The ATMs in GUERNSEY. 2018, the Post & Go issues

The GG01 kiosk at SPRING STAMPEX 2018. The new 'Guernsey Bailiwick Flowers' series

For the third consecutive year, the Guernsey Post GG01 kiosk was installed at London Spring Stampex 2018, from February 14th to 17th.

Without the usual Royal Mail Post & Go presence, which decided not to install any kiosk at this philatelic fair, the machine was placed in the new 'Post & Go' stand located at the end of the gallery bay on the second floor, next to the Jersey Post, the Royal Gibraltar Post Office kiosks, and the Cartor Security printing demonstration kiosk (More information).

During the four days of Spring Stampex 2018, one of the printers of the GG01 kiosk issued stamps with the 'Guernsey flag' definitive design and the special festive imprint dedicated to Valentine's Day,
	From Me to You Spring Stampex 2018 inside a graphic design in the form of two hearts, and the new 'Guernsey Bailiwick Flowers' thematic series, with no special impression, from the other.

The first block of the code at the bottom of all the stamps issued by the kiosk at this philatelic event is B2GB18 GG01-, followed by the session and stamp number. The Philatelic Bureau also sells six-value sets or 'Collectors strips' with the 'Guernsey flag' design and the same commemorative imprint, plus the new flowers thematic series, all produced by the back office printer B002 (see strips below).

The new series was available, from February 14th 2018, from the GG01 philatelic kiosk, temporarily installed at London Spring Stampex 2018, and from the permanent GG02 kiosk installed at Envoy House, in Saint Peter Port, Guernsey. In this latter case, with the imprint 'Envoy House'. After 'Bailiwick Life' (article and VARIABLE 40) and the great 'Guernsey Bailiwick Lighthouses' (article and VARIABLE 44), the third 'Post & Go' pictorial series released by Guernsey Post is dedicated to showing different flowers specific to the Guernsey islands; Guernsey Lily (Nerine sarniensis), Guernsey Daffodil, Dwarf Pansy (Viola kitaibeliana), Sand Crocus (Romulea columnae), Shaggy Mouse Ear Hawkweed (Pilosella peleteriana) and Bog Pimpernel (Anagallis tenella). The illustrations are by the British artist Petula Stone, who specializes in botanical design.	Kiosk GG01 Spring Stampex 2018 - London	Kiosk GG02 Envoy House - Guernsey

Receipts of the six-value set or 'Collectors Strip' programmed and issued by the kiosks installed at Spring Stampex 2018 and Envoy House, respectively.

All the stamps bought in the London postal kiosk were billed with a 20% VAT surcharge on the face value on sales made by Guernsey Post in the UK.

Interestingly enough there are three varieties of sets or Collectors Strips issued by the back office equipment B002, all of them sold by Guernsey Post.
The first lower column corresponds to the sets sold together with a first day receipt: the bottom code starts with B2GG18, followed by the equipment code B002, and the sequential session and stamp numbers.
The central column corresponds to the sets included in the presentation packs and first day covers, with all stamps having the same bottom code ... an erroneous code (B2GG18 B002-1969-002); The 'Guernsey Bailiwick Flowers' series is the third thematic series, so the last number should be 003 and not 002.
The right column is an initial production run in which, by mistake, the bottom code corresponds to the Jersey series! (B2JE18 B002 1969 007 - see article). Presentation packs and first day covers with this error were available for sale at the Guernsey Post booth for a few hours on the first day of Spring Stampex, and were removed immediately when the error was realized.

Guernsey Post produced a presentation pack containing a Collectors Strip of the new series, together with a pictorial first day cover.

The GG01 kiosk at the 89th Scottish Congress

	Guernsey Post's GG01 kiosk also attended the Perth congress in 2018 for the first time (More information, also published in VARIABLE 49). During the two days, the machine issued stamps with the 'Guernsey flag' definitive design and the '89th Scottish Congress 2018' special imprint from one of the printers, and the 'Guernsey Bailiwick Flowers' thematic series launched at Spring Stampex 2018, with no special imprint, on the other. The six values programmed in the GG01 kiosk correspond to the first two postage rates for local and United Kingdom mail, for normal size and 'Large' letters, plus the two tariffs in the first weight step up to 20g to Europe and rest of the world.
		The first block of the code at the bottom of all the stamps issued by the kiosk at this philatelic event is B4GB18 GG01, followed by the session and stamp number. The Philatelic Bureau also sells six-value sets or 'Collectors strips' with the 'Guernsey flag' design and the same commemorative imprint, but with code B4GG18 B002, produced on the back office printer.

The new Guernsey Post DKU at the 28th Essen Stamps Fair

The 28th Essen stamp fair in Germany was held from May 3rd to 5th 2018, in one of the halls of Messe Essen. The attendance or representation of over 30 postal administrations, nearly 80 commercial stands, plus many philatelic study groups makes this event one of the main annual philatelic fairs to be held in Germany and in Europe.

