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In philately, an invert error occurs when part of a stamp is printed upside-down. Inverts are perhaps the most spectacular of postage stamp errors, not only because of their striking visual appearance, but because some are quite rare, and highly valued by stamp collectors.
Invert errors, or "inverts" for short, most commonly arise when producing multi-colored stamps via multiple passes through the printing press. It is easy for a printing plant worker to insert a half-finished sheet the wrong way around, resulting in the inverts. Such an error being so obvious, nearly all misprinted sheets are caught and destroyed before they leave the plant, and still more are caught during distribution or at the post office before being sold.
A much less common situation is for the invert to be embedded into the printing plate or stone, most famously the case for the Inverted Swan of early Western Australia.
An invert may be characterized as an "inverted center" or "inverted frame" when the underlying paper is watermarked or otherwise carries a basic orientation. It is possible for a single-color stamp to be inverted relative to watermark, but this is called an "inverted watermark" rather than an "inverted stamp". Depending on the positioning of stamps within their sheet, the invert may be perfectly centered (as with the Inverted Jenny), or offset.
Not all inverts are spectacular. The Dag Hammarskjöld invert of 1962 consists only of a misprinted yellow layer, and it is not immediately clear that the white area is not a deliberate element of the design. Early Danish post horn issues have an ornate frame that is almost perfectly symmetrical, and an inverted frame can be detected only by minute examination.
Overprints may also be inverted. Many of these are common, since the expedient nature of many overprints means that the production process is not so carefully controlled.
Rare inverts often have significant monetary worth. Inverted Jennies have long sold for over US$100,000 apiece, and the St. Lawrence Seaway inverts of Canada approach those numbers. High prices for inverts have tempted printing company employees to steal misprinted sheets from the printing plant and attempt to pass them off as genuine, as in the 1996 case of the "Nixon invert".
In 2013 the U. S. Postal Service offered a six-stamp souvenir sheet commemorating the famous Inverted Jenny issue. These stamps replicated the famous upside-down airplane image, but did not duplicate the original 24¢ denomination, instead being valued at $2. To publicize this issue, the Postal Service announced that one hundred sheets bearing six non-inverted Jenny images had also been printed and were being randomly distributed, ensuring that a few fortunate customers who had ordered the normal sheet would instead receive an inverted invert of far greater value. These non-inverts began appearing in public auctions in 2014, fetching high prices. [1]
An overprint is an additional layer of text or graphics added to the face of a postage or revenue stamp, postal stationery, banknote or ticket after it has been printed. Post offices most often use overprints for internal administrative purposes such as accounting but they are also employed in public mail. Well-recognized varieties include commemorative overprints which are produced for their public appeal and command significant interest in the field of philately.
The Inverted Jenny is a 24 cent United States postage stamp first issued on May 10, 1918, in which the image of the Curtiss JN-4 airplane in the center of the design is printed upside-down; it is one of the most famous errors in American philately. Only one pane of 100 of the invert stamps was ever found, making this error one of the most prized in philately.
This is a list of philatelic topics.
The Inverted Swan, a 4-pence blue postage stamp issued in 1855 by Western Australia, was one of the world's first invert errors. Technically, it is the frame that is inverted, not the image of the swan, but it has become commonly known as the Inverted Swan.
In philately, errors, freaks, and oddities (EFO) collectively refers to the wide variety of mistakes that can happen in the production of postage stamps. It encompasses everything from major design errors to stamps that are just poorly printed and includes both some of the most sought-after and expensive of all stamps and others that attract the attention of only a few specialists.
The history of postage stamps and postal history of Malaysia, a state in Southeast Asia that occupies the south of the Malay peninsula and Sarawak and Sabah in the north Borneo, includes the development of postal services in these periods:
The "Nixon invert" was a reputed invert error of the Richard Nixon memorial postage stamp issued by the United States in 1995. Originally reported in January 1996, it drew considerable attention that year; but in December a printing plant employee was arrested on charges of having stolen the misprinted stamps from the plant where he worked, meaning that instead of a legitimate error, they were worthless printer's waste.
