Rare 1928 International Philatelic Exhibition 3d Blue Kookaburra Dry Inking

1928 International Philatelic Exhibition 3d blue kookaburra with OS puncture. Strip of 3 showing dry ink on left stamp, rare and currently unlisted and only 6 are known to exist. A remarkable specimen of dry inking from the KGV era.

Very nice Rob,
what parameters would one be expected to pay for such a singleton?

Hi rod222



It must be my age finally catching up to me but I'm not quite sure what you mean, are you asking how much it cost?

Rob

Benjies, quid, dinaro, moolah, sheckles, bunsen burners, scratch, bucks, c-notes....you know. How much to buy that sucker?!

Indeed, what would one be expected to pay, in you opinion
for a single stamp evidencing dry ink?
Not asking what you paid for yours, but feel free to broadcast,
if you so wish.

First time I have seen "Rare Item" on a certificate.

Lol, I get the message. I have no idea how much a single of this dry-ink is worth on the market as currently there are only 6 known and both are in a strip of three, it originally was a block of 6 but eventually sold as two strips of 3.

Rob

Thanks Rob,


That explains the request.

I am curious to know what "dry ink" means? I have seen stamps where the printing plate has been under inked resulting in a very light copy, but I don't think that is what you are showing here.

It is a handsome design and a nice looking stamp. Congratulations on owning such a rare item.

Hi Rod

All my certificates from Mike Drury and Chris Ceremuga (he always adds the status of the stamps) have their status on them.

Here are just a few.

Great rarity on cover


Extremely rare


Extremely rare. The certificate also identifies the stamp as the only one in existence.


Very rare


Rare

Hi Rod

I miswrote the information concerning 6 being in existence, that is incorrect, I should have written only 2 exist in a strip of 3 stamps as the dry-ink pair originated from a block of 6 stamps that were eventually separated in 2 strips of 3.

The way it was written it sounds as if 6 exist which is incorrect.

Rob

Quite a bevy there Rob
correction understood.

RXC
Dry Print.
Best explanation I have seen
Author :Mr. Glen Stephens

For ink to work exactly as intended it must flow at the rate the ink maker anticipated.

Ink for printing offset, recess and rubber stamps pads etc all have vent different viscosity and flow characteristics.

The dry ink occurs in oz stamps mostly on KGV heads, and a little less on early KGVI. i.e. in an era where air conditioning and regular humidity were NOT common - indeed non-existent in printing houses.

As I understand it "Dry Ink" is where the ink was not flowing to the plate in an optimum manner .. most likely in very hot spells (like today) where the viscosity of it gets 'gluggy' and does not run as freely or evenly.

Therefore the print impression is not well inked and looks a little "dry" .. or under-inked.

Hi RXC



Thanks. The first stamp on the left shows the left side of the kookaburra and directly under the bird missing most of the blue from the effects of dry-inking.

Dry inking is when the doctor blade which wipes excess ink from the plates is either too close to the plates and ends up wiping too much ink off leaving area of the plate with very little to no ink, or that the ink mixture and heating was incorrect causing the ink to be thick and the ink sticks to the doctor blade which causes the same effect.

Here is an example of an extreme dry-inking affecting the first 3 stamps on the left leaving the first stamp nearly obliterated.

I'll pile on also.

Extremely Rare. Possibly unique as other varieties are known with OS perfin. Shown in a previous thread:

http://goscf.com/t/43534#613254

2 vs 6?
The certificate in the original post states "left stamp is dry ink".
It is silent on the other 2 stamps. Thus are there only 2 stamps known which fully exhibit the dry ink?
If I am reading correctly.

Hi John Becker

Only the left stamp is affected, the other two are normal. Only two are known to exist from a block of 6 stamps that were later separated into two strips.

2 x dry-ink and 4 x normal issue.

Rob

Hi Partime

Great certificate, a very desirable stamp.

Rob