[singlepic id=212 w=640 h=480 mode=watermark float=left]   Royal Mail have today indicated that following on from their trials of Hytech Postalvision equipment at Spring Stampex 2011, they will issue a tribute to ‘Arnold Machin’ in the form of an overprinted  set of  Post & Go stamps at next weeks Autumn Stampex.

This overprint will be only available at Stampex, and will be applied on the existing ‘Machin’ Post & Go stock on one of two new Hytech Self-service Stamp Machines.

These new self-service machines will be situated on Royal Mails stand and will exclusively  vend the new stamps, either singly or  in the now familiar ‘strip of six’ format. Payment will only be possible via Credit or Debit card -the machines will not accept cash.

The machine numbers will be 91 and 92 (The ‘9’ indicating September- self service  machines No.1 and 2).

Further details and further information will appear here as soon as known.

For three days only we have the Hytech Stampex-Only Machin Overprints available in our ebay shop on a ‘Buy it now’ basis:-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170696884525

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Once ‘V2’ has been activated then the Post and Go machines will offer new products and services, including the facility to process Special Delivery, Recorded Signed For and Parcelforce Worldwide products both inland and overseas. They will also offer a ‘Retail Checkout’ function allowing for  the payment of packaging items such as Jiffy bags and packaging Tape etc via the Post & Go machine.

The new functionality will provide collectors with opportunities to add to their collections in the form of a new stamp , new labels and associated  receipts.

The only visible sign of this upgrade currently is the presence of a newly- fitted barcode scanner just above the Pin Pad in all machines in the network, (except those at Tudor Street as, being sited in an unmanned environment, they will not be offering a ‘Retail checkout’  facility).

Post and Go V2 is due to commence roll-out at the beginning of September to reach at least the ‘Birds’ network by the First Day of Issue of Birds 4 on 16th September.

Full information on the upgrades the  new labels and stamps will appear here as soon as known.

On the Post Office stand the various exhibits, including Identity and Information equipment were  pride of place, including a Post and Go machine with a previously unseen office code of ‘699010’, believed to be that of an internal ‘test’ machine. There were various teething problems with the kiosk on the first day (May 11th) and it was late on on the 2nd day (May 12th) before some stamps were forthcoming. A very limited number of covers dated 12th May 2011 (London EC3 Postmark) were serviced as shown. 

The upgrade to the smaller font to all Post and Go machines is complete, but some upgrades have been more successful than others, with some stubbornly refusing to change font. Shown is a example of Cambridge kiosk No.1 with ‘corrupted’ printing, which has been seen at Bristol and other locations.

This error came from the Harlow Post Office Post & Go machine, which had the Birds II stamps in it for ONLY FOUR DAYS  in February 2011!!

Harlow Post Office was a non Birds office at the time and should have only issued the standard Machin type faststamps!

However nearby Milton Keynes Post Office ran out of Post & Go Faststamps at the end of 2010 and Harlow PO let them borrow some of theirs.

When Milton Keynes eventually got new stock in it was all Birds II stamps and to repay Harlow, they sent them Birds II  instead of Machin type faststamps, which they put in their machine!!!

When Royal Mail discovered the mistake they instructed the staff at the PO to withdraw the Birds II stamps immediately and replace them with Machin type faststamps which they did on 23/02/11.

All machines have now been upgraded to the smaller font and Birds series 3 stamps.

UPDATE:- This unique set is available here

In a widely expected change and to simplify  the transaction,  on Monday 18th April the Gold Machin Label identifiers ‘MOR’ and ‘RPR’ were discontinued. A new identifier ‘RSF’ was introduced for circumstances where a ‘Home Shopping Return’ requires a ‘Recorded Signed For’ add-on. This means that a max value of 77p is possible.

For a full and updated list of current and past Horizon label identifiers see :-

http://postagelabelsuk.com/?page_id=711

Whilst looking through some ‘Hytech’ vended Post and Go Stamps I have come across some where the security overprint does not cover the whole of the stamp~there is a discernible and noticable gap at the base of the stamp where the print does not reach the bottom of the stamp.   Upon checking with other dealers they have noticed the same on a handful of stamps purchased at Spring Stampex 2011  and have confirmed that at least one whole strip of five with this error on each stamp exists.

On April 1st 2011, The roll out of the ‘Type 2’ font commenced with the upgrade of Kiosks Nos. 1-3 at the Ludgate Circus ‘Tudor Street’ self-service facility. Shown is a last and first day cover showing the adjacent session numbers of the stamps vended either side of the upgrade. The upgrade have continued throughout this week, with those sites in London not already upgraded to the Type 2 receiving the new font.

Exclusive!- It has today been confirmed by Royal Mail that the Post and Go Birds 3 Faststamps to be issued on May 19th 2011 will be available from all Post Office branches  equipped with Post and Go kiosks.

Our full list of kiosks is available here http://postagelabelsuk.com/?page_id=497

The third set depicts the birds that can be found on or close to Britain’s lakes, rivers and streams and are shown below:-

Farringdon Road, London Ec1 Post Office has just moved down towards Farringdon station. The new branch has been totally refurbished to the latest standard and includes a Post and Go Kiosk…

Upon enquiry with the staff it was confirmed that the kioks is the one orginally installed at Hastings Old Town Post Office but with a new branch code of 100003 and the counter reset- Note the font has not been upgraded to the new, condensed  style.

We are offering for sale a mint strip of 5 , complete with relevent receipt.