Austrian Offices Abroad - With Varnish Bars - 42A?

Hi - in my sorting of world stamps - I believe I have an Austrian Offices Abroad stamp - it is on Granite paper..supposedly it is 42a which is with Varnish Bars - what exactly am I looking for? what do Varnish bars look like - I am not seeing anything. Thank you :)

Postmark probably Salonici (Thessaloniki) Greece.

Angled Strips of varnish, laid on the paper prior to printing.
If washed in water, the varnish dissolves taking with it part of the printed image.

Nora,
try holding it up against a strongish light, I think I recall them being visible.

Thanks ROD - Yes let me try that. I do not want to mess up the stamp. I assume they did this to keep people from cleaning the stamp and reusing? Gracias mi amigo.

Yes, if you angle the stamp obliquely under a light, the varnish bars show up very well.

Yes re-use protection.

My opinion, the Chinese had the best re-use prevention idea.
(But rarely seen)
Their hand held cancelling hammers, had knurled outer rings, which penetrated the paper on strike.
(results look similar to an US grill puncture)

Michel says that stamps with varnish bars can be cleaned in water without harm, but not if the soaking is prolonged: "darum Vorsicht beim Waschen!"

Agree, but it mustbe Salonica, Salonika, or Saloniki. Salonici is just about the only ending never used.

Rod has furnished a great example of varnish bars. In my experience, the varnish bars are almost always visible to the naked eye, although sometimes you have to hold the stamp at different angles to catch the light just right. It doesn't look like the stamp that is supposed to be 42a has varnish bars -- sometimes they're easier to see on the back than the front, but I'm not seeing them -- although they might simply be faint and show up better under a different light. If the stamp has been soaked a lot, that might cause the varnish bars to fade or disappear.

There is a whole article on varnish bars on a website called austrianphilately, but I discovered that it is not allowable to post a direct link.


The cancel is Salonika (Thessalonike), which remained under Turkish rule until 1912.

Thanks all - I believe that they have the wrong cat# - I do not see the varnish bars.

Then it would be a Scott 42, without the varnish bars.