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Watermarks



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 19th 03, 07:16 PM
J. A. Mc.
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Default Watermarks

On Sat, 19 Jul 2003 15:42:47 GMT, Craig found these
unused words floating about:

Hi all,

What is the best way to see the watermarks in pre decimal GB stamps ?
I know i can buy a bit of kit from the Stanley Gibbons site but i am
under instruction not to spend more money on another hobby ( carp
fishing and sat tv are not cheap !!)
I have tried laying some face down on a black background but can't
seem to see anything.

Regards

Craig


Holding just above a matte black BG lampin font and at 45* and
slightly tilting will show many. Still there are those you won't see
clearly, so you would need the $10 'kit'. (Fluid & Tray) for those.

Carp-a-day'um? G

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  #2  
Old July 20th 03, 12:45 AM
Bob Ingraham
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Default



From: J. A. Mc.
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.stamps.discuss
Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2003 11:16:50 -0700
Subject: Watermarks

On Sat, 19 Jul 2003 15:42:47 GMT, Craig found these
unused words floating about:

Hi all,

What is the best way to see the watermarks in pre decimal GB stamps ?
I know i can buy a bit of kit from the Stanley Gibbons site but i am
under instruction not to spend more money on another hobby ( carp
fishing and sat tv are not cheap !!)
I have tried laying some face down on a black background but can't
seem to see anything.

Regards

Craig


Holding just above a matte black BG lampin font and at 45* and
slightly tilting will show many. Still there are those you won't see
clearly, so you would need the $10 'kit'. (Fluid & Tray) for those.

Carp-a-day'um? G


Or, a very small expenditure -- $3 max -- for ordinary lighter fluid and a
piece of any old black cardboard or plastic. A watermark tray is handy (I
suck any unused lighter fluid back into the can), but not necessary. I've
been using watermark fluid for more years than I like to think, and I've
never seen the slightest damage from it. Common sense dictates that it's
used with plenty of ventilation, and in as small an amount as necessary.

Bob Ingraham




  #3  
Old July 20th 03, 11:24 AM
Craig
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Posts: n/a
Default

Thank you bith,
Bob, i have seen several articles on the net warning off lighter
fluid, you do just mean regular Zippo or similar fluid ?
Doesn't it leave a greasy residue ?

Many thanks

Craig

On Sat, 19 Jul 2003 23:45:28 GMT, Bob Ingraham
wrote:



From: J. A. Mc.
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.stamps.discuss
Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2003 11:16:50 -0700
Subject: Watermarks

On Sat, 19 Jul 2003 15:42:47 GMT, Craig found these
unused words floating about:

Hi all,

What is the best way to see the watermarks in pre decimal GB stamps ?
I know i can buy a bit of kit from the Stanley Gibbons site but i am
under instruction not to spend more money on another hobby ( carp
fishing and sat tv are not cheap !!)
I have tried laying some face down on a black background but can't
seem to see anything.

Regards

Craig


Holding just above a matte black BG lampin font and at 45* and
slightly tilting will show many. Still there are those you won't see
clearly, so you would need the $10 'kit'. (Fluid & Tray) for those.

Carp-a-day'um? G


Or, a very small expenditure -- $3 max -- for ordinary lighter fluid and a
piece of any old black cardboard or plastic. A watermark tray is handy (I
suck any unused lighter fluid back into the can), but not necessary. I've
been using watermark fluid for more years than I like to think, and I've
never seen the slightest damage from it. Common sense dictates that it's
used with plenty of ventilation, and in as small an amount as necessary.

Bob Ingraham




  #4  
Old July 20th 03, 02:18 PM
Craig
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Thanks,
I just went out a got a bottle of Swan fluid, but to be honest, it
didn't reveal any more than holding up to the light. I am looking at a
GB 1955 5' SG no. 596, i can see a crownut can't tell which one it is.

Regards

Craig

On Sun, 20 Jul 2003 08:30:57 -0500, Bob Watson
wrote:

I've used Zippo/Ronson lighter fluid for years and never had any
problems with residue. But try for yourself on low value stamps to start
with.