In 2018, Guernsey Post attended the Essen fair for the second time with a new unit issuing variable value stamps.
In 2015, they had installed the then brand new GG01 kiosk on the Royal Mail 'Post & Go' stand (see article, also published in VARIABLE 37), and in 2018 they brought their new DKU (Desktop Kiosk Unit).
This counter unit, for the printing of variable value stamps, is the desktop or 'scaled down' version of the 'Post & Go' kiosk, both developed by the company Intelligent AR.

The DKU was introduced, in September 2017, at the CICE 2017 - China International Collection Expo exhibition (see article and VARIABLE 46) and at other international exhibitions. After Posta Stamps (see article and VARIABLE 47), Guernsey Post is the second postal administration to use this machine for the printing of stamps.

	With similar performance to the kiosks, the new Guernsey Post GG03 DKU is made up of a small equipment tower, which includes the computer and two direct thermal printers (for the printing of stamps and receipts), a touch screen monitor, and the card payment terminal.


	During the Fair, the GG03 system issued stamps with the 'Guernsey flag' definitive design and the ' Messe Essen 3-5 May 2018 ' special imprint below the face value indicator. The first block of the bottom code is D5DE18 (D identifies the DKU equipment, and 5, DE and 18 the month (May), country (Germany) and year of issue), followed by the machine code, the session and stamp numbers.
		The GG03 DKU is programmed with the same six tariffs programmed in the GG01 and GG02 postal kiosks. These correspond to the first two postage rates for local and United Kingdom mail, for both normal size and 'Large' letters, plus the two tariffs in the first weight step up to 20g to Europe and rest of the world.

The Guernsey Philatelic Bureau also sells six-value sets or 'Collectors strips' with the 'Guernsey flag' design and the same commemorative imprint, but with code B5GG18 GG04. Guernsey Post has for the first time used the DKU equipment for the back office printing of the sets produced in Guernsey, with the GG04 special code instead of the usual B002.

The new DKU GG03 in St Peter Port. The 'cruise ship's' stamps (2)

After attending the Essen philatelic fair, in Germany (see article, also published in VARIABLE 49), Guernsey Post decided to install its new DKU (Desktop Kiosk Unit) at the Guernsey Information Centre, in St Peter Port.
This self-service system is made up of a mini tower, which includes the computer and two direct thermal printers (for the printing of stamps and receipts), a touch screen monitor, and the card payment device.

The GG03 counter kiosk was installed on May 14th 2018, and Guernsey Post announced it would remain in this location until October 7th. During this period, the machine issued variable value stamps with the 'Guernsey Bailiwick Flowers' series released in February 2018 (article and VARIABLE 48) with the ' Guernsey Information Centre ' permanent identifier.

As in 2017, when the GG01 kiosk was temporarily installed at the Smith Street post office (see article, and VARIABLE 46), from mid-May to the end of September, Guernsey Post decided to include the name of the visiting ships on the stamps issued by the GG03 unit. These 'cruise ship's' stamps are only printed on the day the ship or ships call at the town.
During these months, the island received 25 cruise ship visits, many of which visited the island on several occasions.

A wise decision. Located in front of the port the tourist information office is a town highlight for many of the thousands of tourists visiting the island every year; most of them cruise passengers disembarking at the town for a few hours. The GG03 DKU kiosk not only improves access to postal services, but also provides for the purchase of special stamps by way of a souvenir of the visit to the island.

The first use of the special cruise ship imprint coincided with the date of installation, on May 14th, so during that day stamps were issued with the ' Guernsey Information Centre ' permanent or by default imprint, and the special printing for the two visiting ships, Royal Princess and Columbus.
As in 2017, when two cruise ships visit the island on the same day, the printing includes both ships names. For single ship visits, the name is preceded by the greeting ' Welcome to: '. All the texts were available for one day only. During the summer season, the tourist office opens seven days a week, so in 2018 cruise visitors also had their special impression on a Sunday.
In total, stamps with 30 different special imprints were issued (table below, lines marked in yellow), plus 17 reprints with the same imprint, on the occasion of subsequent visits of the same ship (lines with white background).

