Machin series

:"See the list of machin stamps".

The Machin series of postage stamps is the main definitive stamp series in the United Kingdom, used since 5 June 1967. It is the second series to figure the image of Elizabeth II, replacing the Wilding series.

Designed by Arnold Machin, they consist simply of the sculpted profile of the Queen and a denomination, and are almost always in a single colour.

After four decades of service, the series has encompassed almost all changes and innovations in British stamp printing. This has been encouraging an abundant specialised philatelic collectors' market and associated literature.

While Arnold Machin's effigy of the Queen, created in 1964 for British coins was replaced in 1984 by an older-looking effigy by Raphael Maklouf, the design of the Machin stamps was never updated and the last proposals to these ends were rejected by the Queen herself.

Genesis

Since the accession of Elizabeth II in 1952, the definitive series figured a three-quarter photograph of the Queen by Dorothy Wilding. The same effigy had appeared on commemorative stamps too. [ The United Kingdom, as the first country to officially issue postage stamps in 1840, is excused by the Universal Postal Union from printing the country's name on its stamps and the royal effigy is the sole national mark.] However the Wilding design did not please some artists: In a letter of April 1961, Michael Goaman and Faith Jacques argued that it represented the Queen, but not the monarchy. They wrote it embarrassed the commemorative stamps' designers because the photograph took up one third of the stamp's area and on a two-dimensional design, it imposed a perspective. [Letter kept in The British Postal Museum & Archive (POST 122/10703) ; quoted by Douglas Muir (2007). "A Timeless Classic", chapter 2, « A Portrait with problems », pages 15-17.]

Some new designs were discussed but concerns over the technical aspects (a photograph or a painting inspired by a photograph) delayed until 1965 a full competition for artists. Postmaster General Tony Benn and artist David Gentleman failed in their attempts to have the royal head replaced by the name of the country ("Great Britain" or "U.K.") [cite book| last =Muir| first =Douglas | title ="A Timeless Classic" |year =2007|pages =55-79] , but were permitted to explore temporary solutions to the commemorative head problems: in 1966 Gentleman created a small single-coloured profile from a coin by Mary Gillick. [cite book| last =Muir| first =Douglas | title ="A Timeless Classic" |year =2007|pages =79-102] The project waited until the miniaturisation of the new definitive effigy that the Stamp Advisory Committee (SAC) had advised the Postmaster General on 13 January 1965 be chosen, from profiles and engraved images based on a photograph. [cite book| last =Muir| first =Douglas | title ="A Timeless Classic" |year =2007|pages =107]

The first essays were submitted by Andrew Restall and Arnold Machin with Harrison & Sons printers' assistance. They worked from photographs by Anthony Buckley, then by ones by Lord Snowdon, the Queen's brother-in-law. [cite book| last =Muir| first =Douglas | title ="A Timeless Classic" |year =2007|pages =108-110 After essays by Harrisons printers to combine Buckley's pictures with standard definitive backgrounds, the SAC was not impressed by the results and decided to look at Lord Snowdon's work.] Machin had just finished work on the new coin's effigy based on the photographer's pictures. The competition began with more artists officially invited during Summer 1965, [cite book| last =Muir| first =Douglas | title ="A Timeless Classic" |year =2007|pages =111-112 (what were requested to the artists) and 117-131 (presentation of the artists and their proposals)] but at a meeting on 26 January 1966, the SAC's members decided to let only Gentleman and Machin continue work on the design. [cite book| last =Muir| first =Douglas | title ="A Timeless Classic" |year =2007|pages =133 Muir has indicated that no notes or transcriptions were kept of 1966 meetings. The sequence of historical events is based on analysis of subsistent artworks.] Richard West, « Birth of an Icon », page 43.]

Arnold Machin's method was to sculpt a bas-relief in clay and moulds, which he reworked and corrected depending on what the SAC required. The printing essays were then done by Harrisons & Sons from photographs of the sculpture, completed with the additions and adornments by designer Machin. Quickly, he decided to simplify the effigy with just the Queen wearing a tiara and the four regional flower emblems, like the Wilding series. Yet these flowers were also dropped: Machin's design would eventually have only the Queen's profile and the value of the stamp. [cite book| last =Muir| first =Douglas | title ="A Timeless Classic" |year =2007|pages =133-144] Richard West, « Birth of an Icon », pages 42-43. Photographs of Arnold Machin working on his sculpture and of the four main designs he prepared are reproduced in this article.]

