2014. Coat of Arms of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

Two years after the first ATM design for Hytech - SelfPost postal kiosks, dedicated to Grand-Duc Henri (see articles >, also published in VARIABLE 27 & 29), POST Luxembourg launched a new issue.

The design of the new ATM is by the graphic studio Fargo, and depicts the POST Luxembourg colours and the coat of arms of the Grand Duchy. The issue commemorates the 200th anniversary of the creation of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, in 1815.

The rolls of thermal self-adhesive labels are manufactured by the Dutch security printing company Joh. Enschedé Security Print. The size of the labels is 56 x 25 mm., and are perforated along the sides to make them similar to 'traditional' stamps.
Maximum card 'Luxembourg flag', with the new ATM and the special first day postmark

	The new issue was available from December 2nd 2014, from the twelve SelfPost postal kiosks in service, in Luxembourg.
	Unlike the previous issue, POST Luxembourg prepared a special pictorial postmark for the new ATM that could be obtained at the philatelic departments of the two main post offices, Luxembourg Centre (left) and Luxembourg Gare.

The 'Coat of Arms of Luxembourg' issue can be obtained with two different printing varieties – those issued by the equipment of the philatelic service using a Toshiba direct thermal desktop printer (right image), or directly from any of Hytech - SelfPost postal kiosks (images below).

In both cases, the machine prints the service or shipment indicator and the face value in the upper left corner (Lettre standard and 0.60 EUR in the images below), and a unique code for each stamp at the lower left. - The philatelic service sells stamps with a fixed face value (Lettre standard 0,60 EUR). The 21-digit lower code includes, in all the stamps, the date and time of the first day of issue (2014 1202 0800), the machine number (4 or 40), and the sequential operational number (13999 in the image). For ATMs issued by the postal kiosks, the face value is variable, depending on user needs, and the lower 20-digit code also includes all the information about the stamp. In the ATM below, 2014 is the year of issue, 1202 for the month and day (December 2nd, first day of issue, in this case), 0923 for the time of issue, 01 is the postal kiosk or terminal number, and finally 237938 indicates the transaction number. According to the option selected by the user, some stamps also include a serial number (see next section).

Philatelic service - Desktop printer	SelfPost postal kiosks

The visual identity change of the company not only involved the external signage of postal kiosks, but also the interface design - the screens seen by customers, and the receipts issued by the machines. However, the options remained unchanged since the modification introduced in May 2013 (see article >, also published in VARIABLE 29). After the language selection, the user can choose (1) to buy stamps or (2) weigh the postal item and obtain the corresponding franking ('Weigh & Post' option in the main menu below).

	In the first case, the user is required to choose between three destination zones (screens below), then the weight step, and finally the quantity of stamps required. The ATMs printed using this option include the texts 'Luxembourg', 'Europe' and 'Reste du Monde', depending on the zone selected, and the face value. The lower code includes an additional number (-1 in the images).

Selecting the 'Weight & Post' option from the main menu, the user must select the destination and place the postal item on the scale (screen images below). The system then shows the different shipment options available, and the corresponding postage rate.

The ATMs printed using this option include the three service indicators, 'Lettre standard', 'Lettre non standard', and 'Maxi Lettre', regardless of the destination, and the face value. The set and receipt in the images correspond to the first three values for a domestic shipment. The last screen displays the values for a shipment to a European country.

Postal kiosk 08 - Helfent - Bertrange 'City Concorde' shopping center	Postal kiosk 01 - Luxembourg - Gare

	Postal kiosk 03 - Bertrange - 'La Belle Étoile' shopping center

Postal kiosk 04 - Luxembourg - Cloche d'Or

2018, the 32nd collector's fair in Ettelbruck

Every year, the Cercle philatélique d'Ettelbrück organizes the largest collector's fair in the Greater Region of Luxembourg attracting many collectors from Germany, Belgium, France and Luxembourg.

In 2018, the 32nd event was held on Sunday, March 11th, in the large multipurpose hall 'Däichhal' in Ettelbruck, in the center of the country. The fair brought together over 70 dealers from the four countries specializing in different areas of collecting, distributed amongst 160 tables.
Photo: de Reider

Although the Post Luxembourg philatelic department's issuing policy does not include variable value stamps with special imprints, they do offer philatelic clubs and other groups the option of producing 'personalized' stamps according to their needs. This option was taken up, for the first time, by the Cercle Philatélique d'Ettelbrück, which requested the issue of a commemorative stamp for this collector's fair.

With no possibility of a postal kiosk being installed at the event, the stamps were preprinted from the back office computer system used by Post Philatélie, on labels with the Coat of Arms of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg definitive design, first issued in 2014 (see article, also published in VARIABLE 35).
All stamps printed have the same face value, corresponding to the current domestic mail rate, Luxembourg 0,70 €, and the special imprint ' 32. Tauschbörse in Ettelbrück '. The lower 21-digit code, different for each stamp, includes information about its issue. For the first stamp below, for example, 2018 is the year of issue, 0311 the month and day (March 11th, date of the fair), 0800 the time of issue, 40 the equipment code used by the philatelic service, and 0000723 the stamp number.


As can be seen in the images, because of the displacement of the roll of labels inside the thermal printer used to print the stamps, it is possible to recognize two varieties in the issued stamps; firstly with the information block set to the left of the label, aligned with the bottom preprinted text 'POSTES LUXEMBOURG', and secondly with the information block set to the right.

These special stamps, not ATMs or variable value stamps (because they were only issued with a single value), were sold by the organizing club during the fair, with a surcharge of 30c. on the face value to help fund the event. The issue aroused great interest amongst visitors, and the first printing of 1,500 stamps was quickly sold out. At the request of the organizers, the philatelic service produced (at least) a further 250 stamps, to meet the demand of all interested collectors who had not been able to buy the stamp during the fair. The Cercle Philatélique d'Ettelbrück also prepared commemorative pictorial covers and postcards.

After the success of this first issue of personalized stamps, a German philatelic dealer requested two new stamp issues with personalized imprints from Post Luxembourg, printed on the rolls of labels in use in postal kiosks.
Given the conditions of issue and distribution, ATEEME will not be devoting any resource in publicizing, much less encouraging, this type of private and speculative issues.