Australian KGV Stamps - A Bit Of Help Required

We obviously move in different circles Cj,
I had a meat pie on a paper plate,
(the pie was surprisingly nice)
A piece of carrot cake, and a super coffee (in a paper cup)

The company was nice, but they were buttering me up,
I had to help move a grand piano,
(next time I'll be absent without leave)

But, hey thanks for taking the reins......

(If you think stamp collecting sucks, this guy collected pianos,
try moving pianos for a lark)

Yeah, I used to collect pianos, but it got so frustrating trying to find examples that weren't hinged.

C.

Sorry to be a pain asking so many simple questions but what is a nick? and where is the coa located that you noticed on you blue 3d rodd?

The perf OS is a woeful forgery, and the worst I've seen!

Hi browne,
don't bother apologising to ask a question,
we thrive on it, we puff out our chests and show our
amazing knowledge Pshaw!
Actually we learn ourselves by answering questions.

Here is your "nick" which suggests a scratch of some sort in the printing plate, I am not aware of such a variety, so I think it is probably a piece of matter caught on the plate, not allowing the ink to adhere, so we call that an EFO (error freak or oddity)
Checking specialist catalogues can confirm.



The COA is the "watermark", when the paper is made and still pulpy
an impression is made into the paper before it dries that remains with the paper generally for life, it is detectable because the paper is denser at the point of impression.

We detect the watermark by
1, immersion in water when we soak the stamp
2. if mint or a clean soaked copy we place it in watermark detecting fluid or Ronsonal
3. some wmks can be detected by placing the stamp face down on something black

Inverted, sideways, missing watermarks can sometimes make an
ordinary $1 stamp into something worth very much more.

Some watermarks can be seen easily by eye from the back
Your sidefaces often can be seen easily.

Hope that helps.

Here is an example of the famous "nicks" of the 1d red sideface

(Going back to coins yet? )

Bottom left stamp...bottom right corner, directly under the 1, is a white gash. When these are due to damage to the plate, they become a constant flaw, and they typically get a designation in the specialist literature.

If they are due to dust on the plate, or some other artifact of the printing process, they are not recurring, so while they might be interesting to some, they are generally less valuable than the constant flaws.





This is the watermark. They are usually visible by flipping the stamp over and looking at the back. Strong lights, or dark backgrounds, are often enough to see it, especially once you know what to look for. Otherwise, there is watermark fluid that is used for a quick dip of the stamp. The watermark will be visible while the fluid dries. Ronsonol lighter fluid is a time-honored stand-in for watermark fluid.

[edit: Rod wins...plus he's got pix.]

No winners, more answers is just fine :)
we may miss something or make an error.
This is a community, we all dob in.

I'll let you do the sums,

1976 these KG5 sold for $15,000
2003 they sold again for $225,000

Thanks for the explanations that helps a lot. Nicks to die cracks on coins. I suppose like die cracks they add some character to the stamps with some being more well known than others. A coin die can typically produce up to 200,000 coins or more. What is the operating life of a stamp die plate?

I'll pass that one over to Russ or Cjd
I have no idea, however some of the nicks in your KG5
were caused by bad husbandry, the printes did keep
some printing plates that went rusty, some of the resultant imperfections were caused by that.

Dedicated KG5 collectors will give you a better story perhaps.

Aussie Al here on SCF, and KG5 collector specialise in them.

-------------------
"Late Use" 2d KG5



"No top to crown" variety (not mine)
The arrow points to the crown, the LHS stamp has none.

I had a close look at this one and it seems like it was done with a pin. There is another stamp which has HS and the holes are uniform and clean. What are these perforations??

The OS perforation was for Official Service, or Government use. The HS will be a private company perforation (perfin = PERForated INitials), designed to stop light-fingered employees from stealing stamps to post their own mail!

Very interesting. Thank you! Im assuming OS adds some value.

I agree with Jubilee, however if you continue to
collect KG5 check the puncture holes with a genuine copy,
yours may just be evidence of perforator wear
(if the punture holes line up and match with genuine copy)

The HS could well be Harris Scarfe Adelaide.
(A major store in Adelaide at the time)

This perfin had a very large puncture hole below the HS
this may have missed your stamp by being off the edge.

Finding a genuine OS perf to compare to is getting harder and harder, especially after last years dealer-created forgery scandal