Stamping

“ Blanking (b) .—Term employed in reference to stamping. Impression made on cloth or leather by heated brass die.
Bleed (b) .—When the margins of a book or a pad of printed sheets 133have been trimmed so as to cut into the printing, they are said to bleed.
Blind Tooling or Stamping (b) .—Impressions of finisher's tools or book-dies without ink or gold-leaf. Sometimes called antique.
Blocking Press (b) .—A stamping press for impressing blocks or dies on covers.
Blocks (c) .—The wood or metal bases on which electrotypes and engravings are mounted. ”

“ When perfectly square, place a soft pasteboard under the stamp, pull down the press, and apply heat. This will set the stamps or harden the paste and glue in a short time, so that they will not fall off in stamping—a great annoyance. Work for stamping does not require so much body or preparation as if it were to be gilt by hand. Morocco can be worked by merely being washed with urine ”

“ Stamps.—Stamps or stamping-mills have been used46 from prehistoric times, and were probably employed for reducing hard materials long before the introduction of grinding-mills. The underlying principle of the stamping-mill is very simple. The material to be reduced is placed in a trough or mortar, and the ram or head, which is of considerable weight, is raised by a mechanical device and then allowed to fall freely, from a certain height, on to the material underneath, which it crushes. The heavier the head and the greater the height of fall, the greater the effect produced. ”

“ The method of stamping the coat-of-arms of the owner boldly upon the centre of the sides in gold upon leather covers, used from the sixteenth century and onwards, has a dignified effect, and these stamps, whether heraldic or of abstract ornamental elements, are often beautiful examples of rich and effective spacing within narrow limits, the enclosing shape or boundary indicated only by the edges of the device, which fits into its invisible shell, as it were, without effort and without any sense of cramping. ”

“ After this is done and the paste has become hard, lay the stamp or pattern thus formed upon the side of the volume, taking care to have the same margin on the front, back, and ends. Then place the board or side upon which the stamp is placed upon the platen or bed of the stamping-press, leaving the volume hanging down in front of the platen, which is then moved to the centre of the upper platen, so that the clamps will touch the plate on both edges at the same moment ”

“ Placing the Monogram The place of stamping is optional and depends largely on individual taste, but the full line of paper should show the same marking, a smaller die being often cut for the first size sheets or place cards. ”

“ No experience needed—a child can do it. An Illustrated Book shows how to make patterns to fill any space; all the flowers used in embroidery represented. Every one who does stamping wants a set, which can be had only with this outfit. This outfit also contains TWO HUNDRED or more Stamping Patterns ready for use. The following being only a partial list:—Splasher Design, 22 in., 50 cents; Roses, 12 in., and Daisies, 12 in., for scarf or tidies, 25 cents each; Wide Tinsel Design, 12 in., 25 cents; Strips of Scallops for Flannels, wide and narrow, 30 cts.; Braiding Patterns 10 cts. ”

“ They should not be elaborate, and no brilliant colors should be used. The stamping is best done in black, white, dark green, dark blue, gold, or silver. The crest or monogram may be placed in the centre of the sheet or on the left-hand side about three quarters of an inch from the top. The address may be in the centre or at the right-hand side. But, as noted above, to use both addressed and monogrammed or crested paper is not good taste. The best stationery seems to run simply to addressed paper.
Crests and monograms should not be used on the envelope. ”

“ The preceding cut of a stamping-press for gilding light [pg 284] work, lettering, &c., is of the most approved construction, while for large, heavy work, either gilt or stamped blind, (embossed, as it is erroneously called,) and for cloth-work generally, the wheel-press is best adapted. It can be worked either by hand or by power. The fly-wheel can be kept revolving while the workman is engaged in feeding the press. The lever is used for light work. ”

“ It is clear that the specialist must know a good deal more about his stamps than was demanded of the general collector. In the first place, he must be able to distinguish one form of printing from another. For his benefit it may be well to mention that the chief processes employed in printing stamps are (1) Typography, (2) Lithography, and (3) Engraving.
Typography, or surface-printing, is the process employed in the production of our current British stamps. A die is cut with the design standing out in relief—i.e., the portions which are to receive the ink are raised. ”

“ The said cork, rubber, or other elastic substance, as aforesaid, will render the said stamp capable of an easy and rapid use, for there being a yielding of the same when the blow is given, the operator will not tire as soon by a constant or continued use of the same as though it were of solid metal, and the same will greatly aid in raising the entire stamp from the paper and postage-stamp when the impression shall have been given by the operator. ”

“ One matter which often puzzles the novice is how to decide whether two particular stamps are similar or different. If there is the slightest variation in— (a) Design; (b) method employed of printing; (c) colour; (d) method employed for separating the individual stamps; (e) texture of paper; (f) watermark—then the two stamps may be looked upon as being different, and both should be placed in the album. Certain stamps bear designs on their reverse side—i.e., the horn on early issues of Sweden. Copies both with and without the design should be added to the collection. ”

