some promotions tonight.....

Hello everyone, I do not often write about other sites so thought it was about time I did.. I could write for hours on this but to start with I will just give you a few references. I like these sites as they offer good buys and can be good role models for design and layout and content, well for me anyway.. the first is Commonwealth Stamps..... have a look at the home page click here

and then there is the special at the moment for Hong Kong at
click here

worth a visit me thinks if you are interested in British Commonwealth and I have to say, Chris is a member of the IPDA (in fact a past Director) so you know you can deal with him with confidence.

The second site I really like, and I am a subscriber although have not bought from them for a while now is Buckingham Covers .. click here

I have bought from these people and have been very impressed with their service. I also receive the newsletter / new listings / new covers available brochure they send out and it is worth a read even if you dont want to buy anything.

Do have a look, especially if you collect covers and any specialist types of covers. In fact one or two of the covers I have shown you over the past year will have come from Buckinghams.

Anyway, there are so many good sites on the net these days I am sure you will agree. Do you have a favourite, or one or two you think are just extra good? send me an email telling me about them so I can tell others. michaelatipda@gmail.com

Have a great weekend, and enjoy your stamps.... Michael

Machin Multi Value Coils 1971 - 1974 - (Great Britain)

Tonight a piece by Roy Simpson, Machin Man. As informative and educational as ever.

I hope you enjoy this.


When surfing eBay for potential bargains, I always buy my stamps in multiples. MV Coils are a particular favourite of mine. You may ask why?

Recently I purchased a small collection of multi value coils for just a few pounds, amongst them where 3 that are quite rare. These were early 5p Multi value Machin coils 1 x 2p + 2 x ?p + 2 x 1p on Original Coated paper with gum Arabic.

Whats so special about that? Well, the answer is "know what to look for"..

Sometimes the seller may not realise what they are offering, and in job lots it is possible to pick up these rare items for peanuts. These coils with gum arabic and with a silicone coating carry a very large premium over the norm and are catalogued at a staggering £250.00 per coil.

In 1972, by order of Royal Mail, certain stamps from this issue were experimented on by the printers , thus they have a silcone coating over the printed image.

Gum Arabic was a problem for Royal Mail, not only did it have a tendancy to curl, stamps often stuck together. The silicone was introduced in an attempt to stop stamps sticking together, this was a problem for Royal Mail as it often happened during humid , or wet conditions whilst stamps were stored in the vending machines.

After a six month trial it was found that the silicone coating did not solve the problem completely so the experiment continued, with a change of paper to Fluor Coated / Gum Arabic, these coils with FCP are not rare as stamps from the original trial as they ran for approx 2 years up to 1974 when, the gum was changed to PVA Dextrin .

With the introduction of PVA Dextrin the problem seemed to be cured.
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More information on Multi Value coils (if required) can be found on Roy's brilliant website at click here

Enjoy your stamps.. Best wishes.. Michael

More on that "inverted Jenny" used for a ballot mailing

Hello everyone, I read a news clipping on Don Schilling's blog - excellent blog by the way - click here do have a look and scroll down to the article about the alleged " inverted jenny" great news clip if you have not seen it...

or hopefully you can visit it from here

click here then click play


If anyone has a stamp related article they think others would like to read please send it to me at michaelatipda@gmail.com

Best wishes... Michael ( IPDA Director and Publicity Officer )

Canada #3, and the inverted jenny - used???

Hello everyone, the following auction listing was sent to me (not because I might buy it.. shame though :-) So I thought I'd show it as you might enjoy reading about this beaustiful stamp.

Canada #3, 12p Black on laid paper, a spectacular premium used example of this world-class rarity, with numerous marvelous features that seldom come together in one stamp, including being in an intense deep black color with full strong detailed impression on bright paper indicating that this was probably from an early impression of the plate, margins are large to especially wide and possessing beautiful balance, in addition this example has been neatly cancelled by a single clear strike of the seven-ring target postmark, extremely fine; an extraordinarily attractive and eye-appealing stamp.


