You do realise that King George VI appeared on stamps of a handful countries and a few more?
What stamps are you referring to?
For British stamps, the answer is simple. Stamps, at that time, were printed on the web. Watermarks are always upright. Booklet panes were printed in columns. As the binding margin had to be on one side, it was efficient to have one column printed upright and the adjoining inverted. Once cut in stamp book panes and turned so the image would be upright, about half the panes would have stamps with an inverted watermark.
In much a similar way, rolls of stamps were produced. The columns were cut into strips that were made into rolls. If the roll had a vertical delivery, stamps were printed upright. If the rolls had sideways delivery, the stamps were printed sideways. Once turned so the image would be upright, the stamp would show a sideways. George V photogravure stamps also exist with sideways inverted watermark because of this.
And then there could be stamp books with panes printed sideways (Elizabeth II Wildings). As these, too, were printed in alternating columns, you get sideways and sideways inverted stamps.
Catalogues list these as inverted, sideways, and sideways inverted watermarks. Correct would be to call them stamps with upright watermark printed inverted, sideways, or sideways inverted.
Quote:
I am currently looking at King George VI definitives and am trying to establish what source each stamp comes from. Can anyone tell me whether any of the KGVI low value definitives that have an inverted watermark came from sheets, or just booklets?
UK stamps: only stamp books. Look at the perforation tips. You might notice these often are cleanly cut on one or two adjoining sides but ragged on the other sides. This also is a sign they come from booklets.
Posted 02/16/2024 06:16 am
