NZ watermarks

Having acquired a large bulk of NZ material from just
before to soon after decimalisation, it has struck me
that detecting the NZ over star watermark can often be
very difficult. As there are no watermark versions,
it gets very difficult to sort them out. The only
clear watermarks seem to be those few from booklets with
sideways watermark.

Any hints on avoiding the use of a great deal of lighter fuel?
The 'squeeze under a bag of blue fluid' method is so unclear
as to be positively boring.

--
Tony Clayton
Coins of the UK : http://www.coins-of-the-uk.co.uk
Sent using RISCOS on an Acorn Strong Arm RiscPC
.... I call my computer Hole in the Desk

This is a topic largely ignored here,
I certainly like to know what watermark detectors people here employ,
and why they prefer that method.
I'd esp like to hear about the expensive SG "detectamark"watermark detector
(AUS$280),
although, given the price of their new
"going to turn the stamp world on its head" digital microscope
it may just be spin.



"Tony Clayton" wrote in message
...
Having acquired a large bulk of NZ material from just
before to soon after decimalisation, it has struck me
that detecting the NZ over star watermark can often be
very difficult. As there are no watermark versions,
it gets very difficult to sort them out. The only
clear watermarks seem to be those few from booklets with
sideways watermark.

Any hints on avoiding the use of a great deal of lighter fuel?
The 'squeeze under a bag of blue fluid' method is so unclear
as to be positively boring.

--
Tony Clayton
Coins of the UK : http://www.coins-of-the-uk.co.uk
Sent using RISCOS on an Acorn Strong Arm RiscPC
... I call my computer Hole in the Desk

I've said it before and I'll say it again - those Morley Instatectors with the plastic bag of blue gunk are less effective than
holding the stamp up in front of a bright light. Have never found anything to beat lighter fluid (or some variant) on a flat
black surface.
Other alternatives are either to collect early Canada - no watermarks - or early Germany where you can usually see the watermark
from the front of the stamp, let alone the back.

John Mycroft

John Mycroft schrieb:
I've said it before and I'll say it again - those Morley Instatectors
with the plastic bag of blue gunk are less effective than holding the
stamp up in front of a bright light. Have never found anything to beat
lighter fluid (or some variant) on a flat black surface.
Other alternatives are either to collect early Canada - no watermarks -
or early Germany where you can usually see the watermark from the front
of the stamp, let alone the back.

John Mycroft
Yes, I have been practicing this method for more than 40 years and I
have never found anything (afordable) better. Only take fluid from a
drugstore or chemestry - normal lighter fluid (oily) would ruin your stamps.

Peter

I inherited a bunch of real watermark fluid from my father-in-law (didn't get the collection to go with it, tho!) but I used to
use Ronsonol which evaporates completely (though they may have changed the formula). Also had the good fortune many years back to
pick up a lot of German Colonies that had been ruined by the use of some oily gunk in detecting watermarks. A quick wash in
boiling water and dishwashing liquid (they were ruined anyway) then a lot of rinses restored them to their former glory (minus the
gum on the mint ones, of course). I'd never have been able to afford them had they been in good shape to start with.
End of bragging!

John Mycroft

Peter Baumann wrote:
John Mycroft schrieb:
I've said it before and I'll say it again - those Morley Instatectors
with the plastic bag of blue gunk are less effective than holding the
stamp up in front of a bright light. Have never found anything to
beat lighter fluid (or some variant) on a flat black surface.
Other alternatives are either to collect early Canada - no watermarks
- or early Germany where you can usually see the watermark from the
front of the stamp, let alone the back.

John Mycroft
Yes, I have been practicing this method for more than 40 years and I
have never found anything (afordable) better. Only take fluid from a
drugstore or chemestry - normal lighter fluid (oily) would ruin your
stamps.

Peter

I used to use
Ronsonol which evaporates completely (though they may have changed the
formula).

I cannot attest as to whether Ronsonol's manufacturers have changed the
formula, but the current, yellow-bottle stuff is, in my experience,
perfectly safe and dirt cheap. One of Ronsonol's greatest advantages is
its slow evaporation, so the period during which one sees a watermark
goes from "flash in the pan" to literally minutes. If you are patient
enough to set the stamp aside to allow all the liquid to evaporate off,
you and your stamps will suffer no ill effects at all -- again in my
experience.

It seems to me that any damage would be detectable by one of three means:
a colour change in the stamp, an oily residue on the stamp, or persistent
deposits of fossil fuel byproducts that would be detectable to the nose.
None of those occur when using Ronsonol (excepting, possibly, damage to
intentionally fugitive inks such as found in high-val Victorian British
colonies). I always ask a fellow collector if he minds my use of
Ronsonol on his stamp, but I never hesitate to use it on my own, even my
most valuable (again excepting fugitive inks -- I have never been brave
or foolhardy enough to let it anywhere near my strip of five £1 Queen
Victoria Sierra Leone on piece!)

A side note: one oft-overlooked advantage of Ronsonol is (somewhat
ironically, given the bottle color) what it does to enhance the
appearance of *yellow* in a stamp. Scraps of paper, the only indication
of their philatelic nature being inclusion in a job lot, with near-
invisible yellow printing, spring to sudden, vibrant life after
immersion. This is as true for US Scott #116 as it is for one of the
oddest bits of my collections, a cut square of Hyderabad postal
stationery!

--
Joshua McGee ‹(•¿•)›
APS, ATA, ISWSC, AFDCS, MBPC, MCC, BPS
Pasadena, California, USA
http://www.mcgees.org/stamp-offers/