The extreme rarity of this high value is explained by a brief history of the production and usage of this stamp. A total of 51,000 stamps were printed, a mere 255 impressions of the 200 subject plate.

By all standards for a regular issue stamp this is a miniscule printing. But the real rarity is seen in that in the short period from 1851-1854 only 1,450 were sold. The unsold remainders were then collected and destroyed.

The apparent reason that so few were sold is that there were very few uses for this specific rate, and none of them were common destinations that saw much mail.

The Twelve Penny Black of Canada has long been recognized as one the rarest and most desired stamps of the British Empire. Not only have few survived but obtaining quality collectable examples has proved even more difficult.

The fragile laid paper was prone to damage and many existing copies have faults of various degrees leaving very few completely sound examples.

As with all imperforates, obtaining nicely margined copies is a challenge. But most germane to this particular value is that the black target cancel used at this period was frequently applied with great abandon and often obscured the black design of the stamp.

Taking all of these factors into consideration the example offered here has always been offered as, the finest known used example. Its beauty certainly bares that out and this rarity is unquestionably worthy of the finest collection.

And what about this piece of news.. is it really true that some used a 1918 Inverted Jenny stamp, on a ballot return.
Supposedly one turned up on Tuesday night in Fort Lauderdale, where election officials were inspecting ballots from parts of south Florida, Broward County Commissioner John Rodstrom told Reuters. more in this link http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061110/ts_nm/life_stamp_dc

Best wishes... Michael

Let me know.. what an interesting find !!!!

Confused about the Royal Mail PIP stamps

Firstly let me say categorically that the following text is not meant to confuse you, in fact it is a work of art, so to speak, that someone has taken the time to research this and present it so clearly for us to read... all credit goes to Roy Simpson (Machin Man) .. one of our IPDA directors. ( http://www.ipdaonline.org ) What he doesn't know is - I think- probably not worth knowing but then again the way the Royal Mail issues stamps I think even he has to keep on his toes to be up to date.

So, the following is a summary, so far at least, of the new Pricing in Proportion stamps issued by the Royal Mail since 21st August this year.

Pricing in Proportion A Guide to the Issues to dateWell its been less than three months since August 21st, the date when Royal Mail introduced the revision of the inland Mail Rate to reflect what we are now calling Pricing in Proportion (PiP).

To cope with the new tariff, several new stamps have already been released. These have been separated into two main groups (Standard and Large) and then (to date) to help with identification divided into 5 sub groups.

MAIN Group A
The standard letter versions for 1st (32p) & 2nd (23p) class up to 5mm thick 240 mm x 125 mm up to 100 gr . These are sized the same as current definitives with a bigger value tablet in the top left corner.

MAIN Group B
Large versions which are wider than the standard and have been released for the bigger letters over 5mm thick and over 240 mm x 125 mm up to 353 mm x 250 mm and 25mm in thickness.

All of these new Machins show a smaller head (including the ones described above). The large rate shows a much bigger value tablet at the top left and the word large in the bottom left.

The full range of Machin Definitive Products to date are listed below:

SUB Group One
Conventional Sheets PIP Printed by De La Rue, issue date 01/08/06
Standerd 2nd class PVA (centre band) cyl DI pD1
Standard 1st class PVA (two bands) cyl DI pD1
Large 2nd class PVA (centre band) cyl DI pD1
Large 1st class PVA (two bands) cyl DI pD1

SUB Group Two
Coil Stamps (500) Printed by De La Rue
Standard 2nd class PVA Centre band 15/08/06
Standard 1st class PVA two bands 14/11/06

SUB Group Three
Booklets (self adhesive) Printed by Walsall
Large 4 x 1st class two bands W1pW1 15/08/06
Large 4 x 2nd class centre band W1pW1 15/08/06
Large 4 x 2nd class centre band cyl W1pW1 12/09/06
Large 12 x 1st class two bands cyl W1pW1 12/09/06
Standard 12 x 2nd class centre band W1pW1 12/09/06

SUB Group Four
Prestige Stamp Books (Victoria Cross) printed by Enschede of Holland
Standard fist class (ex multi value se-tenant pane) PVA 21/09/06

SUB Group Five
Business sheets of 100 (self Adhesive) Walsall dates on revese of top panel
Standard 2nd class cantre band
Standard 1st class two bands

If you can add to this with short or inset bands please feel free to do so, perhaps we can also add to it with every subsequent issue, I am sure with new prestige booklets and the 40th anniversary of the Machin next year (2007) there will be many more to come.

