These look more like wing margins, some Transvaal and GB stamps come with wing margins. These would be found on the edge of either side of the sheet or pane.
Drew
A page on GB wing margins -
http://www.imagesoftheworld.org/sta...-margins.htmFrom Stanley Gibbbons :
Quote:
Wing margins
Another perforation issue is 'wing margins'. When De La Rue began producing the surface-printed stamps of Great Britain, their printing plates were made up of separate sections which printed as 'panes'. In the case of the 1861 3d., for example, the printed sheet of 240 stamps was made up of 12 panes of 20 stamps. Between each pane there was a 'gutter' and where the panes were side-by-side the gutter was perforated down the centre, giving the stamps at the side of the pane a wide (5mm) margin – the 'wing margin'.
Wing margins were frowned upon by early collectors, who liked their stamps to fit exactly into the stamp-size rectangles printed for them by album manufacturers. As a result, stamps with wing margins generally commanded a lower price than stamps from the centre of the pane which had 'normal' perforations and many stamps had their wing margins cut off or had fake perforations added to provide collectors with stamps of the required shape.
Fashions change, and wing margins are now no longer despised, indeed, because of their slightly larger size, they frequently compare well with a 'normal' and they certainly show a postmark to better advantage. Thus, there is no longer a discount for a wing margined stamp, although we have not yet reached a situation where one has to pay a premium for their relative scarcity!
Sadly, however, those stamps which were 'doctored' in order to appeal to earlier fashions are now considered to be considerably devalued, except in the case of a good basic stamp such as the 2s. brown, or perhaps where the stamp has some other redeeming feature such as an attractive cancellation. For more run-of-the-mill stamps a price of one tenth of catalogue would usually be appropriate. With this in mind, of course, it pays to be aware of the corner letters of British surface printed stamps which should have wing margins, in order to spot ones which have had fake perforations added. This information is given in both 'Part 1' and the GB Specialised Catalogue.
De La Rue printed stamps by the same technique for many British colonies; stamps which do not have corner letters to allow today's collectors to identify those with 'dodgy perfs'. The early stamps of Hong Kong are an obvious example and, bearing in mind the prices which these can fetch in fine condition, it behoves us all to be aware of stamps which may have had wing margins removed and to check them carefully before purchase.
Posted 06/14/2011 04:50 am
