Scott 96 " Quebec Tercentenary Issue" - 2 Different Stamp Sizes

Was going through a couple of strips I had bought at the local stamp club and when I pulled out the sheet below, and starting doing some investigation {As flyspeckers do}.

I did some measurements and came across a very weird oddity..I took the two right hand side strips of Scott 96 stamps.

This is the sheet I came across...


Here is a close up of the two strips on the right that I measured.


Here is a close up of both measurements..The right stamp is .586% wider than the other stamp..See below.


Next, check out the actual overlap of one stamp over the other, a clear indication of two different stamp printing.


I do not know if this is a reason to follow up with furthur investigating or not...Opinions.

Robert

Robert, I wont call them sheets but strips. With just over 1/2 of 1 % difference. Do you think one may be a dry and the other a wet printing.
Just kidding! Seriously though it obviously appears to be different plates used in the printing of these.

Mike

Edit: added about sheets being strips

Mike...Changed it to strips from sheets..Thanks, silly mistake.

Yes, may be wet VS dry...Where is jogil when you need him.

The first thing to determine is the direction of the grain of the paper since this can affect horizontal and vertical lengths. If the stamp has a vertical paper grain, then it is usually longer and narrower. If the stamp has a horizontal paper grain then it is usually shorter and wider. This can usually explain size differences due to paper grain direction.


If the stamps both have the same paper grain direction such as the usual vertical, then a difference in the horizontal width of the stamp can indicate a difference between wet narrower and dry wider stamps while both vertical lengths are the same. However, the gum should be also examined to look for differences, etc. The difference between wet and dry printed Canada Admiral stamps has been around 0.5 mm between 17.5 mm (wet) and 18.0 mm (dry).

If I recall correctly, I think that only one plate of the 1/2 cent was used to print this stamp. A single plate would most likely be a flat plate where as rotary plates are usually paired together.

See https://goscf.com/t/67103

Thanks Jogil
Guess I should do a real measure of both stamps
Check out the stamp paper grain.

Will get back on that soon.
Nice pictures..Anything else to look for..??

Robert

wert: I think that that would be it for now in what to look for. However, I think that a width difference of around 0.5 mm and/or more may be needed.