Date	Ship's name	Special imprint	Date	Ship's name	Special imprint
14.05.18	Royal Princess & Columbus	Royal Princess Columbus	01.07.18	Royal Princess & Brilliance of the Seas	Royal Princess Brill of the Seas
18.05.18	Aurora	Welcome to: Aurora	07.07.18	Ventura	Welcome to: Ventura
20.05.18	Prinsendam	Welcome to: Princendam (1)	12.07.18	Azamara Journey	Welcome to: Azamara Journey
21.05.18	Britannia	Welcome to: Britannia	13.07.18	Royal Princess	Welcome to: Royal Princess
23.05.18	AIDAaura	Welcome to: Aidaura (2)	14.07.18	Prinsendam	Welcome to: Princendam (1)
24.05.18	Queen Victoria	Welcome to: Queen Victoria	16.07.18	Britannia & Crystal Serenity	Britannia Crystal Serenity
26.05.18	Brilliance of the Seas	Brilliance of the Seas	18.07.18	Black Watch & Columbus	Black Watch Columbus
30.05.18	Seven Seas Explorer	Welcome to: Seven Seas Explorer	21.07.18	Ventura	Welcome to: Ventura
31.05.18	Silver Spririt	Welcome to: Silver Spirit	22.07.18	Oriana	Welcome to: Oriana
06.06.18	Crystal Serenity	Welcome to: Crystal Serenity	25.07.18	Magellan & Royal Princess	Magellan Royal Princess
07.06.18	Royal Princess & Queen Victoria	Royal Princess Queen Victoria	26.07.18	Queen Elizabeth	Welcome to: Queen Elizabeth
10.06.18	Azamara Journey & Magellan	Azamara Journey Magellan	30.07.18	Crystal Serenity	Welcome to: Crystal Serenity
14.06.18	Ventura	Welcome to: Ventura	06.08.18	Royal Princess & Brilliance of the Seas	Brill of the Seas Royal Princess
16.06.18	Ventura	Welcome to: Ventura	16.06.18	Celebrity Eclipse	Welcome to: Celebrity Eclipse
17.06.18	Celebrity Eclipse	Welcome to: Celebrity Eclipse	18.08.18	Royal Princess	Welcome to: Royal Princess
19.06.18	Royal Princess	Welcome to: Royal Princess	19.08.18	Celebrity Silhouette	Welcome to: Celebrity Silhouette
21.06.18	Saga Sapphire	Welcome to: Saga Sapphire	25.08.18	Ventura	Welcome to: Ventura
22.06.18	Oriana & Zuiderdam	Oriana Zuirdam (3)	30.08.18	Royal Princess	Welcome to: Royal Princess
26.06.18	Marco Polo	Welcome to: Marco Polo	01.09.18	Ventura	Welcome to: Ventura
28.06.18	Columbus	Welcome to: Columbus	02.09.18	Arcadia & Magellan	Arcadia Magellan
30.06.18	Queen Elizabeth	Welcome to: Queen Elizabeth	10.09.18	Columbus	Welcome to: Columbus
(1) Spelling error in the cruise's name, 'Princendam' instead of 'Prinsendam' (2) Erroneous name 'Aidaura' instead of 'AIDAaura' (3) Erroneous name 'Zuirdam' instead of 'Zuiderdam'			14.09.18	Prinsendam	Welcome to: Prinsendam
			15.09.18	Britannia	Welcome to: Britannia
			18.09.18	Norwegian Jade	Welcome to: Norwegian Jade
			27.09.18	Nautica	Welcome to: Nautica
			30.09.18	Queen Elizabeth	Welcome to: Queen Elizabeth

The GG01 kiosk at AUTUMN STAMPEX 2018

After Spring Stampex and the Perth congress, Guernsey Post again installed its GG01 kiosk at London's Autumn Stampex 2018. The machine was located in the new 'Post & Go' stand at the end of the gallery bay on the second floor, next to the Jersey Post and The Royal Gibraltar Post Office kiosks (More information).

	From September 12th to 15th, the GG01 kiosk issued stamps with the 'Guernsey flag' definitive design and the special imprint commemorating the RAF's centenary, ' 100 Years Royal Air Force ' positioned next to the image of a Spitfire, from one of the printers, and the 'Guernsey Bailiwick Flowers' thematic series released at Spring Stampex 2018 (see article, also published in VARIABLE 48), with no special impression, from the other. The first block of the code at the bottom of all the stamps issued by the kiosk at this philatelic event is B9GB18 GG01-, followed by the session and stamp number. In Guernsey the philatelic service also sells six-value sets or 'Collectors strips' with the 'Guernsey flag' design and the same special imprint from the DKU system, and the special code GG04.
	As can be seen on the receipt, all the stamps bought during Autumn Stampex were billed with a 20% VAT surcharge on the face value, on sales made by Guernsey Post in the UK.

Happy Holidays from Guernsey

	Although Guernsey Post initially planned to remove the DKU equipment from the Guernsey Information Centre in early October 2018 at the end of the cruise season, the success of the machine decided Guernsey Post to keep the counter unit in this location until the end of December. And indeed, the usual holiday or Christmas greeting that was included in the stamps issued by the GG02 kiosk installed in the philatelic department of Envoy House in 2018 was also programmed in the new GG03 DKU, a much more accessible outlet for collectors, visitors and customers in general. From December 3rd to 21st, all stamps issued with the 'Guernsey Bailiwick Flowers' series include a graphic image with the text ' Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year ' next to a Christmas tree.