Project For A Database Of World Watermarks

Collaborators sought!

As my New Years' resolution I've come up with the idea of starting an online database of world watermarks.

Many of us collect only a few particular countries and own catalogues for just a few but our collections often contain items from a great many. That makes it difficult to establish the value of our stamps, especially when, as happens from time to time, the value of a stamp is determined by the watermark it carries.

Despite the proliferation of philatelic information on the Internet, information about watermarks is still very hard to come by. While images of most stamps that ever been issued can easily be found, there is no easy way to find out what a particular watermark looks like. There is no website that systematically presents the watermarks of even a single country, while images of rare watermarks are virtually impossible to find.

I therefore came up with the idea of starting an online database of watermarks. I'm wondering whether members of this forum would be interested in participating, for example, by contributing examples of watermarks from the countries they collect.

How do you feel about this idea? Would you be interested in participating?

Are you proposing to create your own scans by putting a few drops of watermark fluid on a scanner bed? How do you see this coming together?

Cjd, I would envisage obtaining images by every possible means. Personally, I would be scanning stamps with visible watermarks and enhancing them with basic processes that would increase the contrast. I can certainly provide reasonably clear scans of many watermarks from different countries around the world, but especially China, Manchukuo, British Empire countries, and Germany. Hopefully, specialists for different countries would be interested in contributing a scan or two from select items in their own collections.

It will be a pioneering undertaking, so perhaps best presented in an informal setting like a blog. As long as the subject line mentions the country, it will be very easy for people to search the blog to find the countries that interest them.

Can this be done with a Wiki where anyone can contribute but only a few can edit, so as to maintain quality?

Does this exist now on Wikipedia?

I think Bee See was doing something along these lines with just stamps on a Wiki somewhere.

Good idea by the way.

One issue is what to name or number watermarks as , because different catalogues use different numbering systems and conventions worldwide. Or is there one? For example number 1, number 2, etc? It shoes that I am not that experienced with watermarks, but I do like the idea of sharing information.

There are, according to this Wikipedia article on watermarks on paper, some databases already on watermarks online. Scroll to the bottom of the page for links.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watermark

Oops, my mistake, most of those databases are just about paper or art, no stamps. back to square one.

I could help with the U.S. varieties and orientations.

Puzzler, a Wiki format could work very well. Thanks for the suggestion! I'll certain meditate on it.

Russ, that would be great. I'll post further information about this project as soon as I've explored the possible ways of hosting such a database.

In the meantime, I plan on proceeding alphabetically (why not?)

So this is a call for anyone who knows anything about the watermarks (or has or can contribute scans of watermarks) of the following countries:

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia.

British Empire/Commonwealth countries starting with 'A' like Aden, Antigua, and Australia would seem the obvious places to go next!

I have a nice image of Australian KGV watermarks.
That I could add. KGV

Hi

I cannot find the link now but there is(was) a site that had depictions of all the world's watermarks. If I remember correctly the Scott, Stanley Gibbons and I believe Michel watermark id numbers were given for each watermark. I'll give another look today.

Jerry B

jbcev80, well it would save a lot of time and labour if such a site already exists!!

Let's hope it does.

Although in that case I would need to think of a different New Years' resolution!

KGV, I'll be in touch!

Hi jimjamtwo

OK. I did a more thorough search. I went back to an old backup disk to try to find the link. There were two stamp related websites that no longer exist and I guess the watermark list was on one of those sites. What a shame to have the information lost.

So that means your New Year's resolution is intact.

To puzzler: Each catalog that depicts watermarks has its own unique number for the watermark. I would expect that these numbers are copyrighted and proprietary and therefore cannot be used. USA1847 had to remove Scott numbers from its site.

Jerry B

There is a wiki run by a member here that I and others assist in building.
Have a look at http://www.stampsoftheworld.co.uk
I think the watermarks would integrate quite well into it.

Anthony

The Scott catalogs show pictures of all watermarks used by that country at the beginning of each country's section.