Jay Smith & Associates: Finland: Afterprints: Russian Design Issues

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Finland: Afterprints: Russian Design Issues

Afterprints are usually unofficial prints, made at a later time, from genuine printing cliches or plates. While afterprints can be officially made by the post office (sometimes called "reprints" and/or "official afterprints" depending upon how long after original issue they were made), most afterprints are made by private persons or companies that have obtained access to the cliches or plates (usually by inappropriate means).

In the case of Finland, afterprints were made -- sometime after 1915 but apparently before WWII -- for some of the 1885 4-Numeral issues and 1889 3-Numeral issues (at least some were printed in blocks containing different denominations); and some of the Russian designs of 1901-1915. They were created imperforate and exist in a variety of colors, some very much like the issued stamps and some which are completely different. The 1885 and 1889 designs exist on varying qualities of both white and brownish paper; the Russian-design issues, to my knowledge, only exist on high-quality white or yellowish-white (cream) paper. To my knowledge, all the afterprints were created ungummed. Some may have been later gummed to appear to be closer to imperforate stamps, but in my opinion gummed examples should be valued the same as ungummed.

The Finnish afterprints were made from genuine cliches or plates that had been sold for scrap metal. Some issues / denominations of the cliches or plates had been defaced by irregular deep (obvious) scratches, but at least some cliches of other issues / denominations were apparently not defaced. In the Russian-design stamps, which originally had foreground and background plates, to my knowledge, all the afterprints were made only of the foreground plate. Most of the afterprints were printed fairly crudely with rough printing / ink texture and/or from somewhat color-filled plates, etc. However, some examples (especially the 5 penni stamps, Scott #65 and #71) exist with very smooth and precise printing -- there is some question of whether those well-printed stamps are afterprints, proofs, or so-called printers waste. (The dividing line between proofs, printers waste, and afterprints can be hard to determine in those cases. If I have any doubt, I classify them in the lowest-cost category.)

In the Finnish community, there are stark differences of opinion whether afterprints are collectible and/or fakes and/or frauds. My opinion is that they were illegally printed from genuine (though sometimes defaced) printing materials and thus at least examples DO BELONG in reference collections of fakes and forgeries and at least in specialized collections of the relevant stamp issues. I know that some Finnish experts may disagree with my perspective, however, I feel that as long as the potential buyer is well informed and the price is appropriate for such items, they are an important chapter of Finnish philatelic history.

Scott numbers have been used unless otherwise indicated.

Russian Design Issues

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Item #

Quality & Description

IMAGES: Hover mouse pointer over image to determine if ACTUAL image of item OR a REPRESENTATIVE sample image of item.
Click for more information

US$

246748

65, Facit #50 [1901 January, 5 penni Russian Design] Imperforate AFTERPRINT of FOREGROUND ONLY in PALE GRAY GREEN on high-quality ungummed YELLOWISH-WHITE PAPER. Expertly printed with smooth appearance and without any evidence of defacement (thus this may be a higher-value proof or printers waste and potentially not an afterprint). HORIZONTAL PAIR, Never Hinged (ungummed), VF with large margins. Very attractive.

Reference
For reference only. NOT for sale.

246749

65, Facit #50 [1901 January, 5 penni Russian Design] Imperforate AFTERPRINT of FOREGROUND ONLY in GRAY GREEN on high-quality ungummed BRIGHT WHITE PAPER. Expertly printed with smooth appearance and without any evidence of defacement (thus this may be a higher-value proof or printers waste and potentially not an afterprint). HORIZONTAL PAIR, Never Hinged (ungummed), VF with ample to large margins. Very attractive.

Reference
For reference only. NOT for sale.

246750

65, Facit #50 [1901 January, 5 penni Russian Design] Imperforate AFTERPRINT of FOREGROUND ONLY in DARK GREEN on high-quality ungummed YELLOWISH PAPER. Expertly printed with smooth appearance and without any evidence of defacement (thus this may be a higher-value proof or printers waste and potentially not an afterprint). HORIZONTAL PAIR, Never Hinged (ungummed), VF right margin example with large to huge margins. Very attractive.

Reference
For reference only. NOT for sale.

246751

71, Facit #56 [1901 December, 5 penni Russian Design] Imperforate AFTERPRINT of FOREGROUND ONLY in BLACKISH GREEN on high-quality ungummed YELLOWISH-WHITE PAPER. Very heavily inked (rough impression) but without any evidence of defacement (thus this may be a higher-value proof or printers waste and potentially not an afterprint). HORIZONTAL PAIR, Never Hinged (ungummed), VF with large margins. Very attractive example of a VERY SCARCE COLOR.

