::: PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT - Loose Type Flaws :::

Back to Provisional Government Issue.

Loose type flaws resulted when a piece of type became loose enough to change the appearance of the overprint, either because the type shifted or because it failed to print altogether. Two examples of loose type flaws were addressed on the Provisional Government Issue main page under Progressive Flaws: the wandering or missing period in position 6 and the missing "3" in position 48.

POSITION 23, MISSING "9"

The "9" in position 23 is found missing in some stamps of Scott Nos. 57 and 71. The missing "9" frequently prints an extremely faint "9" and to find it entirely missing is difficult, particularly for Scott 71.

The "9" was sometimes loose enough in this and in other positions to make a weak print. A weak "9" has been noticed in Scott Nos. 65, 68 and 73 from position 23 and in Scott No. 66 from position 48, all first printing stamps.

There is also a broken "9" in position 32 of Scott 57 and it sometimes is confused with the missing "9" variety. Here is the broken "9":

POSITION 42, MISSING "s"

The "s" of "Provisional" failed to print in position 42 on some first printing sheets of the 15¢:

OCCLUDED LETTERS OR NUMBERS

A different phenomenon of missing letters or numbers occurred when type was occluded by some substance. This variety is not really a loose type flaw. It is noted in the 15¢ and in the 50¢ stamps.

MINOR LETTER OR NUMERAL SHIFTING

Various letters and numbers seem out of place - too high or too low compared to normal, or tilted one way or another - a result of minor type shifting during the long process of overprinting.

Study 1: Printing and Printing States

Study 2: Quantities

Study 4: Printer's Errors - Inverts and Doubles

Study 5: Forgery Study

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