NBSIR 73-194 (£)

Performance of Cancellation Inks

on Partially Tagged Gravure

Postage Stamps

E. L. Gram inski and M. R. Brockman

Paper Evaluation Section

Product Evaluation Technology Division

Institute for Applied Technology

National Bureau of Standards

Washington, D. C. 20234

April 15, 1973

Final Report

USPS NBS Letter Agreement 72-1-01619

Prepared for U. S, Postal Service

Washington. D. C. 20260

NBSIR 73-194

PERFORMANCE OF CANCELLATION INKS

ON PARTIALLY TAGGED GRAVURE

POSTAGE STAMPS

E. L. Graminski and M. R. Brockman

Paper Evaluation Section

Product Evaluation Technology Division

Institute for Applied Technology

National Bureau of Standards

Washington, D. C. 20234

April 15, 1973

Final Report

USPS NBS Letter Agreement 72-1-01619

This document has been prepared for the use of the U. S. Postal Service. Responsibility for its further use rests with that agency.

Note:

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, Frederick B. Dent, Secretary

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS, Richard W. Roberts, Director

CONTENTS

Page

1. SUMMARY 1

2. INTRODUCTION . 4

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 7

3.1 Evaluation of Cancellation Inks on the

100th Anniversary Mail Order Stamp 7

3.2 Modification of Regular PS Cancellation

Ink with Dyes 8

3.3 Evaluation of Roller Ink 44-2 for Use

in Standard Facer-Cancelers 10

3.4 Test for Ink Penetrability 11

3.5 Development of an Ink Erasure Test 12

4. CONCLUSIONS 13

5. RECOMMENDATIONS 14

6. BIBLIOGRAPHY .14

1 . SUMMARY

When the United States Postal Service initiated the

tagging of stamps by overprinting with phosphor ink, there

was some indication that cancellation marks made with regular

Postal Service (PS) cancellation ink were easier to rub off

or erase. Erasure became still easier with the introduction

of postage stamps printed by the gravure process. Cancellation ink performance might deteriorate still further with

the introduction of new cancellation inks in the currently

developed high speed facer-canceling machines.

As a consequence, the U.S. Postal Service requested the

National Bureau of Standards (NBS) to (1) resolve the reasons

for the poor performance of regular PS cancellation ink on

gravure stamps, (2) to propose possible means of improving

the cancellation ink performance, and (3) to evaluate the

performance of the new f acer-canceler roller inks on both

intaglio and gravure stamps.

Intaglio printing is produced from plates on which the

image is sunken below the surface of the plate as distinguished

from letterpress (relief) or planography (flat plane) . Included

in intaglio printing is rotogravure, as the image consists of

regular (screen) or irregular (grain) etched depressions.

The following materials were involved in this study:

(1) Stamp paper for gravure printing of postage stamps.

This is a coated paper.

(2) Stamp paper for intaglio printing of postage stamps

(uncoated)

.

(3) Regular (currently used) PS cancellation ink.

(4) Two roller inks, designated in this report as 400

and 44-2.

The roller inks are not yet in use, but they probably

will be in use soon. Porous rollers are saturated with these

inks and serve as the ink well in new high-speed facer-canceling

machines under development.

(5) Phosphor tagging inks.

2

Work done initially on this project at NBS showed that

the gravure tag ink causes poor resistance to erasure of

cancellation marks made with regular PS cancellation ink on

gravure postage stamps [1]. When the 100th Anniversary Mail

Order (AMO) stamp was printed by the gravure process, only

a portion of the stamp was tagged in order to allow evaluation of both PS and roller cancellation inks on tagged and

untagged portions

.

Stamps affixed to test mail were hand canceled with

regular PS cancellation ink and roller inks 44-2 and 400,

and the resistance to erasure and chemical eradication was

evaluated. The performance of regular PS cancellation ink

was unsatisfactory even in the untagged portion of the stamps

because of its poor resistance, to erasure. The results indicated that the regular PS cancellation ink must be reformulated or modified in order to perform satisfactorily on

gravure postage stamps.

Although the regular PS ink did not have good resistance

to erasure, the roller inks resisted erasure extremely well

by virtue of pigment penetration into the stamp paper. Cancellation marks made with the roller inks could not be

removed from the untagged portion by erasing without defacing

the stamp. As the vehicle of regular PS ink penetrates stamps

readily, the performance of the ink might be improved by the

addition of a pigment soluble in the ink vehicle.

The addition of 1 percent by weight of a specific dye

improved the performance of regular PS ink. The dye and

vehicle penetrated gravure postage stamp ink, and cancellation

marks made with the modified ink on the AMO stamp could not

be erased without defacing the stamp in the areas having no

tag ink. In addition, the modified ink was evaluated in

standard f acer-cancelers with satisfactory results.

