Four Pence Laureate With Compound Perforations 13x13x12x13 New
Discovery – posted January 2005
The first issues of the 4d Laureate were all perforated
12. The gauge on this early machine was somewhat erratic
along the line of pins, but the essential characteristic
is that it NEVER EXCEEDED gauge 12.
By October 1864, a new perforation machine was introduced
that gauged 13. Once again, the gauge is a bit erratic,
gauging from 12.3 to 13, depending on the location along
the row of perforating pins.
During the summer of 1865, there were paper shortages
that forced the post office to use Tasmanian paper watermarked
with a double lined 4. The first printing on this paper
appeared in August 1865, in dull reddish-rose. Some
of this issue was perforated 12 on the repaired gauge
12 machine, and some of the issue was perforated 13
using the new machine. Still others, were perforated
12 horizontally and perf 13 vertically, although these
are quite scarce.
This unique example, discovered in early 2003, was
perforated along the bottom on the 12 gauge machine,
and along both sides and the top on the gauge 13 machine.
A May 2003 RPSV certificate accompanies this, stating
it is genuine.
A close examination of the scan will reveal that the
perforation holes along the bottom are larger than those
on the other three sides. One of the characteristics
of the repaired perforation 12 machine is the larger
holes (and thus sharper teeth between perforation holes)
that are seen in this stamp.
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