| 1983 Postman |  Top |
| Item # |
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Never Hinged  US$ |
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| 245779 |
Swedish Postman test stamp distributed in conjunction with the 14 June 1983 inauguration of the PFAs (Swedish Post) new printing press which was manufactured by the (now defunct) Maschinenfabrik GOEBEL GmbH i Darmstadt (Germany). The press could print three steel-engraved (recess) colors and four offset (lithographed) colors at one time. Engraved by Lars Sjööblom from the Carl Wilhelmson painting in the Stockholm Central Post Office building; with additional color lithographed printing on all but the top row. This test sheet was given (in a folder) to dignitaries and attendees at the inauguration ceremony. I am not aware of any other distribution and it was not sold by the post office. Supplies on the market are very limited; sheets generally sell for a few hundred dollars. I am only aware of this test stamp being distributed in a sheet of 40 consisting of 8 columns by 5 rows. However, some sheets have been broken up, thus singles and other units are seen. The perforating of the sheet was designed to be cut for placement in a booklet (two stamps wide); the outer left and right sheet margins are straight edges, while every other vertical column between stamps is imperforate (where they would be cut to make booklet panes). Thus one can have torn-out-of-sheet horizontal pairs perforated around the outside and imperforate between the columns of stamps OR manually-cut horizontal pairs that are imperforate on the left and right (and perforated between the columns of stamps), like traditional Swedish booklet panes and pairs. (I have seen images of items claimed to be booklet panes, but I do not know if they were hand-cut or removed from actual booklets. I have yet to see any intact booklets containing stamps from these sheets, but they may exist.) The "issued" sheet has blue text in the top margin; the upper right corner (including only two stamps of the sheet) bears a replica "STOCKHOLM / PFA" 14.06.83 black printed postmark. An "unissued" version of the sheet exists without the usual printing at top, but with color registration bars. All 40 stamps in the sheet were printed with the engraved portion of the design (text and lines of portrait) in bluish gray. The top row does not have any additional printing. The next three rows each have a single color added by offset (lithography): yellow, magenta, cyan (blue). The final (fifth) row combines all three offset colors (and the engraved color) to create a full, real-color design. The full sheet as normally distributed. |
WANTED |
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245780 "View REPRESENTATIVE Image"){kind=small} |
Swedish Postman test stamp distributed in conjunction with the 14 June 1983 inauguration of the PFAs (Swedish Post) new printing press which was manufactured by the (now defunct) Maschinenfabrik GOEBEL GmbH i Darmstadt (Germany). The press could print three steel-engraved (recess) colors and four offset (lithographed) colors at one time. Engraved by Lars Sjööblom from the Carl Wilhelmson painting in the Stockholm Central Post Office building; with additional color lithographed printing on all but the top row. This test sheet was given (in a folder) to dignitaries and attendees at the inauguration ceremony. I am not aware of any other distribution and it was not sold by the post office. Supplies on the market are very limited; sheets generally sell for a few hundred dollars. I am only aware of this test stamp being distributed in a sheet of 40 consisting of 8 columns by 5 rows. However, some sheets have been broken up, thus singles and other units are seen. The perforating of the sheet was designed to be cut for placement in a booklet (two stamps wide); the outer left and right sheet margins are straight edges, while every other vertical column between stamps is imperforate (where they would be cut to make booklet panes). Thus one can have torn-out-of-sheet horizontal pairs perforated around the outside and imperforate between the columns of stamps OR manually-cut horizontal pairs that are imperforate on the left and right (and perforated between the columns of stamps), like traditional Swedish booklet panes and pairs. (I have seen images of items claimed to be booklet panes, but I do not know if they were hand-cut or removed from actual booklets. I have yet to see any intact booklets containing stamps from these sheets, but they may exist.) The "issued" sheet has blue text in the top margin; the upper right corner (including only two stamps of the sheet) bears a replica "STOCKHOLM / PFA" 14.06.83 black printed postmark. An "unissued" version of the sheet exists without the usual printing at top, but with color registration bars. All 40 stamps in the sheet were printed with the engraved portion of the design (text and lines of portrait) in bluish gray. The top row does not have any additional printing. The next three rows each have a single color added by offset (lithography): yellow, magenta, cyan (blue). The final (fifth) row combines all three offset colors (and the engraved color) to create a full, real-color design. This example consists of columns 6-7 from the sheet, imperforate vertically between the columns of stamps, and thus showing the left half of the replica postmark. |
WANTED |