One Page Variety is the Spice of Life

From Stamps of the World

Variety is the Spice of Life.

As collectors we are always looking out for varieties on stamps, be they catalogued or otherwise. Here is a quick one page exhibit on the Early Great Britain stamps of what is available to those who have the keen eyes to look for something that doesn't quite seem right!

Matched pair of the 1840 1d printed in both Black & Red from Plate 11 showing the plating variety ‘Base Doubled’. Matched pairs are exact copies of each other and matched with a plate 11 black of which only 700 copies were ever printed. Black SG3 AS73 and Red SG7 AS74
Detail of the doubled baseline
As well as stamp varieties, there are varieties of postmarks used. The Maltese Cross was initially instructed to be used in red ink which was later changed to Black Ink. Blue Ink was instructed to be used for receiving postmarks on the back of the letters, but sometimes the postal clerks got it wrong giving rise to SG 8sc 1d Red Plate 26 MJ with Blue MX
Some Maltese Cross cancels had numbers in their centres, this is number 6 in MX and has the variant listing for this 1d Red of SG 8uf BS15 Malformed E
Detail of malformed E
Re-Entries are perhaps most sought after. This is Plate 35 SJ with a prominent Re-entry of the corner stars details shown. 1d Red Plate 35 SJ Major Re-Entry
Re-entry detail from plate 35 SJ
Marginal stamps showing a portion of the written selvage are not strictly a variety but are very sought after. 1d Red Plate 67 AH marginal
As well as the written text Marginal Ornaments were added to the right and left sides of the sheet in a flower pattern. 1d Red Plate 98 JL marginal
Most marks are constant varieties but sometimes non-constant varieties arise due to foreign matter on the printed plate. Dent in Hairline variety.1d Red Plate 125 GE margin
Hairline detail from plate 125 GE
Even the 2d Blue was found with varieties. As the plates wore, impressions in the plates had to be re-entered this gave rise to burr rubs as the metal was pushed up and had to be burnished back down. 2d Blue Plate 9 GK Burr rubs
Detail of Burr rubs on Plate 9 GK
In 1854 when the stamps started to be perforated, this gave rise to a new variety as the machines were tested. The Missing Pin variety, where one of the perforating combs pins snapped. 1d Red Plate 203 RF-TF strip.
Detail of missing Pin