Whats Going On With The Back Of This Stamp? Lebanon

OK, I'm puzzled by what's going on with the back of this stamp....I confess to not collect stamps as much as covers. This is the first I have seen anything like this. It looks like the stamp was printed on the edges of two sheets joined together??




Is this a paste up?
Is this normal?

Thank you....Rick

Looks like something picked up from the envelope.

Doesn't it make you want to soak them all, to see what secrets they might give up?



(Don't forget to trim close around the colored envelopes...they'll bleed when soaked.)

At first glance thats what I thought also, but it looks like it was glued,,,(cream color brush strokes)...I'm gonna look with closer magnification in a minute because it seems the area is thin

Cjd.......once I got that baby zep soaked off it looked GREAT!!!!

I actually have a friend who is willing to destroy covers for singles......I cringe when he talks about his findings.....

Soak away -

So using my antique magnification device, it does look like it is something printed across the back, but the stamp has no original glue, and there is either glue or varnish covering the marking, like they wanted to save it. I still wonder why?

My magnifier doesnt really have good sharp imaging...and I cant get my phone to take picture because of the eyepiece set-up. I'm gonna have to find a better bunch of optical equipment some day.....

Nice Gau-2....worked them for years....

I missed this thread until now, but I can say that this is believed to be a security marking added to the gum-side of sheets of stamps to indicate that they are not stolen stock.
Thefts from government offices, including post-offices, following the March 1958 insurrection in Lebanon prompted the authorities to recall all remaining stocks and presumably decided to mark them so that any stolen stock could be distinguished.
Some stamps of the period 1957-1959 have this marking applied to the reverse (gummed) side, hence this may result in partial or complete loss of the marking when the used stamp is removed from the cover.


part of sheet showing markings

close-up of markings on mint stamp (1957-60 1p light brown definitive)

This topic has been examined in the Middle East Philatelic Bulletin (web-site www(dot)zobbel(dot)de) and some articles may be found in issues 7, 8, 9, 15 and 16.

Thank You !!