In 2009 Royal
Mail issued 11 new Machin definitive stamps, with special security
features designed to prevent re-use and deter forgery. But, because they
decided to include a 'hidden' code which indicated the source of the
stamps (sheets, booklets etc), there were actually 25.
In 2010 there were another 19, because the year was now coded in to the design.
Collectors were confused, dealers were confused, and catalogue editors were confused. Stanley Gibbons catalogue editors managed to assign three different numbers to the same stamp in one year (Concise, Collect British Stamps, and new Concise). And they decided to keep things simple by listing the original stamps, and those with the 2010 code separately.
But when 2011 came, 'keeping things simple' meant having one set of numbers for the stamps with no year code, and another set for those with a year code, no matter what that year was. Which is fine if you want a simple list – but serious Machin collectors wanted every variant, and dealers needed a simple way to identify separately the stamps from each year. With no central plan from SG, many dealers devised their own – different – systems.
The Norvic system is unique in that, bar the unexpected, you can work out what the Norvic numbers will be for any new stamp that is issued in 2014 and beyond at least to 2019. Our Checklist has been prepared and refined with the help of collectors and other dealers. Now that we have agreement from Stanley Gibbons to cross-reference to their numbers, we can make the Norvic Checklist available to all dealers and collectors worldwide.
In the 2018 edition of the Concise catalogue Stanley Gibbons have renumbered many of the security stamps, and left gaps for the future. The latest edition of our Checklist incorporated both old and new numbers
The list is available to all Machin collectors free of charge - no catches. The Norvic numbers in the checklist are the ones we use in our webshop where you can buy many of the stamps. Note that some collectors (and dealers) record these stamps in greater detail than we do, for instance according to the size of the gap in the security slits, according to the shape of the perforation, or the direction of printing. Ours doesn't claim to be a complete list of Security Machins according to those criteria, but it does list all the basic stamps - and a few extras.
Just put your email address in the box - please check that you have entered it correctly - and check the 'Yes' button - then click the 'Email me the checklist' button. But, if you aren't sure there are samples from some of the pages below.
Minor updates will be mentioned on our blog.
Unless you are a customer you won't receive any other emails.
15 September 2018 - version 2.0.8 added – includes 2018 Walsall printings including both phosphor types, and the revised numbers in the SG GB Concise Catalogue
IMPORTANT:
you should only need to download our file once for each device.
It will be attached to the email and can then be saved on your
computer, tablet, smartphone, e-reader etc. The pdf file
does not change daily, and new editions will be announced on the blog
and website home page.