In March 1966, the Stamp Advisory Committee decided to make new photographs of the Queen available to Gentleman and Machin. They were taken by John Hedgecoe on the following 22 June. Elizabeth II selected the pictures to be given to the artists and Gentleman continued work on the "photographic alternative" to Machin's sculpture. [cite book| last =Muir| first =Douglas | title ="A Timeless Classic" |year =2007|pages =147-156 "Photographic alternative" is the title of this chapter in Muir's book.]

During the second period of 1966, Machin replaced the tiara with the George IV State Diadem on request of the SAC, the same diadem as was previously seen on the Penny Black. [cite book| last =Muir| first =Douglas | title ="A Timeless Classic" |year =2007|pages =157-158 In the archives, this design is called "Diadem Head".] The Queen asked for a corsage at the bottom of her sculpted neck. [cite book| last =Muir| first =Douglas | title ="A Timeless Classic" |year =2007|pages =209-215 "Dressed Head" was the name of this new design in the archives.] The final sculpture is a rectangle of plaster, 16 inches long and 14 inches large, kept in a London-based British Postal Museum & Archive vault. [Andrew Alderson et Tom Williams, « A new look for the first-class design », "Sunday Telegraph", 3 June 2007 ; [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/03/nstamp03.xml on the paper's website] (retrieved 12 June 2007).]

The last adjustments to the final plaster image and to the lighting during photography created four effigies. They were unveiled to philatelists on the pre-decimal stamps, the first ones issued 5 June 1967.Richard West, « Birth of an Icon », page 44. Ces effigies sont numérotées de A à D.]

Concerning the original colours, Machin encouraged the use of a clearer effigy on a single-coloured background.Richard West, « Man behind the Machin », page 45.] The 4 pence ("4d") was given a very dark brown, inspired by the Penny Black and requested by the Queen herself.Richard West, « Birth of an Icon », page 44.] But the Post Office did not fully respect Machin's views and in the first years of the series would also issue bi-coloured stamps and clear-to-dark gradated backgrounds.

Evolutions

From the philatelic point of view, the "Machins" are far more complex than the simple design might suggest, with well over a thousand varieties of colour, value, gum, phosphor banding, etc., known. Since the first stamps were issued pre-decimalisation, they exist in both old and new currencies. As postal rates changed, new denominations became necessary; the design has been adjusted periodically, for instance to use a gradient shade in the background; perforations have been changed; and so forth. In addition, for the regional stamps of 1971, regions' symbols designed by Jeffery Matthews [http://www.gbstamps.com/gbcc/gbcc_matthews_intvw1.html Interview of Jeffery Matthews during Stamp Show 2000] , "The Chronicle", October 2000, page 1.] were added to the basic design.

Initially the stamps were produced by Harrison & Sons using photogravure, with the high-value designs being larger and engraved. Starting around 1980, The House of Questa and Waddingtons Security Print also took up Machin printing in order to keep up with demand, producing their versions via lithography.

Apart from the many values of normal-sized stamps, there have been two different formats used for "high-value" definitives. In 1969 a larger and more square format was used to issue stamps of 2/6, 5/-, 10/- and £1 face value, and was used again in 1970 for the decimal currency values of 10p, 20p and 50p. (The £1 stamp had the lettering re-designed in 1972 and was re-issued. This version is usually seen as a 'decimal' edition as opposed to the 'pre-decimal' stamp.) In 1977 a taller portrait format was used for the large £1, £2, and £5 stamps, and also at various times between 1983 and 1987 for the odd values of £1.30, £1.33, £1.41, £1.50 and £1.60. These values were withdrawn after the introduction of the "Castles" high-value stamps of 1988.

