reading watermarks, suggestions please

okay, I have a hard time seeing watermarks on my german old collection.
lozanges vs networks etc etc. I know there are liquids, trays etc, but
isn't there some quicker, less expesnive homemade method to do this? the
good old sunlight???

thanks!!!

dry methods Morley-Bright kit is one option ... also the SAFE
Signoscope ...

some stamps respond by reversing in a black stamp mount ...

otherwise supersafe watermark solution best ... old method benzine,
but toxic and flammable ...

On Sun, 17 Apr 2005 05:22:58 -0400, "SEKT"
wrote:

okay, I have a hard time seeing watermarks on my german old collection.
lozanges vs networks etc etc. I know there are liquids, trays etc, but
isn't there some quicker, less expesnive homemade method to do this? the
good old sunlight???

Depends on the paper and the issue. Some sets allow themselves to be
seen quite clearly and others are as obtuse as a wall. Sometimes even
within the sets...

Watermark fluid is cool if you don't use it 10 hours a day.

A bad thing about it is that too much of it gets wasted on that one
weasel of a stamp that is a key item - always happens.

There are other methods, but most people use good old watermark fluid,
a black tray and patience.

=======================
Tracy Barber
-----------------------
adirondack-pc
-----------------------
"Freebie Stamp Project"
=======================

On Sun, 17 Apr 2005 05:22:58 -0400, "SEKT"
wrote:

isn't there some quicker, less expesnive homemade method to do this? the
good old sunlight???
++++++++++++++++++++++
SEKT, Sir:
My own experience has been the opposite.
A darkened room is the best place, with the only light being a small
gooseneck desk lamp with a shade. There are times that you can hold
the stamp with tongs, so that the stamp is face-down, flat, parallel
to your workdesk and move it through varying lighting conditions. This
is especially effective with grilled US stamps from 1867-1874, and for
grilled gum on certain Swiss stamps. Watermarks are less distinctive
than grills, but a true watermark is caused by thinner places in the
paper. Those thinner places may be seen via transmitted light,
impinging light or reflected light.

I have a small (4" x 8") sample of solid black Melamite M2500, from
about 1970, which I always use as a dry watermark detector. Haven't
needed fluid for at least past 20 years, including work with many of
the German watermarks which you mention. When I lay a watermarked
stamp on that intense black background, the watermark usually can be
interpreted immediately.
"Seeing" watermarks requires more than just "looking". You need to
examine hundreds of different watermarked stamps and become familiar
with the designs, how much of the design may appear on any one stamp,
and where it may appear, enough experience that if just a small
portion of any watermark can be found somewhere on your stamp, you
will know what it is or what it isn't. For example if the same stamp
comes with lozenge, network, or quatrefoil, if you see any straight
lines anywhere, that must be lozenge. If you see any curved lines
which are continuous, with other lines crossing, that must be lozenge.
If the curved line bends around to enclose an irregular shape, and no
lines cross, that must be quatrefoil.

If you are quite certain that a stamp is watermarked, but laying it
face-down onto an intense black surface does not "show" it, then use
the tongs to tilt the stamp at various angles as you raise it closer
and closer to the gooseneck lamp. If it still cannot be seen, continue
lifting the stamp up, even with the rim of the shade, and into the
darkness, then back down. Sometimes that wil lengthen the shadows on
the varying thicknesses of watermarked areas (like a setting sun) to
help you "see" which watermark is involved.

A good exercise in watermark detection would be to sort bulk lots of
Argentina, Brazil and Mexico from the first half of the 20th Century.

Hope this helps, and I hope that you can avoid using any fluids (other
than pure water) for watermark detection. They may be harmful to your
health, and to the stamps. Many stamps in my own accumulation have
suffered damage (yellowing, brittleness, etc.) from some previous
owners overzealousness. Especially U.S. stamps where the culprit owner
was trying a "wet method" to distinguish between double-line and
single-line USPS. Those should always be visible dry, if you know how
and use common sense.

S. (an old-timer, too, from way back.)

On Sun, 17 Apr 2005 16:48:31 -0500, S wrote:

other lines crossing, that must be lozenge.
+++++++++++++++
oops, sorry ...that must be NETWORK. . . . .

I have used a scanner accessory that used to be sold for the older HP
scanners. It is approx 4 inches by 4 inches, and although designed to
scan slides, it does a great job for watermarks.

Here is an example:

http://www.somestamps.com/domain-arg...35-51-5P2.html

tony

You may try making a colour scan (of the backside, change it to grauscale
and use a photostyling program, the results can be astonishing!
Tim
"SEKT" schreef in bericht
...
okay, I have a hard time seeing watermarks on my german old collection.
lozanges vs networks etc etc. I know there are liquids, trays etc, but
isn't there some quicker, less expesnive homemade method to do this? the
good old sunlight???

thanks!!!