Stamps have been printed on a number of different types of paper and
fair variety can be found for surprisingly little cost. Granted, there are some that are quite expensive so most collectors will never acquire all of them, but it would not surprise me to hear that most of you already have several types but are not aware of it. Paper is paper, right ? Who cares what types there are ? Well, the difference can mean just a few cents or thousands of dollars.
For those that have never seen a Scott cat, here is all that is in my US Specialized 08 about paper:
For the most part, paper is basically just chopped up bits of wood, cloth or other plant fibres. At 400x you can see these fibres and other impurities.
When you find stamps that are printed one more than one type of paper, how can you tell which is which ? They obviously look a little different but one is wove paper and one is pelure paper. (equal value, 20 cents each) Scott #210 & 210b Russia, 1922.
Back lighting shows a marked difference in color.....
A very close look begins to show the structure......
In watermark fluid the weave is easily seen in the left stamp.
The texture.........the wove paper feels slightly softer.....the pelure paper feels thinner and crinkles louder than the wove.
Care to see more ?
Posted 10/23/2008 6:33 pm
