Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
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03:26:16pm
We are all so different - that sort of thing would drive me crazy. I guess, what's the part of the old song, different strokes for different folks! I no longer have the patience for that part of the hobby.
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I miss those flyspeck US booklet singles that Philatelia offered in them olden days. Now we also have unlisted perforation varieties on those self-adhesive booklets.
Tad
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11:04:49pm
" ... I no longer have the patience for that part of the hobby. ..."
I still have the patience, and envelopes full of Machins, but the vision is another story. Next month's cataractectomy might be a problem solver.
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Yay! Another wonderful flyspecker deeeeelight arrived! BIG Thank you to fellow Floridian, Jim M (Calstamp).
Any other flyspeckers here and what is your kind of treasure?
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I flyspeck Australian stamps, mainly on King George V stamps. But can you spot the problems on these blocks?
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On the Swan's the right side of the design surrounding the swan and containing the denomination is shifted up. (or everything to the left is shifted down)
The T in Australia across the top on the upper right stamp is a double strike or recut of some sort.
The flower petal in the lower left of the lower right stamp touches the denomination shield.
On KGV the center stamp in the right column. There is a large white "smudge" on the left end of his medal row and there is a extra line in the throat of the swan.
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the king's left eye seems weak throughout, and inconsistently so
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The vertical perfs on the King stamps are misaligned, more noticeable if you scroll the page as you watch the line.
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The bottom center - his cheek has a white area.
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That's why I love flyspecking, different eyes see different things. The medal flaw is correct, as is the re-entry to the T and swans neck.
You'd be amazed how many of these varieties I pick up for peanuts.
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@ philatelia-A very good thread idea.
I collect German stamps and always check the Michel catalog specialized for plate flaws or other varieties (color, rubber, paper or perforation)
I bought a stamp I was missing (from Stamporama) and I was pleasantly surprised to have the hardest to find plate flaw (of the 11 identified)
PF III - the statue on the building is broken – field 15
.
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Democratic Republic of Germany - Issued under Soviet Occupation - Berlin Brandenburg Scott 11N1-7 (a)
When I bought these sheets I did not have the specialized Michel catalog.
The series has 3 types of perforations, 4 types of paper, 4 types of rubber, color variations and many plate flaws.
It was a lot of fun to identify them for a few months (on sales sites, through discussions with other collectors, etc.)
The stamps are very cheap (0.4 E) but the rare varieties can be worth 8000 Euro.
If they are amateurs and collectors on this series, it would be useful to open a new thread. (I think there are over 1000 different stamps - including plate flaws)
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Knowing I am revealing myself as an idiot.....what the heck is a flyspeck?
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The latest Thai definitives are a flyspecker's delight. They are called Thai Pavilion or in Thai, Sala Thai. There are 15 values and from 2017 there have been a total of 44 printings from 3 different printers, 2 local and 1 Australian. It seems that individual stamps can be placed with their printing. The main Thai printer has put in secret marks to help identify their own printings. If collected in their mint sheetlets of 20 stamps the printer and the printing is in the selvage, but collecting the sheetlets can be expensive. If picking the individual stamps you will need a powerful magnifier.
When I finish the King Rama 9 definitive series thread I may have enough to start a new one.
Even here in Thailand commercially used stamps are hard to come by.
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@ Charlie2009-Nice plate flaws.
The first stamp is PF XXIV (field 100, plate A IV - value 300 Euro)
The second stamp is PF XI (field 64, plates A, B, C, D - value 6 Euro)
Do you have Ralf Krenz's plate flaws catalog?
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@Gerom:Thank you, I have a ton of these from the whole of SBZ but I only have the Michel Spec. been trying to get one of the more specialised but so far no luck.Know where I can get one??
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@ charlie2009 -I don't have a specialized catalog either (I can't shop via Paypal)
I help myself to identify with Ralf Krenz's website where he also has a specialized catalog for sale.
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Thanks, just bought one, hopefully it arrives within the next week.
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OK...think I get it....literally spots of some kind from the printing process. Is this just a deeper dive into this hobby, or are these stamps more valuable? My eyes hurt just thinking about it.
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These two look pretty much the same until you look closer. One is just a few Euros the other one is € 700.0
0
Just one example.
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To briefly answer your question Bigcreekdad;
Stamp collectors identify stamps mostly by obvious, major face differences, but you can also look for various perforations, watermarks and so on. Flyspecking is one of the more precise types of identification activity. Stamps printed from plates of, oh let’s say 100, are never absolutely perfect copies. Small differences also creep in as the plates become worn or damaged. Those little differences become constant and can indicate where a stamp was located on the plate. Other events, inking etc., can cause other small variations. It’s a game of “one of these things is not like the other” taken to (sometimes) the very small. So I suppose flyspecking is a form of “EXTREME PHILATELY.”
