The £5 deep sepia-brown small format Machin was printed in Gravure by De La Rue using Iriodin ink during 2003. This unissued trial printing is the precursor to the £5 Azure (Stanley Gibbons catalogue Y1749).
A rare stamp in very fine never hinged mint condition with sheet side margin.
This stamp is available to purchase in our eBay store, priced £595. View £5 Sepia Unissued Machin at eBay UK
The Story behind the £5 Sepia Brown
From what I can gather it goes something like this…
Around 1999 Royal Mail began printing high value Machins the same size and format as low value denominations. Previously, all high value stamps were larger in format. The 1999-2000 issues were recess printed and the high values (above £1) had a rough texture appearance to separate them from the lower values.
During 2003 printing was switched to Gravure, which was more commonly being used for most definitives. Therefore Iriodin ink was used to differentiate the high values from the lower value stamps. The intended effect of Iriodin ink was to give a shiny, metallic or pearlescent appearance.
But the resulting £5 sepia-brown turned out dull and rather uninspiring! It didn’t match the current colour palettes particularly well and never went on sale.
The unadopted colour was changed to something more suitable, and the commonly seen £5 Azure was approved for use.
De La Rue supposedly destroyed all sheets of the brown printing, except for one sheet. This sheet is with the British Postal Museum, although rumours suggest there could be a second sheet, kept for reference, in existence.
However, it does appear a small quantity, possibly as low as 10 or 20 examples, seem to have survived and made their way into philatelic collections.
Known Examples?
In the past 8 years I have seen 4 examples in various auctions, including the one I am offering for sale.
In 2017 one sold for £480+commission with David Feldman Stamp Auctions. There has also been an example offered for sale at £700 with Mark Brandon (Regal Stamps). A further unused example, without gum, was previously seen on HipStamp priced at £399.