Thursday 23 January 2014

Flaws of the 1953 Coronation issue


Some people might have seen this recently in the Sarawak Journal. These are flaws which were noticed last year. It is really surprising for such a relatively recent issue. I supposed there are quite a bit of a rush to print the omnibus issue for so many countries. These flaws should be similar for the other countries. 
The most obvious flaw is the "lighter left eye" which should be present in all coronation stamps. 

 Note the "lighter left eye"

 "freckle forehead"
"no lock of hair" close to left eye (the exception)
"pimple on chin"

 "lock of hair"
"gash and pimple on chin"

"lock of hair"
"pimple on chin"
"tattoo on neck"

"mole above left eye" 
"lock of hair"
"pimple on chin"

"lock of hair"
"no pimple on chin" 



Here are two Sarawak Coronation stamps where the "pimple on chin" is more obvious on the right stamp and not on the other stamp.

4 comments:

  1. Were these all constant or just a one off dirty plate?

    Johnson

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    Replies
    1. There is definitely room for further research. I do not have blocks or sheets to look at. I presume there was only one printing. The lighter left eye, hair too near left eye and pimple on chin are glaring mistakes in the engraving process. May be you can look at the omnibus examples of Malaya and report on them.
      By the way, I have just bought a right bottom block of the 1954 1c and will show it here soon.

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  2. The pimple on chin seems to be uniformly on every stamp I have. There are different printings as for the Malaya states there are several different cylinder/plate numbers.

    For the 1954 1c it should be the left corner block I presume? Should look for before retouch and after retouch :)

    Cheers,

    Johnson

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it is a left bottom marginal block. Got my sides mixed up!

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