The Calumet news., 1911-12-04
PRINTING OF STAMPS.

one Of the first things a stamp col
lector needs to learn is the difference
between engraved. autographed and
surface printed or Typographical stamps
The first adhesive postage stamp ev-
er issued-the one-penny, 1s40 of
Great Britain-was engraved and prac-
tically the same process that was
used then is used now I'm producing
our present United States stamps
say The Youths Companion. The
first step in engraving is to carve the
design OF the stamp on the surface Of
soft steel plate. This plate is then
hardened, and hub" of soft steel
is rolled over II under great pressure,
and takes a reversed impression: that
is. the lines which were cut i'm on the
plate are now i'm relief.
Sheets of 400.
The hub, I'm turn, is hardened and
rolled over fresh plate of soft steel
II copper, transferring as many i'm
pressions as are desired for sheet Of
stamps. United States stamps are gem
orally printed i'm sheets of 40O-twenty
each way.
The final plate. like the first, has the
lines which are TO show i'm color on the
stamp sunk in 1t. After the plate has
been linked, the surface is wiped clean,
leaving ink i'm the lines only. The paper,
dampened, is pressed on the plate and
absorbs the ink i'm colored ridges.
But fifty years ago not every stamp
printing establishment had the facili-
ties for transferring and multiplying
engravlngs. For the first issues of
Mauritius and the so-called Sydney
Views of New South wales. for ex-
ample, the plates were filed with sep
lrate hand engraved copies Of the orig
lnal designs-with the result that no
two stamps on a sheet were exactly
alike.
Lithographing Work.
The method of lithographing stamps
consists i'm drawing the design in
greasy ink on the surface of a special
kind of absorbent stone. The ink Is
then rubbed off, and there remain
grease lines i'm the stone Before the
printing ink is applied the stone is wet,
and as the grease lines alone repel the
water, they alone take" the printing
ink. 1t will not stick to the wet por-
tions of the design, which are there
fore white in the finished stamp.
In order that it may not be neces-
sary to draw the design of each stamp
separately-as the Mauritius stamps
were engraved separately-and also
that the lines may be finer than II
drawn by hand, It is customary TO en-
grave the original design on metal, to
take Impressions from this in transfer
ink, and to transfer to the stone as
many of them as may be needed to
make up a sheet.
How to Tell Difference.
You can usually tell the difference
between engraving and lithographing
by moving the edge of the finger nail
lightly over the surface of the stamp.
The engraved stamp will feel hard and
rough. like the surface of a fresh bank
note. the autographed stamp will feel
smooth. The lines Of the design will
appear less sharply defined than in
the engraved stamp, an' the general
will be duller. BY apply
ing these tests you will be able to dis
tinguish easily between the stamps of
Hungary belonging TO the photograph
ed issue of 1871 and those belonging toI
the engraved issue of 1872. or betweenI
the autographed and engraved stamps
of any country.
Surface printing or typography. is
the process used in most of the recent
issues of France, Germany, Great Brit
ain and the British colonies.