Queensland 1 shilling perforation varieties

With one very rare exception, all the Queensland 2nd sideface 1 shilling  stamps were perforated using the same The C Line 12 Perforation Machine. The gauge was from 12 to 12¼, however, there were several small lengths of holes gauging 12½ in a section of about 17.8 cm from one end of the line.

This post concerns itself not so much with the exact perforation but rather the strikingly different ways this perforation looked like and the reasons for this. In other words, how is it possible for the one machine to exhibit such a large variation in the way it perforated stamps?

The single line or guillotine machine consisted of a bar fitted with needles (punches) generally accurately spaced, which when the bar dropped fitted into holes in the bed of the machine. It was worked by treadle; the sheet or sheets of stamps being placed on the bed, and the bar or guillotine when descended cut out one row of perforations which extended right across the sheet.

When first used, provided the needles fit accurately into the holes in the bed, the machine will perforate with large clean cut holes. As the needles wear, or the edges of the holes in the bed become worn, the perforations are smaller and the edges rough and broken; it is then that the renewal of needles and bed needs to be undertaken. New needles are placed in the bar to gauge as before; they are accurately spaced, generally by means of a vernier; a flat plate of iron for the bed is taken, thinly coated with wax, and upon this an impression of the needles in the bar is made, holes are drilled where the impressions show and the plate is then case hardened, i.e., it is heated and then plunged into cold water or oil.

The machine therefore ranged from producing large round clean-cut holes, the discs of paper being usually removed on all four sides of the stamp to producing a distinct rough of “fluffy” perforation.

The main reason was that an old and worn perforation head is far less sharp than a new one. You may get sharp holes one week and blunter ones the following week yet the same gauge and machine is used. A bit like shaving with a month old blade versus a new one. Once the needles were renewed the whole process would start over again, with clean cut holes gradually becoming more worn and fluffy.

Other reasons could exacerbate this process. For example, the quality and 'weave' of the paper. If it was used for a few shipments of paper, any change, change of supplier, even in the source trees used, could have caused a different perforation fluff cut as well as blunt perforation tip end. If a different gauge of thickness pin, (depending on supply), was used, very different results could be seen despite it still being gauge 12.

Another factor was how many sheets were perforated at the same time. Fewer sheets at a time would equate to cleaner holes, while more sheets would equate to fluffier holes.

In other words, there could be an almost infinite variation from "New Pins / Crisp Paper / few sheets" to "Worn Pins / Woolly Paper, more sheets." And as my examples below show, the differences really were very marked. 

This is a "pull" from the C Line 12 Perforation Machine that was used for the 1 shilling 2nd sideface issue

Here are some examples from my collection of clean cut perforations:

And here are some "fluffy" examples from my collection:

And finally here are some pairs from my collection showing sharp and fluffy perforations and what the corresponding holes look like in the middle of the pairs.

Queensland C Line 12 Perforation Machine.

This extract on the The C Line 12 Perforation Machine is taken from The Postage Stamps of Queensland by A.F. Basset Hull, 1930, pp. 47-8. The C machine was in general use for 2nd sideface postage stamps until the installation of a comb machine in 1890, although the The 4d., 6d., and ls. denominations of the 1882 type continued to be perforated by the C machine, as the comb (B1) did not register with the impressions on the sheet. However, in 1892 and 1893 respectively the 4d. and 6d. plates were modified to suit the comb machine by spacing the electrotypes farther apart in a vertical direction.

This machine, made by Messrs. Hughes & Kimber of London, was obtained on 2nd January, 1874 (Stanley Glbbons’ Monthly Journal, Vol. VI., page 157), and was certainly used for part of the only printing of the 1s. in deep mauve on the truncated star paper on 19th February, 1874.

It was a single-line machine, operated by a treadle, the length of the line of holes being 25 inches (63.5 cm), and as there were 60 holes in 100 mm. and 182 holes in 300 mm., the gauge was from 12 to 12¼. There were, however, several small lengths of holes gauging 12½ in a section of about 7 inches (17.8 cm) from one end of the line. This shows in a perforation pull, but may not necessarily represent an early state of the machine.

