Expertizers In Sydney, Australia

BeeSee, thanks for the welcome. BTW I really like your 'We want pics!' icon. However, for now, I'm going to hold back the scan of the front. Just for fun, though, here's a defective example of a Chinese stamp that will entertain you (detail uploaded only). A regular Chinese airmail stamp - except that two chunks of the Great Wall are missing!

I find it very odd that you would ask questions on this
and other forums about a stamp of which you refuse to show a pic or even let members know what stamp you're talking about.

tonymacg, yes, what's involved here is the kind of paper the stamp is printed on. Nothing more than that. The stamp itself is very common.

lithograving, I don't get you. Do you think I'm hiding something? If so, what could I be hiding?

As it happens, I don't want to 'go public' with what I think could very well be a big find until I know a little more about it than I know now.

Remember, all I'm asking for here is help identifying the kind of paper being used.

Well wouldn't it be a lot easier for someone to help you if they at least knew what stamp you're asking about instead of playing a guessing game.

Knowing what stamp it is won't help because it seems to be an unprecedented variety!

What's more, I'm a product of my academic training. I have an instinctive aversion to 'going public' with anything until I know exactly what I'm talking about. I'm trying to get educated here. If it turns out to be as interesting a discovery as I'm hoping it will be you probably won't be able to stop me from flaunting it!

I think the stamps is Scott 319 the 17c from the Martyrs issue.

Awww, the cat's out of the bag. ... I forgot I put that up ...

Anyway,

Well good luck Jim. Perhaps it is a previously undiscovered rarity.

Based on what I'm reading the stamp is possibly Dr. Sun Yat Sen Issue by Da Dong in Hong Kong. Known perf's were 12.5 & 14. However when Hong Kong fell to Japanese they captured unperfed sheets of these stamps. They were taken to Zhong Huo, then were overprinted & surcharged and distributed to districts under Japanese control. These were perfed at 12.5 & 13.5. It is noted in Ma that a very small amount of unsurcharged
original stamps slipped into collectors hands. These stamps perf is unknown. It is possible that this is one of a sheet of 100 with this different perf.

Way to go Lithograving!

No matter what the stamp turns out to be I am interested!




KGV

'These stamps perf is unknown. It is possible that this is one of a sheet of 100 with this different perf.'

It seems so. The guy who has written a monograph on the martyrs issues sent me a list of all the perfs he's examined so far, and I think the lowest of any of them was 11.5.

However, I think that the question of the paper type is even more important than the perfs - it's just a matter that can't really be discussed properly on the basis of a scan.

The question I have at the moment is this: is there any kind of treatment that can be accorded to mesh paper which would give it a kind of polish? The stamp is a little shiny, but this aspect of it is not captured in the scan.

I'm having to admit to general ignorance concerning the use of chalk-surfaced papers, but would they have this effect? And weren't chalk-surfaced papers widely used in Hong Kong?

I wonder whether anyone who really knows Hong Kong stamps would be in a position to say whether this is a kind of paper normally found on a particular HK issue.

I also have a problem reconciling the superior quality of the stamp (compared to regular HK martyr issues) with the idea that during the war quality of stamps generally declined and inferior papers were often used, including newsprint.

I must say I'd very surprised if your Chinese stamp is on chalk-surfaced paper. Chalk-surfaced paper is normally rather white, and was used because it gives a very clean, crisp impression. For a quick comparison, take a look at my two Barwani stamps: the one on the left, SG 10, is on a surfaced paper; the one on the right, SG 15, is on an unsurfaced paper. Your paper sounds as if it simply received a little extra calendering. That might be of significance to a specialist, of course.

Paper types are a big issue with my Aust KGV penny reds which is my favorite stamp to collect.
The final way for me to discern the paper type is by using a UV longwave light.The UV shades determine the paper type. Without this stamping tool I would be totally lost but it is still difficult, especially with used stamps.