In 1989, as a workaround to the problem of fast-changing rates, "non-value indicated" (NVI) Machins used textual inscriptions "1ST" and "2ND" to indicate class of service rather than a numeric value. The following year saw the first commemorative adaptation of the design, with the classic William Wyon profile of Queen Victoria appearing behind and to the left of Elizabeth, marking 150 years of British stamps.

1993 saw the introduction of both self-adhesives and elliptical perforations, the latter as a security measure.

Colours

The most striking aspect of the Machins is the rainbow of colours. Since the designs are all identical (or nearly so), it was critical that each denomination be produced in an easily-distinguished colour. Worse, the likelihood of rate changes meant that additional colours would be necessary, since old stamps were still valid and could appear on mail.

The initial palette of 14 colours was chosen after extensive testing. While most were solid colours, the 1/6d and 1/9d used different colours for effigy and denomination, while the 10d and 1/- had backgrounds that varied from darker on the left side to lighter on the right. The dark olive-brown shade of the 4d value, the most often-used stamp of the time, was personally selected by the Queen as being the available colour most reminiscent of the Penny Black. However, in practice this proved difficult to distinguish from the 5d's dark blue, automated machinery could not always see the phosphor bands on the stamps, and even football pool organizers complained that it was too hard to read the date and time of cancellations. In 1969, the 4d value was changed to vermilion, which in turn required a colour change for the 8d, which was reissued in "eggshell blue".

In preparation for decimalisation in 1971, the BPO prepared a new palette of colors, enlisting the Applied Psychology Unit of the Cambridge University to test individuals' abilities to quickly identify colours. The results pruned a selection of 25 down to the 14 used for the decimal stamps.

During the 1970s a third effigy/ background colour format emerged in addition to the existing light head-dark background and the light head-graded background; the new variation consisited of head the same colour as the background, with just the shaded detail picking out the image. (In more recent years the light head-dark background has become near universal.)

Over the years, rate changes required new denominations, and in order to make colours available, older stamps had to be withdrawn. For instance, the 11p rose of 1976 was withdrawn in 1980, and the colour reused in 1983 for a 23p stamp. A re-introduced denomination could not normally get its old colour back though; the light green 17p of 1980 was withdrawn in 1981, reissued in steel blue in 1983, withdrawn 1986, and reappeared yet again in 1990, this time in dark blue.

In 1983, Aubrey Walker of the Royal Mail's R&D department proposed a fixed assignment of colours to rates, on the theory that the classes of service changed much less frequently than rates. This still did not solve the problem of clerks detecting usage of old stamps with lower rates - they would have had to read the denomination rather than just glance at the colour - and so a system of "light" and "dark" colours was suggested, the two variants alternating at each rate change. Artist Jeffery Matthews was then hired to develop the actual colours, and in 1985 presented eight pairs totalling 16 colours. The colour pairing idea turned out to be unworkable, but the colours were adopted, and in 1988 Matthews developed another 15 as rates continued to churn.

To replace the Machin head?

On three occasions, postal sources have confirmed that a replacement for the Machin series was proposed by the The Post Office, and its successor, the Royal Mail. But, the Queen herself has subsequently rejected the proposed designs.

In March 1981, after Raphael Maklouf's effigy was chosen to appear on new issue coinage, a proposal was made to replace the Machin's effigy by 1983; in time for the 30th anniversary of the Queens's coronation. [cite book| last =Muir| first =Douglas | title ="A Timeless Classic" |year =2007|pages =207-208] The Post Office's Ron Dearing obtained agreement from the Queen, even if she expressed through a letter by her deputy private secretary that "Her Majesty is very content with the Machin effigy and thinks that a work of real quality is required if this is to be replaced" [William Heseltine, deputy private secretary to the Queen, in a letter dated 5 August 1981 quoted in cite book| last =Muir| first =Douglas | title ="A Timeless Classic" |year =2007|pages =208]

