Ireland Bird Definitives identifier?

These are one of my favorites also.

To answer your question I would look up Ireland bird stamps. That is where I found these pictures and there is a website that claims to have more info. I will ask if I can post the website if you can not find it.

Hi Everyone:

Thanks for the replies. Here's a scan of some of the 30p/38c blackbirds that I was talking about. (hope the size works... looks really small in the preview, but I scanned & saved at 300 dpi/actual size) The booklet stamp on the upper right is hard to fit... perf 14 1/4 x 14 3/4, but large... the stamp design measures 23mm tall by 20mm wide (edge to edge is 26mm tall by 24mm wide) Scott says that if this is a 1113, it should be perf 14x15 (which is kinda close to what I measure) but 18x21 in size, mine is larger.

Then as I'm typing this, I found the answer to my own question... it's a 1113Fi, which is like 1113F, but perf 14 1/4 x 14 3/4 on 3 sides, 1999. Mystery solved!

But is the second stamp on the top row a #1115B, the coil stamp with die cut perf 11 x 11 1/4? Mine measures 11 1/4 on both sides, but maybe the paper shrank when the stamp soaked.

Differences of 1/4 or less on die cuts can be very tricky to measure.

I believe your stamp is 11x11.25 based on your scan. I have cut and rotated the left side die cuts and aligned it against the bottom die cuts. It does look like there is a die cut difference of close to 1/4 as we approach 2cm. If you compare with other adjacent sides, you get similar results.

Here's a related question... does anyone know how to tell the difference between the 30p Goldfinch, Scott 1106B and Scott 1113B? Maybe different sizes?

Thanks
BG

Hi Gordon- thanks for the reply. That's what I thought too, except that this site, www.birdtheme.org/country/ireland.html lists a booklet released Sept 4 1998 with a size of 24 1/2 x 27mm, perf 14 x 15, and another booklet released Jan 25th with the same dimensions and perf count. I'm guessing that these are the two stamps that Scott is listing, though I could be wrong. Scott isn't much help here... it doesn't give a size for 1106B, and the size listed for 1113 is the smaller 18 x 21 also. A head scratcher for me.

BTW, I tried to send a PM but couldn't make it work. My email is bgilbertsound at gmail dot com. 

Best
BG

Hi Everyone- Just an FYI, I managed to find an article and answered my own question (just in case anyone else stumbles across this thread). Mike Lee wrote an excellent series of articles that cover Irish definitives in Stamp News Australasia starting January 2012. They're available free online through Issu.