Scott 159 Stitch Watermark?

I ran across this Scott #159 with a 'stitch' watermark (runs down right hand side). Can anyone supply additional information on stitch watermark for this issue? Is it rare? Does it carry additional value over a typical #159? Thank you in advance
Don

I tried my best to get images of it...

You have a nice example. Specialists like me are interested in these, because we pursue all aspects of production, but outside that circle few will take note. As the Scott intro points out they are a natural characteristic of paper which forms as fibers fall on the stitching used to hold together the ends of the continuous loop fourdrinier wire for a machine-made paper web. When offering such a stamp for sale it is worth noting the variety, and it is fair to say in the description that it is "rarely" or "infrequently" offered. I think most collectors are likely to treat these as "oddities," and in terms of rarity, I put them at about the same level as pre-printing folds.

If you do offer it for sale, be sure to let me know.

Interesting item. All of the stitch watermarks that I see run across the stamp, not vertically. Is this normal on the Large Banknotes?

Stitch watermarks were a big deal in the 20's and 30's, but haven't garnered much interest since.

Large bank note stamps, as pointed out in the section on grills by Ron Burns were printed with vertical or horizontal paper mesh or grain at different times. I suppose the practice could have continued into the Continental era. Paper grain is one of the key factors in differentiating 1869 Pictorial regular issues from the reissues of 1875.

Clark

At one time the stitch watermark varietes on the earliest US stamps were listed in the Scott Specialized, but they were not, as I recall, ever priced. So I think eventually the Editors realized (or were "advised" by a Contributor(s) that it made little sense to list the variety on only a few stamps, when it can be found on many, so they stopped listing them. I agree with essayk that the market value is roughy the same as a pre-prnting paper fold (however, if the PPF is fairly wide, the value increases, and the wider it gets, the more valuable it becomes, whereas the value of the stitch wmk is sort of static.......).

Paper folds are visible so they will always garner more interest than what is essentially a fluke watermark that one has to be very lucky to find. One could probably look at thousands of 147's without ever finding one.

I agree. A stitch watermark is MUCH rarer than paperfolds - all we need to do to "prove" this is to check Bill Lang's listings for paperfolds on ebay! Then look for stitch watermarks and see what you find. But it's an old story - collectors generally only or mostly) care about what they can SEE easily. A stitch watermark takes "work" to find.

And by the way, Don's picture here of his stitch wmk is excellent. Thanks Don!

A rather old post, but still some lingering questions to answer.

I have stitch watermarks on various banknote stamps from grilled issues, 1870, up through 1880, and they all run vertically through the stamp.

I can't speak to valuations, but given the rarity of stitch marks, I would rate them a "+" equal to a scarce postmark.

A few years back a dealer put an amazing premium on a 2c blackjack with SWM, about $250 if I remember correctly. As a paper specialist, I really coveted that stamp, but just couldn't justify the price because it would take a real beating when the time came to sell it.

This proves nothing. Stitch watermarks take work to find and with the market not assigning much of a premium for them, there is little incentive to look for them.

I love collecting stitch watermarks, but this ebay item hits on one of my pet peeves; excessive writing on the back of stamps. The ones that really irk me are when people write the postmark info on the back when the same is clearly visible on the front.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sc-158-Sti...AOSwq4VaPUEz