Phil pages July-Aug-Final - The Royal Philatelic Society of Canada

A Perforation Variety Often Generates Other
Information About the Perforation Process
by Joseph Monteiro
Introduction
In some of my past articles, I have
stressed that philately should be viewed
as more than just a hobby. It is also a
form of education for several reasons.
First a tremendous amount of history is
involved in the designing of stamps.
Before a design is accepted by the
Canadian Post Office the choice has to be
approved by several Committees.
Second, besides the Canadian history that
each stamp conveys, a minor error in the
stamp often provides one with considerable
information on the printing and perforating
process. Several other reasons
can be provided why philately is educational,
however, in this brief article I
would like to elaborate on the second reason
mentioned from a recent stamp that
was offered for sale at an auction and
then describe a few similar discoveries
made several years ago.
Perforation Skips
Perforation skips occur in the perforating
process not infrequently. These skips
not only result in stamps longer than the
normal size where the skip occurs but it
also results in the longer stamp containing
part of the design of the stamp from the
next row or column of stamps or the selvage.
In addition, if the perforator corrects
itself after the first skip, it results in
a row of stamps that are smaller in size
with part of its design in the longer stamp.
The Parliament Tower
14-cent stamp variety
Recently, the Parliament Tower 14-
cent stamp was offered for sale with a
skip of two perforations in the middle of
the last row of stamps. The perforations
that are missing are not the result of bent
pins or missing pins. As a result, the
stamps in the last row are 2.5 millimeters
longer than the normal size stamps. This
causes the stamp to have a slightly larger
blank white space at the bottom. This
variety is interesting in that it is educational.
It is educational for several reasons.
First, it reveals the type of perforator
used. Second, it reveals the direction in
which the stamps were perforated. Third,
Parliament 14-cent variety showing skip.
it reveals where the perforator jumped.
Since, the skip was in the middle of the
stamp it indicates that a H-comb perforator
was used. If it was a T-comb perforator,
the skip would have been at the corner
of the stamp and not in the middle.
Since, the blank appeared at the bottom
of the stamp, the sheet of stamps was perforated
from top to bottom. Had the perforations
been shifted upwards to the top
of the stamps with part of the impression
of the stamp from the next row, it would
mean that the stamp was perforated from
bottom to top. Finally, since the blank
appears in the elongated stamp at the bottom,
it reveals that the jump appeared at
the bottom of the sheet. Had a portion of
the next stamp appeared in the elongated
part, it would mean that the skip occurred
somewhere else in the pane. It is worthwhile
noting that had the skip appeared at
the top of the pane the elongated stamp
would contain part of the design of the
bottom of the stamp and not a blank
which was part of the selvage, unless the
sheet was perforated from bottom to top,
in which case the blank appears at the
top. This is illustrated hereafter.
Could it be possible for the stamps to
be perforated from the bottom to the top.
It is possible but unlikely. Suppose the
perforator began from the bottom but
made the strike earlier than it should have
so as to create the larger white design in
the stamp from the selvage. Suppose it
then makes a skip of two perforations
after the first strike, it would give one the
exact pattern of the present error. This
process however involves two errors
rather than one. If one bases one’s judgment
on probability it is more likely for
one error to occur than for two errors on
the same sheet.
A similar variety occurred on the
Parliament Tower 14-cent stamp but this
time the error occurred in the middle of
the sheet. As a result, it generated a pattern
similar to the above but with slight
traces of design of the stamp in the row
below as one would expect. What is
interesting about this error is that the
row of stamps below the row of longer
stamps is slightly shorter than the above
row of stamps. How did this occur? It
appears that the perforator corrected
itself after the first skip. This resulted in
the shorter row of stamps below the
longer row. This variety also provides us
with one additional piece of information
about the nature of the perforator that
could not be deduced from the earlier
variety. Namely, that it was not only a
H-comb perforator but that it was a 1-
row H-comb perforator and not a 2-row
H-comb perforator. This is determined
by the perforations in the shorter row of
stamps which appear one on top of the
other in the middle. This variety is
shown in the illustration below.
Parliament
14-cent
variety
showing
skip and
correction.
Examples of similar errors are also
known to exist on the Parliament Tower
17-cent stamps.
The Algonkian Indians
eight-cent stamp variety
The Algonkian Indians 8-cent stamps
are another example of a skip of two perforations.
In this case, the skip is not in
the middle of the stamp but at the corner
of the stamp. This has further implications.
It indicates that it is not a H-comb
perforator as in the above example but a
T-comb perforator. A T-comb perforator
Le philatéliste canadien / The Canadian Philatelist Juillet - Août 2000 / 153