Reference
For reference only. NOT for sale.

246752

48.00

246753

71, Facit #56 [1901 December, 5 penni Russian Design] Imperforate AFTERPRINT of FOREGROUND ONLY in BLACKISH GREEN on high-quality GUMMED YELLOWISH-WHITE PAPER. Very heavily inked (rough impression) but without any evidence of defacement (thus this may be a higher-value proof or printers waste and potentially not an afterprint). Bottom margin SINGLE, Mint Hinged, VF with ample to large margins. Very attractive example of a VERY SCARCE COLOR. This example is GUMMED (extremely unusual), which may or may not have been done sometime later, before it was cut from a larger unit.

Reference
For reference only. NOT for sale.

246754

71, Facit #56 [1901 December, 5 penni Russian Design] Imperforate AFTERPRINT of FOREGROUND ONLY in BRIGHT LEMON YELLOW on high-quality ungummed YELLOWISH WHITE PAPER. Expertly printed with smooth appearance and without any evidence of defacement (thus this may be a higher-value proof or printers waste and potentially not an afterprint). SINGLE, Never Hinged (ungummed), VF with ample margins. Very attractive example of a VERY SCARCE COLOR.

Reference
For reference only. NOT for sale.

246755

71, Facit #56 [1901 December, 5 penni Russian Design] Imperforate AFTERPRINT of FOREGROUND ONLY in LEMON (GREENISH TINT) YELLOW on high-quality ungummed YELLOWISH WHITE PAPER. Rough printing appearance, but without any evidence of defacement (thus this may be a higher-value proof or printers waste and potentially not an afterprint). Left margin SINGLE, Never Hinged (ungummed), VF with large margins. Very attractive example of a VERY SCARCE COLOR.

30.00

246757

71, Facit #56 [1901 December, 5 penni Russian Design] Imperforate AFTERPRINT of FOREGROUND ONLY in CARMINE on high-quality ungummed YELLOWISH WHITE PAPER. Extremely rough printing appearance, but without any evidence of defacement (thus this may be a higher-value proof or printers waste and potentially not an afterprint). Left margin SINGLE, Never Hinged (ungummed), VF with ample to huge margins. Very attractive example of a VERY SCARCE COLOR.

32.00

246758

71, Facit #56 [1901 December, 5 penni Russian Design] Imperforate AFTERPRINT of FOREGROUND ONLY in CARMINE on high-quality ungummed YELLOWISH WHITE PAPER. Rough printing appearance; left stamp with breaks in left frame line that may be evidence of defacement. Horizontal PAIR, Never Hinged (ungummed), VF with ample to huge margins. Very attractive example of a VERY SCARCE COLOR.

Reference
For reference only. NOT for sale.

Russian Design Issues continued ...

Top

Item #

Quality & Description

IMAGES: Hover mouse pointer over image to determine if ACTUAL image of item OR a REPRESENTATIVE sample image of item.
Click for more information

US$

246759

71, Facit #56 [1901 December, 5 penni Russian Design] Imperforate AFTERPRINT of FOREGROUND ONLY in CARMINE on high-quality ungummed YELLOWISH WHITE PAPER. Very smooth and expertly printed impression; right stamp with large dents in right frame line that may be evidence of defacement. Horizontal right-margin PAIR, Never Hinged (ungummed), VF with ample to huge margins. Very attractive example of a VERY SCARCE COLOR.

56.00

246760

71, Facit #56 [1901 December, 5 penni Russian Design] Imperforate AFTERPRINT of FOREGROUND ONLY in DEEP RED VIOLET on high-quality ungummed CALENDERED THICK WHITE PAPER. Expertly printed with smooth appearance and without any evidence of defacement (thus this may be a higher-value proof or printers waste and potentially not an afterprint). Horizontal PAIR, Never Hinged (ungummed), VF with ample to large margins. Very attractive example of a VERY SCARCE COLOR.

Reference
For reference only. NOT for sale.

246761

71, Facit #56 [1901 December, 5 penni Russian Design] Imperforate AFTERPRINT of FOREGROUND ONLY in BROWNISH RED VIOLET on high-quality ungummed YELLOWISH WHITE PAPER. Rough printing appearance, but without any evidence of defacement (thus this may be a higher-value proof or printers waste and potentially not an afterprint). Horizontal left margin PAIR, Never Hinged (ungummed), VF with ample to large margins. Very attractive example of a VERY SCARCE COLOR.

