Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
I uploaded photos of all 39 stamps to a gallery on pbase.com and ask anyone here who wishes to generously give me some information on them to please do so. The Gallery is here:
http://www.pbase.com/hblairhowell/stamps
thank you in advance for any information you can give
Blair Howell
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Hi and thanks for the information. If you click on the photo of the individual stamps they will open up a much larger photo. At the bottom of the larger photo you can also click on "original" which will open an even larger photo which shows minute detail.
thanks again,
Blair
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I like this one, a good example of a perforation error. Too bad it's not cancelled. (I tweaked brightness and contrast a bit):
Bob
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Bob,
Error has a meaning that doesn't match that revenue (no pun, honest); this is merely misalignment of the perforator.
David
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Bob made an error. Bob is sad. When Bob is sad, his puppy is sad. Sad Puppy.
Bob now knows that the revenue stamp in question is a Freak or an Oddity (the F and O of EFO — Errors, Freaks, & Oddities — triumvirate). Perhaps Bob's puppy can be a Happy Puppy now.
boB
P.S. The Sad Puppy image is from a free-wallpaper web site, i.e. in the Public Happy Puppy Domain.
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Number 20 is different, a Bank Check (R6), though still quite common...
Chris
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thank you everyone for your feedback!
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Bob,
yes, what you did was an ERROR
the puppy is merely CUTE, and we hope he made no mess on or about your covers (either kind)
Luckily the error led to no further damage and becomes a mere forgettable statistic
David
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I'm just wondering if anyone looked at number 7... I thought it was a tear in the stamp when I looked at it in the photo but it's not... the stamp is undamaged. I'm wondering if this was a printing error?
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http://www.pbase.com/hblairhowell/merkel
... and here you go Michael. I have added photos of all of the receipts from the receipt book.
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It might be fun to research the names on the various receive to see if you can find out who they are, or if any of them are famous in some way. You may have a valuable signature among those receipts
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I actually do that... I love to find old hotel guest registers for the same reason... I have on from the Franklin House Hotel in Rutland, VT 1854 - 1855... over 260 pages of signatures... it's been an exhausting research project... almost 7000 signatures... but I've found several Civil War Medal of Honor recipients as well as a couple of early Vermont Governors... even found a very early signature from John Sargent Pillsbury... one of the founders of Pillsbury Company.
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"I'm just wondering if anyone looked at number 7... I thought it was a tear in the stamp when I looked at it in the photo but it's not... the stamp is undamaged. I'm wondering if this was a printing error?"
No, it is not a printing error. It would take closer examination of the stamp to determine what that orange line is. It is possible that it could be a plate flaw.
Terminology is VERY important here.
From "The Stamp Collector's Encyclopedia":
Error = Any major mistake in the design or production of a stamp. Examples are stamps printed in the wrong colour {sic}, on the wrong paper, or with the wrong watermark; stamps with the centre {sic} or frame inverted, or with part of the design missing altogether. Overprints, too, have been the subject of many errors. Minor variations in the actual printing are sometimes wrongly described as errors when they are in fact varieties.
Regarding semantics, yes, all errors are varieties, but not all varieties are errors. The main determining factor is for errors, the major mistake (see the types listed above) is consistent throughout the production process. Minor variations are inconsistent, and may seem dramatic, such as a minor misalignment of the perforations.
Very few major errors exist on stamps that were printed in one color. That is because the print run requires only one pass through the printing press per sheet. Multicolored stamps may require multiple passes through the printing press with the sheet(s) being inserted upside down, or not at all during a print run. The major error will usually be evident on all stamps on the sheet.
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03:03:25am
" ... Very few major errors exist on stamps that were printed in one color. ..."
If I may add one clarification.
With the invention of some electronic gadgetry in the late 1930s that accurately set color registration the chances of major errors in single color stamps became, as Michael wrote, minimal. Still possible, but minimal.
However before that as master plates were created from individual intermediate dies hand set by hopefully sober technicians, the odds were different. I'm thinking that two beers during a lunch break can alter a person's perception just enough to make philately interesting.
