postage and the buyer used it to send an order to his buyer. It was surcharged at the new (post 31 October 2023) rate of £5, refused, and returned but not charged.

Gummed 1st class 'Hello' stamp incorrectly charged as counterfeit at the new rate of £5.

If you have examples of any of these, or any other interesting post-invalidation covers, please send scans to the email address at the right (under 'About me'). Thanks.

New rate confusion, issue date confusion for 2020/21 tariff changes.

2021-04-05T16:22:00.003+01:00

The last 12 months of the Covid-19 pandemic have been difficult for all of us, and for postal operators there were, back in the spring, sudden and immediate difficulties when many countries imposed travel bans leading to an almost complete cessation of airline travel.

Although airfreight was still being carried, a lot of mail is normally carried on commercial passenger flights and this introduced many delays into mail delivery. Not only that, but postal operators around the world had to pay more for their cargo to be carried. This, coupled with changes to the Terminal Dues (TD) process forced on UPU members by the USA, meant that tariffs changed, and for Royal Mail, that meant more than one change.

Small Parcel prices were increased effective 1 July as a result of that TD change; this had no effect on letters and no new stamps were issued.

On 31 July Royal Mail announced new rates effective 1 September. The immediate and most obvious effect for letter writers was a rounding up of the basic letter rates - £1.42 to £1.45, £1.63 and £1.68 to £1.70*, and £2.42 to £2.50 or £2.55.

But no new stamps were issued. This was unfortunate with no 3p, 8p or 13p stamps available and up to three make-up stamps had to be added to the old rate stamps. (*This now covered worldwide letters to 20g and Europe letters to 100g so was a very well-used rate. Fortunately some commemorative stamps were soon issued.)

This was rectified in December when new stamps were issued in readiness for another change on 1st January 2021. The new stamps included two for large letter rates which came into force on that date, a re-issue of the £2.55 value (a new printing), and a new £1.70 stamp. These stamps were issued on 23 December, meaning that they could be used for the existing (1 September) rates before the new tariff was in force, although a little late for Christmas!

A customer in Israel sent a scan of this cover for the clean quality of the slogan, which was useful for the slogan postmarks post on our 'Latest News' blog.

As you can see this is the new £1.70 stamp issued on 23 December, but here it is used on a 20g letter to Israel from Sheffield on 15 December. So a pre-release by a post office in Sheffield's area - but a stamp which it would have been very useful to have had three months earlier!

It's very difficult to get non-philatelic use of special stamps these days, especially the airmail rates. Whilst serious postal history collectors like to have them used 'in period' it is very difficult to get agreement from them on just what this means, especially currently. Is it "before the next stamp of the same or equivalent value is issued"? Is it a fixed period, such as 2-3 months? Well with fewer letters being sent abroad in 2020 due to flight cancellations and non-acceptance by the destination country, the period could perhaps be stretched quite a long way.

Stamps marking the End of World War 2 were issued on 8 May 2020, so January 2021 might be considered over-stretching the definition, but this is definite non-philatelic use, again to Israel, in January 2021 - by which time there had been three tariff changes! This £1.63 rate stamp showing the Rangoon Memorial, Myanmar, passed through the postal system unscathed and unsurcharged from Romford Mail Centre.

Postal History is being made daily. Look closely at your incoming mail, and anything that friends and relatives offer you. You never know what you might find! Happy Hunting.

Mystery parcel piece - where to, and what service?

2021-03-05T22:33:00.007+00:00

The piece shown has stamps on to the value of £18.30 and was posted on 7 August 2001. It probably isn't philatelic, otherwise the stamps would be soaked off and in albums. So what and why?

Piece of parcel wrapper with £18.30 in postage - 2001.

Fortunately the website of the Great Britain Philatelic Society has a comprehensive (but not yet complete) set of postage rate tables, at least post-war.

My first thought was that for it to be this expensive it must be a parcel, or overseas sending (or both). A look at the inland parcel rates disproved this. And a look at the packet and letter airmail rates for all destinations was equally fruitless.

It didn't help that I read the date as 7 AP 01, when it seems in fact to be 7 AU 01 - significant as rates changed in July 2001.

I eventually tracked it down to the exact rate for a Special Delivery letter/packet/parcel between 2kg and 10kg, with minimum compensation of £250.

The whole exercise took less than 20 minutes: yes, postal history is a little time-consuming, but very rewarding. It would have been more attractive with the SD label and address, but one can't have everything. It certainly wouldn't have been easy to keep the whole wrapper!

The World's First Postage Stamp - Centenary

2020-05-04T22:11:00.001+01:00

This week marks 180 years since the Penny Black was made available, and it's first day of use should have been 6 May 1840. Now I know very little about Penny Blacks and they certainly don't fall into the category of Modern Postal History, so....?

On my main blog are a number of links to others. These were all active when originally linked but some writers have fallen by the wayside - but their blogs remain. So here is a good example of (reasonably) modern postal history from 1940, depicting usages of the Centenary set of 6.

If I can put my hands on them, I'll add some of my covers here later.

Great Britain Philately, written in 2012.

