Jay Smith & Associates: Sweden: Blackprints: Proof Prints: Black Prints, Color Prints, and Test Stamps

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Sweden: Blackprints: Proof Prints: Black Prints, Color Prints, and Test Stamps

All are NH, VF and fresh as officially issued.

Since 1974, or perhaps earlier (?), Sweden has issued a surprising number of "proof prints" commonly called "black prints", "color prints", or in some cases referred to by the post office as, "test stamps".

These items are officially produced by the post office for a number of uses and generally find their way to collectors, though usually in very limited distribution. Often they are only available one-to-a-person or are included in a larger, more costly item such as a year book and thus one has to buy the entire year book just to get this special item.

In most cases, the "proof prints" from Sweden have been made using the engraved portions of issued stamps. They are usually imperforate, printed in one color (different than the issued stamp), and often do not include any denomination or country name. Many of these "proof prints" are of Slania-engraved issues.

Most items are only available in very limited numbers. If you know of items that are not included in this listing, please share the information with me. (I am also a buyer of this type of material.)

Normally philatelists consider "test stamps" to be the result of actual testing of the printing presses, inks, papers, etc., usually using a non-issued stamp-like design. These post-1987 issues that the post office, in some cases, calls "test stamps" are really more along the line of black prints or color prints which some generally refer to as "proof prints". (This page is not intended to be a listing of actual "test stamps"; that is a completely different project.)

Recently a client challenged me to make a listing of the known Swedish "proof prints". I thought that it would be easy and only take a few minutes -- was I ever wrong! There is very little proper philatelic documentation of these issues and most of them are quite difficult to obtain. Most collectors of Sweden will have never seen or heard of 75% of these items! Their cost ranges from just a few dollars to as much as $100; the more costly items are costly because they were included in year books which are themselves costly. I have a special interest in such material and over the years I have made a point of documenting them and attempting to keep them in stock.

If you collect Sweden or Slania-engraved stamps or by topic, you will surely find some items in this listing that will be of interest to you. If you see something of interest, order it quickly; when such material sells out, it sometimes takes me years to find more examples.

Proof Prints: Black Prints, Color Prints, and Test Stamps

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Item #	Quality & Description	Never Hinged US$
209608	VF: 1974 Stockholmia 74 (UPU Congress 1924 design) issue. Scott #1041-4 designs. Four engraved blackprints on numbered imperforate souvenir card that had been included in the Stockholmia 74 show catalog. Quite difficult to obtain.	45.00
218979	VF: 1987 Circus souvenir sheet issue. Scott #1654-6. Imperforate pane consisting of three souvenir sheet designs with progressive colors: full color, red and engraved blue only, and engraved blue only. Very attractive and scarce. Tipped into presentation folder at top edge. Slania engraved issue.	75.00
218980	1987-88 Official Year Book WITH blackprint souvenir card. VF: 1987 King 3.10 and Queen 3.60 issue. Scott #1574 and 1578. Blackprint souvenir card issued only with the 1987/88 year book. The two stamp designs are offset printed (lithographed), in black, on a souvenir card. Very fine detail; appears engraved, but is not. Slania engraved issues. The complete 1987/88 year book with souvenir card and stamps of the year. This was the first Swedish year book; it is very scarce and in demand.	275.00 WANTED Need even if only one. Please make offer.
218981	VF: 1987 King 3.10 and Queen 3.60 issue. Scott #1574 and 1578. Blackprint souvenir card issued only with the 1987/88 year book. The two stamp designs are offset printed (lithographed), in black, on a souvenir card. Very fine detail; appears engraved, but is not. Slania engraved issues. The souvenir card alone (no year book).	225.00 WANTED Need even if only one. Please make offer.
218982	VF: 1990 2.50 kr Europa Postal Museum Building. Scott #1810. Single in black with red SPECIMEN overprint diagonally in lower left corner. Cut to stamp size, as issued, imperforate on white paper. Scarce.	45.00
218983	VF: 1991 Europa Space souvenir sheet issue. Scott #1891-3. TWO souvenir sheet sized pieces, imperforate on white paper. One has the full color offset printing and the other has the black engraved printing. Difficult to obtain.	55.00
218984	VF: 1991 Czeslaw Slania 70th Birthday issue; Gustaf III Crowning. Scott #1906a (#1904-6). Large art folder / portfolio containing art prints of this issue and imperforate black and full-color prints of the large stamp (#1906) from this issue. The entire portfolio complete as issued. The website illustration only shows the two small engravings, however, there is much more to this large portfolio.	140.00
209610	VF: 1991 Czeslaw Slania 70th Birthday issue; Gustaf III Crowning. Scott #1906a (#1904-6). Just the two engravings from the large art folder / portfolio: imperforate black and full-color prints of the large stamp (#1906) from this issue. (The entire portfolio, complete as issued with the engravings is also available for only slight additional cost.)	130.00
218987	1990-91 Official Year Book WITH 25 kr Drottningholm Palace blackprint souvenir card. VF: 1991 25 kr Drottningholm Palace issue. Scott #1877. Blackprint souvenir card issued only with the 1990/91 year book. The stamp design is offset printed (lithographed) on a souvenir card, with excellent detail, thus looks engraved. The complete 1990/91 year book with souvenir card and stamps of the year.	145.00 WANTED Need even if only one. Please make offer.
218988	VF: 1991 25 kr Drottningholm Palace issue. Scott #1877. Blackprint souvenir card issued only with the 1990/91 year book. The stamp design is offset printed (lithographed) on a souvenir card, with excellent detail, thus looks engraved. Only the blackprint souvenir card (not including the year book).	90.00 WANTED Need even if only one. Please make offer.

