Australian Stamps: Helecon Confusion

I'm wondering whether any user of this forum may be in a position to clarify the matter of Australian stamps on helecon paper, which began to be issued regularly in 1965.

I recently acquired a UV lamp and began to sort through a vast collection of Australian predecimal issues that I have accumulated over the years.

To my surprise, I found that many stamps from 1963 (some of which are on piece with dated cancels) are fluorescent.

This confuses me because I thought the first fluorescent Australian stamps were stamp from the December 1963 trial printing of the 11d rabbit bandicoot issue. Yet I have on paper a fluorescent stamp with a legible postmark dated September 1963.

I also have copies of other 1963 stamps on fluorescent paper, including 2 copies of the 5d green Royal Visit issue.

So could the helecon trials have begun earlier than December 1963 and embraced a wider range of issues than just the 11d bandicoot?

Or was there fluorescence on Australian stamps before helecon? I can find nothing about this subject anywhere.

To add to my confusion, I have fluorescent examples of the 1964/66 definitives which my Gibbons indicates were not issued on helecon paper.

So why do they glow in exactly the same way as those which were?

Any light on this subject, so to speak, would be greatly appreciated

Chapter and verse.........

http://predecimal.nf/Early/helecon.htm

In a democracy, it's your vote that counts,

With feudalism, it's your Count that votes.......

Thanks for posting that info, Rod, but it doesn't actually answer my question! (Does it?)

As for the webpage here:

http://predecimal.nf/Early/helecon.htm

I think it has to be wrong.

Hope all is well in WA, Rod!! Are you keeping your cycling up?

I believe the helecon can migrate and affect paper it comes into contact with. If these stamps have been sitting together undisturbed for a length of time, the helecon may well have transferred to other non-helecon printings.

No, it doesn't JJ, Helecon has always been a curly one,
Tony may have the solution, but I don't recall reading
of transfer, but makes sense.
During this period of Aust stamp production, a lot was going on
in development, and it relied heavily on motivated philatelists, or paper merchants disclosing their development history.

I was aware of the Machin flourescence being subject to soaking,
but migration?

I wonder if Helecon is addressed in Brusden White?

Very Interesting!

Could someone elaborate on the use of the silver point test. I know it can be used to test for chalk-surfaces papers (though, not all) Does anyone know of a source for a silver "pencil", or does it have to be made from an old silver coin. If made from a coin does it have to be sterling silver, or will the 90% silver US coins work?

A tiny piece of silver wire will suffice Rohumpy.

Now to come up with a piece of silver wire. Internet here I come.

Perhaps Local jeweller Rohumpy?

from a colleague, discussing chalky paper......


Many papers that 'look' chalk are not, so this is still the 'best' test, AFAIK.
I have a worn Victorian silver 3d for this, and with
a used stamp it is not usually difficult to use a
tooth of the perforations, aligning any line with
existing postmarks.

With a mint stamp, if identification is needed, I
use a corner tooth.

-------------------------

More...from another colleague

Chalky Paper

A highly surfaced, chalk-coated paper introduced
for stamp printing purposes in 1902 and still used
from time to time. It is designed to deter any
attempt at the fraudulent re-use of stamps by
making it impossible to clean off the postmark
without removing the stamp design as well.

Chalky paper can be distinguished from ordinary
by touching it with silver, when a dark, pencil-like
mark is left. An interesting variant of the idea
was the diamond-latticed lines of chalk on the
Arms type of Russia of 1909.

Stamps of chalky paper should not be immersed
in water and great care should be taken when
'floating off'. In catalogues chalky paper is
usually indicated by the capital letter 'C'.

When the letters 'C-O' appear together, it
means the stamp exists on both chalky
and ordinary paper.


- R. J. Sutton 6th edition revised by K. W. Anthony
The Stamp Collector's Encyclopaedia
Published 1966

YMMV but an alternative way of detecting chalky paper is to hold the
stamp to the outside of your (dry) lip - chalky paper will feel cold
compared to ordinary paper.

Regards,
Nick

----------------------------

Even more,
this time from Douglas Myall (the machin expert)



What Blair says is perfectly true but you need to know whether the
paper you are testing is indeed coated with chalk; some papers are
coated with other materials, such as china clay. In addition, all
coated papers need to be distinguished from those where the filler is
added to the pulp mix. Your catalogue should tell you what the papers
are for the stamps you are interested in.

Douglas

even more from "JA"

(hope I am not boring you)

"Rubbing" with silver (coins, tableware, etc.) is potentially damaging,
lightly stroking with a small looped end of a twist of silver solder or
jewler's silver 'wire' leaves but a tiny mark and is easily lifted with
artist's gum erasers - NOT, NOT pencil erasers!!


JA

The Australian Comonwealth Specialists' Catalogue is your best reference for categorising this material.

Rod222, I had not thought of a jeweler. I will get on the phone and call a few to see if they possibly have a short length of scrap silver wire. Great suggestion. Thanks.

Heh!
I am going tomorrow also, I need a watch battery,
and I need to recycle a big plastic box of dead batteries
and a mobile phone.

I'll enquire as to wire as well

Jeweller is just 400 metres away