While roller ink 44-2 performs satisfactorily in the

new high-speed f acer-canceler , a similar ink supplied by

the manufacturer of roller ink 44-2 did not perform satisfactorily as an ink for standard f acer-cancelers

.

In the absence of satisfactory tests for ink penetrability and resistance to erasure, tests were developed to

evaluate these properties using commercially available

apparatus involving a minimum of operator variables.

3

The results of this study indicate that all gravure

stamps should be tagged on only a portion of the stamp and

that the regular PS ink should be reformulated or modified

as described above for satisfactory performance on gravure

postage stamps.

4

2. INTRODUCTION

Problems in stamp cancellation appeared simultaneously

with the advent of stamp tagging with phosphor inks. There

was some evidence that the cancellation marks were easier

to erase or rub off of stamps overprinted with tag ink. In

an effort to overcome this problem, the Bureau of Engraving

and Printing (BEP) formulated an ink which performed better

than the Postal Service cancellation ink with respect to

erasure. However, the ink gelled in areas of high relative

humidity, and this resulted in damage to the ink pump mechanism in f acer-canceler machines. The gelling of the ink and

the decline in cancellation ink performance were not resolved

nor were the issues pursued further until now. Recent

inquiries revealed that the BEP cancellation ink was a moisture set ink, and it could be expected to gel in regions

of high humidity.

The problems with cancellation ink performance became

acute when stamps were printed by the gravure process. Cancellation marks were easily erased or rubbed off from many

of the stamps. It was apparent that either the stamp paper,

stamp inks, tag ink, or a combination of these was causing

the regular PS cancellation ink to perform unsatisfactorily.

The problems with stamp cancellations could become

greater v.'ith the introduction of new inks in the high-speed

facer-canceling machines that are under development. The

new facer-cancelers will use a porous roller impregnated

with ink instead of an ink fountain. When the ink in the

roller is consumed, the roller simply is replaced with a new

roller that is full of ink. This is a much cleaner procedure.

In view of the existing and impending problems with

cancellation ink performance on gravure stamps, the U.S.

Postal Service requested the National Bureau of Standards

to (1) determine the reasons for the poor performance of

regular PS cancellation ink on gravure stamps, (2) propose

possible approaches to improving the performance of the ink,

and (3) evaluate the performance of the new roller inks on

both intaglio and gravure stamps.

Regular PS cancellation ink is a quick-set ink. Quickset inks are based on a two phase medium that separates in

a filtering medium such as paper. A thin varnish drains into

the paper leaving the viscous constituent in the ink to set

on the surface.

5

The new high-speed f acer-cancelers under development

will employ rollers saturated with ink as the ink well.

Unlike the regular PS ink, pigment as well as the vehicle

of roller inks penetrate into the stamp.

Previous work has shown [1] that the tag inks are a major cause of poor performance of cancellation inks on

intaglio, and especially gravure , stamps. The vehicle of

the gravure tag ink is an excellent film former. The excellent film forming characteristic of the tag ink culminates

in two undesirable features. First, the tag ink forms a barrier on the surface of gravure stamps preventing, or

retarding, penetration of ink into the stamp; and secondly,

the tag ink reduces the macroroughness of gravure stamp

surfaces resulting in poorer adhesion of ink plugs to the

surface of gravure stamps. As a consequence, cancellation

marks made with either regular PS or roller inks can be

erased readily because of poor adhesion of ink plugs to the

stamp surface or poor penetration of ink and vehicle into

the stamp paper.

Since the tag ink

that only a portion of

Therefore, only a porti

undesirable features pr

Anniversary Mail Order

was tagned on only a po

whether cancellation pe

tagging. The tagged ar

3/8 inch wide running vertically

s t amp

.

re stamp, it was suggested

inted with tag ink [1].

would have all the

ag ink. The 100th

ued in September 1972

rface to determine

be improved by partial

a bar, approximately

through the center of the

covers the enti

the stamp be pr

on of the stamp

oduced by the t

(AMO) stamp iss

rtion of the su

rformance could

ea consisted of

In the evaluation of cancellation inks on the AMO stamp,

an interesting discovery was made. Whenever ink pigment

penetrated gravure postage stamp ink in the untagged areas,

cancellation marks could not be erased without defacing the

stamp. Apparently, gravure stamp inks have a much lower

abrasion resistance than the gravure tag ink, and the stamp

is easily defaced by erasing in the stamp areas having no

tag ink.

