Our Circle (MBPC) has its roots in the Great Britain Decimal Stamp Book Study Circle (GB DSB SC) established by Doug Myall in 1971. It continues to excel in that field despite a merger with the British Decimal Stamps Study Circle (BDSSC) in 2006 which led to a new name and a scope extended to cover all stamps and related material issued during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. The Circle now also covers the stamps of King Charles III. We welcome all philatelists whatever their level of collecting. As a Circle, we encourage all our members to participate, sharing reports of new discoveries or the results of personal research or even just by offering their views and opinions on the Letters page. 

For almost 50 years the Circle produced its award-winning bimonthly The Bookmark® Journal (click the symbol to see sample pages). We have to move with the times, however and the same quality information produced by the same team is now offered in dedicated sections on the Circle’s website in colour. Access to the information is more immediate and files are updated as soon as developments occur. As we no longer send out printed newsletters or other material by post, the annual subscription remains remarkably low. It is also more ecological. An enormous advantage is that all members having paid the equivalent of three annual subscription fees will have full and free access to all our past Journals - almost 50 years of British philatelic history in the making! 

All new issue reports (), technical articles () and other website files include illustrations and diagrams where available. Although the website is not intended to be an electronic version of the Circle’s celebrated catalogues, the many QuickFind tables () enable members to search for details about past issues or identify items they have, using the Circle’s own widely used DB (decimal book), DP (decimal pane) or SB (self-adhesive book) catalogue numbers. The various parts of its exclusive award-winning The Bookmark® Catalogue covering all aspects of decimal stamp books () are available from the website at extremely modest prices, either for download or on CD for the larger volumes. The files are fully searchable and contain hundreds of links to make them user-friendly.

Another renowned benefit of the Circle are the six exclusive postal auctions organised each year, offering specialised or more common material from sheet or booklet Wildings and Machins through to Royal Mail’s very latest issues (). Typically, over 1,000 lots are offered with realistic reserve prices. The auctions provide members with an opportunity to expand their own collections and to offer duplicates to fellow members. The website also has a ‘wants and offers’ page where members inform each other of items they are searching for. An illustrated displays section () offers ideas of how other members present collections of specialised material. 

Thankfully, we have now been able to resume our popular regular meetings, in the spring and the autumn, with fellow enthusiasts, usually organised with stamp dealers present.

In short, the Circle is run by volunteer members for the benefit of other members and is administered by a Committee elected each year by the membership. Detailed annual accounts and Officers’ reports are also published. Subscription is quick and easy via the website and each member manages their own personal details. Why not give it a try today?