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Thanks, Giles, for your thoughtful response. I had been reading too much German, so apologies for my over-long sentences which on second reading are a bit difficult to follow in places. I shall try to be clearer. I didn't say that 96 AII was a peace-printing, rather that the peace-printing 96 AI in many cases isn't. Perhaps this is a fault of this terminology, though it does work unproblematically for the lower values.
The "peace-printing" of the 3 mark 96AI continued in use throughout the first world-war and well into 1919 and was therefore subject to the same limitations on supply of materials - inks, paper, gum etc - as the supposed "war-printings" 96AII and BII. Did they print so many of these stamps in 1914 that stocks lasted right up until mid-1919? This seems unlikely and the deterioration in quality I detect among this and other later examples of all the 94 - 97 AI "peace-printings" (including expertised copies) argues against this. I have expertised copies of 96AIb used as late as Oct. 1919, and in terms of print quality they are pretty poor and use porous paper so that the ink of the cancel has soaked in and through the paper.
Early copies of 96AI seem perfectly easy to distinguish in general appearance (ie much better quality and shade), not just by the date of the postmark.
Since the peace-printings of the 3 marks stamp continued in use so late, I raised the question whether there are in fact any real differences between late copies of 96AI and the post-war 96AII? What were the technical conditions that distinguish printings of 96AI from 96AII? Are there actual and detectable physical characteristics that make a late copy of 96AI used say on 4th May 1919 different from 96AII, which is first recorded on 5th May? Or is this a sign of a German taste for systematic categorisation not matched by reality? In Anglo-Saxon pragmatic terms, as a collector, am I wasting my money trying to obtain a copy of 96AII when the only real difference is the expertiser's mark on the back?
It is a valid question because the difference in value between the 2 stamps is so great, at € 35 for 96AIb (late copies always seem to be the b shade) as against € 650 for 96AII. I find Michel's
distinction of shade unhelpful - blackish or black-grey-violet as opposed to blackish or black-violet-grey - with nuances (Töne) in each! The distinction in shade can't be due to the
availability of printing inks as the same shades of 96AI occur in 96BII, which I have seen used right up until 1922.
There is obviously scope for much greater research among all these mark values and I should be interested in pursuing this further if anyone shares this interest. |
