Peeps at Postage Stamps Part 2

3. Three-halfpence to twopence each for stamps marked 5d. to 8d.

4. Quarter catalogue value for stamps quoted between 9d. and 4s.

5. Half catalogue value for other stamps, except for rarities, which often command full catalogue figures.

None but first-cla.s.s specimens, and, in the case of used stamps, only those which have served postally, should be taken into consideration.

CHAPTER III

SPECIALIZING

As a rule it takes but a few months for the young collector to discover that he much prefers the stamps of one particular country, or group of countries, to any of the others figuring in his alb.u.m. When such a preference manifests itself, it is a good plan to specialize in the favoured country or group. By this we do not mean to say that the general collection should be discontinued, or even neglected, but merely that special attention be given to the stamps which have made the greater appeal to the philatelist.

Some countries are better suited to specializing than others.

Undoubtedly Great Britain holds the premier position. Not only does it stand first from patriotic motives, but the plate numbers and plate letters which the earlier issues bore, the control letters which later issues bear, and the colour varieties known to exist amongst certain of the current values, all help to make it a country full of interest.

Among the Colonies there is much scope for the specialist, notably in Queensland, South Australia, India--if the Native States be excepted--Canada, including the specimens issued by the various provinces prior to 1864, and the Transvaal.

In other parts of the world we may single out the United States, Portugal, the Argentine Republic, the Spanish Colonies, together with the subsequent occupation of certain of them by the United States, and the French Colonies. Of the latter only used specimens should be collected, as unused copies of any of the Dependencies may be bought at face value in Paris--a matter which largely robs the labels of their interest.

But the specialist need not necessarily confine himself to a country, or even a group of countries. In this connection the following divisions may be suggested:

1. Stamps issued owing to wars.

2. Edwardian stamps.

3. Parcels post stamps.

4. Commemorative stamps, as long as they are not issued for speculative purposes.

5. The line-engraved stamps of Great Britain (see following chapter).

Just as certain countries or groups present exceptional chances for specializing, so others offer but poor opportunities. In cases where the issues are few, or where the stamps are high priced, the path of the specialist is beset with difficulties, and should not be followed.

The first need of the collector who intends to pay particular attention to an individual group of stamps is a blank alb.u.m containing about two dozen pages. Into this volume should be gathered the specimens bearing on the chosen section as they are obtained. Less formality and regularity will be called for when placing the stamps in this book than was demanded in the general collection; in other words, the stamps need not be ranged so precisely according to age and value. Whatever method is adopted should be used rather for contrasting and comparing minor details than for showing complete issues. In the stamps of Great Britain, for instance, we should not place, say, the Edwardian issue in two or three methodical rows, the halfpenny first, followed by the penny, then the three-halfpenny, and so on, up to the one pound. We should group together the varieties of, say, the threepenny, which include such shades as purple on yellow, purple on lemon, deep purple on lemon, dull purple on yellow, and which are found perforated 14, also 15 by 14. When placed side by side, these various shades and perforations will show up clearly; but if scattered over two or three pages of the alb.u.m, their meaning will be lost entirely.

It is clear that the specialist must know a good deal more about his stamps than was demanded of the general collector. In the first place, he must be able to distinguish one form of printing from another. For his benefit it may be well to mention that the chief processes employed in printing stamps are (1) Typography, (2) Lithography, and (3) Engraving.

Typography, or surface-printing, is the process employed in the production of our current British stamps. A die is cut with the design standing out in relief--_i.e._, the portions which are to receive the ink are raised. From this die a number of identical moulds are taken and ranged side by side. They are then clamped together and placed in an electro bath which deposits a layer of copper upon the moulds. When the coating is deemed sufficiently thick, the electrical action is arrested, the moulds are removed, and the copper plate reveals a number of replicas of the original die.

Lithography is a process which results from etching on stone. A piece of stone possessing a flat surface is taken, and the design drawn in ink upon it either by hand or some mechanical means. The surface of the stone is then flooded with a weak acid, which eats away the unprotected parts, but leaves untouched the parts covered by the greasy lithograph ink. The stone is then sponged with water, and printer's ink, also greasy, applied. This latter adheres only to the lines made by the lithographic process, with the result that impressions of the design may be transferred to paper. Lithography, it should be added, is only suitable in cases where comparatively few copies are needed, or where a temporary issue must be printed expeditiously. It is a process which demands but little capital outlay, a fact which has made it a favourite means of stamp-producing among the poorer republics of South America.

With forgers, too, it has gained favour in their work of imitating genuine stamps.

Engraving, known variously under the name of copper-plate printing, engraving in _taille-douce_, and line-engraving, produces the finest stamps figuring in our collections. The process is worked much on the lines detailed for typography, but the main difference is that in the latter the design is printed by the raised parts of the block, whilst in the former the recessed parts produce the lines which form the design.

In addition to the above, the following occasional methods of producing stamps may be registered:

1. By the use of ordinary printer's type. (Examples may be found among the earliest issues, as in the case of the first stamps of British Guiana.)

2. By photographic means. (Example--the Mafeking stamps bearing the head of Baden-Powell.)

3. By means of rubber hand-stamps. (Example--first issue of New Republic, South Africa.)

4. Embossing. (Example--the current British stamped penny and halfpenny envelopes.)

After the various styles of printing have been recognized, the specialist must study the papers used in stamp-production. The chief varieties are--

1. WOVE.--This paper possesses no patterns of any kind, but under the microscope appears to have a number of porous marks. It is used for the current British stamps.

