Watermarks/Papers 25c 'Servicio Oficial'

I have taken a quick look at a sample of these stamps. Here are the images. All are with the 12 mm, or wider overprint, with the exception of the 1L, which has the 11 mm, or narrower overprint.

1E2, thin, very porous, white.



1E3, white to cream, medium thickness.



1E4, white, thin, porous.



1L1, looks a lot like 1E3, used for the 11 mm overprints of the 1950s



Here is a comparison on the 1E3 with the 1L1



I also find a few with the A in the watermark partially missing the legs. Stamp is 1E3.



The unwatermarked grid, NGR, is the top two rows of the scan below, and the unwatermarked opaque NOP, is the bottom two rows.



Here is a comparison scan. The NGR is grayish, and the NOP is white, but this deifference is not obvious in the scan.



With higher contrast ('equalize' in Photoshop')



I hope you find use for these reference scans.

"Servicio Oficial" deformed S

This variety is peculiar and interesting. I use these two blocks to show that there are at least two of these in the thrid plate. In both blocks, the upper right stamp is a deformed S variety.

For the first block, the lower left stamp is a rounded L variety.







For the second block, the lower right stamp is a small S variety.







Again, larger blocks would help...

"Servicio Oficial" third overprint plate

The third plate saw use in 1952, and I do not find any of these varieties on the 5c. I find all of these on the 10c Rivadavia Brown and the 15c Martin Guemes, both on three papers: 1L (ondulating rays of 1951), 2D (straight rays diffused from 1943), and NGR (unwatermarked grid from 1945).

I think that there are two possibilities:

1: Printed stamps from when these papers were first issued were in stock and overprinted in 1952.

2: Made to order batches of the base stamp were overprinted with rolls of these papers in stock in 1952, and subsequently overprinted.

Here are the varieties;

Deformed S



Rounded L in the form of a boot



L with lengthened leg



L with shortened leg



L deformed and thin



Larger blocks would answer lots of questions. Unfortunately, all I have are blocks of four.

"Servicio Oficial" second overprint plate

I find a few 15c Martin Guemes overprinted with this plate, but the majority are 5c 1E1 and second watermark. I only find the two varieties illustrated here on the 5c.

Small L (1L paper of 1952)





L pointed as a triangle (straight rays paper 2D)

"Servicio Oficial" first small format overprint plate

After examining a large number of these stamps, my assessment is that there are at least three overprint plates over the small format stamps. The scarcest is the 10c Rivadavia Red, which seems to have seen postal use mostly in October and November of 1938. These two overprint varieties are unique to this plate.

"S" of "Servicio" with ink blot.





Ink blots along top edge of "Servicio."

the 'servicio oficial' overprint plates

I have just received a small lot of blocks of four and some singles of these stamps. The blocks of four are of the 10c Rivadavia Brown and 15c San Martin.

From the ones I have examined previous to receiving this lot I am postulating that there are several overprint plates on the small format, and probably also several overprint plates on the large format.

I have the following scheme in mind:

1. First range of printings, perhaps with unique overprint plate, from 1938 to the early 1940s.



2. Second range of printings, with overprint varieties unique to this plate that if found on the first printing would prove that the same plate was used for the overprints. Here is an example of a plate variety unique to this range of issues. There are several easy-to-find varieties like this one with peculiar L's.



3. Third range of printings, with unique overprint varieties and unique font.



In reference to the large format stamps, there may be only one plate for the wide overprint and another for the narrow overprint.

There are four placings for the horizontal (40c/2p) format with wide overprint:





and two placings of the 1p/5p format with wide overprint:





and two placings (2p, no scan, horizontal, and 25c/50c vertical format) with narrow overprint:



Its only a curiosity to determine that there are different plates if each issue only has one plate, but it would be interesting if there was more than one plate for some of these issues.

a few plate varieties of the 25c value

The 1E3 printings, between 1939 and 1946, show a wide range of plate varieties. Here is a small selection.

a 25c value plate variety (diagonal scratch over the 5 of 25)

With only one of these on hand, I thought I had a scraped stamp, but with a second specimen, it looks like a repeatable plate variety. The paper is 1E3.

25c value colors between 1939 and 1946

This stamp has a complex mix of combinations of color and watermarks. I find the following:

Rose on 1E1 paper



Rose on 1E2 paper



Rose on 1E3 paper, used in 1941/42





Neat, bright colors, from 1939, on 1E3 paper.



Neat, bright colors, slight plate wear, from 1945/46, on 1E3 paper.





I also find this latter stamp on the 1E4 paper.