Barcoded series (2021–present)
Machin stamps with Data Matrix barcodes were introduced in two stages, on 1 February 2022 (non-value indicators), and 4 April 2022 (other values). All barcoded stamps are self-adhesive.
Existing definitive stamps issued from 15 February 1971 to 31 January 2022 remain valid until 31 January 2023: since 31 March 2022, they can be indefinitely exchanged for the barcoded series. [18]
The 2022 issue was the last release in the Machin series prior to the death of Elizabeth II. On 8 February 2023, the design for the new definitive series, to be released on 4 April 2023 and featuring a portrait of Charles III by Martin Jennings, was revealed. [19]
2021 barcoded trial
2022 barcoded trial [20] | Type | Value | Colour | Size | First issued |
|---|
| NVI | 2nd | Light blue | 39 mm × 30 mm
(1.5 in × 1.2 in) | 23 March 2021 |
2022 barcoded issues
2022 barcoded series [21] [22] [23] [24] | Type | Value | Colour | Size | First issued |
|---|
| NVI | 1st | Plum purple | 39 mm × 30 mm
(1.5 in × 1.2 in) | 1 February 2022 |
| 2nd | Holly green |
| NVI Large | 1st | Marine turquoise |
| 2nd | Dark pine green |
| Low Value [lower-alpha 1] | 1p | Sapphire blue on white | 4 April 2022 |
| 2p | Dark green on white |
| 5p | Purple heather on white |
| 10p | Aqua green on white |
| 20p | Light green on white |
| 50p | Slate grey on white |
| £1 | Wood brown on white |
| High Value [lower-alpha 1] | £2 | Bright blue on white | 4 April 2022 |
| £3 | Purple on white |
| £5 | Spruce green on white |
| International | £1.85 | Wood brown | 4 April 2022 |
| £2.55 | Sapphire blue |
| £3.25 | Purple |
| £4.20 | Light green |
Arnold Machin OBE RA FRSS was a British artist, sculptor, and coin and postage stamp designer.
A definitive stamp is a postage stamp that is part of the regular issue of a country's stamps, available for sale by the post office for an extended period of time and designed to serve the everyday postal needs of the country. The term is used in contrast to a "provisional stamp", one that is issued for a temporary period until regular stamps are available, or a "commemorative stamp", a stamp "issued to honor a person or mark a special event" available only for a limited time. Commonly, a definitive issue or series includes stamps in a range of denominations sufficient to cover current postal rates. An "issue" generally means a set that is put on sale all at the same time, while a "series" is spread out over several years, but the terms are not precise. Additional stamps in a series may be produced as needed by changes in postal rates; nevertheless some values may be permanently available, regardless of prevailing rates; examples include 1c or 1p and $1 or £1.
Postage stamps and postal history of Great Britain surveys postal history from the United Kingdom and the postage stamps issued by that country and its various historical territories until the present day.
A self-adhesive stamp is a postage stamp with a pressure-sensitive adhesive that does not require moistening in order to adhere to paper. They are usually issued on a removable backing paper.
A postage meter or franking machine is a mechanical device used to create and apply physical evidence of postage to mailed items. Postage meters are regulated by a country's postal authority. A postage meter imprints an amount of postage, functioning as a postage stamp, a cancellation and a dated postmark all in one. The meter stamp serves as proof of payment and eliminates the need for adhesive stamps.
The Machin series of postage stamps is the main definitive stamp series in the United Kingdom, used since 5 June 1967. It is the second series to figure the image of Elizabeth II, replacing the Wilding series. The last issue was on 4 April 2022, four months before her death on 8 September.
The postage stamps of Ireland are issued by the postal operator of the independent Irish state. Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland when the world's first postage stamps were issued in 1840. These stamps, and all subsequent British issues, were used in Ireland until the new Irish Government assumed power in 1922. Beginning on 17 February 1922, existing British stamps were overprinted with Irish text to provide some definitives until separate Irish issues became available. Following the overprints, a regular series of definitive stamps was produced by the new Department of Posts and Telegraphs, using domestic designs. These definitives were issued on 6 December 1922; the first was a 2d stamp, depicting a map of Ireland. Since then new images, and additional values as needed, have produced nine definitive series of different designs.
Country definitives, formerly known as regional postage stamps of Great Britain, are the postage stamps issued for regions of the United Kingdom, reflecting the regional identity of the various countries and islands of the British isles.
A Presentation Pack typically contains a full set of a new stamp issue, produced for philatelists and stamp collectors. It normally comprises a folded card containing detailed notes about the stamps, a card with clear strips for holding the actual stamps, all held within a clear sleeve. The packs are usually sold at a price a little above the stamps' face value.
Non-denominated postage is a postage stamp intended to meet a certain postage rate, but printed without the denomination, the price for that rate. They may retain full validity for the intended rate, regardless of later rate changes, or they may retain validity only for the original purchase price. In many English-speaking countries, it is called non-value indicator or non-value indicated (NVI) postage. Introduced to reduce the cost of printing large issues of low-value stamps to "top-up" old issues, NVI stamps are used in many countries.
RM4SCC is the name of the barcode character set based on the Royal Mail 4-State Bar Code symbology created by Royal Mail. The RM4SCC is used for the Royal Mail Cleanmail service. It enables UK postcodes as well as Delivery Point Suffixes (DPSs) to be easily read by a machine at high speed.
Commemorative stamps, postage stamps issued to honour or commemorate a place, event or person, have been released by the United Kingdom since 1924. Several sets were released during the decade of the 1990s.
Douglas Myall was a British civil servant and philatelist. He is known for his exhaustive study of the Machin stamps, the British definitive series in use since 1967. His catalogue, The Complete Deegam Machin Handbook, is one of the main reference books about this series.
Jeffery Edward Matthews was a British artist, specialising in postage stamp design from 1959 to 2007. He conceived the Machin definitive series' colour palette in the mid-1980s.
The Wildings were a series of definitive postage and revenue stamps featuring the Dorothy Wilding photographic portrait of Queen Elizabeth II that were in use between 1952 and 1971. The Wildings were the first and only British stamps to feature graphite lines on the back, and the first to feature phosphor bands on the face – both aids to automation. The stamps were also the first British pictorial high value stamps and the first to include regional emblems.
The Castle series or Castle High Value series are two definitive stamp series issued in the United Kingdom during Queen Elizabeth II's reign. The common aspects of the two series are the four chosen castles, one for each country of the United Kingdom.
Douglas N. Muir is the former Senior Curator of Philately at The Postal Museum in London, formerly the British Postal Museum & Archive and a signatory to the Book of Scottish Philatelists and the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists.
A Horizon label is an adhesive postage label that is a type of variable value stamp. The labels were introduced in the United Kingdom in 2002 as part of the computerisation of the counter services of the post office network of Royal Mail using the Horizon System.
This is a list of the commemorative stamps of the United Kingdom for the years 2020–2029.
