What Happened To This Stamp?

Hi everyone,
I am new to this forum and I wish to hear what you guys think about this stamp.
I found this in a kiloware lot here in Australia.
I inclue the original for comparison.
Cheers

Aristotelian, welcome to this forum. That is a pretty stamp, depicting the three Wise Men. I think something was either attached to the plate or attached to the sheet of paper when it was printed.

Peter

Hi Peter,
Thanks for replying. I'm only beggining to collect stamps now (i'm 31) and I have very little knowledge about these things.
I noticed also that in the bottom stamp (the different one) there is a "dot" looking bit in the hat of one of the guys that is different.
Should I keep this? Is it worth any? Will it be worth any in the future?
I have literally 1 to 2 thousand of this particular stamp and this one is just odd.
Cheers for your help.

Miscues of this type in modern issues usually are classified as varieties, errors, freaks and oddities. Definitions differ, but typically varieties are constant in a large number of printings of the subject stamp (such as a plate scratch resulting in an inked line); errors result from human failure in the printing process (such as rotating sheets, failure to feed a multi-color stamp in the press properly resulting in missing color); and freaks and oddities are non-human, random or mechanical problems such as misperforations, folded sheets, or in the case of your stamp, debris on the plate or sheet. The term "EFO" (errors, freaks, oddities) collects several of these definitions and there are collectors who specialize in EFOs.

The normal stamp is a penny item - $0.25 retail. Your F/O example probably would command a slight premium so it is worth keeping, but we are talking about maybe $5 on a good day with the right buyer. This is not a $10,000 cataloged error. The miscue is not particularly attractive and for whatever reason, true errors tend to command far higher market prices. The preceding is my observation and opinion, others may differ. However, in general, you are not going to get rich on modern stamps, including modern freaks and oddities. Modern errors that are cataloged and have a known market, possibly yes.

You could investigate this further by using internet search engines to search "AUSTRALIA STAMPS MODERN ERRORS" for example.

Hi cjpalermo,
wow you lost me halfway through that mate!
So am I right in understanding that perhaps something was wrong with the printer?
I definitely need to do some reading and learn about this sort of thing.
I appreciate your post as it points me in the right direction.
I think I shall keep him just because it is different.
Cheers

looks like something got on the bottom one to bleach it out

Hi Jim,
yes it's odd.
I thought initially it was sun damage, but then again I know little about it.
The more I look at it the more it seems to have very clear straightish lines, buggers me mate.
oh well, in the album and away I go looking for another!1
Cheers

2c: I'm thinking that bleach attacks all colors. When one color is present, and others absent ...

I think this may be a bit more complicated than something getting between the plate and paper. Aren't the missing color(s) present in that blotch at the lower right? (I suppose there could have been a hole in the obstruction.) And if it's just more than one one color (and pass?) missing on the stamp, where did the other colors come from? Would the obstruction have remained in the same place while the paper passed by other plates?

I wish I knew more about printing!

Hi KGB,
I also have to learn more about printing.
I have also spotted that the different stamp (bottom one) has a blotch of black on the canister the forefront fellow is holding, which the normal stamp doesn't have.
It's puzzling that the colour is different but the features of the design themselves are there (cloth shadows, image outlines, ...)
Thanks

Call it the Holy Ghost variety. People have paid big money for corn flakes shaped like religious figures. I like the stamp, maybe $10 to the right buyer alongside a normal stamp for comparison. But it might be something that could be manufactured as a chemical alteration so buyers would beware.

Go through them all and if you find any more identical then check back in with us for advice on how to proceed as they could be worth a bit more then.