CREAM Vs WHITE

It would appear that Stanley Gibbons along with some other catalogues are in denial as to the existence of Wilding definitives printed on a cream paper after 1962, as stated by Mr Frank Walton, but my latest find indicates that this is not the case as well as several other variations previously discovered based on previous scans displayed.

This scan concerns the 1/6d regional issues that appear to have been printed on 3 distinct papers, namely, the no watermark coated, the whiter watermarked paper, and a cream watermarked paper also (but don't exist).

Can anyone still be in denial that cream papers were used and do exist ?

Every picture tells a story, judge for yourself !!!! Your call, Fred.

You don't have to look far to find omissions in the specialised catalogues, but for these I had to go to Guernsey to find the 4d plain first issued on the 7th of April 1966, the two variances can be seen in normal light on the upper scan, but then under longwave ultraviolet on the scan below.

The stamps on the left appear to be on a cream type paper where the stamps on the right are on a more fluorescent paper, both are listed as whiter papers in the specialised ? Fred.

The more I investigate these multiple crown watermarked papers, the more I seem to discover. I am now finding that both the Scottish 4d plain and 2 band phosphors have been printed on what appears to be cream papers, both issued on the 7th of February 1966 and appear to be contrary to the GPO statement/guidelines of 1962.

Here is a scan relating to that fact ! How could these differences not have being noticed in the past ?

Here is another example of cream papers used to print the 5d phosphor stamps that were first issued on the 9th of June 1967, again contrary to the 1962 statement as made by the GPO.

This can be seen in the next 2 scans (front and reverse views) both on cylinder 1 dot, under long wave ultraviolet light, Note : The whiter paper has a wider selvedge in comparison to the cream ones.

The specialised catalogue states that these are both on whiter papers, what is your perception ? Fred.

With regards to the 5d 9½mm violet phosphors, I have yet to find any of the fluorescent or contaminated papers as found on some of the other values, but it's quite possible that they may exist and have yet to be discovered.

This value only had a lifespan of around 13 months before being replaced by the 5d Machin on the 1st of July 1968, so it's possible that only the cream (oxidised) and whiter papers exist. Fred.

If further proof was needed that post 1962 cream and fluorescent papers exist then look no further than the 1/3d regional for Scotland, included in the two scans shown below A,B+C are all plain, but D is a phosphor, the first scan is of the stamps with a frontal view, followed by a reversed view of the same stamps.

A) is an original cream paper (as listed) and as described in the specialised issued up to 1962

B) is a fluorescent paper (unlisted)

C) is a whiter paper (as listed) as described in the specialised issued post 1962

D) is the 9½mm violet phosphor with a more translucent (oxidised) cream paper (unlisted)

As can be seen, these varieties of paper are all identifiable under long wave ultraviolet light but B,C+D are all classified as "whiter" papers, and based on my findings that is incorrect. Fred.

Edited By Fred Sellars on 18/07/2020 12:03:14

Due to a slight clerical error in my last scan a correction is required, stamps (D) should read 8mm and not 9½mm as previously described, thank you, Fred.

The earliest fluorescent type papers that I have found has been the 4d light ultramarine (plain) which was later replaced by the 4d deep ultramarine on the 28th of April 1965.

The scan below shows the following :- The larger underlying block are of the 4d deep ultramarine (plain) on a whiter paper, the top block of four on the left are the 4d light ultramarine (plain) but on fluorescent paper with the top block of 8 on the right being the 4d light ultramarine (plain) on a cream paper.

Therefore, this fluorescent paper must have been produced prior to the replacement date, and could possibly go back to 1964 in order to camouflage the contaminating fluorescent fibres that seems to have happened around that time.

The next two scans are of the earliest known definitives other than commemoratives to be found to be printed on contaminated paper, these being the ½d value with blue phosphor bands later to be replaced by the the violet phosphor version on the 13th of August 1965.

The first scan is of the stamps as seen under long wave ultraviolet light, with the second scan showing the same stamps under UV filtered into mono to enhance their presence.

At least this gives reasonable dates as to when certain occurrences could have happened, due to the fact that no records seem to have been held or stated by the postal authorities of the debacle around that period of time. Fred.

BREAKING NEWS .........

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Unlisted violet phosphors have recently been discovered on many of these Wilding stamps, and can be viewed on the following site :-

http://www.gbps.org.uk/boards/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=1711

Should this be of interest to you ! Happy hunting, Fred.

One of the more striking discoveries I made recently concerns the 3d plain regional for Wales, found to be on a highly fluorescent paper when viewed under long wave ultraviolet light, as according to the SG specialised catalogue they do not exist in order to be listed !

I compared them to the cream and whiter papers of the same issue that was listed,, using the cylinder numbers for comparison of the differences, cylinders 1+2 are both on cream paper whereby cylinder 3 was printed on a whiter paper (not always easy to distinguish), I then added 2 of the plain watermarked fluorescent ones to enable you to see the difference as seen in the scan below :-

They glow in a similar way to the non-watermarked papers and could easily be mistaken for one of them, so therefore I decided to show you one of these examples as a profile, set against an illuminated background in which the watermark is quite visible in the scan depicted below :-

And using the same stamp I compared it to a cream paper as can be seen below:-

Due to the fact that this stamp has not been listed in any specialised catalogue (as far as I am aware), this variety of fluorescent paper should be sought by collectors in order to complete any serious regional collection.

Good hunting. Fred.