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16-623: The Great Americans series is a set of definitive stamps issued by the United States Postal Service , starting on December 27, 1980, with the 19¢ stamp depicting Sequoyah , and continuing through 1999, the final stamp being the 55¢ Justin S. Morrill self-adhesive stamp. The series, noted for its simplicity and elegance, is a favorite of stamp collectors . It was replaced by the Distinguished Americans series , which began in 2000. The basic design of

32-443: A 1 ⁄ 2 -cent stamp because some rates were expressed in fractions of a cent per ounce. The highest value of the series is generally quite large, typically from 50 to 100 times the normal letter rate; typical values include one pound, five dollars, etc. Not often seen by the average person, they are most common for parcels. The in-between values are usually chosen to "make change" efficiently, for instance 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 in

48-628: A decimal currency. It is common to include all values between 1 and 10, multiples of 5 from 10 to 50, and multiples of 10 from 50 to 100. Additional "oddball" values may reflect specific common rates, and if the series lasts for a period of time, there may be a number of such unusual values as in the UK QE II Machin series below. Definitives are the workhorse stamps of a country, and as such, they tend to be small, with designs reflecting local culture and history. The definitives of poorer countries will often be very plain and cheaply printed, unlike

64-537: A larger format. Other major variations include: NVI (or non-value indicator) Machins first appeared in 1989 in an attempt to negate the need to keep issuing new stamps after each postal rate change. They are marked 1st and 2nd for the two classes of post in the United Kingdom . The E NVI stamp represented the standard letter rate to Europe . In 1990, the Royal Mail issued five stamps to commemorate

80-523: A limited range of denominations relating specifically to the mail seen on the occasion for which they are issued. List of Machin stamps This is a list of all the major variations of the Machin series of postage stamps in the United Kingdom . The complete list of all variations is vast and outside the scope of this encyclopedia. Note: the colours and the colour descriptions are to be used to give an idea only, as each catalogue and website will name

96-408: A set. Collectors' organizations have recommended that administrations only bring out new definitive issues no more often than every five years, and most administrations of the world follow this policy. An exception would be the death of a monarch, or other prominent leader, necessitating a new definitive series for the new ruler. Sometimes merely the portrait is changed, and the outer design (known as

112-419: A single print run. Switching printing methods and experimenting with phosphors is a common source of variation in modern stamps, while differences in watermarks and perforation are also prevalent, especially in older stamps. Many philatelists study these differences as part of their hobby and try to collect all the varieties of each stamp. Some varieties are particularly rare and can be more valuable than others of

128-930: The 150th anniversary of the Penny Black . They featured the Machin image of Queen Elizabeth II overlaying the image of Queen Victoria from the Penny Black. An NVI issue was released in 2000. Since about 2009, virtually all Machins have been issued only as self-adhesive stamps. The primary exceptions have been stamps issued as part of Prestige Stamp Booklets or in souvenir sheets. Machin stamps with Data Matrix barcodes were introduced in two stages, on 1 February 2022 (non-value indicators), and 4 April 2022 (other values). All barcoded stamps are self-adhesive. Existing definitive stamps issued from 15 February 1971 to 31 January 2022 remain valid until 31 January 2023: since 31 March 2022, they can be indefinitely exchanged for

144-444: The 1902, 1922–1925, 1938 and 1954–1965 definitives had each presented only one woman. This was also the first definitive series to offer stamps devoted to notable Native Americans, four of whom were depicted: Red Cloud (10¢), Crazy Horse (13¢), Sequoyah (19¢) and Sitting Bull (28¢). African-Americans were represented by two stamps, the 20¢ denomination featuring Ralph Bunche and 35¢ stamp depicting Charles Drew . The stamps of

160-459: The colours differently. The first Machins were issued in 1967 and were in use until the UK changed to a decimal currency in 1971. These Machins came in two sizes, with the four higher value stamps being the largest. Machins continued being issued after Britain's change to decimalisation, and were produced until the end of the queen's reign. During the 1970s and 1980s, Royal Mail issued 12 Machins in

176-405: The frame) remains the same throughout several issues. Countries that ignore frequency of issue guidelines and issue volumes of stamps that have little to no practical usage produce what many collectors refer to as wallpaper . Since definitive series are issued over a period of time and are reprinted to meet postal demand, they often contain more variation than is typically found in stamps that have

SECTION 10

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192-468: The large and decorative commemoratives, which are almost pure profit if bought by foreign collectors and never used for postage. Since postal administrations know that many stamp collectors want to own every stamp of a definitive series, and a complete series can be quite expensive, there is always the temptation by governmental bureaucrats to make extra money by frequently issuing new definitive sets, as well as including stamps with very high face values in

208-468: The same stamp that may look the same to the casual observer. One notable example of this variation is the Machin stamps of the UK, where philatelists have identified over 1,000 varieties of the same basic design. Special stamps , such as the Christmas stamps issued annually by various countries, are sometimes regarded as definitives because they are not commemoratives, but they typically only include

224-483: The series, ordered by denomination, include: Definitive stamp The range of values varies by era and country, but the focus is on coverage; the values should be sufficient to make up all possible charges using as few stamps as possible. Generally the smallest value will be the smallest unit of currency, or smallest fractional postal rate; for instance, the 1925 regular issue of the United States included

240-445: The stamps has much in common with the predecessor Americana series and the contemporaneous transportation coils ; the few elements consisting only of portrait, name, possibly occupation/notability, inscription "USA", and denomination, in a single color on a white background. The range of subjects was much broader than the previous Prominent Americans series or Liberty Issue . Where the predecessors focused mainly on political figures,

256-618: The subjects of the Great Americans series were well-known from a number of diverse fields and ethnicities. Only two presidents were subjects of the series: Thomas Jefferson and Harry S. Truman . Balancing the diminished role of presidents was an enormous increase in the prominence of women. Sixteen appear among the Great Americans—a significant contrast to earlier definitive issues: for in the 1965–1978 Prominent Americans series, females had appeared on only two denominations, while

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