STAMP NOTES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 238, 5 September 1935, Page 2

STAMP NOTES

(By “Philatelist.”) Take a hurried glance through your album, paying attention to colour. You will notice tiiat red and green stamps tar outnumber those ot any other colour. This is not the result ot chance —it is due to the Universal Postal Union agreement in regard to colour. To-day, practically all countries are members of the Postal Union (Afghanistan and Rhodesia were about the last to join up) and it is through this body, that all problems relating to the exchange ol mails between different nations are solved. To give one example : until quite recently, the postage prepaid on a letter to Afghanistan from New Zealand was sufficient to convey the letter to the Indian border only, but once the letter was placed in the hands of tho Afghan postal authorities, it was left entirely to them to deliver the letter without charge, or to treat it as unpaid, and collect the charges from the addressee. Now that the Afghans have joined the union, they have to accept foreign letters as fully prepaid, as long as rull postage has,been, paid in the country of origin. The Postal Union has a definite scheme ol colours for certain essential postal rates, and the stamps most generally, used (low values) are green or red. The rate for a letter from one country to another should be represented by a blue stamp, irrespective of the amount of money charged. For instance, the New Zealand Government charges 2id for a minimum weight letter, Australia 3d, U.S.A. 5 cents, Hong Kong 10 cents and in each case the correct stamp is in blue. This is the Postal Union rate for international correspondence. Most countries have their own rates lor inland postage, and sometimes have special agreements with other countries. In New Zealand a special rate of Id is in force for letters anywhere in the Empire, and to certain foreign countries, such as U.S.A. and Nicaragua. The red stamp represents the postcard rate (international), and the green stamp represents the rate for a minimum unit of printed matter. Ihe stamps of Australia (also France, and Dutch East Indies) give a good illustration of changes ot colour made to correspond with alterations in the international postal rates in those countries. The King George stamps of Australia were originally pi green (printed matter), Id red (postcard), and the 2sd, in the kangaroo design, blue (letters). Later, with a large increase in rates, there is the ljd green (for printed matter), 2d red (postcards), and 4d blue (letters). 'today, the Id value is the green stamp, so that presumably the rate oil printed matter has been reduced. In the ease of New Zealand, the alterations to the postal rates affected only inland and certain countries—the international rate was not altered so that there was no need tor any changes in the colours of. our stamps. 'this led to some anomalies. At one time, inland postage on a postcard was lfd, yet only Id was necessary if it was addressed to a foreign country. Today, it costs Id to post a newspaper to any part of the Empire, yet the rate to toreign countries is id, except that the Id covers the whole newspaper, whereas the id is the minimum rate ior 2ozs. and a further ad has to be paid tor each 2ozs. Colour plays an important part in your stamp collection, and presents a very big problem. In these days when such a huge number of stamps are used daily m the large countries (even little JNavv Zealand requires a total quantity approximating halt a million uaily, of ail kinds or stamps) it is practically impossible for printers to continue to produce any particular stamp ni exactly tlie same coiour year in and year out as long as that stamp is in use. It you care to take very keen notice ot siiades, you can make quite a showing ot almost any stamp, in shades graued from light to Clark. But tins makes a collection too cumbersome, and the problem arises ut confining your attention to changes that are important, and is, to a large extent, a matter tor your own .judgment. If you examine a number of the N.Z. 2d Georges, incjuding those issued during the last six or seven years, you will find stamps in all shades from a very pale yellow to a deep orange-yellow. If you are a general collector, collecting stamps ol the whole world, just one shade of this stamp should be sufficient. If you confine your attentions to two or three countries, then include several shades. If you specialise in the stamps of New Zealand, then get as wide a range of shades as possible. In the case of the Is George, there is a wide range of shades as in most values, but there is also a particularly marked pale shade which is scarce, termed pale orange red. , The 2s King George stamps show a different kind of variety. The first printings were on 1 ‘Jones’* paper and appeared deep blue, whereas late printings (possibly in the same ink) are a bright blue, on a different paper called “Cowan” (A. Cowan and Sons). A' variety such os . this is important, and should be included in a collection. AY hen future supplies of our pictorials are printed in AVellington, there are almost certain to bo shades distinct from those of the British printing. Occasionally a stamp is printed ill the wrong shade (or even in a wrong colour) through a printer’s mistake. In sueli a case the error is extremely scarce. One example of this is the 4 cent ultramarine of the 1893 Colombus issue of U.S.A., printed in the colour of the 1 cent value, dark blue. This error is worth £SO while the correctly printed stamp is worth only about 8d mint. A further problem arises over colour changelings. Stamps that have been soaked in water, or left in the sun,, or tampered with in any way, may be quite different in appearance from the originals, and should really be classed as damaged specimens. Stamps that have been printed on a coloured paper may have had the coloured Washed out, or those on white paper may have been blued or tinted through being soaked in water which has become discoloured through the dye running from a piece of coloured envelope. A'ou have to be very canny about any copies that appear to be in colours different from most specimens of the same stamp. There is even the possibility of colours changing through climatic conditions. The classic example of a colour changeling is the id Queen Victoria stamp of Great Britain (1900). This is a bluegreen colour, but copies are frequently met with that have changed to bright blue. . A reader enquires tho value ot a cover franked with a lilac Gd stamp, Great Britain, cancelled with tbo figures “43” in a diamond, and with British postmark May 1, 1857, and New Zealand postmarks, Wellington, July 19, 1857, and Fort Victoria, 18517. The stamp itself is worth only a few pence, unless it happens to lie a scarce variety, but the whole cover is certainly most interesting. Unfortunately there is no standard list of the values of entires, so we can give no idea of what it is worth. Probably Robson Lowe, Ltd., of Regent Street, or Stanley Gibbons, Ltd., of 391 Strand, London, would be able to give some estimate, as there would be more demand for this type of thing

at Home. The letters C over AN over IS perforated in English stamps are probably the mark of some private firm. Perforations of this kind- are frequently used by large firms, probably to prevent misuse of their own supply of stamps. Another enquiry relates to stamps of Argentine, probably in tlie design depicting a seated figure somewhat similar to Britannia. The 5 centavo mint, of this set is worth only a few pence, although there are two scarce varieties of perforation We have no information as to the value of deed or agreement stamps of the same period. These are not listed by the leading stamp catalogues, which are confined almost entirely to postage stamps. ■ [These notes are published with the! co-operation of the Manawatu Philatelic Society. Queries and items of j interest for publication should be addressed to the Stamp Editor, care “Standard” office.}