A postage stamp design error refers to mistakes made during the design phase of postage stamp production, ranging from minor issues like a misspelled binomial name to major errors such as incorrect territorial maps or wrong portraits. Some errors, like the Legends of the West issue featuring Bill Pickett, have led to recalls and reissues, with initial faulty stamps sometimes sold via lottery. Design flaws discovered post-sale, such as the Maya Angelou stamp’s misattributed quote revealed by The Washington Post, may prompt withdrawals or revisions. Withdrawn stamps can become rare collectors’ items or be corrected through overprinting. Errors unnoticed during chaotic periods or on technical details may only attract philatelic attention later.
Some notable design errors
- Pagsanjan Falls stamp, Philippines 1932
- Franz Schubert/Robert Schumann error, East Germany 1956
- Gronchi Rosa, Italy 1961
- The Whole Country is Red, China 1968
- Legends of the West, United States 1993
- Queen Elizabeth II error, Malta 20083
- Predator Free 2050, New Zealand 2018.4
The largest run of an error on a postage stamp is the 2011 United States 'Statue of Liberty Forever stamp'. The stamp shows the replica of the Statue of Liberty in Las Vegas rather than the original in New York. The stamp was released in December 2010 and the error was not noticed until March 2011 when it was identified by Sunipix, a stock photo agency in Texas. Ten and a half billion of the error stamps were produced.5
Postage stamp design error types
Design errors are different from any other types of errors including typographical errors, incorrect watermarks, overprints, paper types, perforation, and gums. There are the following types of design errors:6
- Errors in the plot
- Incompatible features:
- errors in chronological compatibility
- errors in the depiction of natural phenomena
- errors in the depiction of technological processes
- Invalid features:
- errors associated with the ownership of territories
- mistakes in state and religious symbols
- errors related to personalities
- Errors in inscriptions or overprints (in numbers, names, concepts)
- Typos, clerical, spelling, punctuation mistakes
- Semantic, factual errors
See also
Bibliography
- Jean-Pierre Mangin, Guide mondial des timbres erronés. Errors on stamps, ed. Yvert, Amiens ; book 1, 1999, ISBN 2-86814-105-6 ; book 2, 2005. Bilingual books (English and French).
- D.E.G. Irvine and M. Seshold, Errors in Postage Stamp Design Published by National Philatelic Society, 1979, ISBN 0-906291-01-1
- More than 3.000 crazy errors on stamps [1]
References
Hess Design Works.com US Stamps - Legends of the West. Retrieved February 13, 2009. http://www.hessdesignworks.com/Legends.html ↩
"29c Legends of the West recalled pane of twenty". postalmuseum.si.edu. Retrieved 2023-06-13. https://postalmuseum.si.edu/object/npm_1999.2004.1009.1-20 ↩
"Postage Stamp Design Errors > Country: Malta". Postage Stamp Design Errors. 2014-01-22. Retrieved 2014-03-24. http://topicsonstamps.info/errors/malta.htm ↩
"Postage Stamp Design Errors > Country: New Zealand". Postage Stamp Design Errors. 2018-09-06. Retrieved 2018-09-06. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12118561 ↩
"Linn's: Vegas Liberty undetected for more than two years". postalnews blog. 2011-06-13. Retrieved 2013-06-17. http://www.postalnewsblog.com/2011/06/13/linns-vegas-liberty-undetected-for-more-than-two-years/ ↩
Stamp Design Errors Retrieved November 20, 2018. https://oldbid.com/news/coins-stamps/stamp-design-errors/ ↩