Under the supervision of Post Office design adviser Barry Robinson, Jeffery Matthews prepared alternative essays from March 1982 pictures of the Queen by Lord Snowdon. Matthews used many different positions of the head and shoulders, from profile to full-face. Essays with the latter position were designed from the photographic representation and from a portrait drawn by his son Rory Matthews. [ [http://www.stampmagazine.co.uk/content/gb_news/14.html "Shock Machin head replacements"] , "Stamp Magazine" website, retrieved 21 October 2007.] In 1983, Robinson ordered new portraits by different artists : drawn by John Sargeant, painted by Timothy Whidborne and Brian Sanders, later engraved by Czesław Słania in 1984. Harrisons and Sons printed these essays. But, they failed to please the Stamp Advisory Committee. [cite book| last =Muir| first =Douglas | title ="A Timeless Classic" |year =2007|pages =209-215]

In June 1985, a new working group proposed a change to the original Machin stamp design. It comprised a bicoloured (grey effigy on a coloured background); Jeffery Matthews then worked on a different cut of the shoulders and neck, for a horizontal stamp. [cite book| last =Muir| first =Douglas | title ="A Timeless Classic" |year =2007|pages =217-218] As Arnold Machin must be informed on any modifications of his original design, Barry Robinson and Jeffery Matthews visited him on 23 October 1985. Machin refused any changes by anyone except himself and didn't appreciate being approached after the proposed changes were finalised. [The content of the disagreement is known through an exchange of letters between Machin and Robinson on 1st and 12th November 1985, as quoted in cite book| last =Muir| first =Douglas | title ="A Timeless Classic" |year =2007|pages =219-221]

Following the abandonment of all of the proposed changes during the 1980s, some of Jeffery Matthews's designs were later used: the horizontal format served for the first self-adhesive stamps in 1993 and for the "large rate" stamps in 2006.

Another attempt to alter the design was proposed on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Penny Black. The Queen's refusal to consider any changes, swiftly ended the move. [Keith Fisher, head of the philatelic service of the Royal Mail (1984-1991), recalled that "However, it became obvious that the Queen did not want to see a change, and did not give her approval for the process to continue", quoted in an interview by Richard West (March 2007). "Stamp Magazine" 73 (3), page 54.]

References and sources

Sources of the articles

Books

* With the genesis of the "Machin" effigy, the author, curator of the BPMA, described the context of philatelic creation in Great Britain during the second half of the 1960s.
* This book is a chronology of the "Machin" serie main evolutions.

Articles

*cite journal| last =West | first =Richard | authorlink =| coauthors =|title =Birth of an Icon | journal =Stamp Magazine | volume =73| issue =6| pages =42–47 | month =June | year =2007| url = | doi =| id =| accessdate = Article about the pre-decinam "Machin" stamps (1966-1971).
*cite journal| last =West | first =Richard | authorlink =| coauthors =|title =Sold by the pound | journal =Stamp Magazine | volume =73| issue =6| pages =50–54 | month =June | year =2007| url = | doi =| id =| accessdate = Topical article centered on the £1 "Machin" stamps, throughout the series, with a chronology of the contracted printers.
* David Alderfer and Larry Rosenblum, "Colors of Machins were carefully considered", "Linn's Stamp News", July 8 1996.
* Larry Rosenblum, "Machins rainbow barely keeps up with needs", "Linn's Stamp News", August 12 1996.

Notes

Specialized bibliography

In English :
* The third and last edition was published in July 2003 (2 volumes, 1272 pages), with regular supplements written. A cd-rom version was edited in April 2005. [ [http://www.adminware.ca/machin/mdeegam.htm Presentation of the 3rd edition] on the "Great Britain Machins by The "Machin Nut" website, 25 July 2003 ; retrived 18 June 2007.]
* Formerly "Machin Specialised Catalogue", last updated in 2007 (2 volumes) with gummed stamps in the first volume, self-adhesives and booklets in the second one.
* "The Stanley Gibbons Great Britain Specialised" catalog : volume 3 about pre-decimals and volume 4 after decimalization.

In French :
* Fourth edition edited in June 2001.

External links

* [http://www.adminware.ca/machin.htm "Great Britain Machins by The 'Machin Nut"'] , specialised catalog by face value.
* [http://www.gbstamps.com/machins/index.html "Machin Mania"] , specialised site with news pages.