As a footnote: Please note*
Conventional Sheets PIP Printed by De La Rue issue date 01/08/06
Standard 2nd class PVA (centre band) cyl DI pD1
Standard 1st class PVA (two bands) cyl DI pD1
Large 2nd class PVA (two bands) cyl DI pD1* unusually this has two bands, so it can be used as first class if used on a standard letter
Large 1st class PVA (two bands) cyl DI pD1

If anyone can add to this write me at michaelatipda@gmail.com and I'll pass on the information to Roy.

Best wishes... Michael

Unitrade or not...................

This informative and interesting piece was submitted by Larry Matthews, the IPDA Membership Sectretary .. Thanks larry.. Michael

Unitrade or not to Unitrade, that is the question.

The "Unitrade" catalogue has been the main reference catalogue for most Canadian stamp collectors for a number of years now.

A number of people I have talked to personally or chatted with on the internet have expressed views, both pro and con.

Just last weekend, I purchased the 2007 edition. I try to get it every year.

In 2006, the Unitrade catalogue made some vast changes. Before that date, the catalogue was still a good reference book but was lacking in several ways.

Some of the illustrations were not the best but that has improved. The illustrations are sharper in detail and there are more of them.

One complaint was that there is not enough pictures of the booklet stamps as they are issued. This was also true. However, this too has been improved and there are now a lot of illustrations of the booklet stamps as they were issued. A popular trend among Canadian collectors is trying to reconstruct booklet panes from used singles. Singles from booklets are priced individually too. While this has improved, there is still work to be done, but the contents in the book are very good as it is.

Another feature Unitrade has introduced is the rate fees. Throughout the book, the rates are shown and highlighted in a year whenever there was a rate change.

Another pleasing feature, to me anyway, are the references made to the different literature that is available for the different time periods. For example, in the "Admiral" section, they illustrate the cover of a book titled "The Admiral Issues Of Canada" by George C. Marler. This is done throughout the catalogue for all the eras for wherever there has been a book or books published. This gives the reader information about the books that are available in the field.

Unitrade has long been referred to because of the pricing and the different varieties. While a lot of varieties are listed, there is still room for improvement.

The size format is not liked by all as the older versions, before 2006, were a smaller size and easier to carry around. The 2006 and 2007 versions are larger in format. The present format measures 81/2 x 11 inches (21 x 27 1/2 mm). I cannot give the measurements for the older ones as I no longer have a copy.

This catalogue is completely in colour. All issues are represented in the catalogue, including B.O.B. items such as semi postals, airmail, special delivery, air mail special delivery, official (both overprinted "OHMS" and "G" and perfin OHMS), postage due, war tax, Officially Sealed, Wildlife Habitat, Prisoner of War Free Franks and postal stationery.

The other feature that is appreciated by a lot of collectors is the grading factors. The stamps are priced in used for VG to VF and mint from VG to VF as well, plus there is a MNH premium factor as well.

Stamps are also priced on cover up to the Admiral period. After that, they are priced on FDC only. To me this is a setback as there are many variants here that could command a premium for a stamp on cover after this period.

Plateblocks are also priced and unexploded booklets have a section in the catalogue too.

The provinces are also well represented too. All of the provinces are also priced in the same mint and used condition factors as Canada but also priced used on cover throughout their existence.

To sum up, while there are pros and cons about this book, I, for one, heartily recommend this catalogue.

Happy collecting

Larry Matthews
Membership Secretary / IPDA