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COLOR VARIETIES

THE NORMAL COLOR OF THE ISSUED STAMP IS LILAC WITH GRAYISH LILAC BACKGROUND. THERE ARE NUMEROUS SHADES THAT RESULT FROM THE INTENSITY OF AND MIXING OF THE INKS. THE FOREGROUND RANGES FROM A PALE AND ROSE LILAC TO A DEEP BLACKISH PURPLE. THE BACKGROUND RANGES FROM EXTREMELY LIGHT SHADES OF GRAYISH AND ROSE LILAC TO A DEEP LILAC BROWN. THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLES SHOW THE RANGES OF COLOR

WATERMARK VARIETIES

THE BARI WOLF ISSUE WAS PRINTED ON A TAN POROUS WATERMARKED AND UNWATERMARKED PAPER SIMILAR TO THE UNWATERMARKED PAPER USED FOR THE BADOGLIO ESSAYS. THE WATERMARKED ESSAYS ARE ON A HARD WHITE PAPER. THE WATERMARK IS A HONEYCOMB PATTERN THAT COVERS THE PAPER IN A VERTICAL OR A HORIZONTAL PATTER. MOST WATERMARKED ESSAYS HAVE THE VERTICAL PATTERN. THE WATERMARKED STAMPS NORMALLY HAVE THE HORIZONTAL PATTERN.

EXAMPLES OF VERTICAL & HORIZONTAL WATERMARKS (COLORS HAVE BEEN DIGITALLY ALTERED TO IMPROVE CONTRAST).

PERFORATION VARIETIES

PERFORATIONS 10 3/4, 11, 11 1/4 AND 11 1/2 IN VARIOUS COMBINATIONS HAVE BEEN REPORTED. PERFORATION 14 HAS ALSO BEEN REPORTED ON PROOFS. THE MOST COMMON PERFORATIONS LISTED FOR THE STAMPS ARE 10 3/4, 11 1/2 AND 10 3/4 X 11 1/2. I HAVE ALWAYS FOUND THESE CLASSIFICATIONS CONFUSING BECAUSE BASED ON MY OBSERVATIONS, THERE ARE NO STAMPS OR ESSAYS THAT MEASURE A TRUE 10 3/4 OR 11 1/4. I HAVE ASKED AND LOOKED FOR MORE DEFINITIVE INFORMATION ON THE VARIETIES BUT NEVER BEEN ABLE TO FIND ANY. IT MAY BE BECAUSE I HAVE NEVER LOOKED OR ASKED IN THE RIGHT PLACE BUT IN ANY CASE I AM LISTING HERE WHAT I HAVE OBSERVED IN THE HOPE THAT ANYONE READING THIS WHO MAY HAVE ADDITIONAL OR CORROBORATING INFORMATION MIGHT SHARE IT WITH ME. PARTIALLY PERFORATED AND IMPERFORATE VARIETIES ALSO EXIST.

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE 10 3/4 AND 11 AND THE 11 1/4 AND 11 1/2 CLASSIFICATIONS APPEAR TO BE MINISCULE AND A PERFORATION GAUGE THAT CAN MEASURE TO 1/10 OF A GAUGE IS NECESSARY. USING MY STANLEY GIBBONS INSTANTA PERFORATION GAUGE: PERFORATION 10 3/4 MEASURES 10.9, 11 MEASURES 11.0, 11 1/4 MEASURES 11.4 AND 11 1/2 MEASURES 11.5. THE ASSIGNMENT OF THE NUMBERS 10 3/4 AND 11 1/4 APPEARS TO BE A MATTER OF NECESSITY SINCE PERFORATIONS VARIETIES ARE FREQUENTLY GIVEN TO THE NEAREST 1/4 TO 1/2 OF A GAUGE AND THEY WERE THE NEAREST AVAILABLE GAUGES. I RECOGNIZE THAT THE STAMPS I HAD AVAILABLE FOR OBSERVATION ARE LIMITED AND MAY NOT BE A VALID SAMPLE. I ALSO HAVE NOT DISCOUNTED THE POSSIBILITY THAT THE 1/10 OF A GAUGE DIFFERENCES I HAVE NOTED ARE DUE TO EXPANSION AND/OR SHRINKAGE OF THE PAPER.

ANOTHER POSSIBLE EXPLANATION THAT HAS BEEN SUGGESTED TO ME, BUT WHICH MY OBSERVATIONS DO NOT SUPPORT IS THE DIFFERENT NUMBERS ARE USED TO DISTINGUISH ROUGH FROM CLEANLY CUT PERFORATIONS. THE STAMPS ARE FREQUENTLY FOUND WITH BOTH AND I HAVE FOUND BOTH ROUGH AND CLEANLY CUT PERFORATIONS IN ALL 4 GAUGES I HAVE OBSERVED. I HAVE NOT HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY ANY PROOFS IN GAUGE 14.

PLEASE WRITE OR EMAIL ME IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION TO ADD TO MY DISCUSSION. A SAMPLING OF THE VARIETIES IN MY COLLECTION FOLLOWS.

PERFORATED 10 3/4 (10.9) - UNWATERMARKED