Since the vehicle of regular PS cancellation ink readily

penetrates through gravure postage ink films, the performance

of the regular PS ink might be improved by the addition of a pigment soluble in the ink vehicle. Even though the ink Dlug

still could be erased easily from the surface, a residue

6

would remain after erasure because of the vehicle-soluble

oigment having penetrated inLo the stamp paper. Complete

removal of the cancellation mark would not be possible in

the untagged portion of a gravure stamp without abrading the

ink and defacing the stamp. Contact with the manufacturer

of the regular PS cancellation ink revealed that three dyes

were known to be soluble in the vehicle. These three dyes

were then used to modify the regular PS ink and their performance was evaluated on the AMO stamp. In addition to

evaluating the modified ink, a facsimile of one roller ink,

44-2, was evaluated for possible use in the standard facercanceler

.

The absence of good ink penetrability and ink erasure

tests became evident during the course of this study. As

the performance of cancellation inks is so dependent on

these two properties, tests were developed to evaluate them.

7

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3 . 1 Evaluation of Cancellation Inks on the 100th

Anniversary Mail Order Stamp

Three inks were used in this investigation, regular PS

and roller inks 400 and 44-2. The evaluation consisted of

determining the resistance to erasure and chemical eradication on hand-canceled and machine-canceled test letter mail.

The test letter mail consisted of 4 1/8 x 9 1/2 inch white

envelopes stuffed with a single 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheet of

bond paper.

AMO stamps were affixed to test letter mail and were

hand canceled with light to medium and regular to heavy

cancellations. Resistance to erasure was determined 2, 24,

48, and 72 hours after the cancellations were made. The

erasing procedure was the same as one would use in erasing

a typing error using a #40E commercial pencil eraser. The

object was to remove the cancellation mark from the entire

stamp without defacing the stamp. If any part of the stamp

became defaced as a result of erasing the cancellation mark,

the cancellation ink was considered to have excellent resistance to erasure- The results are summarized in Table 1.

Erasure resistance was poor for regular PS cancellation

ink on both the tagged and untagged portion of the stamp. The

cause for the unsatisfactory resistance to erasure is due to

poor adhesion of the ink plug to the smooth surface. This

indicates that regular PS cancellation ink must be reformulated

before it can perform satisfactorily on gravure stamps

regardless of the coverage by tag ink.

Cancellation inks 400 and 44-2 performed extremely well

on the AMO stamp. Both inks penetrated through the untagged

stamp ink, and cancellation marks could not be erased without

damaging the stamp ink. However, the cancellation marks

could be easily erased from the tagged portion of the stamp

even after 72 hours following cancellation. Apparently,

gravure stamD inks have a lower abrasion resistance than

gravure tag ink with the result that the stamp ink is easily

damaged when erased.

Resistance to chemical eradication was evaluated on

light to medium and regular to heavy hand cancellations made

or the AMO stamp affixed to test mail. Three commercial ink

8

eradicators and one laundry bleach were tested and were

applied three times to the cancellation marks. The tests

were performed 48 hours after cancellation to allow sufficient

time for the ink to set. The results are given in Table 2.

Resistance to chemical eradication was excellent for the

regular PS cancellation ink, very good for ink 44-2, and fair

to poor for ink 400. These results agree with previous

results [1] that ink 400 does not have satisfactory resistance

to chemical eradication and would be an unsatisfactory cancellation ink.

3 . 2 Modification of Regular PS Cancellation Ink with Dyes

Three commercial dyes, designated A, B, and C, were

claimed by the manufacturer of the regular PS cancellation

ink to be soluble in the ink vehicle. The regular cancellation ink was modified by adding the appropriate quantity of

dye to the regular PS cancellation ink so that it contained

10 weight percent of the dye.

The ink penetrability and erasure tests used in this

investigation are described in sections 3.4 and 3.5 of this

report. The results indicated that dye A had the greatest

potential for successful modification of regular PS cancellation ink. Dye B was intermediate, and dye C was completely

unsatisfactory (Tables 3 and 4). Dye A caused excessive

feathering, an appreciable change in the rheology of the PS

cancellation ink, and is relatively expensive ($5.77/lb.),

so less dye was used in subsequent modifications. Additional

ink samples were prepared containing 1, 2, and 5 percent of

dyes A and B and one sample containing 1 percent of dye C.

Ink penetrability and erasure tests were performed on

the modified inks. The results are given in Tables 3 and 4.

The ink containing only 1 percent of dye C was completely

unsatisfactory by virtue of its very poor resistance to

erasure. The resistance to erasure of regular ink modified

with 1, 2, and 5 percent of dye B was only slightly better

than the ink modified with dye C and must be considered

unsatisfactory

.

