The Machin series /ˈmeɪtʃɪn/ of postage stamps is the main definitive stamp series in the United Kingdom, used since 5 June 1967. It is the second series to figure the image of Elizabeth II, replacing the Wilding series.
Designed by Arnold Machin, they consist simply of the sculpted profile of the Queen and a denomination, and are almost always in a single colour.
After four decades of service, the series has encompassed almost all changes and innovations in British stamp printing. This has been encouraging an abundant specialised philatelic collectors' market and associated literature.
Arnold Machin's 1964 effigy of the Queen was replaced on British coins in 1984 by an older-looking effigy by Raphael Maklouf, and then replaced again in 1998. However, the effigy on British stamps has never been updated, and the last proposals to these ends were rejected by the Queen herself.
Read more about Machin Series: Genesis, Evolutions, Colours, Machin Head Replacement
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“Every Age has its own peculiar faith.... Any attempt to translate into facts the mission of one Age with the machinery of another, can only end in an indefinite series of abortive efforts. Defeated by the utter want of proportion between the means and the end, such attempts might produce martyrs, but never lead to victory.”
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