NORTHERN IRELAND 1/3d PRINTED ON A FLUORESCENT PAPER !

Material relating to the philately of the reign of Elizabeth II.
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Wilding Mad
Posts: 177
Joined: Sun May 03, 2020 11:19 am

NORTHERN IRELAND 1/3d PRINTED ON A FLUORESCENT PAPER !

Post by Wilding Mad »

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In 1967 the Wilding stamps was being replaced to make way for the new Arnold Machin portrait stamps, but one particular value that did not get replaced was the 1/3d value, from their original concept back in 1952 this was one of the values that had lasted the course and one of the few stamps that can be found having all four different types of phosphor bands (tagging) applied , green, blue, violet and broadband violet including the original non phosphor variety (plain).
However, the regional 1/3d for Northern Ireland never had tagging applied and as far as quantities sold was concerned they were quite low, as the figure quoted in the SG specialised is only just over 14 million over a 10-year period for both papers, which is nothing substantial, it is listed as jointly having been printed on two types of paper, a cream version from the 29th of September 1958 being replaced with a whiter paper on the 9th of November 1962, I agree completely that this was the case, but, I have also discovered that a further paper was used to print this stamp, which apparently has never been listed, being of a highly fluorescent nature when subjected to long wave ultraviolet light, similar to the chalky type paper used to print Machins.

This next attachment corroborates my findings.
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Just how many stamps were printed with the use of this particular fluorescent paper is an unknown factor, even with the other two papers of (cream and whiter) quantities printed individually do not seem to have been published or recorded, consequently I believe that this is one stamp that is worth looking out for in order to complete a collection, due to the fact that it has never been previously listed, combined with its availability and that quantities printed/sold must have been quiet low when you compare it against the other two varieties of paper currently listed in the specialised catalogue.

Here are the 3 different versions of paper in blocks of four >
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Do you have this fluorescent stamp in your collection ? Check it out !

If not, my suggestion would be to purchase it as soon as possible (that's if you can find it) before other collectors or speculators are aware of their existence whilst the price is still cheap, remember the Northern Ireland 17p type ll ? Try buying that stamp today for under a £
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During further studies of the multiple crown Wilding stamps, other issues and values have been found, 1962 marked a changeover in the production of British stamp papers, as the original cream paper was replaced by a whiter paper version in order to enhance the capabilities of the automatic letter-facing process (ALF) that had been developed by the post office as part of their overall letter sorting system.
Although only two varieties of paper have been listed by the specialised catalogue (cream and whiter) there are actually 5 distinct types of paper that the multiple crown Wilding stamps was printed on from 1958 and are as follows >
1) The original cream paper used prior to the change over in 1962.
2) The whiter paper version that replaced the cream paper, supposedly created by filtering the water supply to alleviate impurities.
3) The contaminated paper containing fluorescent fibres due to inferior rags being used from around 1964 onwards.
4) The fluorescent paper produced in order to mask or camouflage the offending contaminants with the aid of additional optical brightening agents (OBA's).
5) Oxidised cream translucent paper used as an alternative to remove the fluorescent contaminants discovered with the use of chemical means (degradation).

Should there be anyone with something constructive to report on this subject then please give details, or does silence absolute still prevail ?
Thank you WM.
User avatar
Wilding Mad
Posts: 177
Joined: Sun May 03, 2020 11:19 am

Re: NORTHERN IRELAND 1/3d PRINTED ON A FLUORESCENT PAPER !

Post by Wilding Mad »

I can now report the finding of two different papers used to print the 1'3d Scotland blue phosphor variety first printed on the 29th January 1963, of all of the 1'3d Scottish regionals, the blue phosphor version printed on whiter paper is by far the scarcest of the bunch being SG specialised No. XS24.
So just how scarce is the blue phosphor version printed on cream paper ?????
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The above two attachments give a front and rear view of these particular stamps as seen under long wave UV...... WM.
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