Rubber stamp

“ In my quietest hours, I, Theophrastus Longuet, can look at it on my desk between my latest models of rubber [Pg 21] stamps. It is not I who am mad; it is this thing that is mad. It is a scrap of paper, torn and stained—a document whose age there is no telling and which is in every way calculated to plunge a quiet manufacturer of rubber stamps into the wildest consternation. The paper, as you can guess, is rotted by the damp of the cellars. The damp has eaten away half the words, which seem from their red hue to have been written in blood. ”

“ Pour a dozen or 15 drops of rubber stamp ink on each pad and rub the surfaces of both of them together to distribute the ink evenly. When not in use [189] keep their inked surfaces together and in a box so that the dust will not get on them. [77]
[77] You can buy a good rubber stamp pad for a quarter. Rubber stamps, pads, and ink can be bought of the Everson and Reed Co., 88 Chambers St., N. Y. C.
To Make Rubber Stamp Inks. ”

“ The allied subjects to which some chapters are devoted will be acceptable to many readers. The hektograph is given in several modifications. A substitute for rubber stamps which stands the severe usage of the Post Office has very distinct merits, and the manufacture is accordingly described in detail. ”

“ As model115 for the mould or matrix a brass model of the stamp is employed. This represents a sort of oval based cut-off or truncated cone, about an inch high and a little over an inch long on its base. A flange extends outward from its base and a tube is provided to fit this flange. Its smaller end corresponds to the face of the stamp, and on it are engraved in full relief any permanent characters, circles or border lines, etc. Through its centre one or more apertures are made. Into these, changeable steel, iron or brass type may be introduced and set fast with plaster of paris. ”

“ Before trial it was impossible to tell which of the two kinds of stamps would be preferred: the one impressed upon the envelope and so forming a part of it, or the other, the handy little adhesive. Rowland Hill expected the former to be the favourite on account of its being already in place, and therefore less time-consuming. Moreover, as a man gifted with a delicate sense of touch, the tiny label which, when wet, is apt to adhere unpleasantly to the fingers, attracted him less than the cleanlier embossed stamp on the envelope ”

“ D. W. W.—Practically all the unperforated U. S. Revenues are on "old paper," but the paper varied in thickness and in color. The "silk" paper was used in some of the perforated stamps. They are quite scarce. The second and third issues of the U.S. Revenues and the Proprietary stamps were printed on "pink" paper, "violet" paper, and "green" paper. Unless a collector has lots of money to spend, I would advise him not to bother about papers, but take every stamp according to design only. Part perforated stamps are those which have perforations on two sides only. ”

“ I advise collectors to leave all the above out of their collections. Any money spent for them is simply thrown away.
The new 3, 5, 30, and 50 cent postage-due stamps have been reported as issued; but no copies have yet reached the New York post-office.
It is rumored in stamp circles that the U. S. government is going to use paper water-marked with an eagle for use in printing stamps. I hope the postal authorities will see that the water-mark will be made sufficiently clear to be seen distinctly on every stamp. The present system is simply laughable. ”

“ Ten Cents. The frame lines have all been strengthened as well as those of the background, so that the entire stamp is more uniform in engraving and color, but has entirely lost its light look. The edges no longer fade away, but stand out sharp from the paper. It is apparent to the eye that the space between the oval and the shield, is reduced one-third its width. There are only four vertical lines between the line of the shield and the line of the oval at their nearest point on the left, or six lines in all; in the originals, there were five lines, or seven in all. ”

“ The possible result to, say, a mint imperforate Fourpence, Ceylon, suspected of having recently acquired its otherwise desirable "margins," reminds me of the test given (not advocated) by a famous philatelist for the detection of forgeries of early Cashmere stamps, which were printed in water-colour—"Put them in water; if the colour is 'fast'{254} the stamp is a forgery; if it comes off, leaving a blank piece of paper, the stamp is genuine"! ”

“ Nevertheless, many a stamp collector who is not devoid of art can find stamps which seem to him to be entitled to rank high even in the art world. In beauty of design, in the exquisite workmanship of the best modern steel engraving, aided by the most delicate machinery, and in unequalled printing, there are many gems within the very limited space of a postage stamp that excite and deserve, and not unfrequently win, the admiration of the most exacting critics. ”

“ When this paper is wetted, the chalky glaze breaks up, and the coloured design is ruined. This innovation provides a complete check to the practices of fraudulent "stamp cleaners," but makes it almost impossible for collectors to remove the paper backing which disfigures many of their treasures.
"The easiest way to find out whether a stamp is printed on ordinary unsurfaced or on chalk-surfaced paper," says Mr. F. J. Melville in "King Edward VII. Stamps," "is to draw a small silver coin across one of the perforations or a piece of the marginal paper adhering to the stamp. ”

“ Some of them are curious enough, in stamps that have always been supposed to present no varieties. The fact being pointed out, it is hardly worth while to attempt to distinguish them.
The vertical lines and printer's imprints are in the same positions. The stamps are still so near together that evenly perforated specimens, i. e.; specimens in which the perforation does not cut some portion of the stamp, are not easily found.
Two marked varieties may be noticed. In one, the outer fine line is removed above the top label, while that under the bottom is left intact. ”

“ Its refutation indeed is seen in the stamps themselves; for each original die, if differing in size from its fellows, meant a separate engraving, and it is humanly impossible to make these separate engravings exact duplicates, whereas, on the other hand, no appreciable variation in line or dot can be detected on the same stamp in its different sizes save the general expansion or contraction of the design, which is proportionate in all its parts. ”

