2264. 🇬🇧 Royal Mail Charles III First Day Cover Definitive Errors; Shirley Bassey Issue.

 

New issues.

🇬🇧 Royal Mail -

29 August 2023 - New definitives featuring King Charles III, variants without security slits produced in coils (originally and very helpfully reported by Norvic Stamps Blog). The 2 first day covers sold by Royal Mail were distributed with the low value and high value definitives released on 29 August 2023 but it emerged that the stamps used on the covers were lacking the security slits which were present on the stamps as sold at post office counters. Having now received examples of these first day covers I illustrate the stamps as used on the first day covers for comparison with the counter-sold stamps (note that shade differences in the illustrations are due to the reproduction rather than the stamps themselves). These are significant differences and examples of the first day covers are a necessary part of any modern Great Britain collection. These fdc varieties of the stamps are not officially available in an unused condition. Rating:- *****.

  We seem now to have the following King Charles III definitives:-

Code M23LMAIL (counter stamps) - 

Issued 4 April 2023 -

2nd

1st

2nd Large

1st Large

£2.20p

28 August 2023 - 

With full security features - 

1p

2p

5p

10p

20p

50p

£1

£2

£5

Lacking security slit from coils (only available on First day covers but Norvic has been able to supply a number of unused stamps which have all now been allocated to customers)

1p

2p

5p

10p

20p

50p

£1

£2

£5

Code M23LMEIL (from booklets of 8) -

2nd

1st

Code M23LMFIL (from booklets of 4) -

1st

2nd L

1st L

Code M23LMBIL (business sheets) -

2nd

1st

2nd L

  Therefore we currently seem to have 31 King Charles III definitive stamps to start off our collections of stamps of the new reign. However, this will not be for long as the tiresome Shirley Bassey 70th anniversary in show business issue due on 21 September 2023 will include, inevitably, an expensive Prestige Booklet (cost £22.50) which will include a pane of King Charles III definitives (1 x 2nd Class, 2 x 1st Class and 1 x 10p) with the code M23L MPIL, so that will push the total up to 34 King Charles III definitives.

The pane as shown on the Royal Mail internet site -

Ian Billings in his Norvic Stamps Blog is depicting a real pane which shows some differences from that shown on the Royal Mail site:-

The rest of the booklet is shown below - 

The 8 basic stamps will be issued in 2 strips each of 4 se-tenant stamps and the miniature sheet contains 4 different stamps - 

  As if this was not enough, Miss Bassey also warrants the issue of a ‘Collectors sheet’ made up of the 8 different stamps with attached labels and a snip at a trifling £12.40.

  The issue was ‘designed’ by Royal Mail Group Ltd and lithographed by Cartor and is perforated 14.5.

  Rating:- *.