And yes, these varieties are often worth a premium.
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Wowzers! More flyspecking fun just flew in all the way from Medicine Hat Alberta! Thank you soooo much, Dennis!
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03:33:25pm
"My eyes hurt just thinking about it."
I agree, I really don't understand people who are into this sort of thing. But we are all different so as the old song used to say "different strokes for different folks"! I do like real errors, I just picked up the Bluenose "man on the mast" error and have many other major errors and varieties but staring at stamps for hours trying to look for minutia is not my thing. But as I said, we are all different and some of us are more different than others!
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Actually the man on the mast is just a plain Jane VARIETY from one position on the plate and, while it is very famous and in demand, it is really not much different from many of the varieties that are constant plate flaws in other issues from other countries like Ireland. A true “major error” is something like an invert. So ppbbbbllltttt! (Bronx cheer!) 
(just teasing you all in good fun!)
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07:53:37pm
I have a Canada stamp printed on the gum side, would that classify as a "true major error". I also have the Canada stamp with the missing bird on the totem pole (can't remember the Scott # and I'm too lazy to look it up). And how about gross perforation shifts, ones that ends up in the middle of the stamp. I also assume missing colours would qualify. I agree though, it is very difficult to find the line between flyspecks and real errors. You can also get into mis-cut stamps - I have a coil that is cut through the denomination so half is on the top of the stamp and half is on the bottom. You also have in Canada many major tagging shifts. I used to save stamps with little dots of colour until I decided it was just a waste of time. But again, each to his/her own!!
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A very generous Stamporama friend surprised me with these early Irish definitives. This issue has oodles of flyspeck varieties so I am doing a happy dance! Thanks to the kind gent in Michigan! Randy, you’re the best! Thank you!
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
16 May 2022
03:26:16pm
re: What a flyspecker’s dream looks like
We are all so different - that sort of thing would drive me crazy. I guess, what's the part of the old song, different strokes for different folks! I no longer have the patience for that part of the hobby.
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re: What a flyspecker’s dream looks like
I miss those flyspeck US booklet singles that Philatelia offered in them olden days. Now we also have unlisted perforation varieties on those self-adhesive booklets.
Tad
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
23 May 2022
11:04:49pm
re: What a flyspecker’s dream looks like
" ... I no longer have the patience for that part of the hobby. ..."
I still have the patience, and envelopes full of Machins, but the vision is another story. Next month's cataractectomy might be a problem solver.
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re: What a flyspecker’s dream looks like
Yay! Another wonderful flyspecker deeeeelight arrived! BIG Thank you to fellow Floridian, Jim M (Calstamp).
Any other flyspeckers here and what is your kind of treasure?
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re: What a flyspecker’s dream looks like
I flyspeck Australian stamps, mainly on King George V stamps. But can you spot the problems on these blocks?
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re: What a flyspecker’s dream looks like
On the Swan's the right side of the design surrounding the swan and containing the denomination is shifted up. (or everything to the left is shifted down)
The T in Australia across the top on the upper right stamp is a double strike or recut of some sort.
The flower petal in the lower left of the lower right stamp touches the denomination shield.
On KGV the center stamp in the right column. There is a large white "smudge" on the left end of his medal row and there is a extra line in the throat of the swan.
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re: What a flyspecker’s dream looks like
the king's left eye seems weak throughout, and inconsistently so
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re: What a flyspecker’s dream looks like
The vertical perfs on the King stamps are misaligned, more noticeable if you scroll the page as you watch the line.
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re: What a flyspecker’s dream looks like
The bottom center - his cheek has a white area.
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re: What a flyspecker’s dream looks like
That's why I love flyspecking, different eyes see different things. The medal flaw is correct, as is the re-entry to the T and swans neck.
You'd be amazed how many of these varieties I pick up for peanuts.
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03:10:44am
re: What a flyspecker’s dream looks like
@ philatelia-A very good thread idea.
I collect German stamps and always check the Michel catalog specialized for plate flaws or other varieties (color, rubber, paper or perforation)
I bought a stamp I was missing (from Stamporama) and I was pleasantly surprised to have the hardest to find plate flaw (of the 11 identified)
PF III - the statue on the building is broken – field 15
.
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04:09:44am
re: What a flyspecker’s dream looks like
Democratic Republic of Germany - Issued under Soviet Occupation - Berlin Brandenburg Scott 11N1-7 (a)
When I bought these sheets I did not have the specialized Michel catalog.
The series has 3 types of perforations, 4 types of paper, 4 types of rubber, color variations and many plate flaws.
It was a lot of fun to identify them for a few months (on sales sites, through discussions with other collectors, etc.)
