Evening star., 1932-02-14
RARITY IN STAMPS
! DUE TO HUMIDITY
Bureau Officials Explain Off,
Center Perforation Noted
by Collectors.

Philatelists, who have observed with
interest and occasionally with regret
the tendency OF United States postage
stamps to be offcenter as related to
perforation, have been curious to know
why this is so frequently the case. The
explanation. as stated by the executives
Of the Bureau of Engraving, Is that
humidity is responsible.
United States stamps" the bureau
officials say. ARE printed by what Is
known as the wet process as compared
with the stamps of certain other coun-
tries which are printed by the dry
process United States stamps in the
making arc subject to contraction and
expansion under the influence Of at
mospheric conditions. The sheets have
tendency to shrink or spread as they
are printed. The difference is slight,
sometimes almost microscopic. but
rating machines the actual printed i'm
preston Of a given stamp may not fall
in the exact center of the perforating
devices designed to separate it from the
other stamps in the same sheet"
Differences Escape Many.
To the average person every stamp
appears to be almost exactly like every
o, her stamp Of the same denomination.
JtJ tO Tie '"hllltQ COllcClOI every S1Iti -
(iTers from every other stamp in the
character of its perforation. Not all
thc stGmps of any sheet are perforate /
c-;actly allk>. There is invariably a
distinction readily discernible on close
examination. Collectors. for this rec
scH. pursue variations Some specialize
in Stamps as accurately centered as
possible. Others seek stamps as vio-
lcHtly offcenter as may be found.
The Olympic games commemorative
stamp, issued February and placed en-
sale at Lake Placid N. Y, was printed
f.cm fat plates. A total Of $4,000 900
CT this variety was run off.
The series Of George Washington BIZ
centennial stamps was printed from ro-
tcry plates. Therefore, these issues are
rl.croscopically larger than f1at-plate
scnps commonly are. The Washington
scrps Will be turned out by the
bureau during the entire year. 1t
= cf interest to philatelists that the
C".o-s Of the Washington stamps were
Gccidod, not recently, but many years
ag1. They follow the color scale adopt
cd by the Post Office Department in
latoa quantities of package mail. The
c'c:ks have been trained to recognize
rui"k!v ana accurately given color as
Indicative OF a certain value. To the
az age person the difference between
clr shade and another is inconsequen-
til. but to postal employees it is an in
valuable help. 1t is for this reason that
the scent Washington stamp Is OF the
:c~'e shade of blue as the Scent Roose-
III rtamp. which it has succeeded. and
IL l0-cenc Washington stamp is OF the
c~~'e shade CT yellow as its predecessor
adorned with the portrait OF Monroe.
Three Shades Of Carmine.
Collectors have discovered that the
2 en-. Washington stamp may be had
il thrce different shades of carmine.
IN consensus IS that Of the Bicenten-
r.al stamps, the 2. 8, and are the
u.7ct interesting and attractive.
Among the old stamps, displaced by
the new issues, the 4-cent Taft stamp
and the second Lucent Harding stamp
~, considered most likely to become
zero and valuable. These were used 1or
cn,y a relatively short period of time
- compared with the other stamps OF
t. same set. Both are available with
complete perforation and in coil form
vi h perforation only on the sides.