Chalky Vs Ordinary Paper

Other than the silver test which leaves a black mark on the face of the stamp, is there a good way to tell chalky vs ordinary paper in French Colonies and British Colonies stamps?

A suggested method
Lightly stroke with a piece of silver solder. Grey mark - surfaced.
Do it on the edge or other area and it will clean off with an artist's gum
eraser - NOT, NOT a pencil eraser !!
author Sir FA Rien)

A discussion from 11 years ago
Take from it, what you will.

| Rodney
| I don't know about this particular issue and/or country but SOME chalk
| papers react differently under a uv lamp to the non-chalky on the same
| issue.Note that this is a difference in flourescence not
| phosphorescence so you are not looking for an afterglow - purely the
| relative whiteness.You could try comparing with a known example. Note
| that when several different chalky and/or non-chalky papers are used on
| the same issue this is not foolproof. Try sorting out Irish definitives
| and you will know what I mean! Also chalk-surfaces can be compromised
| when soaking, and give you a false "reading".
| Postmark dates can also be useful in finding "control" copies where
| first date of use of new variety is known. Again this is not foolproof
| as pre-issue is not unknown - but a month early should be adequate
| margin.
| Regards
| Malcolm

Thanks Malcolm,
I have been aware of "chalky paper" for a while
of course,but my collections were not advanced
enough to bother with the finer details, until now.

I was wondering about the compromise with soaking,
in the few years I have with this group, chalky
paper has never been discussed.

I find it hard to believe collectors draw silver
coins across issues to determine their status.

==================================

Rodney:

Chalky paper: A chalk-surfaced paper for printing
stamps. It is not always real chalk, by the way.
Sometimes starch is used. It is a security feature.
Any attempt to remove the cancel on a used
chalky-paper stamp will also remove the design.

Immersion of such stamps in water will
cause the design to lift off. As you said,
touching chalky paper with silver will
leave a discernible, pencil-like mark and
is a means of distinguishing chalky paper.

One example of ordinary versus chalky paper
can be seen on the 1937 set honouring Pushkin
(Scott 590-95). The set was printed on both.

Chalky paper may or may not make a big difference
in stamp values. For example:

GB 1958 Defins (crowns)
SG Denom. (MNH) UM VF-U F-U AVG-U
SG 570 ½d. Orange-Red £0.02 £0.05 £0.03 £0.02
SG 570k ½d. Orange-Red Chalky Paper £1.10 £1.30 £1.00 £0.55

South Africa Definitives Stamps
1972 / 1974 : normally on Phosphorescent Glossy Paper, No Watermark
2 cent is US $0.30 but $0.80 on chalky paper. (SACC 327 + 327c)
20 cent is US $2.80 but $4.50 on chalky paper. (SACC 335 + 335a)
50 cent is US $5.50 but $9.00 on chalky paper. (SACC 336 + 336a)

Values are retail.

Blair

--- also Br.Virgin Islands 1938 KGVI Definatives -
set of 10 ( to 5/- val ) mint - ( Stanley Gibbons )
Ordinary paper - GBP 32.65
Chalk surface paper - GBP 97.25

Brian


dear Rodney,

the term 'chalky paper' in connecton with silver originates
from the prewar period [192x-193x]. With modern stamp issues
you're dealing with coated paper vs uncoated paper, the material
used for coating the paper stamps are printed on may vary a lot.
Just have a good look at the stamp surface and you find it covered
or not, showing at times little cracks, speckles etc.
as to the reaction under UV-light, there may be no reaction [dull,
creme], a reflection [violet] or the reaction of a whitening agent
[that is in the coating, not in the paper mass, and the agent can
be of varying intensity], the reaction of a luminescent substance
put in there to be of assistance while sorting out covers [both
fluorescence and phosphorescence]. In the mean time the paper mass
has its reaction of its own.

After soaking most of the original luminescence may be gone, and
at the same time luminescence may have transmigrated from other
stamps or the covers they were on as well, so be careful...

groetjes, Rein


.The smart ones use a fine silver wire. It leave just the hint of a line and
can easily be 'erased' with drafting powder.

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.
Tony
--

Further:
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

Thanks for the comments. I did a search for "Chalky" on the forum and I found I have asked this question before. My previous posts were about Chalky Paper for Portuguese Ceres stamps, not specifically French or British Colonies, but most of the answers I got before talked about mostly British stamps. Anyway, a lot of good info in those posts that I had forgotten about. I suggest anyone interested in this problem to do a similar search. The best info was about the special artist erasers to gently remove the black mark after testing with silver soldier or coin so the stamp is not permanently disfigured.

I apologize for not doing a search before posting again, but maybe it will help someone new to the forum.

If you tilt the stamp at a very steep angle to a light source, chalk surfaced papers often appear shiny compared with the non chalky papers. I am not sure if this works in all cases, but the the British issues ( Victoria, Edward VII, George V) in the early 20th century this works well.

Apart from all the aspects brought in, the term "chalky" is originally used by English collectors who refused to apply this term to coated stamp paper in the early days iof World War II as this paper did NOT react to silver....

So, this term "chalky" is comnpletely outdated and does not refer to coated paper vs uncoated paper. "Normal paper" has no meaning at all :)

groetjes, Rein

One thing I find with stamps printed on chalky/coated paper vs non-coated papers is that the design seems "sharper" on the coated papers to my eye. The coating seems to hold the ink better (when not in water of course!) and give a more crystal-clear image of the stamp being printed.

Just my observation from looking at French colonial issues that exist on both papers.