At first the machine gave large round clean-cut holes, the discs of paper being usually removed on all four sides of the stamp. Later on the perforation deteriorated, possibly partly owing to the softer paper used for the electrotyped issues, the ½d., Cameo, on the thick Beer Duty paper of 1895 having a distinct rough perforation.

From 1892 onwards the machine was principally employed in perforating Duty stamps, and about 1899 it seems to have been fitted with new pins, as we find a clean cut perforation 12 in the very rare variety of the ½d., 1898, with figures in all four corners, and the current ½d., ld., and 2d. issued in 1905.

The C machine was in general use for postage stamps until the installation of a comb machine in 1890, when it was used to perforate the Bradbury Wilkinson type high values, and for occasional use when there was a stress of work, or a machine under repair. In addition, it was in general use for perforating Duty stamps.

The 4d., 6d., and ls. denominations of the 1882 type continued to be perforated by the C machine, as the comb (B1) did not register with the impressions on the sheet, but in 1892 and 1893 respectively the 4d. and 6d. plates were modified to suit the comb machine by spacing the electrotypes farther apart in a vertical direction. There is no evidence of any of these wider spaced sheets having been passed through the C machine.

A point of peculiar interest lies in the irregular section of about 7 inches (17.8 cm) from one end of the line of holes, mentioned above, which was probably caused by the further use of the machine for postcards and letter-cards.

In order to prevent the perforations tearing apart too readily, this part of the line was modified by temporarily removing some of the pins. For the 1891 reply postcard every alternate pin was removed, every third pin being removed for the letter-cards issued about October, 1895, and in 1902-03.

The last postage stamps to receive the 12 perforation were the 5s. and £1 Bradbury Wilkinson type, lithographed on Crown Q paper, which were issued during the first half of 1906.

Perforation pull for the C Line 12 Perforation Machine

Queensland 2 shilling brown - perforation, watermark and paper

PAPER: Two types of paper were used. The first type was produced by De La Rue and was an intense white, more or less coarse and crinkly with little or no graining apparent from the back surface and was used until April 1896 when the second paper was produced by Alexander Cowan and sons following the transfer of the contract to them. It was a wove paper, not as white as the first, smooth to the touch and with a graining very apparent from the back surface. The watermarks for both types of papers were the same, Stanley Gibbons type 6, crown over Q, first introduced in 1879, and the same dandy-roll was used for both.

Stanley Gibbons type 6, crown over Q watermark

The De La Rue paper was used for both the 1889 and 1890 issues while the Cowan paper would have been used for the later printings of the 1890 issue as the paper was only received in around May 1896 and was used from August of that year. The Cowan paper was supplied in books of 500 sheets each of 120 watermarks. The placement of the watermark is very haphazard, occuring all over  the stamp. On the right hand stamp below, for eample, the watermark is in the bottom left-hand corner, whereas on the left hand stamp it is in the centre, fractionally over to the right.

The difference between the two papers is really quite marked. On the left is the Cowan paper  and on the right the De La Rue paper, which is noticeably whiter. When you have examples of both in front of you it is possible to see the difference from the colour alone.

On the left is the Cowan wove paper with the De La Rue paper on the right. The stamp on the left has graining whereas the stamp on the right has none, being smooth to the touch. For further information on the De La Rue Crown Q (2nd Type) Paper see here and for the Cowan Crown Q paper, see here.

PERFORATION: For the 1889 issue the perforation 12 was from a single line machine manufactured by Messrs. Hughes and Kimber, London and obtained in January 1874. In 1890 the new vertical comb-perforating machine gauging almost exactly 12.75 x 12.75 was introduced. It was obtained from J. Buncle & Co., Melbourne. The perforations are designated by Stanley Gibbons as 12.5, 13. It appears that these machines were used interchangeably as I have many examples of the perf line 12 machine being used on stamps with the Cowan paper. For further information on the Hughes and Kimber single line machine see here, for the Buncle comb-perforating machine see here.

Perforation 12 line

Perforation 12.75 Comb