9

The use of smaller quantities of dye A in regular PS

cancellation ink resulted in improved performance. Feathering

decreased substantially when only 1 or 2 percent of dye A was

used. Furthermore, the decrease in amount of dye used did

not decrease resistance to erasure, and ink penetrability

improved. In view of the apparent improvement in the performance of regular PS cancellation ink when modified with

1 percent of dye A, its performance on the AMO stamp was

evaluated. Test letter mail was hand canceled with light to

medium and regular to heavy cancellations. Three properties

were evaluated: (1) resistance to erasure, (2) resistance to

chemical eradication, and (3) effect of water soaking. Resistance to erasure and chemical eradication were done as described

in section 3.1 of this report. The results are given in

Tables 5, 6, and 7.

The resistance to chemical eradication of regular PS ink

is excellent and there was no reason to believe that its

resistance would decrease due to the addition of dye. The

important requirement, however, is for the residue, after

erasure, to be resistant to chemical eradication. If the

residue is not resistant to chemical eradication, then a combination of erasure and chemical eradication could result

in good removal of cancellation marks from gravure stamps.

Therefore, resistance to chemical eradication was determined

before and after the cancellation marks were erased as

thoroughly as possible without damaging the stamp.

The effect of water soaking on the cancellation mark

was done because philatelists frequently remove stamps by

soaking. Therefore, cancellations must not bleed or fade

during a 24 hour water soak. The performance of regular PS

cancellation ink, with and without dye A, was determined for

15 minute and 24 hour water soaks.

Resistance to erasure and resistance to chemical eradication before and after erasure was very good for the ink

modified with dye A. Water soak produced no bleeding or

fading after 15 minutes or 24 hours. The results indicate

that modification of regular PS cancellation ink with a dye

soluble in the ink vehicle is one method for improving the

performance of the ink on gravure stamps.

A natural question with respect to the modification of

regular PS cancellation ink is whether the modification will

affect the ink's oerformance in the f acer-cance le^ . One

10

gallon of modified regular PS ink was prepared for evaluation

in f acer-cancelers at two post offices. Sufficient ink was

available for two f acer-cancelers to operate full time for

at least one week.

The ink performed satisfactorily in the standard facercancelers with no major complications. When cancellation

marks are heavy, some feathering is apparent on certain

envelopes. Feathering occurs with the regular PS ink as

well, but because of the dye used in ink modification, the

feathering is more obvious with the modified ink. There is

no indication that the modified ink penetrates through the

envelope and into the envelope contents. As with all other

cancellation inks evaluated to date, the heavier the cancellation mark, the more difficult it becomes to erase the cancellation mark.

3 . 3 Evaluation of Roller Ink 44-2 for Use in Standard

Facer-Cancelers

Since roller ink 44-2 performed excellently on the AMO

stamp, a sample of this ink was obtained from the manufacturer

for evaluation of its use in the standard f acer-cancelers

.

The ink received from the manufacturer was not identical to

that obtained by squeezing ink from the rollers because a change in the ink occurs during roller manufacture. Nevertheless, the ink supplied was considered to be a reasonable

facsimile of what the manufacturer could supply for facercancelers

.

Ink penetrability tests indicated that there was a great

difference between the ink sample provided by the manufacturer

and the ink obtained by compressing the rollers. No penetration occurred after 2 hours on gravure stamp paper printed

with gravure postage ink. On the average, penetration

occurred with ink obtained from rollers in 993 seconds.

Because of the lack of penetrability, cancellation marks on

gravure stamps made with the ink obtained from the manufacturer

were still wet after 48 hours, but should have set within 24

hours

.

the

use

The results indicate that roller

manufacturer of the rollers would

in standard f acer-cancelers

.

ink 44-2 as supplied by

be unsatisfactory for

11

3 . 4 Test for Ink Penetrability

The method consisted of placing a drop of ink on the

surface of stamp papers and determining the time required for

the ink to penetrate through the paper to the opposite side

of the sheet. Previously, ink penetrability on stamps and

stamp papers was assessed by determining the time required

for ink to penetrate over a defined circular area [1]. The

difficulty with the previous test was the unusually long time

interval required for complete penetration. Three inks,

regular PS and roller inks 44-2 and 400, were used in this

evaluation. At least 20 determinations were made for each

ink on each paper. If no penetration occurred within 3600

seconds, penetration was assumed to have not occurred at

that test site. The time was recorded if penetration occurred

within 3600 seconds. As a consequence, the number of determinations in some cases is listed as less than 20. This

signifies that the ink penetrated poorly into the paper. The

results are given in Table 8.

