Two GB Machin Oddities That Have Me Puzzled

It may have already been said but doesn't seem to be acknowledged that on the stamps in this thread, including the latest JustFella stamp, the white design elements are not inked but rather are the white of the paper. In other words, the white areas such as the numbers have no coating of ink. The rest of the non-white portions of the stamps have a coating of ink. Obviously, the non-inked paper retains the ink differently from the inked surfaces.

If anyone commenting does not believe this is just cancellation ink, could they explain in detail how these stamps came to be printed in discreet areas when produced and why?

Rogdcam,
Indeed yes! I said it halfway down the first page, but like the cancel on the printed areas of the OPs stamp, it didn't "take"!

John - Apparently the answer is unpopular!

And yet, the 24p a few posts back demonstrates the same effect beautifully. Oh well, you do what you can, and move on.

Tangentially, how many FDC ceremonies have we attended in which the clerk has a brand new ink pad which won't print on the stamp or dry quickly? One must bring a blotter book to have any chance of getting and preserving a decent cancel until it dries.

The numerals are shaped holes in the printed design. The numerals are not printed on. They are voids.

Therefore there is no printing plate or stamper with just the number on, which could possibly have been inked up and used in the manufacture if the stamp.

Thanks again for all the great info & apologies that I forgot to start a subscription to keep up. Have patience with this old fart. I'm not a newbe at collecting but very much so about the technical aspect. Started at 17 now 83 and have never thrown away an undamaged stamp. Social media is not one of my strong points.

These issues intrigue me. Some of this brings more questions for me based on what I see physically than total understanding. Like why didn't the 1 get filled in too and under my 500 power mike it looks obvious that the cancel ink seems to be a different color & over the ink of the 9. If someone would be interested in viewing it in person just for fun I would be glad to mail it for a promise of posting more info, a franking surprise & half of the millions it's likely to be worth Rofl.

To all who may be following this thread I hope this is a better picture of the nine.

Sorry again. Didn't realize there was a second page. Forgive this old fable mind.

Well here it is a new year & I have a fresh pot of crow cooking. I'll eat it latter. I found another example of the cancel ink filling in the valve numbers & I see now that y'all are correct that it seems too suck the ink in & the white showing thru makes it appear to be a different color. Thanks for all your comments.

To John decker I have no idea where I have that other stamp stored but in that case an additional numeral was added making it totally different. Drove me crazy wondering why that value wasn't listed. Lol.

Thanks for getting back to us with a further example and closure of this issue. I believe that future similar questions will be referencing this thread with the excellent scans and discussion.