Some time back someone suggested using a black floor/wall tile rather
than a special tray and that was a brilliant idea. You can do several
stamps at once, compare them side by side, and sort them into groups
while the watermark is still visible. (Specially handy for some
Australian stamps where there are large-crowns and not quite so
large-crowns to be distinguished).

One thing I have found when checking watermarks, hinge remnants and
heavy cancels really make things difficult. Not much you can do about
cancels, but it really does help to soak off any hinges.

All the best,
Bob Watson

Craig wrote:

Thank you bith,
Bob, i have seen several articles on the net warning off lighter
fluid, you do just mean regular Zippo or similar fluid ?
Doesn't it leave a greasy residue ?


  #5  
Old July 20th 03, 02:30 PM
Bob Watson
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Posts: n/a
Default

I've used Zippo/Ronson lighter fluid for years and never had any
problems with residue. But try for yourself on low value stamps to start
with.

Some time back someone suggested using a black floor/wall tile rather
than a special tray and that was a brilliant idea. You can do several
stamps at once, compare them side by side, and sort them into groups
while the watermark is still visible. (Specially handy for some
Australian stamps where there are large-crowns and not quite so
large-crowns to be distinguished).

One thing I have found when checking watermarks, hinge remnants and
heavy cancels really make things difficult. Not much you can do about
cancels, but it really does help to soak off any hinges.

All the best,
Bob Watson

Craig wrote:

Thank you bith,
Bob, i have seen several articles on the net warning off lighter
fluid, you do just mean regular Zippo or similar fluid ?
Doesn't it leave a greasy residue ?

  #6  
Old July 20th 03, 03:59 PM
J. A. Mc.
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Posts: n/a
Default

That is just crowns, no types ('middle' set) ... if there's no wmk
it's the later set, if there's an "E" or "R", then it's first set.

On Sun, 20 Jul 2003 13:18:30 GMT, Craig found these
unused words floating about:

Thanks,
I just went out a got a bottle of Swan fluid, but to be honest, it
didn't reveal any more than holding up to the light. I am looking at a
GB 1955 5' SG no. 596, i can see a crownut can't tell which one it is.

Regards

Craig

On Sun, 20 Jul 2003 08:30:57 -0500, Bob Watson
wrote:

I've used Zippo/Ronson lighter fluid for years and never had any
problems with residue. But try for yourself on low value stamps to start
with.

Some time back someone suggested using a black floor/wall tile rather
than a special tray and that was a brilliant idea. You can do several
stamps at once, compare them side by side, and sort them into groups
while the watermark is still visible. (Specially handy for some
Australian stamps where there are large-crowns and not quite so
large-crowns to be distinguished).

One thing I have found when checking watermarks, hinge remnants and
heavy cancels really make things difficult. Not much you can do about
cancels, but it really does help to soak off any hinges.

All the best,
Bob Watson

Craig wrote:

Thank you bith,
Bob, i have seen several articles on the net warning off lighter
fluid, you do just mean regular Zippo or similar fluid ?
Doesn't it leave a greasy residue ?


  #7  
Old July 20th 03, 10:38 PM
David F.
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Posts: n/a
Default

That is just crowns, no types ('middle' set) ... if there's no wmk
it's the later set, if there's an "E" or "R", then it's first set.


Yepp, near enough!

'Early' sets (1955-58) have Crowns + E2R in alternating patterns.

'Middle' sets (1959-68) have smaller Crowns only, closer together,
in a 'diamond' formation.

'Later' sets (1967-68) have no Watermarks (Bradbury-Wilkinson)
and are printed on paper with finer, even fibers.

Most of the Watermarks are easy to see by adjusting the viewing
angle, in direct sunlight - the best observation lamp there is (and
John has one helluva lot of sun where he lives)!

David.



  #8  
Old July 21st 03, 04:43 PM
Bob Ingraham
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Posts: n/a
Default

Here's a brilliant idea; I'll even share the profits:

Take an ordinary 35mm transparency mount, and fit it with two small sheets
of transparent mylar. Place a stamp between the mylar sheets, and place the
slide in a slide scanner. I'm betting that the resulting digital image could
be manipulated with imaging software to reveal the watermark. A poor man's
version would be to photograph a strongly backlighted stamp with a digital
camera, and work from that image. Has anyone ever tried this?

Bob Ingraham

 




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