Watermarks are thickening and/or thinning introduced into the paper of the postage stamp to make forgery more difficult. Most catalogs indicate when a stamp has or may have a watermark. Sometimes stamps have been issued with and without a watermark. Therefore it is useful to be able to see whether the stamp has a watermark or not. Sometimes a watermark is immediately visible on the postage stamp. It can also happen that it is not immediately visible. Partly because some stamps have only part of the watermark (because the watermark is placed in the sheet of stamps, instead of on each stamp separately) There are several ways to check if the stamp has a watermark. Sometimes if they are of thick paper and there is a lot of relief, you can feel or see the watermark by holding the stamp up to a bright light or against a black background. If this does not make it easily visible, you can also use tools.
The simplest system is with e.g. benzene or a liquid that makes the watermarks visible. A common method is to put the stamp in a black container and put a drop of benzene on it. Then the relief expands a bit and the watermark is easier to see. However, we recommend always to be careful that this does not damage the stamp. With some stamps this can cause a chemical reaction that damages the stamp. For example, that the ink of the stamp fades or runs out.
Another method without risk to the stamp is through light and or some pressure on the stamp. The light can often be set in different brightnesses and colors, and the pressure can also be increased by a handle or screw. Since you do not have to maintain the pressure yourself, you can view the watermark at your leisure. These models run on battery or mains power with an adapter. Because these work with light and pressure, other abnormalities such as repairs or paste residue are also seen. Thus, these can actually be used for recognizing repairs, for example. Just keep in mind that this can affect the image, as far as the watermark is concerned.
You can use this Stampscop to recognize watermarks, but also possible repairs, damages, thin spots or other abnormalities in your stamps. Depending on the transmitted or incident light, the watermark will appear light on a dark background or dark on a light background.
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