“ The inscriptions on the specimens teach us these matters.
Fifthly, stamp-collecting assists us to gain a real knowledge of history. Ask any collector when Columbus discovered America? Who was Prince Henry the Navigator? Over what country did King Amadeus reign? What form of government is possessed by Paraguay? His answers will be far more intelligent than those given by a non-collector.
But the foregoing are not the only matters which our stamps teach us. What is the difference between an engraving and a lithograph, between cream-laid paper and wove paper, between magenta and cerise? ”

“ Pin-perforated.—See Percé.
Plate is the term used, not always quite correctly, to describe the ultimate reproductions from the die which constitute the printing surface in the manufacture of stamps: the word covers not only a sheet of metal with stamps engraved on it, but also a group of clichés or a forme of printer's type and even a lithographic stone.
Plate number is the consecutive number of each plate of a particular value, appearing on the margin of the plates and (in some of the British series) on the stamps themselves. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The lines in the laid paper are of a most peculiar character, and cannot, as a rule, be brought fairly out by holding the stamp between one's eyes and the light. The best way to test these two papers is to lay the stamps, face down, on a black surface, and let the light strike them at about an angle of fifteen degrees, when the laid lines are brought most plainly into view. It is necessary, however, to place the specimens so that the light will strike them parallel to their length, as the laid lines run horizontally in the 3d, and vertically in the 6d and 12d. ”

“ A stamp is a tender, delicate thing—especially if "chalky"—and should be handled as little as possible, whether common, scarce, or rare; in fact, the old Latin proverb, Maxima debetur pueris reverentia, might well be parodied, if one knew the Latin for stamps. Care, coolness (physical) , and cleanliness are necessary attributes of the ideal collector, and even he would do well to use tweezers instead of fingers; but if he must use a finger, let him interpose a piece of tissue or blotting paper between it and the stamp. ”

“ In the older printing of the One Penny a peculiarity exists which some of our readers may have in a complete form; that is, an outer line all around the stamp. I have four specimens with this line in the golden yellow and yellow-brown shades, perforated 12. Specimen No. 1 was the last stamp in the row, and has the marginal part of the sheet attached to it. The line is the full length of the right hand side of the stamp, the perforation going directly through it. No. ”

“ They are very sensitive to water and are regarded as one of the best preventatives of the cleaning of used stamps. Beautiful results are obtained by printing stamps in two colors. Of course, this necessitates the use of two plates for each design. This also gives rise to some interesting varieties, caused by one part of the design being printed upside down. Such oddities are scarce and are highly valued by philatelists.
When a plate is to be printed from, it is first warmed, then the ink is applied and rubbed into the lines with a pad. ”

“ His plan was [Pg 55] to buy a whole sheet of low-priced unused stamps, to remove all the printing by chemical means, and then to print on the blank paper so obtained a complete sheet of high-priced stamps. Of course, he had to select his paper and his stamps with care, but this was a matter simple enough. It is interesting to point out that the home authorities, seeing the possibility of such practices, have made it a rule to use one watermark for adhesives of low value and another for those of high value. ”

“ Mint.—A term used to denote that a stamp or envelope, &c., is in exactly the same condition as when issued by the post-office—unused, clean, unmutilated in the slightest degree and with all the original gum undisturbed.
Mixed (Perforations) .—In some of the 1901-7 stamps of New Zealand, the original perforation was to{36} some extent defective: such portions of the sheet were patched with strips of paper on the back and re-perforated, usually in a different gauge. ”

“ The 71⁄2d and 1⁄2d values, printed at a later date, provide still fewer varieties, which would seem to indicate that as time progressed the manufacturers exercised a nicer discrimination in their choice of paper. Most of the stamps seem to have been printed on a hard wove paper, varying a little in thickness; the 10d is found on a very thin paper; and the 1⁄2d is recorded on ribbed paper, though whether this is a true “ribbed” variety or merely the result of some peculiarity in printing is open to discussion. ”

“ 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. ”

“ One of the characteristics of the stamps manufactured by this Company is that the ink used prevents persons washing, and using the stamps a second time. The fiber in the centre of the stamp is broken completely, and they adhere better, while the ink of cancellation sinks into the paper. The engraving on these stamps are remarkable copies of historical pictures, and bear the test of microscopical examination. ”

“ Looking through the paper is the only sure test, as many of the stamps on the other papers have the appearance of being ribbed.
To differentiate between stamps on ribbed paper and those having the “appearance” of being ribbed is surely getting very close to the ridiculous. ”

“ When paper is adhering to the backs, it should be removed. This unsticking process is easily performed when the specimen is immersed in a bowl of hot water, but, unfortunately, many stamps will be utterly ruined if even a trace of moisture is allowed to come in contact with their colours. No rule can be given as to which stamps spoil and which do not when treated with a hot bath, but it is safe to say that valuable specimens suffer considerably, whilst common varieties emerge from the ordeal unscathed. ”

“ 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 ”

“ If I desired to work on that idea I would first aim to print the stamps with a color that would turn after it was canceled in the usual way, using, perhaps, some acid in the canceling ink, or I would work on the lines of a cancel to tear an embossed stamp, but I don't think the subject worth while. I prefer articles that sell to the many. "Little and often fills the purse." ”