Machins at The Stamp Show 2000

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Machins in Royal Mail’s “Eyes Right” exhibit

• New printers
• Matthews color palette
• 1840 Anniversary, self-adhesives, Profile on Print

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New printers

For the first decade, all low value Machins were printed by Harrison and Sons using the photogravure process. In the late 1970s, Royal Mail decided that it would be a good idea to have multiple suppliers. There were several reasons for this. First, having multiple suppliers would help keep costs down during that inflationary period. Second, that same inflation drove the need for frequent rate changes and therefore frequent new Machins, and one supplier might not be able to keep up with the demand.

The first printer contacted was Joh. Enschedé Stamps, a division of Joh. Enschedé of the Netherlands. Enschedé’s proofs of the 1/2p, 1p, 2p, 5p, 8p and 10p were shown. At this time, only the 8p red was issued in 1980, printed using photogravure. Harrison also produced that value, and the Enschedé version was a very close match. Collectors can tell the difference by the fact that the ‘p’ on the Enschedé version has a very slight slant, compared to the perfectly upright ‘p’ of the Harrison version. The Enschedé version is on the left and the Harrison version on the right.

Note: Enschedé became a major supplier of Machins for a few years in the 1990s, then was relegated to a minor role.

Two British firms were also given contracts to print low value Machins. Both used the process of lithography, a method that at this time produced stamps with a flat, lifeless image compared to those produced with photogravure. Three imperforate proofs of the 2p Machin produced by The House of Questa were shown. These have a slightly different portrait than the final one. Questa printed the 2p, 5p and 75p Machins that were issued in 1980. The Harrison 1971 photogravure 2p is on the left, the Questa 1980 lithography 2p is on the right.

The second British firm was John Waddington PLC. A mini-sheet of 16 proofs of the 4p Machin was shown. It was very close to the final design, but a note written on the margin said, “color to be closer to the 6 1/2p,” which was turquoise. Waddington printed the 4p and 20p Machins that were issued in 1980.

Note: In 1987, Waddington bought The House of Questa and continued to use the Questa name for its stamp printing business. The new House of Questa became a major supplier of Machins in the late 1980s and continued to do be one until it was purchased by De La Rue in 2002. De La Rue had previously purchased Harrison and Sons in 1997.

Matthews color palette

In the mid-1980s, designer Jeffery Matthews was brought in by Royal Mail and asked to develop a standard palette of colors that could be used for the Machins. Arnold Machin’s original concept, to use a light portrait against a dark background, had gone by the wayside with the need for many new values during the inflationary 1970s. There were even some notable failures in the choice of colors: the 10 1/2p yellow was not only hard to see, but the color disrupted the phosphor sensing ability of the automatic mail handling equipment. The yellow stamp had to be replaced with a light blue one. Matthews himself discusses the problem and his involvement with Royal Mail in his interview by the Great Britain Collectors Club.

Matthews first developed a palette of 16 colors. These were shown on stamp-like labels with the portrait of Thomas Richard Harrison (probably the founder of the printer, Harrison and Sons.) There was also a set of these same 16 colors used on imperforate blocks of four of the 18p Machin.

As Matthews notes in the interview, it was then determined that 16 colors would not be enough, and he had to expand the group to 30. A second set of 16 blocks, this time of the 23p Machin, was on display. Some of these were perforated, indicating that perhaps the blocks on display came from two different trials.

Although there were 32 blocks on display, the final total was only 30 colors. There was a crimson in the first group that was deleted so that there could be both a red and a maroon in the second group. This crimson was lighter and more reddish than the original 1971 1p Machin that is called crimson. Also, the second set of 16 contained a reprint of the purple color in a slightly different shade, but only one was used. Therefore, there was a total of 30 different colors.

The final palette of 30 colors was shown in a frame signed by Matthews. The colors were arranged seven across by four down, with light and dark gray at the bottom. Royal Mail’s names for the colors are also shown. Matthews’ signature was dated August, 1988; that was when the first two stamps using his colors, the 2p and 75p reprints by The House of Questa, were issued. This framed display was shown in the British Philatelic Bulletin of February, 1993.

Below the frame was shown a set of stamps purporting to be in the Matthews colors. However, the 20p black was included, and this was not a Matthews color. Several of his colors were highlighted in a miniature sheet designed by Matthews and produced for Stamp Show 2000. The sheet is shown below.

1840 Anniversary, self-adhesives, Profile on Print

In the late 1980s, Royal Mail decided to issue special stamps to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Penny Black, Britain’s and the world’s first postage stamp. These were to be the same size as the Machin definitives so that they would replace the existing Machins for the majority of the year. The final designs, developed by Jeffery Matthews, are shown in the Virtual Machin Album, and the 37p is shown at left.

Several unadopted designs were shown at The Stamp Show 2000. A striking one looked much like the chosen design except that at the top left of the stamp was the “star” as it appeared on the Penny Black and the top center had the word “POSTAGE”, also as on the Penny Black. The top right corner was blank, as it is on a Machin. Matthews was obviously attempting to make the stamp look more like half of a Penny Black combined with half of a Machin. The final design, however, simply added Queen Victoria’s portrait to that of Queen Elizabeth.

In the early 1990s, Royal Mail began to experiment with self-adhesive stamps. They wanted a distinctive design so that it would be easy to track the use of the stamps. Some drastic changes were considered and shown in the exhibit. Some of the designs had the Queen’s portrait in silver on an orange background, on a blue background, or on a background with orange and white stripes. Eventually it was decided to use the standard Machin design but in a horizontal format; this design was developed by Jeffery Matthews. The horizontal design was used for first class self-adhesive Machins issued in booklets in 1993 and later for first and second class self-adhesive Machins issued in coils. After the initial issues, Royal Mail reverted to the standard Machin design for its self-adhesives, which now come in booklets, coils and sheets. The inside of a booklet containing six second class self-adhesive Machins is shown below.

As part of its bountiful contribution to The Stamp Show 2000, a special prestige booklet titled “Profile on Print” was issued on February 16, 1999. It described the development of the Machin design and the production of Machin definitives by various printing methods. Included in the booklet were Machins produced by five different printing methods. The booklet is shown and described in the Virtual Machin Album.

Noted engraver Czeslaw Slania was commissioned to produce a large-size Machin stamp for inclusion in the booklet. The resulting stamps were issued using a dark grey color in a pane of four in the booklet. They were printed by intaglio (recess-printing). The pane and an enlarged image of the stamp are shown in the Album. At The Stamp Show 2000, trials were shown in other colors, including brown, red-brown, and purple.

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Last update: Saturday, August 16, 2003
Copyright © 2003 by Larry Rosenblum