Validity of old commemorative stamps.

kalsha

I have some greeting stamp booklets (unused stamps) from 1996 etc.
As far as I know, these stamps can still be used as they are commemoratives and I have been using them whenever possible to post Ebay items.
Someone has just queried the validity of these stamps.  
I can't  find the link on the Royal Mail website to show that they are still valid.  I can find the articles on AI but not interested in that.
Can anyone help me find the link on RM website please?

Robin9

They can't be used as such -  they will need to be traded in for ones with barcodes.

But they may be worth more to collectors.

MDMD

Robin9 said:

They can't be used as such -  they will need to be traded in for ones with barcodes.

But they may be worth more to collectors.

 Not true

“Special Stamps with pictures on and Christmas Stamps without a barcode will continue to be valid and don't need to be swapped out.“

https://www.royalmail.com/sending/barcoded-stamps

Spoonie_Turtle

Robin9 said:

They can't be used as such -  they will need to be traded in for ones with barcodes.

But they may be worth more to collectors.

I'm not sure that's correct (depending on what exactly the stamps look like that OP's using):

https://www.royalmail.com/sending/barcoded-stamps

"The stamps that have changed are the stamps (pictured below) that will be very familiar to you. They feature the profile of Her Late Majesty The Queen on a plain coloured background.

Note: Special Stamps with pictures on and Christmas Stamps without a barcode will continue to be valid and don't need to be swapped out."

See also their FAQs further down the page.

kalsha

Well I have been using them since 2023  and all the letters have reached.  Just found the bit at the bottom which says "special stamps are valid ........."   I will just copy and paste that bit for those who query it.

misterthrifty

They can still be used for postage, unfortunately some staff at Royal Mail aren't aware of this so there may be delays, occasionally recipients can be charged a fee for 'non valid' stamps!

Money_Grabber13579

misterthrifty said:

They can still be used for postage, unfortunately some staff at Royal Mail aren't aware of this so there may be delays, occasionally recipients can be charged a fee for 'non valid' stamps!

I think this is the biggest issue, as there are some special stamps which seem to get rejected by postal workers despite still being valid. There is also a little bit of ambiguity of what actually is now invalid. Stamps which have a plain background and a large portrait of the Queen's head on them (the Machin definitives) are Definately invalid, assuming they don’t have a barcode. However, there are other stamps of the same size which have pictures on them (country definitives) which are also invalid. So it’s not the case that all stamps with pictures remain valid and so it really depends on people knowing what is meant by special/commemorative stamps.