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Greece: small Hermes head differences
A couple of days at American Philatelic Society HQ gave the opportunity to
check the library for information on how to distinguish between the Belgian and Athens printings of the 1886-1900 small Hermes head stamps. Below is my personal summary of Vlastos's "Hellas I" and Pannaioannou's "Small Hermes Heads of Greece." The first item in "Summary" points out that the financial significance usually is minor. Stan Notes from "Hellas I, 1861-1923" by Vlastos With modifications from Papaioannou, "Small Hermes Heads of Greece (1886-1900)" Summary * There is little significant difference in catalog price between most of the color-denomination combinations of the ("fine") Belgian printing and the ("coarse") Athens printing. Check the difference in catalog values before spending lots of time trying to determine whether a stamp is a Belgian print or an Athens one.* 1. There is no listing for a Belgian printing of the 25L lilac. (The Belgian printing is described by Scott as "fine," and a good looking copy of the 25L lilac started this quest of information on the printings of the Greek small-Hermes-head stamps.) 2. The significant differences between the Belgian and Athens printing seem to be: a. the papers b. the 50L denomination only exists in the Belgian printing and the 25L lilac and 40L blue only exist in the Athens printing c. all genuine stamps perf. 13.5 are Athens printings. 3. For two short periods, Athens printings were essentially equivalent to Belgian ones. The periods were during the first Athens printing in 1889 and in 1898 after the printing plates were cleaned very well. Some Belgian printings of the 20L could be taken to be poor Athens printings. Papers 1. Belgian Printing (1885-1887)-all on white, glossy paper of excellent quality Imperforate: 1L, 2L, 5L, 10L, 20, 25L (blue), 40L (violet, per Scott), 50L, 1D Perf 11.5: 1L, 2L, 5L, 10L, 20, 25L (blue), 40L (violet, per Scott), 50L, 1D 2. Athens Printings A paper (1889): thin, hard, transparent, whitish or slightly tinted Imperforate(?): 1L, 20L B paper (1889-1891): thin, semi-transparent, silk highlights, soft, brownish, yellowish, or grayish Imperforate: 1L, 5L, 10, 20L, 25L (blue) Perf. 11.5: 1L, 10L, 25L (blue) C paper (1891-1893): medium thick to very thick (cardboard), relatively smooth to rough, brownish, yellowish, or grayish, poor quality, spotted or cloudy as if dirty Imperforate: 1L, 2L, 5L, 10L, 20, 25L (blue), 25L (violet), 40L (violet), 40 L (blue) Perf. 11.5: 1L, 2L, 5L, 10L, 20, 25L (blue), 25L (violet), 40L (violet), 40 L (blue) D paper (1894-1896): medium thickness, rough, slightly cream-colored Imperforate: 10L, 20, 25L (violet), 40 L (blue), 1D Perf 11.5: 1L, 2L, 5L, 10L, 20, 25L (blue), 25L (lilac), 40 (lilac), 40 L (blue), 1D Paper E (1898-1900): good quality, white, medium thickness Imperforate: 1L, 2L, 5L, 10L, 20, 25L (lilac) Perf. 11.5: 1L, 2L, 5L, 10L, 20, 25L (lilac) Perf. 13.5: 1L, 2L, 20L, 1D, 40L (lilac) Points 1. Genuine stamp-and-cancel combinations with date no later than 1891 and NOT on transparent or semi-transparent paper must be Belgian printings. 2. Initials of the designer (HH) and engraver (AD) appear in the fan-shaped ornament at the bottom of the stamp. HH is at the left and AD at the right. On "fine" printings these almost always are clearly visible. On "coarse" printings, there usually is no trace of either and the areas under the fan appear to be solid colors. 3. On fine printings, the background of the medallion is uniformly colored and lacks the white "snow" of coarse printings. Shading lines of the cheek, back of the neck, and throat are fine and delicate. The horizontal lines of shading in the lower, center currency rectangle are clearly present. The pair of long vertical inner frame lines at each side show as two lines, not one thick one. |
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