Scott #657 - Dirt On Plate Spot.

Ok guys...I didnt mean to stat any animosity..Just airing my views as you serious collector and lithograving have every right to post...maybe I should have not started such a tread that brought out personal feeling towards what stamp collectors like or dislike..How about we close this tread and stay FRIENDS...agreed..?

Wert, it's very noble of you trying to be a peacemaker but
there is really no need.

No animosity here, just friendly discussions about stamps.

Collecting stamps has got to be the most non-violent hobby
out there but heh that's just my opinion.

If I'm allowed to say it.

And you old buddy, you keep on scanning and posting
all your varieties until your eyes go batty on you.

Guys...I was hoping this spot on the Scott #657 was a constant that I have discovered...WELL..Take a look what I found..I pulled my Scott #657 plate block out and compared it to my single Scott #657 stamp,and low and behold, there was the so called "donut"..What do you make of it now..??

Good stuff wert

Contact Unitrade and Darnell right away so they can list it
in their next edition.

Really..??..Should I...??..or are you pulling my leg..??

You might want to call that variety

" Bubble coming up from his azz "

...Your too much my friend.
BTW lithograving...I did send an email off to Unitrade to see if they were interested in my findings.

I don't have the much patience for flyspecking, but it's great that there are collectors out there like Blackjag and Wert who are identifying and documenting varieties, esp. constant varieties.

Right now most collectors aren't very interested, but 50 - 100 years from now collectors might well appreciate any information they can get their hands on.

I'm comparing apples to oranges, but in the US, collectors like Ashbrook, Chase, and Neinken are renowned for identifying and plating certain stamps. I imagine many early 20th century collectors couldn't be bothered with or were not even aware of that "flyspecking".

Good words raymodj, I have always been interested in flyspecking and you are correct, a lot of people do not have the patients for such an activity...Fortunately for me, I do have the drive for such a time consuming activity..And maybe some where down the line like you say in 50/100 years others will do what a few of us do today...Flyspecking is just one facet of this great hobby of stamp collecting, others enjoy different ways of looking at stamps..One of my fascinations is oddities caused by proof readers (or lack of) and below is one I found that I have shown here a while ago, but tou will get the idea of "oddityspecking" as I like to call it...Look at the planes jet stream, it is behind the smoke stack...interesting...????

Here's some further flyspecking of that stamp:



1. Note the top serf in the "E" in "SPECIAL" and "DELIVERY".

2. Note the slight difference in "POST" in "POSTES" v. "POST" in "POSTAGE". It appears that the first four letters are bolder in "POSTES" as you can see especially in the letters "PO" of both words.

3. What's with the printing in the "1" of "17" on the right side of the stamp? Dirt or dust on the plates during printing?

GOOD EYE wt1...Guess I didn't go far enough...

I have found a number of these "donuts/litho bubbles" on stamps that were identical (like wert's Diver example - notice exact same stamp position). That does not mean they are constant, BUT they can occur on more than one sheet (hence more than one stamp with the exact "donut/s will exist).

One of my favourites was the stamp of a Toy Train (Christmas) that had 3 donuts coming from the stack (looked like a bubble blower). I had 2 or three with the exact same pattern of bubbles (same location). I sold them as a set (didn't get a lot, and didn't expect a lot- wanted to pass them along to other collectors).

I have been selling off a lot of my variety stamps on ebay lately. When I have had two or more stamps with identical "donuts", I sell them together since they are from the same print run (before the plate was properly wiped - as was mentioned).

So not constant (won't likely be listed in a catalog), but not necessarily unique either

Those kind of oddities are often the result of a small dirt spec on the paper during printing process. Here is an example that I obtained in 1976 from a Downtown Montreal post office. When I noticed it, the clerk checked others and there were 5 consecutive sheets with similar broken a. This find was also referenced in the "revue philathelique quebecoise at the time" which I have a copy somewhere in my literature library. This one is still in the unopened cellopack post office fresh, as purchased 38 years ago. This illustrate that there are many interesting finds out there to the inquisitive eye, but I do not expect catalogues to list all of those....Forums like this one could easily play that role. The challenging tasks, for me, is to determine a way to track, collect and save all those great finds (from Wert and litho, for future reference. Who know where todays posts will land 20-50 years from now...(on paper archives, electronoc? a cloud? or the ethereal void?.....)
Enough said: here is the copy of number 685 broken a (see 3rd row, 5th stamp

here is a close-up of the stamp itself

Gilles le timbre...Do you have another copy of that "donut" on another stamp..??