WATERMARKS

Watermarked paper is used in the stamp printing process to mark the paper with an identifying mark. The watermark design is formed on a mold or pressure roller. During the paper making process the design is impressed into the paper. These impressed designs make the paper thinner in the image area making the paper darker in these area when placed against a dark surface. Therefore, they become visible. The design on the paper can be a crown, stars, letters or just about any kind of design. The watermark can easily be seen on some stamps and cannot be seen on other stamps. For instance the watermark designs shown below are easily seen and do not require any special process to see them.

Watermark Samples

Some watermarks cannot be seen until you hold them up to a light, others required a drop of watermark fluid before they can be seen. And some can barly be seen. You can also use special filters to bring out watermarks. These filters are colored and blend in with the stamp color revealing the watermark. As with everything you must take percaution when detecting watermarks. Some inks will dissolve when exposed to watermark fluid or even water. Therefore, you must research the kind of ink and paper used to print the stamp. If no catalogs are available, and you have a large number of a certain stamp, experiment with one stamp using the process you planned. If no damage can be seen when finished, the process is safe.

As a collector. You will find watermarks very useful in identifying a stamp. Some stamps that are identical will have watermark, and some will not. A good stamp catalog like Scotts stamps catalogs will have this information. You only need to verify what type of watermark the stamp has if any.

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