The postage stamps of Ireland are issued by the postal operator of the independent Irish state. Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland when the world's first postage stamps were issued in 1840. These stamps, and all subsequent British issues, were used in Ireland until the new Irish Government assumed power in 1922. Beginning on 17 February 1922, existing British stamps were overprinted with Irish text to provide some definitives until separate Irish issues became available. Following the overprints, a regular series of definitive stamps was produced by the new Department of Posts and Telegraphs, using domestic designs. These definitives were issued on 6 December 1922; the first was a 2d stamp, depicting a map of Ireland. Since then new images, and additional values as needed, have produced nine definitive series of different designs.
The CIA invert is a one-dollar value postage stamp error issued by the United States Postal Service. It is one stamp from the Americana series that were produced between 1975 and 1981. The $1 colonial rushlight holder stamp was first issued on July 2, 1979, and one pane of 100 stamps was issued with the dark brown inverted. The lamp candle holder, candle outline and text are inverted relative to the flame. About 95 copies have been accounted for. The stamp's Scott catalogue number is 1610c. This was the first United States stamp issued with a major design element printed upside down since the Dag Hammarskjöld invert error of 1962. As these $1 stamps were printed in sheets of 400, three additional panes of 100 stamps certainly existed at one time, but no trace of these has been discovered.
The Dag Hammarskjöld invert is a 4 cent value postage stamp error issued on 23 October 1962 by the United States Postal Service one year after the death of Dag Hammarskjöld, Secretary-General of the United Nations, in an airplane crash. The stamp, showing the yellow background inverted relative to the image and text, is also known as the Day's Folly after Postmaster General J. Edward Day who ordered the intentional reprinting of the yellow invert commenting, "The Post Office Department is not running a jackpot operation."
The Inverted Head Four Annas of India is a postage stamp prized by collectors. The 1854 first issues of India included a Four Annas value in red and blue. It was one of the world's first multicolored stamps; the Basel Dove preceded it by nine years. However, an invert error occurred during production, showing the head "upside down."
The postal history of Malta began in the early modern period, when pre-adhesive mail was delivered to foreign destinations by privately owned ships for a fee. The earliest known letter from Malta, sent during the rule of the Order of St John, is dated 1532. The first formal postal service on the islands was established by the Order in 1708, with the post office being located at the Casa del Commun Tesoro in Valletta. The first postal markings on mail appeared later on in the 18th century.
Postage stamps of Pakistan are those issued since Pakistan's independence in 1947. Pakistan Post has issued more than 600 sets and singles totalling more than 1300 stamps. Immediately after the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the new Pakistan government was preoccupied with setting up the government so British Indian stamps continued in use without an overprint as was the practice in other countries.
Postage stamp paper is the foundation or substrate of the postage stamp to which the ink for the stamp's design is applied to one side and the adhesive is applied to the other. The paper is not only the foundation of the stamp but it has also been incorporated into the stamp's design, has provided security against fraud and has aided in the automation of the postal delivery system.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of the Nyassa Company.
The Halfpenny Yellow is the first postage stamp issued by the Crown Colony of Malta. Depicting Queen Victoria, it was only valid for local postage and it was originally issued on 1 December 1860. It was the only stamp issued by Malta for two and a half decades, and during this period various reprints were made with differences in colour shade, perforation and watermark. When control of Malta's postal service was transferred to the island's colonial government on 1 January 1885, the stamp was withdrawn and it was replaced by a set of definitive stamps.
The St Paul's Shipwreck 10/- black is a postage and revenue stamp issued by the Crown Colony of Malta on 6 March 1919, and it is generally considered to be the country's rarest and most expensive stamp. It is rare because a very limited quantity of 1530 stamps was printed and it was inadvertently issued prematurely by the Post Office.
The Melita issue is a series of dual-purpose postage and revenue stamps issued by the Crown Colony of Malta between 1922 and 1926, depicting the national personification Melita. They were commemorative stamps since they celebrated the islands' new status as a self-governing colony following a new constitution in 1921, but also a definitive issue intended for regular use over an extended period of time.
The Black Swan is the first postage stamp issued by the British colony of Western Australia in 1854. It illustrates a black swan, a typical Australian animal at the time and was the only image used on Western Australian stamps until 1902.