Is There A Name For This Kind Of Error?

This is a NSW 1d Arms pair (Crown over A watermark) that I soaked off paper the other day.

It seems strange, insofar as the horizontal perfs on each stamp are not continuous. There is a distinct change in level between the two stamps, even though they are a single (i.e., joined) pair.

I'm wondering if there's a philatelic term for this kind of error, which I don't think I've seen before.



Thanks for looking!

I have no idea about perforators used on South Wales stamps, but if this stamp was perforated with a Comb Perforator, then a small glitch in the web paper transport would result in such a perforation step.
There is a thread "Stamp Perforation Issues" in the "World Classic Stamps Mint and Used" forum that shows a comb perforator and how it works.

Thanks, 'perforation step' sounds about right!

(Yes, comb perforation was used.)

Hi jimjamtwo,

These stepped perforations are not uncommon on the 1d and 2d record reign stamps. I'll have a rummage and see if I have an example to post

Perhaps not quite as pronounced, but here's two more.

Thanks for ferreting out these further examples, Bobby!

Do you think they were perforated by the same machine?

Or do you think that this could happen on any perforator?

I haven't checked the gauges, but they'll be comb perforating machines.

I found this over the weekend.





It'll be the 11x12 comb machine.

Wow, that's a more extreme example than even mine!

I would've bought it too, but the price being asked was, I thought, very excessive.

Many stamps of the period, especially those printed locally were perforated with 2nd hand machines from England. Perfection was not the main concern. Production was. Quality control was lacking to say the least. Repairs were DYI. Gumming was often done by brush. All of which we can be thankful for collecting wise.

The comb perforator had three sides and perforated one column at a time. It moved right across the sheet so it is the result of the comb not lining up with the previous column. It is common in the Australian bi-colour postage due issues.