Colors also were hand mixed and eye measurements can vary even when one color was intended. Issues that were printed over time often had different people choosing the desired replacement color, albeit with good intention.
That also happens much less often when precise amounts of primary colors are chosen by robotic mixing devices.
And as the number of colors are used on an issue all bets are off.
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I just wondered;is there a gadget that can tell me accurately the colour of a stamp ???
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05:06:17am
" ... is there a gadget that can tell me accurately the colour of a stamp ?? ... "
There is, as I recall some commentary about some sample being this or that percent of one color and a similar percentage of others. But I cannot recall who, where or when.
I am sure someone will have a better recollection.
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A colorimeter may be what you want. Some digital cameras may have color filters from which you can obtain output.
Though not much use in philately unless you have a benchmark, which is the same problem with using your biological equipment. Sure you can measure that stamp you have questions about. But what do you do with those measurements, unless you have known color samples from the catalog publishers (or better yet example stamps). If you already have color samples or actual stamps to compare to, why bother with electronics unless you suffer from color blindness?
The main problem is that catalog publishers don't really have reliable color samples even if they say they do.
Plus if you have benchmark stamp and the stamp in question, just scan both together and use software to measure the colors to see if they are the same. They must be scanned together.
Don't count on comparing your measurements to measurements made elsewhere or measurements from online images because they won't have been calibrated.
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Let me preface this by saying I am not per se a stamp collector. I collect antique documents and correspondence. In doing so I have come across a great number of stamps. Recently I purchased a receipt book dating to 1869 - 1870. Of the 105 receipts in the book 39 have revenue stamps on them. At first glance all of the stamps looked very much the same but on closer examination I have found differences as well as what appears to be printing errors and so thought I would seek information for the experts on them. So here I am.
I uploaded photos of all 39 stamps to a gallery on pbase.com and ask anyone here who wishes to generously give me some information on them to please do so. The Gallery is here:
http://www.pbase.com/hblairhowell/stamps
thank you in advance for any information you can give
Blair Howell
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re: 1869 Revenue Stamps
Hi and thanks for the information. If you click on the photo of the individual stamps they will open up a much larger photo. At the bottom of the larger photo you can also click on "original" which will open an even larger photo which shows minute detail.
thanks again,
Blair
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this post
re: 1869 Revenue Stamps
I like this one, a good example of a perforation error. Too bad it's not cancelled. (I tweaked brightness and contrast a bit):
Bob
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Auctions
re: 1869 Revenue Stamps
Bob,
Error has a meaning that doesn't match that revenue (no pun, honest); this is merely misalignment of the perforator.
David
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this post
re: 1869 Revenue Stamps
Bob made an error. Bob is sad. When Bob is sad, his puppy is sad. Sad Puppy.
Bob now knows that the revenue stamp in question is a Freak or an Oddity (the F and O of EFO — Errors, Freaks, & Oddities — triumvirate). Perhaps Bob's puppy can be a Happy Puppy now.
boB
P.S. The Sad Puppy image is from a free-wallpaper web site, i.e. in the Public Happy Puppy Domain.
Login to Like
this post
re: 1869 Revenue Stamps
Number 20 is different, a Bank Check (R6), though still quite common...
Chris
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re: 1869 Revenue Stamps
thank you everyone for your feedback!
Login to Like
this post
Auctions
re: 1869 Revenue Stamps
Bob,
yes, what you did was an ERROR
the puppy is merely CUTE, and we hope he made no mess on or about your covers (either kind)
Luckily the error led to no further damage and becomes a mere forgettable statistic
David
Login to Like
this post
re: 1869 Revenue Stamps
I'm just wondering if anyone looked at number 7... I thought it was a tear in the stamp when I looked at it in the photo but it's not... the stamp is undamaged. I'm wondering if this was a printing error?
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re: 1869 Revenue Stamps
http://www.pbase.com/hblairhowell/merkel
... and here you go Michael. I have added photos of all of the receipts from the receipt book.
