I have found among my collection of stamps a GB stamp SC# 357, wm# 322, with the watermark upside down. I have checked the catalog, but they have mentioned nothing about such an occurrence. Any idea what might be the value of such stamp? images included bellow.
The first image is a normal scan of the stamp back.
The second image is treated to make the watermarks visible. The crown (upside down) may be visible on the right side of stamp, darker than the others.
President - West Essex Philatelic Society www.wepsonline.org 31 Jan 2012 09:48:57am
re: GB Stamp SC 357 with upside down watermark 322
This is Stanley Gibbons 574wi. My latest catalogue is 1998. The used value for 1998 is 1 pound. Your's is damaged so that would lower the value considerably.
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy.. 31 Jan 2012 12:31:50pm
re: GB Stamp SC 357 with upside down watermark 322
Any stamp that has a watermark is a candidate for an inverted watermark and possibly a sideways watermark, especially if the stamp was issued in booklet format. The watermarks were put into the paper by one manufacturer and then a gigantic rolls are shipped to the printer who usually tried to get it right, but "Tis many a slip twixt the cup and the lip."
And for details of minor variation like that, Scott's is virtually useless for foreign stamps. If Scott listed every known variation it would take ten ot twelve volumes and three years to produce.
My solution is to use Gibbons for Great Britain and now and then purchase a slighty out of data foreign catalog. Last month I bought a four year old Facit that provides me all the info I need about Scandanavian Stamps.
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re: GB Stamp SC 357 with upside down watermark 322
Good advice. Out of date foreign catalogs are great reference material for Scott minor and unlisted varieties, which often times get major catalog numbers in the foreign catalog. And, they don't cost so much either.
re: GB Stamp SC 357 with upside down watermark 322
I pretty much only use Stanley Gibbons for GB material-- the "Great Britain Concise" catalogue has about all the information on varities, watermarks and so on I need-- Scott only comes out to cross-reference main catalogue numbers. It's not a horribly expensive book, and you can often pick up one that's only 2-3 years old for a relatively low price.