Red X Cover prepared for the 1940 Stamp Centenary Exhibition but used (apparently in 1943) by the Red X Churches Committee, with a red postage paid postmark.

More registered PS envelopes

2020-04-26T18:50:00.003+01:00

I've been sent a number of images of covers which may be of interest to readers, while I sort out what of mine to show first.

RW has sent some more registered postal stationery envelopes which he picked up in the 1970's, both of which refelct an absence of the normal Registered Label.

The first is from a sub-office in Barrow-in-Furness, and has a manuscript 'Barrow 9' on a 'mute' label with the roll number of 13. These labels are most often seen used from Field Post Offices, where the FPO datestamp is used in the blank area - which must be why the label is larger than regular ones.

Incidentally this is a good example of the solo use of a ½p stamp used to make-up the (20+3p) 23p envelope after the 1st class letter rate increase.

The second cover shows a civilian use copying the FPO use for a mute label, used at Bolton and Bury 30 Jan 79 - possibly the sorting office as it shows both place-names. If it were a sub-office or even a head post office, one would expect the counter date-stamp to be used.

Both these are examples of postal history which will be of especial interest to collectors in or studying the area - 'County' societies and study groups exist. If you saved this sort of thing and no longer want it, they are the people who might be interested.

If these were short-lived situations it is quite possible that they went unnoticed locally at the time, and providing this cover will add to the body of postal history and philatelic knowledge for that area.

UPDATE 17 February 2021. My thanks to MikeM for sending a part cover from the Isle of Wight. Unfortunately the stamp and date part is missing, but the label is endorsed 'Shanklin 3'. Mike thinks this dates from after 1959 based on the text on the reverse.

Speical Delivery, Registration, the 10d drab, and use-up time!

2020-04-26T18:49:00.004+01:00

My thanks to MC for providing three more images of covers in his collection, each of them with something special about it.

The first is a Special Delivery cover from Ilkeston in Derbyshire to North Ferriby in Yorkshire in 1968. In those days Special Delivery meant Special - not like today where it combines Registration with a timed next-day delivery service.

According to the Great Britain Philatelic Society website:

"Under this Service Letters and Parcels are forwarded by Mail in the regular course of post to any Express Delivery Office in the Kingdom, and on arrival there are sent out for delivery by Special Messenger."

The term Express being replaced by Special in 1938.

The fee for Special Delivery was 3s (shillings), paid here by the pair of 1/6d stamps. Back in the day, it was quite likely that the first delivery to this company was so early that no special effort was required by the delivery office and this accompanied the first normal delivery.

Postage is paid by the 10d drab/stone definitive, for the fourth step, 6 - 8 ounces. Unfortunately this is only a part-front, but for very large packets that is often the case.

Second is a registered airmail cover also using the 10d drab, this time x 3 with additional 9d green & 2d brown definitives. This makes a total of 3s5d.

Although this is an airmail envelope, it was not sent by airmail, as RAF Rissington is in Gloucestershire. I suspect the serviceman sending his insurance premium to Royal Insurance had these envelopes left over from a recent overseas posting and saw no reason not to use them.

The postmark is LITTLE RISSINGTON RAF / CHELTENHAM GLOS although the text is so crammed into the space that if it was incomplete you might read it as 'RAF SO'. The 1st class letter rate was 5d for the first 4 ounces. ~~and 9d for 4-6 ounces, with the basic registration fee of 3s. Although there were higher registration fees, none would make the rate except the maximum of 3s9d with no postage paid!~~

UPDATE: oh, the shame of it. No excuse, but it took an American to point out my error (thanks Gary). I mis-read my notes of the fees, and copied that to the total postage. The postage on this is only 3/5d, so basic letter rate plus basic registration.

The final cover is registered airmail, this time to Canada, from London. In fact from Trafalgar Square B.O. in London. And by the type of envelope I would suggest it was sent by Stanley Gibbons or possibly one of the many other stamp dealers in The Strand area. The giveaway is the mixed pre- and post-decimal day definitives including the 8d red which was replaced by the blue in January 1969 just six months after it was issued. The date on this item is January 1972.

There are 10 x 8d red definitives, = 80d = 6/8d = 33½p. With the 1½p stamp making a total of 35p, this covers the 20p registration fee and 15p postage for the second step 1 ounce rate.

In discussions about whether a cover is commercial or (blatantly) philatelic, this falls between the two. It is clearly commercial if it is a dealer sending stamps to a customer. The stamps are 'out of time' in that their usage is three years after they ceased to be sold at the post office.

But a month later they would have been truly 'out of time' and invalidated for postal purposes, so it made sense for the sender to use up what were probably large stocks of a stamp which most collectors at the time already had from when it was first issued.

So it is a mixed franking, commercial, 'just-in-time' cover, and a good example to have in a collection if only to tell the story of how, within weeks, the stamps could not have been used.

There's much more to come, but for now, that's all on the Machin front.

Registered Postal Stationery Envelopes and labels (or not)

2020-04-17T20:42:00.003+01:00

This is a subject that I may well make into an online display, since I already have many pages which I have shown to our local club.

