Today I am happy to present again a contribution of our member Werner Rath. He shows us stamps of the landscape issue of Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1906 with different perforations. I must admit, I myself was not really interested in perforations, but by reading up for this contribution, I have learned again a lot.
The perforation holes are internationally calculated on 2 cm, e.g. perforation 12 means: 12 perforation holes per 2 cm. For mixed perforations (different perforations on at least three sides), the perforation – viewed from the front of the stamp – is first measured on the top, then on the right, then on the bottom and finally on the left.
A nice example of many mixed perforations is the landscape set of Bosnia Herzegovina 1906 with its many perforation variations. The “normal set” perforated 12 ½ is known by many collectors. But it also exists in other perforations, which were studied more closely by the Canadian Coleman and designated with a scale.
Landscape set Bosnia-Herzegovina 1906 with various perforations
- Cut: Coleman 0
- Perforated 6 ½: Coleman 1
- Perforated 9 ¼: Coleman 2
- Perforated 12 ½: Coleman 3
- Perforated 10 ½: Coleman 4
- Perforated 5 ¼: Coleman 5 and
- Perforated 13 ½: this toothing exists only on 6 and 20H and has not been blended
- Perforated 5 ¼: there are no 4 sided perforated stamps.
On the set provided by Werner (above) there are now the following perforations:
Postage Stamp: 1H cut Coleman 0
Postage Stamp: 2H perforated 6 ½ Coleman 1
Postage Stamp: 3H perforated 9 ¼ Coleman 2
Postage Stamp: 5H marked 12 ½ Coleman 3
Postage Stamp: 6H gez 13 ½ “Normal” perforation
Postage Stamp: 10H gez 10 ½ Coleman 4
Postage Stamp: 20H mixed perforation: Coleman 5-2-3-5
Postage Stamp: 25H mixed perforation: Coleman 0-3-3-3
Postage Stamp: 30H mixed perforation: Coleman 1-1-2-2
Postage Stamp: 35H Mixed perforation: Coleman 2-1-1-3
Postage Stamp: 40H Mixed perforation: Coleman 2-3-2-4
Postage Stamp: 45H Mixed perforation: Coleman 2-5-3-3
Postage Stamp: 50H Mixed perforation: Coleman 3-1-1-2
Postage Stamp: 1K mixed teeth: Coleman 4-3-2-3
Postage Stamp: 2K mixed teeth: Coleman 5-3-3-3
Postage Stamp: 5K mixed perforation: Coleman 5-5-2-2
Maybe someone – inspired by Werner’s contribution – now wants to take a closer look at stamps with regard to perforations. I certainly do. How there were so many mixed perforations, especially in this issue, is not yet clear to me. Maybe someone here knows more. If so, please send feedback to rosenegg @telemax.at.
Addendum:
In response to my inquiry as to how the mixed perforations came about, Werner sent me another article from Dr. Ferchenbauer’s handbook. Here it is noted that there is no official documentation on the origin of this variety of mixed perforations. Most likely, they were created by the ” random ” vertical and horizontal use of perforation strips. The intention may have been to give stamps with the special perforations as preferential pieces to special persons. This was already done in a previous stamp series in 1905. However, the mixed perforations of 1906 were put on regular sale, and are now sought-after collector’s items.
Because of the random perforation of the sheets, the frequency of occurrence of a particular value in the series in a particular perforation pattern is purely a matter of chance. “Matching perforated” sets are also difficult if not impossible to find, as not all values have been found in all perforation patterns. Counterfeiters have also recognized this and “faked” the missing values quite early. Therefore, special care is required here.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)