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Item #	Quality & Description	Never Hinged US$
218985	1991-92 Official Year Book WITH blackprint souvenir card. VF: 1991 Czeslaw Slania 70th Birthday issue; Gustaf III Crowning. Scott #1906. Blackprint souvenir card by offset / lithography showing the unfinished dies for the large stamp (#1906) from this issue. This was only available with the 1991/92 year book. The year book includes a 2-page spread on Slania, illustrating his awards, some of his private labels, and detail of a master die he engraved. The complete year book with souvenir card and stamps of the year.	175.00 WANTED Need even if only one. Please make offer.
218986	VF: 1991 Czeslaw Slania 70th Birthday issue; Gustaf III Crowning. Scott #1906. Blackprint souvenir card by offset / lithography showing the unfinished dies for the large stamp (#1906) from this issue. This was only available with the 1991/92 year book. ONLY the blackprint souvenir card (not including the year book).	115.00 WANTED Need even if only one. Please make offer.
218989	VF: 1992 Europa Sailing Ships souvenir sheet issue. Scott #1946-8. TWO souvenir sheet sized pieces, imperforate on white paper. One has the full color offset printing and the other has the black engraved printing. Difficult to obtain.	55.00
218990	VF: 1992 Baltic Sea Birds issue (Mare Balticum). Scott #1975-8. Imperforate, engraved blackprint "souvenir sheet" of the four stamps (same as the issued souvenir sheet) with just the four birds (no text). This stamp issue was prepared by the Swedish post office as a joint issue with and in donation to the newly free Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania -- the stamps of all four countries were the same except for the text and denominations. This blackprint is thus a blackprint for any of the four countries. One stamp is engraved by Slania. Difficult to obtain.	WANTED Need even if only one. Please make offer.
218991	VF: 1993 Pine Cone design without denomination. This was NOT issued as a stamp. Text of "Sverige" and "Tall Pinus sylvestris". Vertical coil stamp on white stamp paper with invisible gum. NH VF single.	4.00
218992	VF: 1993 Pine Cone design without denomination. This was NOT issued as a stamp. Text of "Sverige" and "Tall Pinus sylvestris". Vertical coil stamp on white stamp paper with invisible gum. NH VF pair.	8.00
218993	VF: 1993 Pine Cone design without denomination. This was NOT issued as a stamp. Text of "Sverige" and "Tall Pinus sylvestris". Vertical coil stamp on white stamp paper with invisible gum. Issued in a coil strip of five (five is the largest available unit). NH VF strip of five.	18.00
218994	VF: 1993 Waterbirds issue. Scott #2028-31. Blackprint souvenir card. Printed This by offset (lithography) with so much detail that it looks engraved.	10.00
220354	1992-93 Official Year Book WITH Sports blackprint. VF: Blackprint is of 1993 Sports issue (Scott #1985-90). Imperforate engraved blackprint of only the engraved portions of the designs. Issued only in the 1992/93 year book. The complete year book with blackprint and all of the stamps of the year.	150.00 WANTED Need even if only one. Please make offer.
220687	VF: 1993 Sports issue (Scott #1985-90). Imperforate engraved blackprint of only the engraved portions of the designs. Issued only in the 1992/93 year book. ONLY the blackprint souvenir card (not including the year book).	WANTED Need even if only one. Please make offer.

