Gutter Snipes

Tina
As best to describe a "Snipe"
Is the selvedge perforated on both sides.
David

Laswabbie,Stamperdude.
my Father who was a true "Cockney"
called all who was of an unsavory character "Gutter snipes"
David

are these gutter snipes?

Tina
With the exception of the Germany Gutter pair.
The rest Have selvedge.
If the German pair were separated and one of the stamps retained the
Gutter portion ,that would be a "Gutter snipe"
Hope this helps
David

DJD,
Great topic you started...now it's unfolding every time I look !

I think the pair on the top right of Tina's scan are also Gutter snipes [I will never get used to that term]. They have a rather interesting gutter...cannot make it out though [any chance of a closer scan Tina?]
In fact, the Russian stamp may also be but I am not certain. The Polish stamp comes from a Miniature sheet or sheetlet.

After reading an earlier post of DJD's, I too remember the term Gutter snipe from when I was a kid. As David said, nothing to do with Philately !!

For US stamps, gutter snipes will command a minor to modest premium, as David noted. The reason is because for most US stamps, gutter snipes are not a result of a normal production process, but rather the result of a miscut. Therefore, they fall under the category of freaks. So this is unlike stamps of some other countries, where items like traffic light pairs, gutter pairs... can be purchased readily because they are produced as part of the normal production process.

In Tina's scan...

Polish stamp (upper left corner), I believe Londonbus1 is correct.

The Russian 1963 New Year stamp (top row, 2nd stamp) is usually considered a stamp+label in the US, because the label alternates with the stamp; it's not really part of the gutter between stamp panes. That Russian stamp+label also exists imperforate as well (fairly common, modest premium).

The DDR pair (top right corner), I believe simply comes from the booklet pane.

The German stamps at bottom left is sometimes referred to as a tete beche gutter pair. That WILL have a modest premium.

Very nice, Tina!

khj I have lots of those type stamps from all over what all do you collect?

Tina, I collect just about everything world-wide except covers and revenues.

Or, I guess I should say I "accumulate", as very little is actually sorted and in it's proper album spot!

k

is this the one Londonbus?

DJD:

Khj said:




I have the handbook from the United States Stamp Society titled "The Transports" by G.H. Davis. This book is a study of the 1941-1944 Transport Air Mail stamps of the U.S. On pages 99-100 he discusses varieties of the 8¢ issue. He shows a full gutter pair... two stamps side-by-side with the gutter in the centre with the "electic eye" verticle bars. On the next page he shows a block of four from the upper left corner. It has an "electric eye" gutter snipe along the left side. It is described as a miscut.

This is true. The stamps were printed and perforated in sheets of 200, and then cut into panes of 50. With the miscut, instead of the blade cutting down the centre of the gutter, it cut down the side of a stamp.

LondonBus said:



This is an American term, as it is most common on American stamps.

Incidentally, the "electric eye" coloured bars were printed in the margins to aid the automatic perforator, so the stamps would not be misperfed.

Hope this helps.

David

Here are some Prexie gutter snipes from a dealer friend of mine.

Here is a quote from Linn's Glossary of Philatelic Terms:




Please not the portion of sentence 1 that states "plus any amount of an adjoining stamp or stamps."

That really narrows the definition rather dramatically.

Yes, that is the standard definition that most of the US collectors I know use. The key is that the gutter MUST be a full gutter that normally occurs between panes. Also, most collectors of gutter snipes that I know pretty much require that at least one stamp is whole/undamaged.

I will go back to David Giles post later...very interesting but confusing also.
But khj wrote;




What is the 'standard' definition ?
Also, you wrote that the collectors of Gutter snipes require that at least one stamp is whole/undamaged. But a Gutter snipe HAS only one stamp !! So now it becomes more confusing.

Londonbus1....and when I have finished, we will all be completely baffled !

In between phone calls and home duties, I missed a couple of posts.
So disregard my questions in the last post.
But now I do not understand sometrhing else.

Are DJD's stamps in the initial post Gutter snipes ??
It seems like they are not.
Or is it that in US stamps, ALL gutter snipes are Freaks/Errors caused by whatever ??

I am interested to learn about the USA side to compare with other countries, especially Israel, Great Britain and the like.

Londonbus1