6d booklet (SG BC1) identification dilemma

SG have the little two panes of 11/2d brown x 2 booklet in their current list, at and #321;65. In my old (1993) SG Four Kings catalogue, the booklet is not listed for price, but the panes (two side-by-side stamps) are listed at and #321;5 each. Regular six-block panes are priced at and #321;2.50 each.

Looking at this, and conjuring with the thought of what the panes might be priced at today, I wonder how the panes can be identified for origin. There are no cylinder numbers. Is it implicit that a mint pane would still have the selvage? If so, what about used?

But, still on mint, if somebody with panes of both could scan them side by side for selvedge comparison, that would be very helpful!

I have a bag of KE on piece, with a couple of hundred 11/2d among which there are a few in side-by-side pairs. How could I possibly know if one or more of these pairs is from the little 6d booklet?

I’m not being facetious, I’d really like to know. Can anybody enlighten me please?

Robin (Restall)

Robin,
Well, inverted watermarks would be one clue

Also you could look for trimmed perfs which would characterise booklet
issues.

However, particularly with used, it is more likely that the selvedge would
have been removed,
I believe P.O. thinking at that time did not like additional 'bits' left on
stamps being used on envelopes.

My volume 2 eleventh edition has the pane listed at £7 but I understand that
the latest catalogue rates it at £30 - some leap!

I am sure you will have fun sorting the bag of pieces - just the thing for a
rainy day (such as we are having just now)


Enjoy.

Ron

Thanks for this, Ron, much appreciated.

It has been raining very heavily all week here in Caracas, and today looks as though it will be wet again - so I'll dig out that bag and see what I can come up with.

As RobinT said on the booklets board, it is easy to fake. Looking at your lovely couple of panes, if they came out of the blue, could you be sure they weren't just a single 6-block pane that had been scissored (or guillotined)? Before diving into the bag, I think I'll look at that little booklet and the others, very carefully, see what I can learn.

Cheers, Robin

Robin,
There should have been a big grin after the 'inverted watermarks would be one clue' part of my previous post. It did come up on the board - maybe because I used the greater than less than keys around it. So, sorry if that sounded a bit 'off'. Another grin.

I am afraid that I must be a bit naive as I would not have thought that they would be 'manufactured' panes.

I must admit that since my query about punched stamps I have had my eyes opened a bit.

I would have thought that investigation under magnification and black light would give some indication if they had been scissored or guillotined.

Cheers
Ron.

If a collector was REALLY serious, they would measure the height of the panes!!!!
This particularly applies to those woth I1/2V cuts, which should have torn edges where the margins were removed. faking reduces the height there.
On the other hand taking a pair of stamps and cutting top and bottom also reduces height - unless the faker was clever enough to use a large piece and cut through perfs!!!!!

It all adds up to you should aquire a booklet - stop chasing the extremely elusive chance you may get lucky It happens as often as a golfer getting struck by lightening on course.

Hi Other Robin,

No sure what you mean by measuring the height of the panes. I just did a bit of measuring... my little 6d booklet is guillotined at 24mm and a couple of regular 6-block booklets at 48mm. I measured some booklet stamps used on cover and found they varied from 23.75 to to 24.6mm.

I also examined the binding and left side selvage of both and honestly cannot see what could stop any faking of 6d booklet 2-stamp panes. That being so, it seems a bit daft to price them higher than half the price of a six or 4+ad pane.

Of course you're right about buying a 6d booklet! But my question originally was to do with displaying booklets in a collection. Does showing an exploded booklet carry a better cache than showing the actual whole booklet? But, is there any difference in value of a whole booklet, or an exploded booklet? Value both as a display, or the underlying sale value?

Robin R