Errors result when some aspect of the production process is accidentally omitted. Most errors available for the Scottish Machin regionals are stamps that have phosphor bands omitted and stamps with perforations missing. Should a collector strive for completion, he might want to include one example of each error in his collection. Including errors would bring a total collection of Scottish regional Machin definitives to about 200 stamps. Because errors are much scarcer than common stamps, both the time it would take to complete a collection with errors and the amount of money it would cost would increase substantially.
Collectors can create their own definition of completeness, and that's part of the fun.
Some will find it satisfying to complete the simplified collection, and some will enjoy the challenge of finding the varieties for a more specialized collection. Other collectors might have the money and want to pursue the challenge of including errors in a Machin collection. For the complete story, subscribe to Linn's Stamp News . Linn's Stamp News, of Sidney, Ohio.