Whilst the pre-war rates were interesting, and foreign usage especially ripe for various combinations of adhesives depending on weight and insured value, one of the best periods is the 1970s, as I am of the opinion - until proved otherwise - that many of the envelopes used in that period of rapid inflation in postal rates, were never used at post offices without the addition of adhesives because the rate had increased before they could use them.

And in some cases, uprated stock was further uprated, especially in 1975 when the postage rates increased twice. But that's for later.

Tonight I'm showing an ordinary registered stationery envelope sent by a reader (RW). It's a basic 23p envelope, officially uprated by ½p when the letter rate increased. First issued in 1971 the 23p covered the 20p registration fee and 3p 1st class letter rate. On 10 September 1973 the letter rate increased to 3½p hence the addition. That rate lasted until June 1974.

The letter was posted from Yeovil to a holiday camp in Paignton, presumably containing a deposit in banknotes for a holiday booking - not everybody had a bank account, and cash payments were common 50 years ago.

The Goldcroft sub-postoffice used registration labels captioned Yeovil, with the branch identification the numeral 5*. But apparently Goldcroft's supply of labels had been exhausted and not replenished (hard to believe), or lost! So the postmaster improvised in manuscript, and recorded the letter in the ledger as usual.

Fifty years ago, while many people rescued the mail from their office, few kept the envelopes intact - they did it mainly to collect the stamps.

* More about this on the Somerset Postal History Blog.

We don't know how long this situation at Goldcroft lasted, nor how many registered letters were sent. But what we do have is a rescued cover with a story behind it. Whilst manuscript registration 'labels' are relatively common in many African countries and some islands in the West Indies, this is the first I have seen in the UK.

Huge Special Delivery cover and small printed papers

2020-04-06T21:12:00.000+01:00

As part of my de-cluttering exercise in Norvic Towers I've been emptying the attic. Not the best place to store stamps or postal history, and of course I don't. Which doesn't mean that I don't find things there!

Special Delivery.

When my wife and I received this stamps were the last thing on my mind - it contained a card for our wedding! At that time I still thought postal history was something that the grey-haired old men exhibited at major shows and won medals for. I collected stamps, but although I liked my Saudi Arabia and Scandinavian stamps on cover those are other stories, and I wasn't too concerned about GB. So it was put away with a lot of other cards etc and memorabilia from the time.

From early September 1976 this is prepaid at 78½p for the inland Special Delivery rate.

According to the very excellent GBPS website the SD fee was 60p from 29 September 1975 to 19 August 1979. Postage is 18½p which represents the 4th step, or 151-200g First Class from 7 June 1976 to 12 June 1977.

Only when you see the whole thing, do you appreciate that the weight - for a massive greetings card in cardboard sleeve - was probably correct:

It's approximately 20 x 14 inches (520 x 370mm). It's fair to say that my late aunt and uncle were quite extravagant and making a point.

You will notice that I have taken a liberty with the Special Delivery label! The cover was badly foxed, damaged, and far too big to store or show sensibly, so I cut it down. We know it was posted from Essex to Somerset, and even though one of the 20p stamps is damaged, it is still a good piece to have.

OHMS Newspaper Wrappers

The second half of today's post is illustrated by two newspaper wrappers sent (one at least in 1968) from Edinburgh to Germany, both paying the lowest (2 ounce) printed paper reduced rate of 2d.

My thanks to MC for allowing me to show these gems - I'm really quite envious of a 2d rate, and of the ½d block used on their own.

One is stamped with a 2d Machin definitive and the other with a block of 4 x ½d Machins.

What is especially interesting for me is the original source of these. Although attributed by the return address to the Registrar-General in Edinburgh, the wrappers - sent to the Federal German Ministry of Health - originated at Her Majesty's Stationery Office printing works in Annandale Street, Edinburgh - the site has since been redeveloped.

I can tell this by the H M / S O perfins - perforated initials in the stamps:

Under the 2d stamp is the Official Paid mark, which wasn't valid for sending outside the UK, so stamps were used. Two copies of (I suppose) a Bulletin from the Registrar, were sent in each wrapper. (2 CPS - CPS may well refer to the title but I don't know what it is.).

The HMSO in-house perfin machine was set up long before the Machins were issued - at least as early as 1949. The machine possibly had two settings; one was for small definitives - sheets of 12 columns across. The other was for large definitives, possibly the Wilding Castles. So on the decimal low value Machins - only 10 columns across - the sheet margins were also perforated. But the high value Machins were also used, mainly on overseas parcels of books or other publications. In this case the sheets were folded in half vertically along the gutter, so not only is the gutter perfinned, but the stamps on one side are perfinned normally, and on the other side they are reversed, which makes an interesting pair.

Although I did have some of these I have passed them on to somebody who will appreciated them more - although I have kept a couple of covers.

If you collect perfins, you can still find these occasionally in dealers' 'back of the book' stock, and look out also for their predecessors from 1922-1949. This design mimicked the watermark widely used in security printing, and also appeared on many of the stationery and office equipment items, such as rulers. Unfortunately the authorities pointed out that use of the Crown on the stamps was not permitted, so the design was changed.

The Board of Trade also fell foul of this ruling but that department didn't use any alternative.