The data indicate that the time for initial penetration

is a good measure of the penetrability of inks. It is quite

apparent that the porosity of the surface of gravure paper,

especially after printing with postage stamp and/or tag ink,

varies greatly over the surface as indicated by the large

standard deviation. A large dispersion such as this requires

a large number of determinations if the data are to be meaningful, and to ascertain whether differences between inks and

between papers are significant.

Neither intaglio stamp ink nor intaglio tag ink individually reduce the penetrability of cancellation inks to the

point of being detrimental to the performance of the cancellation inks. When intaglio postage paper is printed with both

intaglio postage stamp and intaglio tag inks, a great decrease

in cancellation ink penetrability occurs. Normally, the

postage stamp ink coverage on intaglio stamps is never complete,

and the combination of postage stamp and tag inks usually does

not create a barrier to cancellation inks. On occasion, the

ink coverage on intaglio stamps is great enough to cause poor

cancellation ink performance. The 11C Air Mail stamp (Figure

1, NBS Report 10 911) had a high ink coverage in the red

portion of the stamp creating a condition whereby cancellation

marks made with regular PS cancellation ink were easily erased.

If the stamps were tagged on only a nortion of the stamp, this

situation would not have arisen and cancellation marks s >uld

have been difficult to remove on at least a portion of the

stamps

.

12

A somewhat different situation exists with gravure stamps.

When gravure tag ink is printed over gravure postage stamp

ink, cancellation inks penetrate more readily than they do

if the postage paper is printed with only tag ink. This

behavior also was observed on gravure postage stamps (page 9,

NBS Report 10 911)

.

3 . 5 Development of an Ink Erasure Test

Resistance to erasure, when the erasure is done manually,

is subject to variability among individuals and is semiquantitative at best. There was a great need for an erasure

test that would be independent of operator differences and

could be performed by any laboratory on equipment commercially

available

.

Early results indicated that a commercial abrader might

evaluate resistance to erasure satisfactorily. It was observed that gravure postage stamp ink, printed on gravure

postage stamp paper, showed evidence of abrasion at about

2000 cycles on the commercial abrader. The abrasion was

accomplished with standard rubber wheels available from the

abrader manufacturer. The stamp paper printed with postage

stamp ink was hand canceled and subjected to 2000 cycles

on the abrader. Those cancellation inks easily erased manually

were completely removed within 1000 cycles. Those inks which

were difficult or impossible to erase manually were not removed within 2000 cycles on the abrader. If the abrasion was

continued beyond 2000 cycles, the postage stamp ink was

abraded excessively, indicating that the cancellation marks

could not be removed without damaging the postage ink film.

There is one operation in the erasure procedure which

is affected by operator variability. Hand cancellation of

the paper prior to abrasion can vary from one operator to

another. Consequently, a rubber stamp was procured consisting

of waving lines 1 millimeter wide in a circle with a 4 3/16

inch diameter, which was identical to the diameter of the

platform of the abrader. An impression was made with the

cancellation ink to be tested on the stamp paper printed with

gravure postage stamp ink using approximately 2 kg pressure,

and allowed to set for 48 hours. The circle was then cut

out, placed on the table of the abrader, clamped, and abraded

for 2000 cycles. The abraded specimen was removed from the

abrader and inspected. If the cancellation ink was not

completely removed after 2000 revolutions, the ink was considered to have an acceptable resistance to erasure. When

the cancellation ink was completely removed in 2000 revolutions, the ink was considered to have an unacceptable resistance

to erasure.

4. CONCLUSIONS

1. Bar tagging of gravure stamps results in an improvement in cancellation ink performance when the ink pigment

penetrates into the stamp paper. Regular PS cancellation

ink does not perform satisfactorily on bar tagged gravure

stamps indicating the regular PS cancellation ink must be

reformulated or modified.

2. Regular PS cancellation ink can be modified by the

addition of a specific dye that is soluble in the vehicle.

The pigment penetrates through the postage stamp ink of bar

tagged stamps and into the stamp paper. When the ink plug

from the regular PS cancellation ink is removed by erasure,

a residue remains which cannot be removed by erasure without

defacing the stamp.

j. Roller ink 44-2, as supplied by the manufacturer,

would not be an acceptable ink for use in standard facercancelers

.

4. Satis

the penetrabil

inks .

factory tests have been developed for evaluatin

ity and resistance to erasure of cancellation

14

5 . RECOMMENDATIONS

1. All gravure stamps should be bar tagged in preference to tagging over the entire stamp surface.

2. The regular PS ink should be modified so that the

pigment penetrates through the postage stamp ink and into

the postage stamp paper.

6. BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Graminski, E . L. and Brockman, M. R. , NBS Report 10 911,

Performance of Cancellation Inks on Intaglio and Gravure

Postage Stamps, September 18, 1972.

