Collecting By Engraver

Please do Kirk. All the scans on my database are done with as high a resolution as I can manage at the time, currently 9600 dpi. It is meant to be a resource for collectors and I have no objection to anyone using any of the scans. That's why I don't use any "watermarks".

I guess I'd appreciate it if people acknowledge the source if using them commercially but basically, once you put a scan on the internet, it is pretty much in the public domain.

I have showed this elsewhere but will add it here as I'm looking for information about who the engraver may have been.



I believe the printer was Bradbury Wilkinson and the date was around 1930. The engraving is superb and it would be almost criminal not to acknowledge the engraver.

I can't help with the engraver, but that is a stunning piece of work. Thanks for showing it!

While browsing the catalogue, as you do, I noticed an Australian recess-printed stamp set that had slipped under my radar. I checked my Scott and found they were definitely listed as engraved. "This simply won't do", I told myself and quickly went about acquiring a set.

They were issued in 1995 (not long after Australia's Slania issue so I was quite hopeful). They celebrate the 50th anniversary of the National Trust and they are quite stunning....

But....

To my eye, they look like someone has been at work with a computer. As has been discussed before, an engravers hand has a slight wobble which causes the edges of the lines to be a little jagged under high magnification. These appear very smooth so either they were "computer assisted" or were engraved by a Superman (or woman, always possible, I suppose). Besides, I didn't think computer graphics were so advanced in 1995.

I would love to be wrong so if anyone has the information about these stamps, please post it here and put me out of my misery.








National Trust Australia 1995 SG 1514-7 Scott 1426a-1428

Here is a close-up view. What do you think?

I wouldn't be surprised if they were indeed computer engraved. The lines look rather too crisp and perfect. I know for a fact that the 1996 stamp to mark the Queen's birthday is computer engraved. Same printers, only a year between them, so my money's on the computer.

Yeah!

I read somewhere back then that they had a machine so precise it could engrave text so small it could only be read with a powerful microscope.

I guess the other giveaway is that there is no engraver listed anywhere that I have looked.

jjarmstrong47 - Thanks for the tip!
There I found this die proof of a stamp from Philippines (1953):

President Quezón
Printed by American Bank Note Co.

Engraved by John Hay (1908-1989)



Die Proof in black :

Chile 1911

Pres. Federico Errázuriz Zañartu
Printed by American Bank Note Co.

Vignette engraved by Charles Schlecht (1843-1932)
Frame & Lettering engraved by George H. Seymour

Portugal - 1925

Birth Centenary - Camilo Castelo Branco

Printed by Waterlow & Sons
Designed by Alberto de Souza (1880-1961)

Engraved by George R. Fairweather

Chile - 1942

Centenary of the University of Chile
Portrait of Manuel Montt

Printed by Talleres de Especies Valoradas (Chilean Mint)

Engraved by Jose Moreno B. (1905-1981)



Moreno also engraved another portrait of M.Montt (1947) for banknotes :

Philippines - 1936

First Anniversary of the Commonwealth

Printed by Bureau of Engraving and Printing (USA)

Vignette (portrait of Quezón only) engraved by John Eissler
Frame engraved by Carl T. Arlt

I've been adding Cuban stamps to my database and although, in my opinion, some of the early engravings lack the quality of ABNCo or De La Rue, there are some fine stamps among them.

Unfortunately, my main catalogue, Stanley Gibbons, has very few details on the engravers and designers. Here are a few.


SG339 Scott 320 Dr. Carlos J. Finlay. Engraved by the Security Bank Note Company, Philadelphia and printed by Cia Nacional de Artes Graficos.

Up until the time that Cuba became a socialist state, one printing company produced most of the Cuban stamps. This company changed hands several times and each time, the name was also changed. The company names were: J.L.Rodriguez, Cia Nacionalde Artes Graficos, Cia Impresora de Cuba and P. Fernandez y Cia, Havana.


Calixto Garcia on horseback. SG435 Scott 360. Details as above.


SH454 Scott 371. The tree of Fraternity in Havana from the set celebrating American democracy. The printer and engraver as above and the designer is given as Cabrera and Cuesta which I assume is a design company.

There are very few individual engravers or designers accredited in the catalogue.

Some information about Security Bank Note Co.





("El Salvador Philatelist" magazine - Oct/Dec.2013)

Thanks jorgesurcl,
As he says, it is surprising how little information exists. Wright and ABNCo also did work for Cuba in the early days but their designers and engravers are not listed either.

Spain - 1938
Don Juan de Austria and Battle of Lepanto

Printed by Joh.Enshedé en Zonen, Haarlem (Netherlands)

Engraved by Henry Cheffer (1880-1957)