Australian KGV Stamps Explained.

Thanks guys you have been a big help. I have checked the perf's on several one penny red's, but don't seem to have any 1914 issue die 1 stamps. Are they rare?

I don't have any trouble with water marks, and have found the following errors:
Roos Tongue Out
Rusted Cliche
Dot on Y
RA Joined
Dot Before One
Secret Mark
Dot behind Ear
Thin One Penny

Looking for more with great interest.

Again Thanks Conn

John-

I have wondered about the shading. Red is very susceptible to fading in sunlight, could there be some cheating ?

Conn

Another question also John please. Are the Reds susceptible to oxidizing or sulpherizing like some older stamps are?

Yes - like the right one in my avatar

Conn

Hi! Conn
It is great to hear that you have some nice printing flaws in your penny reds. They are nice to look at and build on.
You know what your watermarks are and it is a big step in the right direction.

Yes! Penny reds fade very easily by sunlight and soaking. Some of the fadelings look like rare shades and we have to be careful.
The changelings are strange they show up very clearly under a UV longwave light.The UV shade reaction is a swirl of different colours as 2 types of ink formulas mix before a new red shade of ink is established and the true shade come through on the print.
The 1914 penny reds came out in the rare single line perf 14.20 and the common one is a comb perf 14.25. The difference is a flee sneeze. The 1914 issues also came out in the rare die11 as well. John

Hi! Puzzler




No I have never come across these 2 nasty sounding stamping issues. Not in my speciality books. Never heard it in an auction description or anywhere else.
Sounds like some serious problems if it is on your stamps.Very interesting. John

Oxidizing is not serious really in that it can't spread to other stamps or anything bad.

It is caused by lead pigments in the inks used to create reds and certain other colours (not sure of all) used in the 1890s or so usually. I think I jumped the gun with that question, not thinking about the time frame in question.

The stamp, being exposed to oxygen in the air, I think it is, causes chemical reactions with the lead (creating sulphur?) and this darkens older stamps to a brownish colour. It can be easily remedied by submerging the stamp in hydrogen peroxide for a few seconds which reacts with the sulphur and changes it into something else (not sure, oxygen?)

There are threads on SCF that talk about it. Just something to be aware of for colour varieties on older stamps. Best to 'clean' the stamp first it seems to me before determining which colour it might be.

Thanks Puzzler!
I have learnt something and I will keep it in mind as I do my KGVs. John

From Victoria. I would have loved to had it whole. Why do people cut them up.javascript:insertsmilie('')

KGV Collector, an amazing amount of work providing this info, excellent quick reference material. My compliments.

1½ red die 2 plate 4 imprint block perf 14 Top left stamp is 4/L53ga Type B Re-Entry Cat Value mint $1000
Used $750 as a imprint block $?

I picked it up from ebay for the bargain price of $55.

This is a $75 cat 2d brown Australia KGV with printing flaw "large white flaw in left value tablet a BW 97(16)f. Even in this condition it had a starting cost of $2.99 It has reached US$22.83c with 24 hrs to go. Just shows how popular Aussie KGV's are.

One of my favorite printing flaws is the "weeping 4". It is found on the 4 in the right value tablet.

This stamp is a Deep Salmon Eosin the rarest of the KGV penny red shades.

It is a stamp with a name, called "Sydney No 17"

I wonder how many people have this stamp and really don't have a clue what they really have?