Ribbed Papers

I am probably not completely alone here but I have a major shortage of good examples of horizontally ribbed paper. My examples, as they are, seem to show pretty well that they have roughly the same dimension as other large banknotes on normal paper. I could use a little help from others demonstrating or verifying that similarity.

Also, my material seems to indicate that vertical ribbing is always more pronounced than horizontal ribbing but I am working with a small sample size. Anybody have a different observation?

Last post. The color of all of my ribbed paper stamps except one is an off-white creamy color. I have one that stands out and is much whiter. I am wondering if that happens to be very similar to the wonderful example that AJ posted earlier in the thread? AJ?

in the meantime... what do you think about the two later stamps I showed in my last post? would you talk about ribbed paper here, or not, as Scott. the 2c is quite obvious, but not exactly vertical, while also visible from the front. I saw also others from this period.

Stamperix, there are two articles by Larry S. Weiss regarding laid/ribbed paper on the Washington-Franklin issues found in the United States Stamp Society journals: July 2007 and August 2007 issues that you may wish to read.

thank you - does he write about ribbed paper also? As my stamps are not laid paper for sure. I have many Washington-Franklin stamps and others from the period that show very fine ribbing which could be caused by gum or envelopes, but not like the one above.

Yes, he discusses his perspective about laid and ribbed paper on W/Fs.

but isn't that the "ribbed" definition which Ken Lawrence did contradict when saying that ribbed paper is a surface thing while laid shows in watermark? I read an interview with Lawrence some time ago about this. in the Scott they say there is no ribbed paper for this period. PF made certificates for laid paper although it's ribbed paper just because Scott uses this name.

So is there perhaps a more recent article about ribbed paper at the Washington-Franklins and the 1902 issue?
and of course: is the ribbed paper of those stamps similar to the bank note stamps, and is it always vertical or horizontal or also a bit off like my 2c stamp?

So I finally got around to reading the section on ribbed papers in The U.S. 3c Green 1870-1887 by H. L. Wiley. He found the same differences in dimension that I showed earlier in this thread. His conclusion: "This proves conclusively that the paper is a distinct and individual product of the paper mills, a distinct variety, and entitled to recognition as such."

Since the ribbing is only a singular characteristic and potentially only a temporary characteristic of this unique paper product, the debate of the cause of the ribbing is strictly academic. Why so much time is devoted to it is beyond me. It is of much more importance to be able to identify the paper even if it is without ribbing, where it came from, why was it used, and when?

Is it just me not understanding you, AJ? You seem not recognize the "ribbed papers" as a unique product.

I did a cursory check of some 3 cent Scott 158 stamps in the reference collection and found that vertical rib paper examples are taller and narrower than examples with horizontal ribbing. I also checked a few US official examples and found the same relationship between vertically ribbed and special printings with horizontal ribbing. I did not check plain examples to determine if two size populations exist. The Scott Catalog reports that National grilled stamps in the early state tend to be taller, printed on vertical mesh paper, and examples with late state grills, printed on horizontal mesh paper, were shorter, with a height difference of about 1/4mm.

It is my belief that paper was not randomly placed on the press in either vertical or horizontal orientation because such a practice would potentially raise havoc with the perforating process.

The best source of recent scholarship on ribbed paper would be work by Ron Burns based on material from the National Archives. The Barwis article about Bank Note series paper is the best source I have seen that documents the differences in paper used by the Bank Note companies from their multiple suppliers during a period of rapid technological change in paper making.

Better quality of printing on Continental vertical ribbed paper, suggests intention, however undocumented. Use of consistent horizontal ribbed paper on part of the special printing of Official stamps by the Continental Bank Note company is also important. The quality of horizontal ribbing on the Officials is consistent and strong, unlike horizontal ribbing on regular issue stamps which is often faint and hard to see.

I guess I need a new catalogue. I also don't have access to any of Ron Burns' work other than what is in the Chronicle. I am not saying I disagree with the Scott catalogue but other than the Continentals on vertically ribbed paper, I haven't seen any vertically grained paper as evidenced by horizontal stitch watermarks on the large banknotes.




I agree but the paper grain was determined long before it hit the press. The paper, as used, wouldn't have been square and could only be used one way. The grain direction must have been fixed at the paper mill when the sheets were cut. The vertically ribbed papers are so much more narrow than the ordinary stamps that the perforators surely had to be reset as it was.




Glad to see that. That was my opinion as well.

I read the Barwis work when it first came out. I shall read it again.

Hello,

in my Scott specialized 2013 there is an article by Burns about the H and I grills. It's true that he says that the late state grills are on horizontal grain paper, but the early state grills are appearing on both vertical and horizontal grain paper, so it's not really vertical vs. horizontal as an easy identification, only if it's vertical of course. Do I have an older version of the article which was changed in a later Scott edition?