Canadian Philatelist Philatéliste canadien - The Royal Philatelic ...

Paper Fluorescence of the Self-Adhesive
Flag and Iceberg Stamp
By Tony Edward
The project started by clearing some of the
numerous hoards of different stamps I have accumulated
over time. Specifically this research features
the 46¢, domestic rate, “Flag and Iceberg”
stamp, issued by the Canadian Post Office on
the December 28, 1998. This stamp was issued in
counter panes of 120 stamps and Booklet 214 with
a pane of 10 stamps, both printed by Canada Bank
Note Company on Tullis Russell Coatings paper.
The “Flag and Iceberg” stamp was also issued on
the same date in Booklet 215 with a pane of 30 selfadhesive
stamps printed by Ashton-Potter Canada
Ltd. on JAC Paper (Canada) paper.
Because of the difficulty of detaching these
self-adhesive stamps from the envelope pieces,
I had delayed soaking this hoard of booklet 215
stamps far too long. However, the time now was
right. I soaked a large handful of these self-adhesive
stamps; air dried them in the usual manner
and proceeded to investigate the stamps’ tagging
under my ultra-violet light. I was not prepared for
what I observed.
I use a Raytech LS-88, 115 Volt ultra-violet
light box with a dual switching range of 2500
Ångstroms (short wave) or 3000-4000 Ångstroms
(long wave) capability. Using the long wave (3000-
4000 Ångstroms) setting, I viewed the booklet 215
self-adhesive stamps on the gum side and immediately
noticed considerable variation in the stamp
paper fluorescence on the back of these stamps.
I next divided my soaked stamps into relative
degrees of fluorescence. To my astonishment, I found
a combination of ten distinct fluorescent levels with
considerable variation of the quantities of stamps in
each level. I arbitrarily labeled these ten levels Dead,
None, Dull -, Dull, Dull +, Low -, Low, Low + and
Medium fluorescences. In total, I examined 544 individual
stamps with a range of fluorescences in these
ten categories. The quantities of stamps I found in
each fluorescence level are shown in Figure 1.
When inspecting stamps still attached to envelope
pieces, under the long wave ultra-violet light, I
have often observed that the envelopes themselves
exhibit a variety of distinctive fluorescent levels. I
suspected that fluorescent chemicals leaching from
each individual envelope into the stamp caused
the variation in the fluorescence of the “Flag and
Iceberg” stamps. Other philatelic researchers have
alluded to the problem of fluorescence migration.
Robin Harris, in his book Centennial Definitive
Series 1967-1973, states: “Stamps that have come
into contact with highly fluorescent materials (such
as the envelopes used in the mailing process) and
have been subsequently over-soaked, may become
contaminated with what appears to be (under an
ultraviolet light) fluorescent material” (Page 96).
Two thoughts occurred to me. First, when it is so
difficult to soak these self-adhesive stamps from
the envelope pieces, why should it be so easy for
individual stamps to become so easily and variously
contaminated with fluorescent material from its
envelope? Second, although I had no idea of the relative
fluorescence of the envelopes my initial stamps
came from, I do remember there being several red,
green and manila envelopes in the batch. Why, then,
was there no red, green or manila colour staining
apparent on any of the self-adhesive stamps?
If, indeed, fluorescent chemicals are penetrating
the self-adhesive gum and contaminating the
stamp paper, this will become evident by selecting
envelopes with a particular level of fluorescence
and observing the fluorescence of the individual
stamps soaked from these envelopes. An experiment
ensued.
Figure 1.
MA06 • the CP / le PC • 77