New South Wales 1d Arms Varieties

I've been going through my accumulation of 1d Arms for quite some time and thought I'd post images of some of the most interesting varieties that I've been able to find.

First up, this is the postal stationery version with a missing chunk out of the frame at right. Is this a missing cliche?

Second is what looks to me like it might be a cracked plate. The stamp is not creased and shows no evidence of damage that could account for it. (If this stamp had not been soaked too long, it might have been quite a spectacular find.)

Both very interesting but no idea if they're constant flaws.

Fairdinkumstamps might be able to provide some info.

I have also found two examples of a number of flaws, so I guess that makes them constant flaws. I'll post images of those in due course, if there's sufficient interest in this much neglected stamp.

Which watermark?

The 2004 edition of the Australian Commonwealth Specialists' Catalogue (ACSC) includes States' stamps from Fedration, including the 1d Shield design.

ACSC does not include stamps printed on SG watermark type 40 (2mm gap between the crown and NSW), only subsequent printings on type 65 (1mm gap), crown over single-lined A and crown over double-lined A paper.

The stamps pictured are die II (the first pearl in the crown at left is separate from the line below) so could be from the later printings.

ACSC lists only two flaws for this stamp, a void top right corner in two states and a crack under the 'E' of 'WALES', neither resemble the flaws shown above.

Opinion:
with used stamps, always treat with caution, that line could be a repaired crease (ironed etc) or damage in transit.

The Stationery flaw is a cracker, one would need to consult the BW stationery catalogue to establish if a known flaw, could be an EFO.

jimjamtwo - please show your examples - it would be great to identify more of the constant flaws on this classic stamp.

The first example on postal stationery looks like it would be constant, hopefully more will be found.

The second stamp is not a plate crack, it is damage that has occurred after the stamp has been postmarked, as evidenced by the lack of black ink where it runs down the stamp.

Fairdinkum, there is some black ink over the crack. Three out of the five lines seem to run over it. So the stamp must have been damaged (agree with you there) before being posted.

64idgaf, this stamp seems be extremely under-researched. This is what originally sparked my interest in it.

Further scans will be made shortly. I just have to sort the varieties that I've found into types.

I have found a considerable number of errors affecting the top of the crown. None exactly the same, but many with damaged or broken cross varieties and weak or missing pearls. This is probably my favourite, as it's on a used pair with the normal crown at left and the variety at right.



Here's the normal crown and the 'weak crown':




Both stamps have a vertical colour flaw at top right, but one is higher than the other. Here's the flaw on the first stamp:

Jimjamtwo,

Nice observation.

BTW, Under UV there appears variety in Eosin shades. How does that joined pair look under UV.?

Just dropping in to report that yesterday I found a second example of the postal stationery version with a missing chunk out of the frame at right, showing that it's a constant variety.

Jimjamtwo - are you able to upload a scan of the second example please?

fairdinkumstamps,

My apologies for the delay in replying to your post.

Here it is:

Thank you Jimjamtwo.

For other readers, regarding the comment on the level of research on this stamp, I started a thread in May 2020 where I listed some of the constant flaws that I had found. They were published in 'Sydney Views' and then on the thread below.

Stamp Community member Tasnaki has conducted comprehensive research and extensive expert plating of a much wider range of flaws and published guides to identify stamp positions based on their characteristics.

More information and images can be found on this thread:
https://goscf.com/t/72866