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.

As an additive to my last posting I would earmark some of my findings as being a potential sound purchase that have a bright future in front of them, here are a few examples :-

1) The Welsh 3d (plain) printed on a highly fluorescent paper similar to the no watermarked version, the like of which can easily be recognised against the cream and whiter versions which are almost identical when comparing cylinder 1 with cylinder 3 as depicted in a previous attachment, this fluorescent variety has never been listed in any specialised catalogues and therefore has great potential and is highly recommended as a BUY.

2) The 10d multiple crown Wilding that can also be found on a higher fluorescent paper as against the normal version (again never listed) they can be found by the use of a long wave ultraviolet light, and also due to the fact that they have never been discriminated or categorised before in specialised catalogues they feature a must BUY.

3) The Guernsey 4d (plain) stamp printed on an oxidized cream paper as against the normal whiter version, the quantities of the 4d (plain) was only 4,415,040 printed, and I believe that only a small % of cream paper was used which makes them quite unique. Never being listed also adds to their attraction, consequently they are highly recommended as a MUST HAVE.

The above 3 are just the tip of the iceberg due to the fact that other variations of paper have been discovered such as the contaminated ones and the remedial attempts made to either remove or mask them between the years 1964 to 1968, whether by error or design these paper variations exist and should be seriously taken into consideration.

It's purely up to you to make that decision as to some or all of my findings as to their consequence in the world of philately.

Thank you, Fred.

Irrespective of face value and concentrating on the paper only I have created a general guide as to the various types of papers that the Wilding multiple crown stamps were printed on, the attachment below covers the 5 main types of paper that can be found by the use of a long wave ultraviolet light, 3 of these papers are not listed in catalogues !

Even on these 5 variations, slight differences can be found due to the manufacturers inconsistency in the amount of chemicals added and type of rags used in the papers manufacture, usually within tolerance levels but there are border cases in some instances, I have tried to depict the main differences in order that you will be able to identify them shoud the need arise.

Hope this helps, Fred.

As to why a paper of this nature with this type of contamination (that is so obvious) has been ignored by the stamp fraternity in the past is " BEYOND BELIEF "

Surely, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to see the difference, Fred and his FIB's.