“ Lithography, it should be added, is only suitable in cases where comparatively few copies are needed, or where a temporary issue must be printed expeditiously. It is a process which demands but little capital outlay, a fact which has made it a favourite means of stamp-producing among the poorer republics of South America. With forgers, too, it has gained favour in their work of imitating genuine stamps.
Engraving, known variously under the name of copper-plate printing, engraving in taille-douce, and line-engraving, produces the finest stamps figuring in our collections. ”

“ Good paper is used; size of pages 81⁄2 by 11 inches; a neat border surrounds each page and an ornamental band at top for the reception of the name of the country. Neatly printed names are provided on adhesive paper.
Guards or stubs are bound between the pages, so that when filled it will not bulge, it is equally well adapted for postal cards, stamps or envelopes.
One thousand lithographed stamp mounts are furnished with each album. The stamp mounts are on a new plan, a neat black border surrounds the stamp, and the mounts are provided in different sizes for the various stamps. ”

“ These are seemingly very insignificant things, and any dealer will supply hinges for 10c. per 1000, while for 15c. a very superior quality can be obtained. Home-made hinges frequently injure the stamps through chemicals in the gum or paste making a change in the color of the stamp. Of course the majority of stamps I have seen have been very common stamps, but every collector should take as great pains in the mounting of common stamps as of the most valuable specimens. I advise you to use the best hinges that can be obtained. ”

“ Correspondents should address Editor Stamp Department.
All U. S. stamps are first engraved on a soft steel die, which is afterwards hardened; several impressions of the die are then made on a roller of soft steel, which is subsequently hardened. Impressions from the roller are then made upon the soft steel plates used in printing. The following are some of the ways in which minor varieties of the design are caused: By the shifting of the roller during the making of the plate, causing the top and bottom parts of the stamp to be doubled ”

“ This did not materialize until June or July, 1898, when a new wrapper of the usual size and of light manila paper made its appearance with an impression of the 1 cent adhesive stamp (maple leaves in the four corners) in dark green. Unlike the stamped envelopes, it was manufactured by the American Bank Note Co., but the die for stamping it, instead of being a reproduction of the adhesive, was newly engraved for typographic work and is therefore much coarser in appearance than the adhesive stamps. ”

“ Stamps, while they do duty for coin, are used almost exclusively for small transactions, and generally among people well known to each other. Other precautions are nevertheless very necessary; and besides the initial letters on each stamp—different in every one of the two hundred and forty in the sheet—which are regarded as so many checks on the forger, this pest to society would have to engrave his own die, and cast his own blocks, and find a drilling-machine, perhaps the most difficult undertaking of all. ”

“ Four years later (June 1834) , and in ignorance of what Whiting had already done, Charles Knight, the well-known publisher, in a letter addressed to Lord Althorp, then chancellor of the exchequer, recommended similar wrappers for adoption. From this suggestion apparently Rowland Hill, who is justly regarded as the originator of postage stamps, got his idea. Meanwhile, however, the adhesive stamp was made experimentally by James Chalmers in his printing-office at Dundee in August 1834. ”

“ Even the recently issued Pan-American stamps, printed in the most watchful manner by the United States official Bureau of Engraving and Printing, are known with the central portions of the design inverted, and these errors, despite the most searching examination to which each sheet is several times subjected, escaped detection, and were sold to the public. When, however, it is remembered that stamps are now printed by the million, it will be wondered that so few mistakes escape into the hands of collectors. ”

“ The whole purpose of this care with individual stamps is to preserve the specimens and to impart a composite beauty of condition to the whole, without which no collection can be pleasing to its owner or to any one else. Every unused stamp should be spotless so far as extraneous blemishes are concerned; the colour should be fresh as when it came from the printers' workshops; the perforations of each stamp should be complete, and should have been neatly severed, and the gum on the back, unless it is so{140} thick and crackly that it is a danger to the stamps, should be preserved intact. ”

“ The reprint of the one cent is from a new plate, the stamps have the outside fine labels of the original imperforate series, but are set farther apart on the plate so that even the larger perforation used does not cut into the stamp. The blue is too bright. The reprinted three cents has the outer top and bottom lines of the original imperforate stamp. The stamps do not seem to have been set quite far enough apart on the plate, as most specimens are somewhat marred by the large perforation. The color is however a vermilion and not the brick-red, pink or carmine of the originals. ”

“ To preserve the tidy appearance of a collection in a printed album one must sacrifice those portions of the margins adjoining stamps from the outer edges of the printed sheets. In most cases it serves no purpose to retain them, and they interfere with the symmetry of the pages. The collector, too, must use his judgment as to the desirability of trimming away unnecessary ragged protrusions of the perforation.
For all cleaning purposes benzine is an excellent medium, as its rapid evaporation is a convenience, and it does not injure the stamp. ”

“ Next we find the 6d. to the number of 150,000, when the total issue, including the laid paper, was but 400,000; yet the catalog value of the imperforates is some $6 for each variety, and of the perforated stamp at least $30! Can anyone doubt that all these 150,000 6d. stamps were not perforated? In the case of the 3d. we have one and a third millions to compare with a total issue of three and a half millions—about a third in the supposed perforated class. Yet the catalog value of the latter is $2.50 against 36 cents for the wove paper imperforate alone. ”

“ An ingenious trick of the forger in a small way of business consists in transforming a common stamp into a valuable one. His work is not very arduous, and his apparatus costs but a few pence. All he needs is an aptitude for drawing, a few paints, brushes, and some chemicals. He selects, first of all, an issue where the stamps all bear an identical design and are printed in the same colour, the value, and perhaps an additional word or two, only being printed in a distinctive colour. ”