The stamps are very cheap (0.4 E) but the rare varieties can be worth 8000 Euro.
If they are amateurs and collectors on this series, it would be useful to open a new thread. (I think there are over 1000 different stamps - including plate flaws)
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re: What a flyspecker’s dream looks like
Knowing I am revealing myself as an idiot.....what the heck is a flyspeck?
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re: What a flyspecker’s dream looks like
The latest Thai definitives are a flyspecker's delight. They are called Thai Pavilion or in Thai, Sala Thai. There are 15 values and from 2017 there have been a total of 44 printings from 3 different printers, 2 local and 1 Australian. It seems that individual stamps can be placed with their printing. The main Thai printer has put in secret marks to help identify their own printings. If collected in their mint sheetlets of 20 stamps the printer and the printing is in the selvage, but collecting the sheetlets can be expensive. If picking the individual stamps you will need a powerful magnifier.
When I finish the King Rama 9 definitive series thread I may have enough to start a new one. Even here in Thailand commercially used stamps are hard to come by.
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02:31:16pm
re: What a flyspecker’s dream looks like
@ Charlie2009-Nice plate flaws.
The first stamp is PF XXIV (field 100, plate A IV - value 300 Euro)
The second stamp is PF XI (field 64, plates A, B, C, D - value 6 Euro)
Do you have Ralf Krenz's plate flaws catalog?
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re: What a flyspecker’s dream looks like
@Gerom:Thank you, I have a ton of these from the whole of SBZ but I only have the Michel Spec. been trying to get one of the more specialised but so far no luck.Know where I can get one??
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03:10:46am
re: What a flyspecker’s dream looks like
@ charlie2009 -I don't have a specialized catalog either (I can't shop via Paypal)
I help myself to identify with Ralf Krenz's website where he also has a specialized catalog for sale.
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re: What a flyspecker’s dream looks like
Thanks, just bought one, hopefully it arrives within the next week.
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re: What a flyspecker’s dream looks like
OK...think I get it....literally spots of some kind from the printing process. Is this just a deeper dive into this hobby, or are these stamps more valuable? My eyes hurt just thinking about it.
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re: What a flyspecker’s dream looks like
These two look pretty much the same until you look closer. One is just a few Euros the other one is € 700.00
Just one example.
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this post
re: What a flyspecker’s dream looks like
To briefly answer your question Bigcreekdad;
Stamp collectors identify stamps mostly by obvious, major face differences, but you can also look for various perforations, watermarks and so on. Flyspecking is one of the more precise types of identification activity. Stamps printed from plates of, oh let’s say 100, are never absolutely perfect copies. Small differences also creep in as the plates become worn or damaged. Those little differences become constant and can indicate where a stamp was located on the plate. Other events, inking etc., can cause other small variations. It’s a game of “one of these things is not like the other” taken to (sometimes) the very small. So I suppose flyspecking is a form of “EXTREME PHILATELY.”
And yes, these varieties are often worth a premium.
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re: What a flyspecker’s dream looks like
Wowzers! More flyspecking fun just flew in all the way from Medicine Hat Alberta! Thank you soooo much, Dennis!
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
17 Jun 2022
03:33:25pm
re: What a flyspecker’s dream looks like
"My eyes hurt just thinking about it."
I agree, I really don't understand people who are into this sort of thing. But we are all different so as the old song used to say "different strokes for different folks"! I do like real errors, I just picked up the Bluenose "man on the mast" error and have many other major errors and varieties but staring at stamps for hours trying to look for minutia is not my thing. But as I said, we are all different and some of us are more different than others!
Login to Like
this post
re: What a flyspecker’s dream looks like
Actually the man on the mast is just a plain Jane VARIETY from one position on the plate and, while it is very famous and in demand, it is really not much different from many of the varieties that are constant plate flaws in other issues from other countries like Ireland. A true “major error” is something like an invert. So ppbbbbllltttt! (Bronx cheer!) (just teasing you all in good fun!)
Login to Like
this post
This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
17 Jun 2022
07:53:37pm
re: What a flyspecker’s dream looks like
I have a Canada stamp printed on the gum side, would that classify as a "true major error". I also have the Canada stamp with the missing bird on the totem pole (can't remember the Scott # and I'm too lazy to look it up). And how about gross perforation shifts, ones that ends up in the middle of the stamp. I also assume missing colours would qualify. I agree though, it is very difficult to find the line between flyspecks and real errors. You can also get into mis-cut stamps - I have a coil that is cut through the denomination so half is on the top of the stamp and half is on the bottom. You also have in Canada many major tagging shifts. I used to save stamps with little dots of colour until I decided it was just a waste of time. But again, each to his/her own!!
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