23rd March 2021 is the start of a new era in philately – that of Barcoded stamps. Someday all stamps will be are likely to be barcoded – almost to allow them to survive and not to be replaced by postage labels.
Firstly the 2nd Class Machin is big! Really big, in fact, larger than a Large stamp. The reason for its size lies in its purpose – to be scanned during its journey through the mail centres to its ultimate destination, which requires the 2D Datamatrix barcode to be of a certain size for this to happen reliably.
The Barcoded 2nd Class Machin is initially only available in ‘business’ books of 50. This is to facilitate the ‘soft’ testing of the technology via a particular group of users.
The stamps and barcoded element is part of a single stamp, separated by a simulated blue coloured perforation line. The barcode element appears to have been printed as part of a separate printing process.
Recent Comments