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Item #	Quality & Description	Never Hinged US$
218995	VF: 1994 Europa Explorers issue. Scott #2088-90. Engraved green-print of only the original engraved portions of the design in a souvenir sheet size pane in a "test booklet" with the text "PROVHÄFTE" on the cover. Imperforate.	20.00
219013	VF: 1994 Man on the Moon issue. Scott #2083. Blackprint offset printed (lithographed) on souvenir card with first canceled stamp. (The FD postmark also pictures a soccer / fötball / football design because the Moon stamp was issued on the same FDC as a Soccer World Cup stamp.) Souvenir card with text "SVENSK TEKNIK PÅ MÅHAN" ["Swedish technology on the moon", referring to the Hasselblad camera included in the stamp design.] This card appears to have been released through the Swedish stamp agency in North America. As of 1/1/2006, I had only seen one example. Slania engraved stamp.	WANTED Need even if only one. Please make offer.
218996	VF: 1995 Houses issue. Scott #2109-13. Engraved strip of five in violetish black, perforated (in the manner of the issued booklet pane), on stamp paper with invisible gum.	15.00
218997	VF: 1995 Film issue. Scott #2138-43. I have had private reports and non-detailed confirmation from the post office that this exists as an imperforate blackprint pane, but I have not seen an example myself.	WANTED Need even if only one. Please make offer.
218998	VF: 1996 Four Decades issue. Scott #2195-8. Engraved, imperforate souvenir sheet / booklet pane of the engraved portions of the stamp issue, in dark grayish blue on white paper in a "test booklet" with the text "PROVHÄFTE" on the cover. Designs include (clockwise, from upper left) a) 1960s Flower child with peace emblem; b) 1930s grocery errand boy with bicycle; c) 1950s young man on motorcycle; d) 1940s "zoot suiter" with musical record.	15.00
218999	VF: 1996 Endre Nemes. Scott #2199. Imperforate engraved blackprint. Also includes the Czech and Slovak engraved blackprints as well as the souvenir folder with the three normal mint stamps. Very scarce!	WANTED Need even if only one. Please make offer.
219000	VF: 1997 Gustav III Museum of Antiquities. Scott #2246. Imperforate "souvenir sheet" with blackprint of only engraved portion of only the Muses Gallery stamp. Includes engraved printed Slania "signature". Slania engraved stamp issue.	10.00
219001	VF: 1998 King Sigismund issue. Scott #2312. Imperforate brown-print only of engraved portion of the design, on souvenir sheet size piece with engraved printed Slania "signature". Slania engraved stamp issue. This stamp issue is a joint issue with Poland.	8.00
219002	VF: 1999 Maritime Heritage Ships issue. Scott #2339-42. Engraved, imperforate blue-print booklet pane, only of the engraved portions of the designs. In a "test booklet" with "PROVHÄFTE" on the ornately illustrated cover. Scarce and very much sought after -- we did not know about this issue until three years later and it has become "impossible" to obtain.	30.00
219003	VF: 2000 Slania 1000th Stamp issue. Scott #2374. For his thousandth stamp, Slania chose to engrave a stamp for Sweden that would also supposedly be the largest regular postal stamp in the world. The stamp design is the center of the David Kloker Ehrenstral ceiling painting "Great Deeds by Swedish Kings". The blackprint of this wonderful issue was only offered in a folder / pack that also contains the mint stamp (souvenir sheet) and a first day cover. The pack bears a portrait of Slania and an image of a larger area of the ceiling painting. A very nice item! The complete pack.	56.00

