ESG - Glossary (F)

Elizabethan II Study Group
Journal: The Corgi Times

Glossary

Glossary

Face value - the postage or denomination of a stamp at the time it was sold by the post office. Even a non-denominated stamp has a face value.

Fake - a genuine stamp, cancellation or cover that has been fraudulently altered.

See also: Combination first day cover

First Day Cover

Flaw - a defect in a plate, causing an identifiable variety in the stamp itself.

If the flaw occurs in the same spot on the plate over the entire printing run, it is said to be constant. Most flaws are not constant.

Flaw

Flecked paper - fluorescent fibers imbedded in the stamp paper. A UV light will "excite" these fibers and make them glow. Sometimes referred to as "speckled fluorescence".

Varying amounts of "flecking" may appear in the paper.

Flecked paper

Fluorescence - the reaction of the stamp paper when exposed by an ultraviolet (UV) light. Levels of fluorescence (flrsc) include: Dead, Dull (NF), Low (LF), Medium (MF), High (HF), and Hi-brite (HB). The 'brighter' the fluorescence, the whiter the stamp (under the UV light); the duller varieties are darker (grey to black) under the UV light.

Determining the fluorescence of a stamp is generally subjective in nature.

Paper fluorescence
Flrsc	NF/Dead	Dull	LF	F	MF	HF	HB
pre Abitibi-Price	505	400				485	497
Abitibi-Price	899	884	726	1060		664	640
Harrison	1334-37	1038		-		-
Clark		1006
Rolland	1111-12	1135-38	925b	-	1094	-	-
Peterborough	1251		-	1627	1738	1636	1814
Slater		1154
Coated Papers (TRC)	1589
Fluorescence as seen on back of stamp, except for pre-Abitibi paper with gum arabic adhesive, where fluorescence is measured on front. * All Harrison NF/Dull back paper is NF/Dead on the front. ** All Slater, Clark, Coated (TRC), and Peterborough (surface coated only) papers are NF/Dead on the front. Blank cells indicate no such paper used/known. Cells with - indicate no unique stamp (only on this paper) is known. NF and DEAD paper are deemed to be the same.

There are several instances on Canadian Elizabethan II-era stamps where the printing ink will fluoresce ('glow') when exposed to a UV light. These include:

Unitrade #	Description
749, 750-751	'Canada 12' can be found with fluorescent ink
769, 771	'Canada 14' can be found with fluorescent ink
1673-1680	Different printings may have fluorescent ink throughout
BK365-BK367	Second printing has fluorescent red ink on back cover

The technical term of fluorescence is "emission of radiation, usually as visible light from and only during the absorption of radiation from some other source" (i.e. an ultraviolet light).

Flyspecking - the 'art' of studying hundreds or thousands of a specific stamp looking for minute variations in the hope of finding constant plate varieties.

Fold over - a very dramatic form of variety that results from a corner of the printing paper being folded over during the printing process. This fold can occur before any printing occurs or part way through the printing process.

Fold over

Forgery - any stamp or cover made to deceive a stamp collector.