Table 1. Erasability

the 8C Mail

of cancellation marks from

Order Commemorative stamp.

Cancellation Ink Time After

Cancellation

hrs. Regular 400 44-2

Resistance of Erasure of Light

to Medium Cancellation Marks

2 very poor excellent excellent

24 poor excellent excellent

48 poor excellent excellent

72 poor excellent excellent

Resistance to Erasure of Regular

to Heavy Cancellation Marks

2 fair to poor excellent excellent

24 poor excellent excellent

48 poor excellent excellent

72 fair to poor excellent excellent

Table 2. The effect of ink eradicators on

light to medium and regular to

heavy cancellation marks made with

various cancellation inks on the

Mail Order stamp.

Ink Cancellation Ink

Eradicator Regular 400 44-2

resistance to eradication

Light to Medium Cancellations

A excellent fair to poor very good

B excellent good very good

C excellent good very good

Laundry excellent fair to poor very good bleach

Regular to Heavy Cancellations

A excellent fair very good

B excellent fair very good

C excellent fair very good

Laundry excellent fair very good bleach

LD 00 o vl1 o CO

U 1—1

CXI CN

rH rH

H

CD>i tr> Q c CTi rd H • * Eh H 00 O

D-i ro CN Td 6 C

fd fd

4-) CO LD ro Oh • • g o <u rH C fd c H tn CN 4-> 0 fd CO

o\° -P

Ui cn CD 0 tn C • P-i ' • rd •h cn 0 IT) O O CO 4-> M -H CM CN cn c c 4-1 m 4-> 0 0 -H id o H Ph H o CD H

-P Oj •rH >i 4-> rH LT) rd g 14—1 Q fd Td • * 4-> rH (d rH CN U CD CN O 00 •H

rH -P Td -P 4-1 CN CN £

(1) U) 0 CD £ o < •H Td

(1) &H Q)

fd tn rX 0-i Pi o 4-1 o fd • • c

+J

HH rH fH

O •H

CO cn rd CD CN CN rH 0 c H P-i P-I •rH -p fd M H cu u

fd

A Td c CN rH Q)

H 4-> CD •H 0-1 • • fh 3 -H cn o g O O rd Ln £ D rH fd 00 CN O P-i CD 4-1 rH

!h CO

CD

<—•

-P

Q (D t

rd

Q* £h tn ' • 4J H -H ID fd o o rH CO m !h 4-> no CN rH -H Pu < U) CJ Td 0 CP 0 rH CD P-I rd 6 CD >. 4-> Oj Q CD • • cn

m-i fd CM 5H co o ID 0 0 CN CN P-I >

fd CD -P g rH U h rd o

rH 4-> • • >

-rH Ui rH o O CN rd rQ CN CN rH

fd

D

U tn

-P fd

CD -P CTi IS C cn CD • • CD o O O

P< Q-i 0 CN CN • m UiC CJ

0) o <u rH rl U til 4-> rH —

fd td cd

E-i -H

C Ui -~- e fd D rH +J -

CD 0) u) c W 4-> 0

QJ Td -rH Td (U -P 1 V 4J fd lU rd -h 0 g > c •H CD fd 4J Td

CD 0 Ui s H 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 c 1 1 1 HH a tn CO H rd • • Eh CO o vr; 0a 1 1 1 1 1 1 o CN 00 e 1 1 1 1 1 1 CN fd -P rd CO o o rH CN ft rH • • CD • • g • • o o tn O rH rd LD o CTi o CN rd ro CN rH -P ro CN rH rH rH +J CO r» CN

cno CD ro 00 tn • • td CO CTi A 1 1 1 4-J i 1 1 in rH LD -P 1 1 1 cn i 1 1 rH H O

P^ CN 00 • • CD 4-1 CN o r- 4J 1 1 1 H i 1 1 CN a 1 1 1 ^ i 1 1 ro -H

rH 13

CD CN 00 ro 4J o • • rH • • c • • O CD o ro •H CN o

<j\ CN r~ CN ro SH r> CN CN rH td P4 LD rH

rH 0^ ro CD ro

O • • e • • Oi • • o ID rd rH o r- rd O

ro CN ro +J LD CN rH Ph CTi CN

tfi r~ ro

0,

CD

g o Cn rd • • rd -P rH o CN -P 1 1 1 CO I 1 1 CN •«* cn i 1 1 I 1 1 rH rH 0 CD 0^ tn

rd

O rH 0 4-1 • • •rH cn ID C CN rH 1 1 1 0 l 1 1 00 CN CO tn 1 1 1 I 1 1 rH rH rd -P o