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Item #	Quality & Description	Never Hinged US$
219004	VF: 2000 Childrens Toys issue. Scott #2400 pane of six. Engraved, imperforate red-print "pane", only of the engraved portions of the designs. In very strong demand from the thematic collectors (teddy bears, trains, toys, cards, police, legos, etc.) that know about it, however, this has yet to be "discovered" by the majority of potentially interested collectors. Very difficult to obtain. Includes a Slania engraved stamp.	25.00
219005	VF: 2001 Nobel Prize 100th Anniversary issue. Scott #2415 strip of four. Engraved, imperforate 4-strip (just like the strip from the stamp booklet) with only the engraved portions of the designs, in dark brown. In handsome Nobel Prize folder that includes the Swedish and US joint stamp issues first day canceled. The "brown-print" strip is mint and can be easily removed from the folder. Has quickly become difficult to obtain. Slania engraved stamp issue.	42.50
219006	VF: 2001 Daniel Solander Botanist issue. Scott #2419 set of two. Engraved, imperforate "souvenir sheet" with only the engraved portions of the designs, in green. A little-known item that is missing from most collections. Topics include botany, exploration, sailing ship, etc. This was a joint issue with Australia; officially printed by the Swedish post office.	12.00
219007	VF: 2002 Astrid Lindgren issue. Scott #2431d Portrait design. Engraved, imperforate "souvenir sheet" showing only the central design of Astrid Lindgren from the stamp issue, in dark blue. A stunning portrait. Little-known item missing from most collections.	12.00
219008	VF: 2002 Sweden-Thailand Palaces issue. Scott #2445 set of two. Engraved, imperforate pair (just like a pair of the two Swedish stamps) with only the engraved portions of the designs, in dark brown. In handsome souvenir folder that includes the Swedish and Thailand joint stamp issues first day canceled in the folder. The brown-print pair is mint and can be easily removed from the folder. Little-known item of potential interest to many collectors. Slania engraved stamp issue.	21.50
219009	VF: 2003 Nobel Prize in Medicine issue (Santiago Ramon y Cajal and Servero Ochoa). Sweden Scott #2460 set of two. Engraved, imperforate pair of the two stamps with only the engraved portion of the designs, in red. A joint issue with Spain. (Because both the Spanish and Swedish issues are the same design, this could be considered to be from either. However, the Spanish issue has its own blackprint sheet, also available from me.) This is an extremely popular thematic but this item is virtually unknown to almost all collectors who could be potentially interested. Slania engraved issue.	10.00
219010	VF: 2003 Waterbirds Slania-engraved Joint Issue with Hong Kong. Scott #2469 pane of four. Engraved, imperforate blackprint 4-block of the Slania-engraved portions of four designs. In portfolio with mint blocks of the stamps of both countries and four beautiful, frameable art prints of waterbirds. Slania engraved issue.	45.00
219011	VF: 2004 Nobel Literary Laureates Joint Issue with Ireland: Yeats, Shaw, Beckett, Heaney. Scott #2492 pane of four. Engraved, imperforate blackprint in beautiful folder with both Swedish and Irish issues in first day canceled panes. The blackprint pane is mint and can easily be removed from the folder. Engraved by Lars Sjööblom.	27.50
219012	VF: 2004 Engraved, perforated, green-print reproduction of the first Swedish booklet (1904, Scott #56e, King Oscar II), complete with replica booklet pane in replica booklet cover. Sold by the post office for SEK 149 (equaled US $21.00 at the time).	21.00
209609	VF: 2005 Sweden-Norway Dissolution of Union. Folder with Sweden (bridges) and Norway (portraits) imperforate engraved blackprints as well as the souvenir sheets of the two countries. Both blackprints are mint and can easily be removed from the folder. Each blackprint contains one stamp engraved by each of Norwegian engraver Sverre Morken and Swedish engraver Lars Sjööblom.	29.50

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Item #	Quality & Description	Never Hinged US$
219014	VF: 2005 Angels issue. Pane of four. Engraved, imperforate blueprint 4-block of only the engraved portions of the designs.	9.00

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