Unlisted perforation variety on 1969 Dubai stamp – real or fishy?
Whilst adding some new stamps to my Middle East stockbook, I noted something funny on 1969 set of Dubai fish stamps. The stamps have two very different perforations. According to general catalogs I have, this series should exist only in perforation of 11. But I also have a set in perforation of 14 
1969 Dubai. A set of 8 stamps decipting local fishes was issued late 1969. According to catalogs, these should exist only in perforation 11 only.
I’m not sure if these are real or if there’s something fishy. Even on best occasions, the listings of Michel, Scott and SG are shallow for this area. So it’s possible these are unlisted variety.
The stamps were printed by Format International Security Printers of London in se-tenant blocks of 8 (with two blocks on a sheet) and sheets of 25 single stamps on sheet (according to Michel). So possibly there’s some unlisted difference between stamps from se-tenant blocks and single design sheets?
I do acknowledge that there are quite a lot of forgeries for this area too. This specific series has been forged somewhat lately (so called ‘tonyhelou forgeries’), but they should be on thicker and coated paper – so these should not be those either. Anyway, it’s possible that these are forgeries of some other sorts.
If you do have these stamps in your albums, please check their perforation and report what you’ve got – I’d be interested to get some gut feeling about their spread. I did browse quite a many eBay lots for these stamps, and to me it seems most copies offered are in perf 14. So there’s definitely something fishy with this set 
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Sorry, can’t add any concrete info – all I can say is that the Minkus Trucial States catalogue also lists only perf 11 for this series.
Thanks Ryan. It’s good to know Minkus is on the same line as other catalogs.
Is this a minimum book value stamp? If so, I can’t see why anyone would go to that much trouble to forge it. Then again, I wouldn’t forge stamps to begin with – so maybe I lack imagination in that area.
@mrprgrmr….Yep. Likely the fish-series is most commonly seen Dubai stamps (or at least that’s my gut feeling). If I recall properly, these are about 0.30€ or similar in Michel; I would think Scott and others list these on somewhat similar range.
Good morning Keijo,
My 2009 Scott only lists these as Perforated 11 as well. They have a used value of $0.35 in italics which means that Scott feels that it is hard to determine true the true value of the stamps in that condition.
Alyn
Thanks Alyn.
Can’t really help here but the pink on the fish and the green on the sea-weed look remarkably different. Is that of any significance? Do the forgeries of stamps from this area show simular colour shifts?
@Graham… I can’t honestly say whether it’s just regular variation or something else. Stamps from all dune states have quite a lot of “moving space” when it comes to print output. They were produced and sold cheap – and in most cases it shows up on print output. So these are a collectors nightmare/dream in that sense
I have an off topic question to your post here. I have to ask a question that’s been on my mind since I started colecting stamps – what do you mean by Perforations? Perforations are holes so I thought you would count the ‘holes’ on the sides of the stamps but that doesn’t equal the 11 in the first picture. When you stop laughing at me, can you send some education my way please
Cheers!
Cathleen
@Cathleen… Thanks for the laughs
Honestly speaking I know precisely how You feel; I was a collector for years before I was explained how to measure perforation properly.
They are indeed measured by count of ‘holes’, but only for the length of 2cm. And there is indeed no reason to do count them manually (though some still like to do so). There are various perforation cauges that can do the job for you. For example I prefer to use a plastic cauge by Lighthouse (known as Leuchtturm here in Europe).
The use of traditional cauge like mine very easy…. 1) pick the stamp 2) place the stamp on top of the cauge, so that the leftmost full tooth is placed on center of one of the lines in the cauge. 3) start moving the stamp on various measurements lines until you find a situation where all the lines are precisely on center of every teeth. When you find such situation, just read the number on the side of cauge – that’s the perforation.
See the below picture… This stamp doesn’t match precisely the lines on 13¼, so next I would move stamp a bit upwards and check if it’s 13 – which it is.
If you decide to buy a cauge, I recommend getting a basic plastic cauge either by Lighthouse or Stanley Gibbons (for example the Lighthouse basic model I use costs about $2). There are lots of alternatives too, but be aware that most of them may be slightly inaccurate (which sadly makes them fully useless for collector).
When perforation is measured, it can be written like 13 or 13:13 (or 13×13). If there’s just one figure, it means that each side of the stamp has same number of holes (13 in this case). If there are two figures, then the first figure is for top and bottom, and the latter is for left/right side of the stamp. Some stamps can have different perforation on each side, and then each measurement is announced in clockwise order (such as 12:13:12:12½ – top,right,bottom,left).
That’s pretty much all there is in measuring perforations…. Hope this helps.
From my dealings with Mosden in the 1980s while he was a stamp dealer in Las Vegas and big time roller at the cassinos I know he had the original plates for these and many other Trucial States stamps. Occasionally when he needed money he would fire up the printers. Later when his estate was auctioned the Trucial States stamps were offered in tractor trailer truck loads. I never saw any perfereators. He may have had to contract out the perfing. That could explain the different perfs that are not the original 11.
Interesting story, Richard. That might explain all…
Thanks also, Keijo, for your concise description for using a perforation cauge. You were not alone, Cathleen.
Here’s a interesting website that explains some of the background of these issues; especially the first chapter / introduction makes a good overview about the actions of Mr. Mosden and Baroody Stamp Company. Definitely worth the read.
Hello Keijo ,
I have 5 stamps from this series , i had them for a long time now , ( nearly 25 years ) , i never thought of measuring their perforation till i read your comments , and for my surprise , I found 3 of them their Perf. 11 , & the other 2 are Perf. 14 just like yours ( Texas Skate , Moon Fish stamps ) .
I don’t know if this will explain any thing to you , but at least you are not alone !!!!!.
Nagwa
@Nagwa… Well, at least it tells me that I’m not alone. And these date back to at least two decades. That would seem to support the “Mosden theory” Richard provided in comment #11.