CREAM Vs WHITE

As to why the team at Stanley Gibbons refuse to list such distinct papers which also includes the later cream and contaminated paper varieties is a complete mystery to me !

Here's another regional that qualifies :-

Or is it that I am going colour blind, you decide.Fred.

Here are two attachments of the 1/6d multiple crown Wilding phosphor stamps that gives a good example of an oxidised cream paper compared to the whiter paper that is listed in the specialised catalogue vol 3, both attachments are of the same stamps with frontal and reverse views as seen under long wave ultraviolet light.

This particular value was issued on the 12th of December 1966.

Amongst some of my findings I discovered that both the 9d plain and 9d phosphors to have been printed on 3 distinct papers, cream, whiter and fluorescent, the first attachment is of the 9d plain in fine used condition and depicted below lettered A,B and C.

(A) being on an original cream paper (prior to the changeover in 1962) with a more opaque paper.

(B) has been printed on a whiter paper after changeover.

(C) is on a fluorescent paper.

The next 2 pictures are of the phosphors, again showing the same characteristic variations, with the first scan being a frontal view.

With the next one in reverse mode of the same stamps.

Note ! The cream ones are oxidised, being more translucent than the original cream ones which are more opaque in their embodiment. Fred.

It would appear that contaminated papers are not just confined to various multiple crown Wilding stamps, as I have recently found a similarity on a decimal Machin issue giving rise to the fact that various others could also be affected in the same way as per my following attachment :-

I have also decided to include an attachment of the same stamps but in impact mode giving more clarification of the anomaly detected.

Thanking you for your attention on this topic, Fred.

After going through a selection of the same value of these decimal Machins, I came across another interesting variation, similar to my findings of the multiple crown Wilding stamp papers that ranged from cream, whiter and fluorescent ones, the differentiation cannot be seen on the printed side due to the fluorescent coating applied during the papers production, and can only be recognised on the reverse side of the stamps.

It's possible that these variations may have been overlooked in the past as with the multiple crown Wilding ones recently discovered. Fred.

Further discoveries regarding variations in the paper of decimal Machins seems to indicate that it is not just multiple crown watermarked Wildings that has been affected but, both the earlier phosphor banded and phosphor coated stamps appear to fall into a similar category, as can be seen in this next attachment of these 13p centre band differences.........

With a trilogy of attachments covering the 1p PCP value.......

Just how scarce some of these variances could be is open to speculation, as I have yet to check on many other values that could possibly be discovered. Fred.

Many of the stamps that have been detected and exhibited in this thread, apparently, have never been listed in specialised catalogues before, and I can only emphasize the fact that the majority of them will command a premium to purchase eventually, as more collectors become aware of their existence such as the contaminated, oxidised creams and fluorescent papers that have been discovered.

Unfortunately, due the epidemic and lockdown imposed, stamp fairs have not been permitted in order that the virus does not spread, let's hope that very soon the suspension will be lifted and the hunt for these varieties can begin.

For those of you who have been fortunate to read of my discoveries, at least you will have a head start in obtaining these varieties at a reasonable price before anyone else once the fairs start to open again.

Good luck and I hope you are successful. Fred.