Stamp Collecting Encyclopaedia Letter G

Filahome Stamp Collecting Encyclopaedia

A B C D E F G I j K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Graphite lines

In Great Britain stamps were issued bearing one or two vertical lines of black electrically conductive graphite on the back under the gum in the period 1957-1961.
These stamps were used in connection with automatic sorting machinery. In 1959 phosphor bands, printed on the front, replaced the graphite lines.

Grill

A grill is an impression or embossing made on a stamp to break up the paper structure. By applying this technique erasure of a cancellation was prevented.
Grills were applied on some old stamps of the United States and Peru.

Guilloche

This French word stands for a decoration in the form of a rosette and was a technical invention of the Frenchman Guillot. In philately this word is often referred to as: engraving formed by an interlacing network engraved by mechanical means.
In 1940 The Netherlands issued a series named "Guilloche". On definitives of the design by Chris Lebeau an overprint was printed that consisted of a curly interlacing network and the figure(s) of the new face value. Curiously the Dutch named these stamps "Tralie-zegels" (bar stamps) because these stamps were in use during World War 2 and the people found themselves prisoners.

Gum

Gum is used to fix a stamp on a letter or parcel. This is done by moisten the gum, but since 1990 many countries issue self-adhesive stamps, whereby no licking is needed.
An unused stamp is normally to be preserved with its original gum.
If you buy old or more expensive mint stamps be aware of forgery. Stamps can be regummed, i.e. provided with a faked appearance of original gum.
Stamps intended for tropical countries have often been produced without gum.
In the early days gum was applied by hand with brushes on the sheets. This was done after printing but before perforating. Later on, machine gumming became the practice. The coating of gum being applied to one side of the paper is done in the same way as when the surface of a paper might be given a surface colour or chalk coating. Nowadays printers of stamps seldom gum the paper themselves.

Gum crease

Gum crease is a damaging process of gum and therefore can be found on the back of an unused stamp.
Crease ironed out of the paper of a stamp is clearly visible in the gum.
In some cases the crease is actually caused by warping and cracking of the gum.
Discolouring of the gum caused by tropical humidity or salt air is called gum stain.

Gutter

A gutter is the space left between the stamps to allow for their separation or perforation.
The unprinted sections of the sheet between rows and columns left free in order to divide the printing sheet into the selling sheets are called gutters too.
Gutter pairs are two stamps with the selvage or gutter between the two stamps.
A guttersnipe is a misscut of a pane leaving the entire gutter and occasionally a portion of the adjoining stamp.