The Stamps Of Australia : On Steiner Pages.

Thanks for your kind words, Rod. Just another SNAFU on my part. I guess I hurried just a dit too much to get this page done while the topic was still current. I'll fix it tomorrow.
I my priority at the moment is to relax with a glass of wine befor dinner.

Frank.

We've all been there Frank.
What Catalogue are you using, for your information?
What Album page maker are you using?

Rod:

I got the change in before I thought I could.

Generally I use SG - at least as far as catalogue numbers are concerned. My resource for info are still my 1988 and 1995 ACSCs. ACSC doesn't make a distinction between booklet sheets having dots in the upper or lower margins but I chose to do so. I also have a lot of snippets included in the work books from my father's collection, as per the example below.

For album pages, I make them up from scratch using CorelDraw. The example I gave has images of my actual stamps inserted into place. Those are removed from the page when I print them out and insert the actual stamps.

I have found that seeing your pages spurs me on towards making up corresponding pages for my own stuff - so thanks a lot, Rod.

Frank.

Frank,
I love those old fashioned hand written pages,
I always scan them first, if I intend to break them down, or re-mount.
I feel I owe it to the original collector.

I can imagine your father poring over the stamps, loupe in hand, on some wintery night, and making notes..........

Rob:

A question about the dot. Is it in a fixed place, or does it move around depending where in the sheet it is printed? And how was the dot added to the plates? As part of the die or manually added after the die impressions?

Based on all the examples I have seen (six including my own two), I had always thought that their position was fixed - to the right of the centre of the vertical bar of the "R". In your Type B example, it is well to the right of this. And, of course, the publicity photo is almost unbelievable. Perhaps this was not a true production specimen or, perhaps it is dust on the photo or picked up somewhere else over the almost 90 years. Just from looking at your various images, and given that the publicity photo is a slightly larger scale than your two stamps, the dot appears to be a bit closer to the upper frame and also somewhat larger.

When ACSC says "2 in pane" I think it is talking about the position, not the quantity, in the booklet pane. I suggest this since, in my edition, the next line reads "1, 3, 4 in pane" for the Vertical hairline through stamp variety. I guess that this only occurs once per printed sheet.

Frank


Frank.

Another twist in the road for the SG115/Sc C1 story.
At http://predecimal.nf/Early/3d.htm, it is said that a third Type C exists. This was a Dry Ink printing in 1935 and the stamp ended up at 31.5 by 22 mm.

Nice stuff...not seen before.
What is a long wing aeroplane? or, how do we ID it?

Hi Frank

Good questions, I have no answer, with the exception when viewing the photo, it may be random, also these booklet stamps have a dot at the bottom as well, unfortunately, the ex-Arthur Gray stamps have no bottom dot as they were removed by the perforator.

I will be searching for both dots and hopefully add them to my collection.

The photo is definitely a true 1930 production specimen and the dot is not a speck of foreign material, as the photo has been enlarged the dot will look out of place (If it were not a true production specimen Arthur Gray would have mentioned it on the card he created to house the photo in), I have added the card mount showing Gray's information and personal rubber stamp.

When I spoke to the specialist who sold the stamps to me he mentioned that the ACSC was incorrect (his brother has been for many years a contributor dealer to the catalogue) when ACSC mentioned the variety on page 5/14, section 5, 136d, it mentioned two of the same varieties in one pane, when in fact there is only one variety in a pane, and that pane being Type B.

Your questions need an answer, including the vertical hairline variety, I also would like to know more about these booklet issues, today I will be speaking to the experts and see what they say and I will share the information in this thread.

A little history about the late Arthur Gray

Arthur William Sinclair Gray (14 April 1939 – 22 May 2015) was an Australian philatelist known for his collection of "Kangaroo and Map" stamps. When his collection was sold in New York in 2007, it grossed $US5,584,000 (AU$7,337,264) including the 15% buyer premium. Gray was a fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London.

Rob

Hi Rod

This is the long wing DH66 de Havilland biplane I am referring to.



The "long wing" is the stamp with the distinctive blotch at the end of the right wing.

It is very scarce and catalogued at $950 MUH, $500 MLH and $250 used.

The ACSC mentions that this variety is found in the Type A booklet (vertical mesh), and that there are two of this particular variety in the Type A. This is incorrect, this variety is only found in Type B and only one in a pane.

Rob

Hi Frank

It's confirmed that there never was a Type C. It is also mentioned in the ACSC that the suggestion of a later version (Type C) using the dry process was incorrect.

There were only two printings, Types A & B. Printing on damp paper facing in either direction led to the production of two sizes of stamps due to shrinkage of the paper across the direction of the mesh after printing.

It is assumed that both types A & B have both the dry and damp paper printings.

Rob

Aha! Thanks Rob,
I do recall it now, from many moons ago.

Nice explanation, as we have come to expect from you.

What's your opinion on booklets?
As you can see, my colleagues cover is creased from "exploding" the item.
Do we do this?
Remove the staple?
...or bite the lip, and leave well enough alone?

The left stamp has a larger white area on front of plane thoughts anyone (I don't see any thinning etc)

Thanks Rod for the kind compliment.

My opinion on booklets, they are a good addition to the collection providing of course you choose well, like the 1930 airmail booklet you have, they are very scarce.

Do I think you should remove the staple? Wash your mouth out with soap, if it shows no cause to be concerned (spreading rust) let it be.



In the 2015 ACSC that 1930 booklet is now catalogued at $575.

Here is a little snippet of information, the Type B booklet 3d airmail is more yellowish green than its non-booklet counterpart.

Rob

Hi Al

By looking at the top right value and the "ALIA" of "AUSTRALIA" the stamp may have been subjected to a little wear when originally posted, or previously slightly stuck to another stamp.

rob