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Arms 10/- to £2 overprinted 'SPECIMEN' plus 17 values to
5/- Arms including a few QEII values, in c.1953 dull red/grey collector's
pack with no printer's imprint, the stamps are unmounted. Very scarce pack.
To cater for the collector market, samples of current issue stamps were available in
post office packs. To reduce their face value cost, all such stamps were either cancelled
to order (cto) or, for values 5 shillings and above, overprinted 'specimen'.
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Generally (and specifically in the case of the Arms series) post
office sheets, not the printsheet, were overprinted in a single operation. The forme used
consisted of standard electrotype and each cliche of the 60 subjects shows minor
differences. However, two subjects of the form, R2/1 and R2/7 are sufficiently different
that they are popularly collected. The same overprinting forme was employed for all
values and hence the varieties are found in the same positions for all denominations.
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Standard overprint 2.5mm high |
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Row 2 / 7 'Speomin' |
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Row 2 / 1. 'IM' Joined, 3mm high  |
 
std 2.5 vs 3mm high 'specimen'
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3mmx15½mm 'SPECIMEN' Overprint BW #271xc, [ACSC
states that only 180 stamps were overprinted with the 3mm 'SPECIMEN', & that
they may not have all been sold in collectors' sets. "...Perhaps 15 examples
are currently recorded"]
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