IMPROVEMENTS IN POSTAGE AND SIMILAR STAMPS
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN POSTAGE AND SIMILAR STAMPS." A communication from
abroad by William Wallace Bierce, of Memphis, Tennessee, United States of
America, Manufacturer.
Sealed the 17th April 1877, and dated the 26th October 1870.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 26th October 1876.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firin of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN POSTAGE AND SIMILAR STAMPS."
A communication from abroad by William Wallace Bierce, of Memphis, Tennessee,
United States of America, Manufacturer.
The object of this Invention is to produce a stamp adapted for postal and revenue
purposes which can be cancelled readily, and so effectually that it cannot be restored
and re-used.
The said Invention consists in a paper stamp a portion of the face of which
(preferably the centre) is raised above its contiguous parts, and is either wholly or
partially surrounded with perforations or indentations; also a paper stamp a portion
of the face of which is raised and surrounded with perforations or indentations, as
above described, when the corresponding portion of the back thereof is unprovided
or uncoated with mucilage or other adhesive material.
In the accompanying Drawing Figure 1 is a plan of the face of my stamp ; Figure 2
is a sectional view through the centre of the same.
A represents the raised central portion surrounded with perforations or inden-
tations B, B.
The stamps may be printed in sheets from engraved plates in appropriate designs
and colors, and the embossing or raising of the portion of the face of the stamp
may be accomplished at the same time. The perforations or indentations surrounding
the raised portion may also be formed at the time of printing by having a series of
dies engraved in the plate in the form desired for the perforations or indentations.
The paper of the stamp will by the operation of printing be perforated or indented
as desired, and consequently weakened.
The backs of the printed sheets of stanips may be entirely covered with mucilage

page_text: .
in the usual way. If however it is desired that the portion of the back of the
stamps which corresponds to the raised portion of the face thereof should be
rendered non-adhesive a form or shield can be used which will protect such portions
when the mucilage is applied. Stamps thus prepared may be applied to letters,
envelopes, or other packages, in the same manner as those in common use.
The advantages claimed for stamps of this construction are twofold,-
First. When such stamps are cancelled in the usual manner by stamping them with
ink, either by hand or by machinery, the cancellation mark cannot be obliterated
by washing or by the use of chemicals assisted by washing and rubbing, as is the
case to a large extent with the stamps now in use, without defacing the stamp to
such a degree that it will be readily detected; this results from the fact that a
material portion of the stamp is raised and provided with perforations or indentations
by which the substance of the paper is weakened, so that any attempt to so wash or
rub the surface of the face of the stamp, as would be necessary to efface the
cancellation mark, would by contact with the edge of the raised surface cause it to
be wholly or partially broken away from the main body of the stamp, and thus
made unavailable for a second use; and also from the further fact that as the fibre
of paper is cut or broken by the perforations or indentations the ink used in
cancellation will become by capillary attraction and otherwise more perfectly
incorporated with the substance of the stamp, and consequently will be more
difficult of erasure than would be the case were the cancellation mark placed
directly upon the finished face of the stamp as usual.
Second. Such stamps can be rapidly and effectively cancelled without the use of
ink. This can be conveniently accomplished by the use of a brush made of stiff
bristles or small wire, the ends of which are cut off square. By passing such a
brush rapidly and under great pressure over the face of the stamp the central
portion by reason of its elevation and its surrounding perforations or indentations
will be torn up from the body of the stamp and generally be carried entirely away
by the brush. The thorough cancellation of the stamps will be greatly facilitated
if the raised and perforated portions are unprovided with mucilage, and consequently
not united to the envelope on which the stamps are fixed. This mode of cancellation
will be found convenient and effective in all small post offices in which cancellation
by machinery is out of the question.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I claim,
First. A postage or other stamp a portion of the face of which is raised above the
contiguous parts thereof, and is surrounded with perforations or indentations, as
above described and for the purpose specified.
Second. A postage or other stamp a portion of the face of which is raised and
surrounded with perforations or indentations when the corresponding portion of the
back thereof is uncoated with adhesive material, as above described and for the
purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
WN. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)
ROB™.