Stitch Watermarks and Waterlow & Sons paper

[Jeffharris]

The latest edition of the London Philatelist has an interesting article on stitch watermarks [Pg.24]. There is a diagram that shows what this watermark looks like. The article actually refers to the paper used at Dunedin in 1863 to print the N.Z. 2d. Blue Chalon Head stamp. However most of the stitch watermarks are [apparently] very similar in appearance to this one.

According to Bill Purves' notes which appear on Pg. 113 of Lancaster's Handbook, the Waterlow stitch watermark can be found on the halfpenny, one penny and two penny Pictorial issues. His research found that the stitch watermark exists once in every 2,500 stamps. The B.W. specialist catalogue confirms that the stitch watermark can only be located on the three lowest denominations, but it states that they are found once in every 1,500 stamps.

I have just searched through just over 11,000 of these stamps and did not find one! However, whilst this was going on I noticed that there is a great variation in the thickness of these stamps. One 2d. electro. was on paper that was more like thin cardboard. Others are printed on paper that is so thin, you can actually see the outline of the watermark from the front of the stamp without holding it up to the light.

The milling process seems to vary as well. Some stamps have paper with very smooth fronts and the same for the reverse. Others have smooth fronts but feel semi-smooth or rough on the reverse. Then you can have semi-smooth on the front with various finishes on the back. There is also the occasional example which feels rough on the front and smooth on the back, but these are usually stamps which have been printed in error on the reverse side of the paper.

Obviously there was a lot of different types of printing paper used for the Pictorials, but were they all manufactured by Waterlow & Sons? I imagine the answer would be no, in which case do we need to know where they originated from? If we could find this information would we need to reclassify the Pictorials according to the type of paper they were printed on?

[wilbaer]

Hi Jeff,

I just saw your post from 7 years ago, after I had added a new post of my own about the Crown Over A watermarked paper / papers that were used at the time. I have found one 3d Litho Cr/A in particular that seems very thin compared to the majority of the others (and it is not the 1912 version). Here's the new post....

http://tps.org.au/bb/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1404

If you have discovered anything about this anomaly during the past 7 years, I would love to hear about it !

Cheers
Jerry