GB - Xmas Stamp 1970 - Possible Missing Gold

Appreciate your comments on the following GB Xmas stamp from 1970. I received the stamp in a kilo purchase. It is a used sc 646 sg 839 and it appears to be missing some or all gold. Any idea how this was created and do you think it is really colour missing?

Thanks

I would say it is damaged stamp. In my understanding, missing gold variety is a stamp that missed the printing of gold. This one clearly didn't. I have been told that gold is fairly easy to remove chemically, if you know how to do it. This could be an example of such.

Thanks, I thought that it may be the case. I tried on another example of the stamp to delete the gold but could not recreate the chemical effect on this stamp as the Queen's head was white not black in this example.

Following what kuikka has said, note that in the area where the queen's image was printed, a light blue shadow remains.

I can see the shadow, too. If you have a blacklight/UV light, it might show the outline of where the Queen's head was more clearly.

Nice one.
The blue is the indigo, running from the chemical, whatever that was.

I cannot see how it can be "partial gold missing"
without being tampered with.
Some gold remains.

Were these printed in multi screen single pass?
The registration is exceptional for the colours.

Isn't it possible just to get a faint impression if the gold 'ink' (not sure exactly what it is) is on the verge of running out? It does look like something's there, but I can't really see how the gold could dematerialise if it was there to begin with.

The gold is just removed chemically with a cotton bud and chemicals.

Ringo, that certainly is a possibility but would make a stamp fall into the EFO category. That would not show the ink disturbance as visible here. To be a true error, the printing step has to be missed completely.

Just to confirm to everyone as the scan does not show the Queen's head very clearly. Under magnification there is a dark line where the Queen's head should have been. Most of the detail in the manger appears to be remnants of the postage cancellation which to me at least indicated that most of the gold must have been removed prior to mailing. Either that or the chemical only impacted the gold and not the cancellation ink. Perhaps it is someone who wanted to make a political statement back in 1970?

Here is a photo under UV light. It is out of focus, apologies, but primary concentration was to get the outline of the Queen's head display clearly.

According to my 1984 edition of the Stanley Gibbons Great Britain specialised stamp catalogue the gold on these stamps was printed on the stamps,and they were then embossed and phosphor tagged by two of the 10 cylinders of the Wood printing machine, used to print them. The listing of the 5d includes SG No. 839 "W199 a. Gold(Queens head) omitted +" The + in the price column indicates according to the list "does not exist". so why list a none existent variation? I had also read thatit is possible to remove the gold. Looking at the entry for the UKs first Christmas stamps in 1966 it says the stamps were printed in Photogravure with the Queens head Die stamped in Gold. This 1966 issue has the note that the gold head die stamping was omitted in some cases, but that the gold head could also be removed using chemicals, so being unable to tell whether a stamp had never received a gold head or had had the head removed later on they did not acknowledge single stamps with no gold as being genuine,if the gold free head was one of a horizontal marginal pair it was probably genuine. No such caution is mentioned with other stamps of the time with gold printed details. Could the UV be picking up the embossing with no gold ink having ever been there?
I think I can see traces of gold on the scanned image, so personally my suspicion is that someone has found a clever way of removing one ink without disturbing the others. Is there any indication of the Phosphor mark being messed around only where the head should be? The phosphor might have washed off when the stamp was soaked off the paper but the right hand band of phosphor should run vertically through the back of Her Majesties head.

The 1966 'Battle of Hastings' stamps were the first that had the gold cameo of the Queen.
The postal Museum archives state:




For the Christmas set of that year, the gold head was used, but now embossed.

N.S.K. You are correct the 6d and 1/3d battle of Hastings stamps got gold heads in October 1966 and were subject to the same fraudulent alterations. Both stamps had their "gold heads" applied by the same technique

Noocassel, I wasn't correcting you. It was my intention to confirm what you wrote.

Noocassel, NSK,
I will try and get a better shot of the phosphor when I return this evening. To confirm I do see a little of the gold remaining but that is in the area of the manger only. I do not see any gold where the queens head was.