2. GRANITE.--A variety of wove, used fairly frequently. It may be distinguished by the short, tiny, coloured hairs which are impressed upon the paper.

3. LAID.--This paper possesses a number of parallel ribs, which can only be seen when the stamp is held up to the light.

4. QUADRILLED.--A paper bearing vertical and horizontal watermark lines of a somewhat obvious character.

The various methods used for separating stamps is the next matter for study. In the earliest times postmasters used ordinary scissors for detaching one stamp from another. The specimens so treated are styled "imperforate." The use of scissors was clearly an awkward way of performing what is now a simple matter, and it is well known that from the outset the need for a more expeditious method was felt. As a consequence many people gave the question of stamp-separating their attention, with the result that, eight years after the advent of the first postage adhesive, Henry Archer patented the rouletting machine, which cut slits along the margins of the stamps. The slits served the same purpose as the perforation holes in the stamps of to-day, but the drawback to this pioneer method was that in pulling one copy from another the labels were likely to become torn. Between 1848 and 1854 Archer tried many systems for separating stamps, and, in the latter year, perfected a machine for perforating instead of rouletting the margins of adhesives.

Most stamps are now described as "perf. 13, 14, or 15," which means that within the s.p.a.ce of 2 centimetres a specimen contains 13, 14, or 15 holes. A stamp catalogued as "perf. 15 X 14"--_e.g._, British fourpenny bright orange, Edward issue--has fifteen holes per 2 centimetres along the top and bottom edges, and fourteen holes along either side. As a difference of perforation often makes a considerable difference in the market value of a stamp, every philatelist should possess a gauge for measuring the holes; these are obtainable from dealers at a cost of sixpence each.

We said at the commencement of this chapter that Great Britain offered the greatest opportunities to the specialist. Let us now see how the stamps of our own country should be treated in a specialized collection.

First of all, it should be the aim of the philatelist to procure not merely one specimen of any particular label, but specimens in pairs and in blocks of four or more. Individual copies of the early penny black are worth about two s.h.i.+llings, but four copies in one block would fetch as much as ten to twelve s.h.i.+llings; also a fine copy on a postal wrapper would be much more valuable than a loose specimen. The moral, therefore, is clear: we should never separate costly stamps nor tear them from their envelopes. Young collectors seem to dislike the plan of admitting entire envelopes to their alb.u.ms, but this is a prejudice which should be overcome.

[Ill.u.s.tration: POSTAGE STAMPS HAVING SPECIAL USES

1 Canada: Registered Letter Fee Stamp 2 Belgium: Parcels Post Stamp 3 U.S.A.: Parcels Post Stamp 4 Italy: Unpaid Tax Stamp 5 India: Telegraph stamp 6 Germany: Official stamp 7 Austria: Stamp for franking newspapers 8 Sweden: Official stamp 9 Spain: War-tax stamp levied on letters]

An ideal first page for a special collection of British stamps would show a whole wrapper bearing a nice copy of the penny black, then the individual stamp in pairs or blocks, followed by a somewhat similar arrangement affecting the sister stamp--the twopenny blue.

The page should not be crowded with specimens, but much s.p.a.ce ought to be given up to explanatory written matter. At the head of the page, for instance, the following might be neatly printed: "Line-Engraved Stamps.

Issued May 1st, 1840." Elsewhere room might be found for the statement that the adhesives given on the page were engraved by Mr. Frederick Heath, and printed by the famous firm of Perkins, Bacon and Co.; whilst below each stamp the particular watermark, paper, and method of separation should be mentioned. Nor should the notes end here; any little piece of postal information which may be discovered should be added to swell the interest of the collection. As an example of such matter, we may quote the following recipe for making red obliterating ink, which was sent to every postmaster in the kingdom when the penny black was first issued:

Take 1 lb. printer's red ink, 1 pint linseed oil, 1/2 pint of the droppings of sweet oil, And well mix.

Another early stamp which will well repay attention is the perforated penny red with control letters in the four corners. This specimen bears various plate numbers, from 71 to 225 (Nos. 75, 77,[2] 126, 128 excepted). The collector will do well to seek out a copy of each number and arrange them in numerical order on three or four pages of the alb.u.m.

The distinctive numbers are to be found on either side of the head, hidden among the filigree lines. No. 225, it may be said, is somewhat difficult to obtain, but all the others are fairly common.

[2] Plate No. 77 is supposed to have been rejected as unfit for use. An unused copy, however, figures in the Tapling Collection in the British Museum.

"Plate reconstructing" is another favourite work of the specialist. Let us first explain that many of the early British stamps contained various letters in the four corners. In a sheet of 240 stamps, the specimens found in the first row were all lettered A, in the lower left-hand corner, those in the second row B, in the third row C, and so on throughout the twenty rows. In the right-hand lower corner the first stamp of every row was lettered A, the second B, and so on until the twelfth stamp bore the letter L. The following diagram will make the arrangement quite clear:

[Ill.u.s.tration: SPECIMEN STAMPS

1 Imperforated stamp 2 A perforated stamp 3 A rouletted stamp 4 A line-engraved stamp 5 A lithographed stamp 6 A surface-printed stamp 7 An embossed stamp 8 } 9 } Three of the best known rarities 10 }]

Row 1. AA, AB, AC, AD, AE, AF, ... AL.