r<>-i rH ro H CN rH CN CN • • • • tr> • • CN O o O ID rd oo o

rH CM CO rH CN 4-1 c-\ CN o> CO CN a LD rH H

COO rH CO • » • • • • ID O ro rc- o l> O 00 CN CO LD CN rH l> CN

ro IX) rH

Ui cn CO -—-

TjCOO 0 CD 0 CD 0 CD

•rH ^ CO rH T3 Ui

H cn +» u 4-> U — -P

cd rd rd rd fd rd Td i x

•H

C U) •h c cn •HC cn .—. e rd .—. g rd . v g rd U rH +J - 0 U H-> - u rH 4J -

QJ CD cn c CD cd cn c CD ttJ cn

C

Ui 4-1 o cn -P 0 cn 4-1 0

CD -H ' " CD T3 -rH *

<D IS -rH TS CD 4-) T3 CD 4-) 13 CD 4-> 4-> td IX -P rd 1 X

4-) rd

rd -h UH rd -H l+H rd -h o e > 0 g > O g > c -H 0) c rH CD c -H CU

cd -P rd • 4-> rd -p

0) o cn CD 0 cn CD o cn S 2 W S 2 H 2 H

Table 4. Erasability of modified regular

PS cancellation inks on gravure

postage stamp paper printed with

gravure postage stamp ink

.

Weight

,

percent

Time , hrs

.

Dye 24 48

resistance to erasure

A 1

2

5

10

very good

very good

very good

very good

very

very

very

very

good

good

good

good

B 1

2

5

10

poor

poor

poor

poor

poor

poor

poor

poor

C 1

10

very poor

very poor

very

very

poor

poor

none very poor very poor

Table 5. Erasability of cancellation marks from

100th Anniversary Mail Order stamp

having light to medium and regular to

heavy cancellation marks.

Cancellation Ink

Time Regular PS with

hrs

.

Regular PS 1% Dye A

resistance to erasure

Light to Medium Cancellation Marks

2 very poor very good

24 very poor very good

4 8 very poor very good

7 2 very poor very good

Regular to Heavy Cancellation Marks

2 poor excellent

24 poor excellent

48 poor excellent

72 poor excellent

Table 6. The effect of ink eradicators on cancellation

marks on the 100th Anniversary Mail Order

stamp having light to medium and regular to

heavy cancellation marks. Eradicators were

applied three times.

Cancellation Ink

Ink Regular PS with

Eradicator Regular PS 1% Dye A

resistance to eradication

Light to Medium Cancellation Marks

Before After Before After

Erasure Erasure Erasure Erasure

A excellent poor excellent good

B excellent poor excellent good

C excellent poor excellent fair

D excellent poor excellent fair

Regular to Heavy Cancellation Marks

A excellent fair to poor excellent excellent

B excellent fair to poor excellent excellent

C excellent fair to poor excellent excellent

D excellent poor excellent excellent

7. The effect of water soaking on cancellation

marks on the 100th Anniversary Mail Order

stamp having light to medium and regular to

heavy cancellation marks.

„ , . Cancellation Ink Soaking

Time Regular PS with

hrs

.

Regular PS 1% Dye A

Light to Medium Cancellations

1/4 no effect no effect

24 no effect no effect

Regular to Heavy Cancellations

1/4 no effect no effect

24 no effect no effect

Tl£ CO£

<D

H rH o 00 ON 00 CO rH r~ cm CO

Cn r- CM o rH rH rH "=* 00 cn 00

fd Cn co in rH CO CN r- rH

4-> fd rH

CO Eh O

qj Pu • Cu

in td

0) CM co

m V£5 rH Ch ON Cn^ LD lvO 1 1 00 ON ON

fd rd £ CO rH 1 1 1 CO

a,

ur Eh

M CN rH

CU > E fd cu

rd Cn a,

+J

O fd e ^ n o in LT1 o o CN ON CO CO rH

co 4-1 tord £

4J

H

CM CN) CN] o

ON ON CN

ON

00 o

rH

QJ 0 CO rH

Cn Cu • fd QJ

4-> TJ

CO o CN o rH fd O T! £ 0 c 2 H

in

O

CM

rH o >03

O

*£> CN] 00

rH CO oCO CN CN in QJU QJ c U U o

TJ

"3 QJ U 5

Cn £ W CJ

fd ^ 0 W £ £ ,_, £

•H 0)H

Cn

rH

<*

O

CM

ON00

CN] 1 O1 11 11 vT in o O

CN COCO

4-1 0

fd -H £ rd Cn 00 rH CN rH <£ 4-> 0 4-> rd CO 4-> fd •H cn Eh £

4J 0 QJ -H

fd fi) CU cn £

rH o. 0 Jh rH fd £ QJ

(U P-i lo ro ON

O rH 4-> 4-1

u Cn^ • QJ c it? £ co O rH CN] m o o CN CO o rH QJ TJ

fd Eh

H CN] CO CN) rH rH CNU

u , | \j 1 QJ

O ^ CN]

