Post by mourningdoves on Nov 14, 2017 23:33:55 GMT -5
I took a break from Jugoslavia today to try to get my United States duplicates in some kind of order.
Today I worked on the 22¢ era: the late 1980s. (I have them loosely organized by denomination, and am trying to match like with like. It's a great excuse to make little piles, which was about all I was good for today anyway.)
So...
Many of these stamps came from a couple of mixtures I purchased several years ago. Quite honestly, I'd be embarrassed to send some of these things out. On many of the photogravure-printed ones, the cancellations are very dark and smear over the surface, leaving "dark clouds" between the wavy lines. On many of the lithographed/engraved stamps, the smearing is less of a problem, but the cancellations are nonetheless quite dark and unsightly.
Is this typical of stamps for this period? Or did I happen upon a string of last-ditch mixtures from which most of the presentable copies had been rescued?
Now, here's one for the specialists. In 1986, the USPS released four Arctic Explorers stamps, se-tenant in a sheet [Sc. 2220-2223]. I have about 20 of them in total, and they all look - and feel - terrible. The paper has no strength - no character, if you will; the surface is shiny but still looks and feels beat up. It's hard to describe, but it's like they were left in a tub of water for a couple of years or something and the paper lost whatever gumption it ever had and has retained the indentations from the paper towels that were used to dry and press them. The International Youth Year set from 1985 [Sc. 2180-2183; also photogravure, also se-tenant in a sheet] doesn't seem quite as bad, but it's still pretty bad. And where the stamps were separated along the perforations, the remaining perforations look and feel a bit like bottom-of-the-line house-brand tissue paper from a mediocre supermarket. The Black Heritage stamps from that time period - Mary McLeod Bethune and Sojourner Truth - are kind of similar. Again, I ask: is this normal, or did I unluck out with exceptionally bad mixtures?
The late 1980s were the last time I was a heavy producer of postally-oriented items, though I wasn't actively collecting. I published a haphazard little zine about shortwave radio, and while I used a mailer's permit for most of the copies, ones going out of the United States went in envelopes and I tried to use nice stamps for those couple of dozen readers. I don't recall any quality problems with the stamps I purchased for that use, but I don't recall using the Arctic Explorers or International Youth Year stamps on my mailings.
Thank you in advance for any reports, suggestions, follow-up questions, consolation, or praise
.
Today I worked on the 22¢ era: the late 1980s. (I have them loosely organized by denomination, and am trying to match like with like. It's a great excuse to make little piles, which was about all I was good for today anyway.)
So...
Many of these stamps came from a couple of mixtures I purchased several years ago. Quite honestly, I'd be embarrassed to send some of these things out. On many of the photogravure-printed ones, the cancellations are very dark and smear over the surface, leaving "dark clouds" between the wavy lines. On many of the lithographed/engraved stamps, the smearing is less of a problem, but the cancellations are nonetheless quite dark and unsightly.
Is this typical of stamps for this period? Or did I happen upon a string of last-ditch mixtures from which most of the presentable copies had been rescued?
Now, here's one for the specialists. In 1986, the USPS released four Arctic Explorers stamps, se-tenant in a sheet [Sc. 2220-2223]. I have about 20 of them in total, and they all look - and feel - terrible. The paper has no strength - no character, if you will; the surface is shiny but still looks and feels beat up. It's hard to describe, but it's like they were left in a tub of water for a couple of years or something and the paper lost whatever gumption it ever had and has retained the indentations from the paper towels that were used to dry and press them. The International Youth Year set from 1985 [Sc. 2180-2183; also photogravure, also se-tenant in a sheet] doesn't seem quite as bad, but it's still pretty bad. And where the stamps were separated along the perforations, the remaining perforations look and feel a bit like bottom-of-the-line house-brand tissue paper from a mediocre supermarket. The Black Heritage stamps from that time period - Mary McLeod Bethune and Sojourner Truth - are kind of similar. Again, I ask: is this normal, or did I unluck out with exceptionally bad mixtures?
The late 1980s were the last time I was a heavy producer of postally-oriented items, though I wasn't actively collecting. I published a haphazard little zine about shortwave radio, and while I used a mailer's permit for most of the copies, ones going out of the United States went in envelopes and I tried to use nice stamps for those couple of dozen readers. I don't recall any quality problems with the stamps I purchased for that use, but I don't recall using the Arctic Explorers or International Youth Year stamps on my mailings.
Thank you in advance for any reports, suggestions, follow-up questions, consolation, or praise
.
