GDR - small collection of phase prints **
05
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06
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51
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19
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€ 1
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Selected by Benedikt Reichl
Over 40 years of collection expertise and 15 years of stamp trading experience.
Estimate € 150 - € 200
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A small collection of Phasendrucke from DDR in MNH condition.
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Description from the seller
Small collection of phase prints ** Michel value over €2,700.00
Sofortkauf für 102 €
What are phase prints:
Everyone who likes to reach for the brush themselves—whether as an artist or a DIYer—knows the inescapable truth: after the actual work comes the big cleanup—and it can cost as much nerves as the work itself. It may be a small consolation that others don’t fare any better. Every industry that works with colors faces the same problem. In the printing industry, color rollers and printing plates have to be cleaned continuously to free the color wells again and thus guarantee constant color pickup capacity and print quality. The cleaning here, however, is not done with rags and soap, but with dry ice, ultrasonic cleaning, or laser.
In stamp printing, these cleaning processes not only yield razor-sharp and high-quality postage stamps. They also create philatelic peculiarities that wonderfully document the manufacturing process of a stamp. After cleaning, the cleanliness of the printing plates is tested first, before the actual print job begins. Thus, proofs, test prints, or phase prints come into being.
In multicolor printing, the stamp image is assembled step by step with the help of several printing forms. In other words, several inspection passes are necessary for a stamp—after all, each color should come from a perfectly cleaned printing form. At the same time, the fit of the various printing forms should be checked. Therefore, every phase of the printing is tested individually. The result is the so-called phase prints.
Using the postage stamp issue of the GDR, for example (not included in this lot) “20 Years of the Society for Sport and Technology” of 1972, one can vividly follow the process. The stamp image of MiNr. 1777 consists of four colors: gray, turquoise blue, olive yellow, and violet ultramarine.
In the first step of the print control, only the gray color is applied to unperforated paper. It is still impossible to guess what motif this might be. The second phase adds gray and turquoise blue—creating an image that could depict a rotor. In the third phase olive yellow is added. Now we clearly recognize that it’s about navigation—and that the registration marks align, with the parts fitting together perfectly. The fourth and final phase shows the finished image and is—apart from the perforation—identical to the final stamp.
These phase prints of MiNr. 1777 are, by the way, being showcased for the first time in MICHEL-Deutschland-Spezial 2023. To illustrate the valuation principle, we will reveal their price here unusually: a price range of 20 to 80 euros is given. The low price applies to the first print phase, i.e., the “stamp” in pure gray. The value then increases evenly until the phase print reaches four colors, i.e., the two-color costs 40, the three-color 60, and the four-color 80 euros. Not bad when you consider that normal stamps run in the cent range.
Phase prints, by the way, never had face value power—even the four-color ones. And they don’t have to. They look lovely as they are.
Source Michel
see photos
Small collection of phase prints ** Michel value over €2,700.00
Sofortkauf für 102 €
What are phase prints:
Everyone who likes to reach for the brush themselves—whether as an artist or a DIYer—knows the inescapable truth: after the actual work comes the big cleanup—and it can cost as much nerves as the work itself. It may be a small consolation that others don’t fare any better. Every industry that works with colors faces the same problem. In the printing industry, color rollers and printing plates have to be cleaned continuously to free the color wells again and thus guarantee constant color pickup capacity and print quality. The cleaning here, however, is not done with rags and soap, but with dry ice, ultrasonic cleaning, or laser.
In stamp printing, these cleaning processes not only yield razor-sharp and high-quality postage stamps. They also create philatelic peculiarities that wonderfully document the manufacturing process of a stamp. After cleaning, the cleanliness of the printing plates is tested first, before the actual print job begins. Thus, proofs, test prints, or phase prints come into being.
In multicolor printing, the stamp image is assembled step by step with the help of several printing forms. In other words, several inspection passes are necessary for a stamp—after all, each color should come from a perfectly cleaned printing form. At the same time, the fit of the various printing forms should be checked. Therefore, every phase of the printing is tested individually. The result is the so-called phase prints.
Using the postage stamp issue of the GDR, for example (not included in this lot) “20 Years of the Society for Sport and Technology” of 1972, one can vividly follow the process. The stamp image of MiNr. 1777 consists of four colors: gray, turquoise blue, olive yellow, and violet ultramarine.
In the first step of the print control, only the gray color is applied to unperforated paper. It is still impossible to guess what motif this might be. The second phase adds gray and turquoise blue—creating an image that could depict a rotor. In the third phase olive yellow is added. Now we clearly recognize that it’s about navigation—and that the registration marks align, with the parts fitting together perfectly. The fourth and final phase shows the finished image and is—apart from the perforation—identical to the final stamp.
These phase prints of MiNr. 1777 are, by the way, being showcased for the first time in MICHEL-Deutschland-Spezial 2023. To illustrate the valuation principle, we will reveal their price here unusually: a price range of 20 to 80 euros is given. The low price applies to the first print phase, i.e., the “stamp” in pure gray. The value then increases evenly until the phase print reaches four colors, i.e., the two-color costs 40, the three-color 60, and the four-color 80 euros. Not bad when you consider that normal stamps run in the cent range.
Phase prints, by the way, never had face value power—even the four-color ones. And they don’t have to. They look lovely as they are.
Source Michel
see photos
Details
Era
1900-2000
Geographic origin
GDR
Condition
MNH (Mint never hinged)
Title
small collection of phase prints **