4-1 rrt QJ o _p cn CU TJ QJ r1 fd 6 ^ rH ON O CO QJ CO >i 4-> fd £ TJ (d 4J cn 4-> H o r- rH o O o o rH U O H 0 CO rH CN) CN CN] CN CN] 0

rH CU

U <£ -H QJ U

Sh fd

rd o CM CO o r- CN

m CO QJ

U CO

4-> o £ ro o rH o o o rH o o rH o £ £

0) 2 H CM

H CN] CN 0 H £ •H

qj 4-> cu V) CO CO Cd c £ £ t s in cn 0 U 0 O o u 4-> T! c H TJ QJ TS •H TJ 0) TJ •H TJ QJ T3 QJ £

CD +J if)

u 4J

U CO 4-1U CO Jh

—• £ 0

rd rd

— rd

u fd rd

— rd

U rd rd

— rd

u QJ

U

QJ £ TS TS QJ £ TJ TJ QJ £ TJ Ti 0) CU CJ rH o •H £ £ CO •H £ CO £ CO •H C CO £ CO CO X! -H e rd rd ^- — e rd rd — rd rd

fd 4-1

u Sh 4-1 4-1

u

u 4-) - 4->uu 4J ^ 4-> £ O

Eh rd QJ QJ in £ co i X QJ QJ tn £ CO I X 0) QJ cn £ CO 1 X -H

O

rH CO 4-1 o CO CO 4-1

O CO CO 4-1O CO rH Cu qj ts • H TJ — QJ TJ -h TJ —' QJ TJ -H TJ >1 CO

a) TJ QJ 4-> QJ - TJ QJ 4-1 0) CN] TJ 0) 4-) QJ » rH 0 u IX 4-> rd 4-> U o IX 4-> fd 4-> u 1 IX 4J fd 4J U £ £ c fd m rd H rd 0 o 44 rd -h fd O rd -h fd o O -H

rd rH o e > E rH - O e > 6 U - 0 6 > gu •£

U £ -H QJ •H >H £ •H QJ •H

U c -H Q) •H >-i QJ 4-J Cn rd 4-> TS 4-1 QJ rd • 4J TJ 4J QJ M fd • 4J TJ 4-1 QJ •£ -H

QJ 0) o CO CO £ QJO CO COC QJO co CO Eh ^

PS

Ww

H £ 2 W

w

H S 2 w

W

form NF-5-114A .i-7<i U.S. DE.PT. Or COMM. BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA

SH'EET

1. PUBLICATION OR REPORT NO. NBSIR 73-194

2. (.iov't Accession

No.

3. Recipient's Accession No.

4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5. Publication Date Performance of Cancellation Inks on Partially

Tagged Gravure Postage Stamps

6. Performing Organization Code

7. AUTHOR(S)

E. L. Graminski and M. R. Brockman

8. Performing Organization

NBSIR 73-194

10. Project/ Task/ U'ork Unit No. 4110448

9. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20234

11. Contract/Grant No. USPS/NBS 72-1-01619

j 13. Type of Report & Period j Covered • -i ti A Final Report

9/3/72-3/3/7 3

12. Sponsoring Organization Name and Address

U.S. Postal Service

Washington, D.C. 20260 14. Sponsoring Agency Code

15. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

16. ABSTRACT (A 200-word or less factual summary of most significant information. If document includes a significant

bibliography or literature survey, mention it here.)

The ink used in tagging postage stamps by the gravure printing

process causes cancellation inks to perform unsatisfactorily. The

impervious film formed by the tag ink retards or prevents penetration of ink vehicle and pigment into the stamp and also results in

a smooth stamp surface which causes cancellation marks to be easily

removed by erasure. Means for improving cancellation ink performance

on gravure stamps have been found which involve modification of the

cancellation inks and incomplete coverage of tag inks on gravure

stamps

17. key words (Alphabetical order, separated by semicolons) Cancellation ink; gravure postage

stamps; ink erasure test; ink modification; ink penetration test;

18. AVAILABILITY STATEMENT 19. SECURITY CLASS

(THIS REPORT)

21. NO. OF PAGES

1 1 UNLIMITED.

UNCLASSIFIED

£3 FOR OFFICIAL DISTRIBUTION. DO NOT RELEASE

TO NTIS.

20. SECURITY CLASS

(THIS PAGE)

UNCLASSIFIED

22. Price

USCOMM-DC 66244-P71