A graphite lined stamp is a

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

on which vertical lines of electro-conductive

graphite Graphite () is a crystalline form of the element carbon. It consists of stacked layers of graphene. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Synthetic and natural graphite are consumed on large ...

are printed on the reverse. Graphite lined stamps were used in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

from 1957 to 1960 as an experiment in the automation of mail sorting."Great Britain" in ''Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps 1840-1970'',

Stanley Gibbons The Stanley Gibbons Group plc is a company quoted on the London Stock Exchange specialising in the retailing of collectable postage stamps and similar products. The group is incorporated in London. The company is a major stamp dealer and philat ...

, 2008, page GB17.

Usage and appearance

In the United Kingdom,

lines were used exclusively on five stamps of the

Wilding series The Wildings were a series of definitive postage and revenue stamps featuring the Dorothy Wilding photographic portrait of Queen Elizabeth II that were in use between 1952 and 1971. The Wildings were the first and only British stamps to featu ...

from December 1957. They appear as one or two black lines printed vertically under the gum. The two lined stamps were to identify ''fully paid'' mail, which eventually became ''first class'' mail, while stamps with only one line paid the ''printed matter'' rate, or ''second class'' mail as it eventually became. On the two lined stamps, the bands are usually found widely spaced so that one appears at either side of the stamp, but they may also be found close together due to printing errors on the one and a half pence stamp. Several other errors of misplaced graphite lines are also known and not all are included in the Stanley Gibbons catalogue. The use of graphite lines was developed by British Post Office scientists in conjunction with the stamp printers

Harrison & Sons Harrison and Sons was a major worldwide engraver and printer of postage stamps and banknotes. History The company was established in 1750 by Thomas Harrison in Warwick Lane, London; in 1839 Thomas Richard Harrison entered into partnership with Jo ...

of High Wycombe and the stamps were first used in an experimental machine at

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. The machine used scanners to detect the graphite lines and to ''face'' the letters so that the stamp was always in the top right corner. The machine could also sort the letters according to the number of graphite lines on the stamps so that fully paid and printed matter stamps were separated. The machine then cancelled the letters. This was the first time that this had been done automatically. From November 1959, graphite lined stamps were issued with

phosphor band A phosphor is a substance that exhibits the phenomenon of luminescence; it emits light when exposed to some type of radiant energy. The term is used both for fluorescent or phosphorescent substances which glow on exposure to ultraviolet or vi ...

s printed on the front of the stamp."Great Britain" in ''Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps 1840-1970'',

, 2008, page GB17-18. Ultimately, graphite band marking was superseded by the use of phosphor band marking which was a more effective form of mail sorting and only phosphor bands remained on Wilding stamps after .

Graphite

The term ''graphite'' refers to the substance ''Naphthadag'' or ''Deflocculated Acheson's Graphite'' which was graphite in a solution of ''naphtha''. This graphite substance went under the brand name ''dag'' which was a registered trademark of Acheson Colloids Ltd. The substance is still a product of the firm today.http://www.ipo.gov.uk/domestic?domesticnum=527337 Registered trademark ''dag''. UK Intellectual Property Office. Retrieved 31 March 2009.

Forgeries

Graphite lined stamps have become very collectable and often command high prices. This has attracted forgers, however, most forgeries are easily identified by comparison with a genuine stamp. Crucially, on the genuine stamps the lines appear ''underneath'' the gum.

Notes and references

External links

Pictures of typical graphite lined stamps.
Postage stamps of the United Kingdom Postal system of the United Kingdom Philatelic terminology

Usage and appearance

Graphite

Forgeries

Notes and references

Further reading

External links