Norvic Philatelics - GB New Stamps and Special Postmarks

Pictorial Faststamps: Birds 3 - 19 May 2011

The third set of Faststamps depicting birds will be issued on 19 May, one of three sets to be issued this year.  As before, these will be sold from Post & Go machines at selected Post Offices across the UK and from the Philatelic Bureau at Tallents House. The third set depicts the birds that can be found on or close to Britain’s lakes, rivers and streams.

Post & Go terminals allow customers to weigh their letters and packets, pay for and print postage labels and stamps without the need to visit the counter. The first Post & Go machine was trialled in The Galleries Post Office® in Bristol in 2007.

The labels can be obtained with 5 different service indicators: 1st class & 1st class Large up to 100gr, Europe up to 20gr, Worldwide up to 10gr and 20gr,  singly or in strips of up to 5 of the same value or various values. Thus there are 30 different value/design combinations in total.   New counter-based machines trialled at Stampex which dispensed strips of either 5 or 6 labels: if any of these are installed in POs by the time these are issued, it may be possible to get more than one version (see details of the trials on the blog.)  

The latest information we have is that the Post & Go machines will not be adapted to dispense 6 labels.  However, all Post & Go machines nationwide have now been adapted to the new font and will dispense Birds Faststamps instead of Machin Head versions, while stocks last.

The first issue can be seen here and further information is provided on our blog.
 

Pictorial Faststamps - birds 3 - preliminary designs.

Publicity image (above), and actual labels in bureau carrier (below)

 Image of actual birds 3 stamps in carrier.
 
 

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MallardAnas platyrhnchos
The male has a dark green head, a yellow bill, is mainly purple-brown on the breast and grey on the body. The female is mainly brown with an orange bill. It breeds in all parts of the UK in summer and winter, wherever there are suitable wetland habitats.

Mute SwanCygnus obor
The mute has a long S-shaped neck, and an orange bill with a black base. It flies with its neck extended and regular slow wingbeats. The UK population has increased recently, perhaps due to better protection of this species.

Kingfisher
Alcedo atthis
Kingfishers are small unmistakable bright blue and orange birds of slow moving or still water. They fly rapidly, low over water, and hunt fish from riverside perches, occasionally hovering above the water's surface.

MoorhenGallinula chloropus
The moorhen is a medium-sized, ground-dwelling bird, usually found near water. From a distance it looks black with a ragged white line along its body. Up close it is olive-brown on the back and the head and underneath are blue-grey. It has a red bill with a yellow tip.

Greylag GooseAnser anser
The ancestor of most domestic geese, the greylag is the largest and bulkiest of the wild geese native to the UK and Europe.

Great Crested GrebePodiceps cristatus
An elegant bird with ornate head plumes. They dive to feed and also to escape, preferring this to flying. On land they are clumsy because their feet are placed so far back on their bodies. They have an elaborate courtship display in which they rise out of the water and shake their heads. Very young grebes often ride on their parents' backs.

Technical details:

Designed by Kate Stephens and illustrated by Robert Gilmor the six 56mm x 25mm stamps are printed in gravure by Walsall Security Printers, with two phosphor bars.  The stamps in the pack will have the service indicator and other detail printed in gravure.   All images are by kind permission of Royal Mail, Copyright 2011. This website is copyright Norvic Philatelics 2011.

Products issued

The labels will be used in Post & Go machines at Post Offices around the country.
A mint set will also be available from Royal Mail's Tallents House Bureau in a pack on an attractive card with details about each of the birds featured together with an illustration of their eggs. All values in the pack are 1st Class with a philatelic branch code of 002011. Design is by The Chase with illustration by Peter Horridge. 

Although Post & Go machines are a Post Office Ltd product, Royal Mail will again produce a First Day Cover and official First Day Postmarks for these.



Special Postmarks
Postmarks available for the day of issue will be shown here, others may be added later. These are not to scale. These postmarks cannot be obtained after the date of issue.

Official bureau FD postmark for bird faststamps. Official Bristol FD postmark for bird faststamps. Non-pictorial Bristol postmark for Bird Faststamps. Postmark illustrated with ducks/mallards.
Postmarks showing Kingfisher.
Ref FD1123
Philatelic Bureau Official Postmark illustrated with a map of the British Isles
Ref FD1124
Bristol official postmark illustrated with a bird's egg
Ref FD1124NP
Bristol official non-pictorial postmark.
Ref L 12152 Hyde Park, London SW1 Ref M12156 Slimbridge, Gloucestershire
Postmark showing flying kingfisher. Postmark showing a swan.



Ref M12155 Kingfisher View, Birmingham Ref L12159 The Military Canal, Hythe, Kent.



This page updated 13 May 2011

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2009 - 2010
 2011 issues 
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January
11 Classic Children's Television: Gerry Anderson
11 Thunderbirds retail booklet
24 Pictorial Faststamps 2 - Garden Birds 2
February
1 Classic Railway Locomotives: England
12 Indipex Stamp Exhibition Generic Smilers Sheet
24
West End Stage Musicals
24 British Heart Foundation Retail Booklet
March
8 Magical Realms
8 Low-value Machins
22 Worldwide Fund for Nature
29 Machin & Country Definitives
30 50th Ann Jaguar E-type Com.Sheet
April
12 The Royal Shakespeare Company
21 The Royal Wedding
May
5 Morris & Company
19 Pictorial Faststamps 3: Water Birds
June
14 Rev Wm Awdry: Thomas the Tank Engine
July
27 Olympics & Paralympics III
& Olympic Games retail book

28 Exhibition Generic Smilers Sheet for Phila'nippon 11, Japan
August
23 The Crown Jewels
September
9 World's First Scheduled Airmail
15 Kings & Queens: House of Hanover
16 Pictorial Faststamps 4: Sea Birds
October
13 A-Z of the United Kingdom (1)
November
8 Christmas - 400th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible

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Norvic Philatelics, PO Box 119, Dereham, NR20 3YN, GB. -- UK Phone: 08450 090939 -- Skype:ian.billings-norvic