Let's Talk About Machins

Bob,
I had presumed that. I did not Google the name, but presumed it was perhaps a "conurbation" postmark.

It is a strange curiosity the British "twisted rope" (my name) cancels, often gave names but no locality at the bottom of the CDS.
You either knew the area intimately or were left guessing.
Concise and cryptic.

The Machin series continus to roll along. The British PO has recently issued a couple of 'sets' of stamps with the Machin head pictured on them, as commemoratives, which muddies the water a little. Also they re-issued an old large-format £5 stamp, not to mention a gold foil one valid for use, only available in a booklet. It's an expensive hobby, trying to keep up with it all.

I've recently decided to break my collection into sections.

1. Pre-decimal
2. Standard (1971 onwards)
3. Elliptical perforation era
4. Security features era (current, to date)

(Then there are NVIs, regionals, anniversary issues, etc, but that's another matter!)

Doing it this way means the book is closed on the bulk of the collection, so you can nail it down. It's only the current security feature issues which are still going.

This thread reminded me of the stamp below, left.

Who would forge a 2p stamp? No-one in their right mind, and I'm sure this one is not forged. However it looks particularly low-grade when compared to other examples. I wonder why?



Copying the right-hand stamp's perfs, side and top, and lining up with the other one shows the top/bottom perfs do not match up. Is this normal?

Ringo, I believe what you are showing is a Questra printing (offset) which is perforated 14x14, and is quite murky in appearance The Harrison printings are photogravure printed and are perforated 15x14.

2p or not 2p (Shakespeare)

Ringo,
I agree with Bob.
This value one of the most frustrating searches for mine.
The 2 values "Type C" in "Light Green" appear almost non existent. (I would hang on to your example..quite hard to source)

I have about 200 2p duplicates none appeared to fit.
The blank spaces are testament.

1970
Steiner Page 2.

Many thanks for the info. I wasn't aware that there was a perf variety in the 2p (I guess my level of 'expertise' doesn't go deep enough!).

I wonder how Questa managed to secure the contract, given that the standard looks much poorer than even earlier examples.

The quality of the 2p Questa printing is certainly bad enough for one to question authenticity. The other low value, decimal offset printings (J. Waddington and Walsall) are not great work, but nothing like this one. The quality improves with the later printings (elliptical perforations), but never matches the beauty and clarity of the photogravure printings.

Here are some examples of other stamps with the Machin design that can be collected.

Commemoratives


Various types of variable rate postage stamps



And, as I alluded to in an earlier post, other countries have used the Machin head design on some of their stamps, such as Hong Kong, Bahamas, Guernsey, Jersey, Marshall Islands, New Zealand and more.

Robert

Rod,
What Scott doesn't mention is MH28 2p light green, type c, is a coil stamp. It will have cut perforations at the top and bottom. Here's an example with cut perforations.


Scott MH31A 2p light green, type c, perf. 14, lithographed, is actually dark green. It is only available from a booklet pane, so all examples will have a straight edge at left or right.

Hope this helps you fill those holes.

Robert

Trainwreck shows more Machin heads but while I can see that rest of these stamps do have the Machin head I personally would never have thought of the 1988 50p stamp as having a Machin head. on looking for a second time I can see it is a pen and ink illustration of a Machin bust but surely to be a Machin it must be a "photo" of the three dimensional plaster bust. What does anyone else think? Is there an official definition for a Machin.
Did you realise it is the most reproduced portrait ever produced in any format.
The 1988 stamp has special significance for me as it was the first stamp I got where I was able to distinguish between the two different printings

Robert,
thank you very much indeed. Saved.
It was very frustrating because I couldn't grasp the colour ' print method.
You explained it nicely.

The Complete Deegam Machin Handbook provides this criterion for listing what the author calls "Machin special issues":

The two commemoratives I showed earlier are listed as Machin special issues. One can probably distill an "official" definition of a Machin from this sentence.

Robert

Private Machin by Christopher Phillips.




Author / Image : Alan L 2014
Postmark CDS..."B.l" ? Unknown

Machin Pictormark.



Machin Duvee

How about these?