Login to Like
this post
re: 1869 Revenue Stamps
It might be fun to research the names on the various receive to see if you can find out who they are, or if any of them are famous in some way. You may have a valuable signature among those receipts
Login to Like
this post
re: 1869 Revenue Stamps
I actually do that... I love to find old hotel guest registers for the same reason... I have on from the Franklin House Hotel in Rutland, VT 1854 - 1855... over 260 pages of signatures... it's been an exhausting research project... almost 7000 signatures... but I've found several Civil War Medal of Honor recipients as well as a couple of early Vermont Governors... even found a very early signature from John Sargent Pillsbury... one of the founders of Pillsbury Company.
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01:38:15am
re: 1869 Revenue Stamps
"I'm just wondering if anyone looked at number 7... I thought it was a tear in the stamp when I looked at it in the photo but it's not... the stamp is undamaged. I'm wondering if this was a printing error?"
No, it is not a printing error. It would take closer examination of the stamp to determine what that orange line is. It is possible that it could be a plate flaw.
Terminology is VERY important here.
From "The Stamp Collector's Encyclopedia":
Error = Any major mistake in the design or production of a stamp. Examples are stamps printed in the wrong colour {sic}, on the wrong paper, or with the wrong watermark; stamps with the centre {sic} or frame inverted, or with part of the design missing altogether. Overprints, too, have been the subject of many errors. Minor variations in the actual printing are sometimes wrongly described as errors when they are in fact varieties.
Regarding semantics, yes, all errors are varieties, but not all varieties are errors. The main determining factor is for errors, the major mistake (see the types listed above) is consistent throughout the production process. Minor variations are inconsistent, and may seem dramatic, such as a minor misalignment of the perforations.
Very few major errors exist on stamps that were printed in one color. That is because the print run requires only one pass through the printing press per sheet. Multicolored stamps may require multiple passes through the printing press with the sheet(s) being inserted upside down, or not at all during a print run. The major error will usually be evident on all stamps on the sheet.
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
12 Jul 2015
03:03:25am
re: 1869 Revenue Stamps
" ... Very few major errors exist on stamps that were printed in one color. ..."
If I may add one clarification.
With the invention of some electronic gadgetry in the late 1930s that accurately set color registration the chances of major errors in single color stamps became, as Michael wrote, minimal. Still possible, but minimal.
However before that as master plates were created from individual intermediate dies hand set by hopefully sober technicians, the odds were different. I'm thinking that two beers during a lunch break can alter a person's perception just enough to make philately interesting.
Colors also were hand mixed and eye measurements can vary even when one color was intended. Issues that were printed over time often had different people choosing the desired replacement color, albeit with good intention.
That also happens much less often when precise amounts of primary colors are chosen by robotic mixing devices.
And as the number of colors are used on an issue all bets are off.
Login to Like
this post
re: 1869 Revenue Stamps
I just wondered;is there a gadget that can tell me accurately the colour of a stamp ???
Login to Like
this post
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
12 Jul 2015
05:06:17am
re: 1869 Revenue Stamps
" ... is there a gadget that can tell me accurately the colour of a stamp ?? ... "
There is, as I recall some commentary about some sample being this or that percent of one color and a similar percentage of others. But I cannot recall who, where or when.
I am sure someone will have a better recollection.
Login to Like
this post
re: 1869 Revenue Stamps
A colorimeter may be what you want. Some digital cameras may have color filters from which you can obtain output.
Though not much use in philately unless you have a benchmark, which is the same problem with using your biological equipment. Sure you can measure that stamp you have questions about. But what do you do with those measurements, unless you have known color samples from the catalog publishers (or better yet example stamps). If you already have color samples or actual stamps to compare to, why bother with electronics unless you suffer from color blindness?
The main problem is that catalog publishers don't really have reliable color samples even if they say they do.
Plus if you have benchmark stamp and the stamp in question, just scan both together and use software to measure the colors to see if they are the same. They must be scanned together.
Don't count on comparing your measurements to measurements made elsewhere or measurements from online images because they won't have been calibrated.
Login to Like
this post