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Post by spikyllama on Aug 23, 2021 0:29:06 GMT
After receiving a stamp collection from my great-aunt as a birthday gift, I sifted through the boxes (not thoroughly) and came across one that was very interesting to me. It was in an envelope marked "Valuable Saving Stamp Enclosed" and had a stamp inside that was printed on both sides. One side must've been sticky at one point, because it had been cleared/marked (not sure what it's called) by USPS. There are images below.   Is this possibly rare? Or is this a common form of misprinting that can be ignored? TIA  - SpikyLlama |
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banknoteguy
Member 
Posts: 284
What I collect: 19th Century US, High denomination US (> $1), 19th century covers US, Indian Feudatory States and most recently I acquired a BigBlue [with about 5,000 stamps] and pristine pages.
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Post by banknoteguy on Aug 23, 2021 1:53:40 GMT
It looks like what is called set-off (also offset) where a sheet of stamps freshly printed is stacked on top of another sheet of wet stamps and some of the ink tranfers to the back of the stamps on top. It is not printed both sides. Printing on both sides is different and very rare. Printed both sides is when a sheet of stamps is printed on one side and then flipped over and run back through the press another time. What you are seeing is inverted i.e., ink transfer from the sheet below.
What is very unusual about this one is that they are two different stamps. I am not familiar with this stamp series and perhaps both of these stamps were printed on one sheet. If that is not the case I can't explain what you see. Edit: these are both US stamps and different values, so virtually impossible they come from the same sheet.
There is a thread where this was just discussed:
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khj
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Posts: 1,449 
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Post by khj on Aug 23, 2021 4:09:25 GMT
The stamps were printed from different plates, therefore it is not a set-off created during the printing process, but damage after the 4c stamp was packaged and shipped to the post office.
You can check, but I'm going to guess the 4c stamp, even though it is used, still has some original gum. It was then somehow stacked on top of the 3c stamp. Over time, the 4c stamp stuck to the 3c stamp. At one time, the owner peeled the 4c stamp off the 3c stamp, taking off ink from the 3c stamp, and also damaging the back of the 4c stamp in the process (i.e., parts of the back of the 4c stamp stuck to the top of the 3c stamp, so both stamps were damaged). Check your 4c stamp for paper thins.
What is the basis for this guess? Embarrassingly, from a bad personal experience.
Back in my early days of collecting, I used a "sweat box" to take stamps off paper instead of soaking. Because I thought it might be neat to have used stamps with some original gum. I soon found out that the remaining gum was not only heavily disturbed but also unevenly gunky, so I quit doing that and just put them into stockpages/stockbooks instead of washing off the remaining gum. Unfortunately, what I didn't realize immediately was "sweated gum" tended to stick to other stamps easily and even stockpages (the pressure of the stockpage strips was enough to press the stamp stuck down). I damaged a number of stockpages and even a couple of stockbooks before I realized what was happening. I literally had to tear the stamps off the stockbooks. For a couple decades, I even kept one of my "better quality" damaged stockbooks with all these residual thin stamp paper fragments stuck on the page, as a reminder to think through the possible negative consequences first before I carry out my "bright ideas".
I also once had a stack of Iron Curtain country CTO's that accidentally got mixed in a stack of paperwork for a couple of years. By the time I found it, it had become a brick of Iron Curtain CTO's. When I tried to separate them, I got what you see: some separated fairly easy, some got damaged from paper loss or ink adhesion on back, some got damaged by paper gain or ink loss on front.
Embarrassing lessons learned over the decades!
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Post by spikyllama on Aug 23, 2021 4:42:20 GMT
Okay that makes sense. Thanks for the responses! That's likely what happened
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khj
Member
Posts: 1,449
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Post by khj on Aug 23, 2021 5:24:07 GMT
spikyllama, love your username! I was gifted a similar toy -- sort of a spiky translucent squirrel. When you whack it or bounce it off something, an LED embedded inside starts flashing. It's addictive, but I've got to hide it from the kids and teenagers in our Youth Group -- I don't think the battery inside can be easily replaced without damaging the toy.
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khj
Member
Posts: 1,449
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Post by khj on Aug 23, 2021 5:27:49 GMT
Ugh, I just realized my spiky squirrel is gone! It's normally on my desk behind a stack of paperwork. I'm not sure, but I think I hid it in early summer when we started our 2-month long Summer Children's Programs (pleased to report we had no COVID-19 cases!!!). Of course, if I hid it, I certainly don't remember where I hid it!  k |
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vikingeck
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Posts: 3,261
What I collect: Samoa, Tobacco theme, Mail in Wartime, anything odd and unusual!
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Post by vikingeck on Aug 23, 2021 8:06:48 GMT
Most US stamps of this vintage are printed by the engraved , intaglio, process. This leaves the ink ever so slightly raised proud on the surface of the stamp. Anything placed on top of such a stamp runs the risk of uplifting traces of the ink onto the upper material.
There has been such contact between the brown stamp on top of the green one and some dampness which has transferred a reverse image of the green on to the back of the brown.
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