Description
The British Post Office decided that it would be good business if the general public were able to purchase stamps in places other than post offices, or outside of normal working hours. Machines were developed to dispense stamps from a large coil, and later by way of booklets.
Not valid for postage, the test stamps were not intended for public use but some did escape, few exist on cover.
In 1939 the domestic weight for a letter weighing less than 4 ounces was 1½d. This “poached egg” apparently was accepted as ½d postage on this local letter.