48.00

246762

71, Facit #56 [1901 December, 5 penni Russian Design] Imperforate AFTERPRINT of FOREGROUND ONLY in BROWNISH RED VIOLET on high-quality ungummed YELLOWISH WHITE PAPER. Rough printing appearance, but without any evidence of defacement (thus this may be a higher-value proof or printers waste and potentially not an afterprint). Horizontal bottom left margin PAIR, Never Hinged (ungummed), VF with ample to large margins. Very attractive example of a VERY SCARCE COLOR.

Reference
For reference only. NOT for sale.

246763

71, Facit #56 [1901 December, 5 penni Russian Design] Imperforate AFTERPRINT of FOREGROUND ONLY in BROWNISH RED VIOLET on high-quality ungummed YELLOWISH WHITE PAPER. Rough printing appearance, but without any evidence of defacement (thus this may be a higher-value proof or printers waste and potentially not an afterprint). SINGLE, Never Hinged (ungummed), VF with ample to large margins. Very attractive example of a VERY SCARCE COLOR.

26.00

246768

71, Facit #56 [1901 December, 5 penni Russian Design] Imperforate AFTERPRINT of FOREGROUND ONLY in VIOLETISH BROWN on high-quality ungummed BRIGHT WHITE PAPER. Rough printing appearance, but without any evidence of defacement (thus this may be a higher-value proof or printers waste and potentially not an afterprint). SINGLE, Never Hinged (ungummed), VF with large to huge large margins. Very attractive example of a VERY SCARCE COLOR.

Reference
For reference only. NOT for sale.

246764

71, Facit #56 [1901 December, 5 penni Russian Design] Imperforate AFTERPRINT of FOREGROUND ONLY in VIOLETISH BROWN on high-quality ungummed YELLOWISH WHITE PAPER. Rough printing appearance, but without any evidence of defacement (thus this may be a higher-value proof or printers waste and potentially not an afterprint). Horizontal PAIR, Never Hinged (ungummed), F-VF with close margin at right, but otherwise large margins. Very attractive example of a VERY SCARCE COLOR.

39.00

246766

71, Facit #56 [1901 December, 5 penni Russian Design] Imperforate AFTERPRINT of FOREGROUND ONLY in VIOLETISH BROWN on high-quality ungummed YELLOWISH WHITE PAPER. Rough printing appearance, but without any evidence of defacement (thus this may be a higher-value proof or printers waste and potentially not an afterprint). SINGLE, Never Hinged (ungummed), VF, but with crease only visible from reverse, large margins. Very attractive example of a VERY SCARCE COLOR.

12.00

246767

71, Facit #56 [1901 December, 5 penni Russian Design] Imperforate AFTERPRINT of FOREGROUND ONLY in VIOLETISH BROWN on high-quality ungummed YELLOWISH WHITE PAPER. Rough printing appearance, but without any evidence of defacement (thus this may be a higher-value proof or printers waste and potentially not an afterprint). SINGLE, Never Hinged (ungummed), F-VF appearance, but with small defects. Very attractive example of a VERY SCARCE COLOR.

7.50

246769

71, Facit #56 [1901 December, 5 penni Russian Design] Imperforate AFTERPRINT of FOREGROUND ONLY in BRIGHT BLUE on high-quality ungummed YELLOWISH-WHITE PAPER. Rough printing appearance, but without any evidence of defacement (thus this may be a higher-value proof or printers waste and potentially not an afterprint). SINGLE, Never Hinged (ungummed), VF with large to huge large margins. Very attractive example of an EXTREMELY SCARCE COLOR.

Reference
For reference only. NOT for sale.

Russian Design Issues continued ...

Top

Item #

Quality & Description

IMAGES: Hover mouse pointer over image to determine if ACTUAL image of item OR a REPRESENTATIVE sample image of item.
Click for more information

US$

246770

78, Facit #63 [1911 5 penni Russian Design] Imperforate AFTERPRINT in LIGHT GREEN on high-quality ungummed YELLOWISH PAPER. Rough printing appearance, with defacement. in the form of horizontal and diagonal scratches on the plate. Horizontal bottom left margin PAIR, Never Hinged (ungummed), VF with ample to huge margins. Very attractive example of a seldom offered afterprint.

Reference
For reference only. NOT for sale.

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