General Philatelic/Identify This? : Extremely unusual stamps and how they came to be !
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Perf11 Of course I talk to myself. Sometimes I need expert advice ! 07 Jan 2021 09:17:38am
I’m sure many or perhaps some of us have those impossibly hard stamps to explain how they came into existence. So I’ll post a couple in hopes of finding answers and enlightening others. Please feel free to share any and all thoughts. Thanks.
1. Was this a reference copy for the master engraver ? Please note the breaks in the lines on each side of the portrait. And pay close attention to the As in what appears to be the cancellation. Also the eyes.
2 The ghost in the stamp. This is the reverse of a UK 2 1/2 D. Correction: 3 pence violet or plum. 2 1/2 D is on blue paper. Try zooming out a little if at first you don’t see it. Again the eyes.
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Kinda spooky huh ?
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"APS # 232803"
Harvey I think, therefore I am - I think! 07 Jan 2021 11:59:44am
re: Extremely unusual stamps and how they came to be !
Call me stunned if you wish, but if I saw that Canadian stamp in my album I would see absolutely nothing unusual about it. I guess I don't look very carefully, but to me it looks like a regular Canada #153. And I'm a long time Canada collector.
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Perf11 Of course I talk to myself. Sometimes I need expert advice ! 07 Jan 2021 01:04:54pm
re: Extremely unusual stamps and how they came to be !
So what are you saying ? You don’t see how the lapel cross hatch is so pronounced ? It’s almost 3 dimensional. Along with the rest of the errors that are involved with this stamp. Many collectors look for just this type of thing do they not ? Perhaps it’s just me who sees this ? Anyone.......also the area around the portrait looks as though the frame may have been reused or something. Notice the numerous breaks in the lines around the center. I’ve also seen a strip of three of these sold as an error because the eye orientation was skewed. Hmmmmmm. Also if you collect Canada then surely you must know the cancellation possibly ? I’ve never seen a cancellation like that. . If it is indeed a cancellation. But I’ve been wrong before. Thanks for your input. I just flipped it upside down and it looks like possibly an M and N but it’s still a little off.
Actually I was just doing a little checking and I believe it’s what’s known as a re-entry. I guess the die was corrected and printing commenced. Not my type of thing either but to some it is I imagine.
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"APS # 232803"
Harvey I think, therefore I am - I think! 07 Jan 2021 02:04:41pm
re: Extremely unusual stamps and how they came to be !
I admit that the "cancellation" does seem a bit strange. The lapel also seems a bit weird but I assumed it was part of the cancellation, I can see it now! I never had a huge interest in errors even though I have several of the better known ones - all the Kreighoff errors (610), missing bird on totem pole (572), etc. I used to spend hours searching stamps for differences - I think we called it "fly specking". Most of the differences, I think, come from worn plates. Some are worth a fair bit, for example, "man on mast" on the Bluenose stamp. Sometimes you get missing colours and some of them, especially if the name of the country or denomination is missing, are quite valuable. People check for tagging shifts, colour shifts, perforation shifts, etc. To me an error is anything different. So your stamp does qualify, it's just that if I didn't know it was there I wouldn't notice. I didn't say it wasn't an error, all I said was that I wouldn't have noticed it. I really don't look for that sort of thing but that's only me. I remember reading somewhere that a buyer in the post office tried to return a stamp because the center was inverted! So keep looking, it might make you rich someday!
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Perf11 Of course I talk to myself. Sometimes I need expert advice ! 07 Jan 2021 02:35:48pm
re: Extremely unusual stamps and how they came to be !
Actually I do it once in awhile out of boredom. But I think if I found a major one I would probably keep it and pass it on. I just found two actually although they aren’t worth much and kind of silly to me. But here they are. I guess a maple leaf only grows in pairs from one source. Who knew ?
re: Extremely unusual stamps and how they came to be !
Don't know about the stamp printing, but the cancellation looks like a double strike of part of a cancelling device. I see "G.MAN". A town cancel for a Manitoba town that ends in G? Like, um, WINNIPEG, perhaps?
-P
PS, the character before the G in the cancel looks like an E to me.
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Perf11 Of course I talk to myself. Sometimes I need expert advice ! 07 Jan 2021 03:01:19pm
re: Extremely unusual stamps and how they came to be !
After reviewing the stamp upside down I do believe we may have a winner. Nicely done sir. Thank you ! As far as printing it’s known as a re-entry. So much more to learn I guess.
re: Extremely unusual stamps and how they came to be !
The Maple leaves would normally only be found in pairs growing from each leaf joint, although in theory the one at the end of a branch would make it three.