See a very simple Machin checklist.
Right off the bat, let me refer you to a simply outstanding reference on collecting Machins: Robin Harris's work at http://www.adminware.ca/machin.htm
"Machins" or "Machin Heads" are terms naming the current definitive stamp series of Great Britain. This series, begun on June 15, 1967, replaced the Wilding issue and has become a very attractive and collectible image. It is named for Sir Arnold Machin, sculptor at the Royal College of Art, who modeled the plaster cast of the profile of Queen Elizabeth II of England. The queen's profile has become the identifying feature of British postage stamps.
The smallest unit, the penny, had the symbol "d" (for denarius, Latin for penny - keep in mind that the Romans controlled Britain for a long time, long ago). The shilling, equal to 12 pence, has as its symbol the solidus (the Latin word for a shilling), or slash, "/". The pound, symbolized by the "£", is equal to 20 shillings. [The pound got its name from the fact that in early times, the unit of money was a silver penny - a sterling - and people would shave off some of the edge, reducing the value of the coin with respect to the silver content. So they started to weigh the sterlings, to get a pound of them].
Eventually, the pound was revalued into 100 pennies and the shilling was discontinued (The pound is still Sterling, but no one notices, and presumably no one shaves the pennies anymore). Even with the new value of the pound, they still call the penny a penny, and two of them still would be called pennies or 'pence' (but what can you do with two pence [tuppence] today?) . They never actually spoke the 'd' or it's name, but they did say 'pence'. And the word 'penny' never got popular, and the people began to identify the new penny as a "pee" (from the "p" delimiter), to distinguish it from the old penny. Hmmm. [An old pound had 240 pence, a new pound has 100 pence. Which is more valuable?]
There were 18 individual designs in the pre-decimal issue (Scott has used the name Sterling to help name this issue), with a total of 20 variations. The pre-decimal period ended in 1971. The vast majority of Machins have been issued since the February 15, 1971 change to the decimal currency standard.
It is interesting to note that the Welsh issues after 1996 do not have currency delimiters, in compliance with a Welsh law of 1991 requiring bilingual wording on Government documents. This would have required Royal Mail to include the Welsh symbol ('c') for "ceiniog" along with the English symbol ("p") for "penny". Royal Mail simply omitted both the symbols. (The Royal Mail is Britain's governmental mail service).
There were two changes in Machin production, one being the switch in currency and the other a change in typeface. The typeface had to be changed to accommodate the larger double-digit numerals required for modern postal values. Minor changes improved the quality of the image, and new inks improved color contrasts.
Originally, the Royal Mail colors were bright and bold - eye-catching! - with trendy names. However, as different values emerged, it was noticed that other colors were more effective in demonstrating the queen's profile. Experimentation was done with the inks. Consequently, deeper and brighter colors were developed and used. But finally, colors were made to contrast the queen's head, and light colors and graduated backgrounds in general were eliminated. This latter decision, in this writer's opinion, detracts from the collectibilty of the design.
Several catalogs aid the collector: Stanley Gibbons, Scott, and Deegam produce internationally recognized volumes which deal effectively with most Machines. Deegam's book helps collectors of all levels realize their most enjoyment. However, it seems that each publisher may interpret the Royal Mail colors differently and use different names for the same color. (Using the Royal Mail colors' names does not give an accurate interpretation of the color hues). This "color name" variance, coupled with the problem of catalogue numbers, presents challenges when acquiring stamps from sources outside one's home country - how do you know which issue you are getting?.
Some interesting features of Machins are the generic issues for First and Second Class postage, European applications (European Union), and some coil and booklet issues with multiple designs. The generic issues are sold at different times and are identified with the class of postage, e.g., First and Second. The cost of each stamp is that of the prevailing rate at the time of purchase, and the stamps may be used at any time thereafter, regardless of any change in current postal rates. These generic issues are called NVI, or No Value Indicators, and are marked with "1st" or "2nd" instead of a value; and for European usage, there is the older "E" and newer "Europe" value; and Worldwide and Worldwide Post Card air mail values.
Coil strips and booklet panes often have more than one variety of images within their unit, offering additional collecting alternatives and visual effects.
Now there are self-adhesive varieties, in various formats: One resembles the normal issues in size and shape; another is horizontally rectangular. There also is a new variety called Proportion in Print, or PiP, which has the numerals for the class in a different position and size.
For illustrations and more in-depth discussion of these varieties, and the varieties with more detailed differences, consult Robin Harris's pages (referenced above).
Hong Kong produced Machins while it was a British colony - before the reversion to China. And there is Machin stationery from Britain. (Neither are covered by Harris's work.)
We note that since the introduction of the elliptical perforation, some of the earlier issues were re-issued with ellipses, and all the new ones are issued only with the ellipse (generally; there is at least one exception to this rule!).
All these major features combine to give us the basic collecting pleasure. The simplest method of collecting Machins may well be by value and color, i.e., one of each value in each color. Bear in mind that different typestyles offer different visual effects. Mint, unused, and used samples may be intermixed, or you may collect only mint or only used issues. In preparing a simple checklist, you may just ignore the year and variant, organizing the specimens in strict numerical order, separated according to "d" and "p" values.
Additional and more complex methods may involve the cataloging by reference number, year, variety, etc., especially if you collect an entire booklet pane. The best method for you is up to YOU, the collector!
See a simple Machin checklist which includes the ellipticals.
