Test and Dummy Stamps

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   Test or dummy stamps are produced by stamp printers either for testing their printing and production techniques or for promotional or tendering reasons. They are also commonly used for testing vending machine stamps.
Here are some examples. This first lot depicts Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor who was also Charles I of the Spanish Empire. They were printed by the Austrian printing company Osterreichische Staatsdruckerei who were the official state printers, Maschin probe means machine sample.

Machine Sample by Spicer57, on Flickr

These are examples from Bradbury Wilkinson and Harrisons:

Dummy by Spicer57, on Flickr

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Daniel Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Special Joined: 30 March 2010 Location: Twickenham Status: Offline Points: 733	Post Options Post Reply Quote Daniel Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Test and Dummy Stamps Posted: 16 March 2018 at 11:08
	Test or dummy stamps are produced by stamp printers either for testing their printing and production techniques or for promotional or tendering reasons. They are also commonly used for testing vending machine stamps. Here are some examples. This first lot depicts Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor who was also Charles I of the Spanish Empire. They were printed by the Austrian printing company Osterreichische Staatsdruckerei who were the official state printers, Maschin probe means machine sample. Machine Sample by Spicer57, on Flickr These are examples from Bradbury Wilkinson and Harrisons: Dummy by Spicer57, on Flickr

Daniel Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Special Joined: 30 March 2010 Location: Twickenham Status: Offline Points: 733	Post Options Post Reply Quote Daniel Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 16 March 2018 at 11:22
	Here are examples from Germany, Switzerland, Brazil and the UAR, the United Arab Republic, which was a union between Egypt and Syria from 1958 to 1961. Specimen or test stamps by Spicer57, on Flickr

Daniel Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Special Joined: 30 March 2010 Location: Twickenham Status: Offline Points: 733	Post Options Post Reply Quote Daniel Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 16 March 2018 at 11:39
	This is a test sheet for Royal Mail for the 2012 Olympics held in London. It depicts a generic design/template for the stamps which were printed at short notice to honour British Olympic Gold Medalists. Somehow this generic design reached the printing stage and actual postage stamps were produced. Team GB Generic Sheet by Spicer57, on Flickr

Daniel Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Special Joined: 30 March 2010 Location: Twickenham Status: Offline Points: 733	Post Options Post Reply Quote Daniel Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 25 March 2018 at 14:08
	Here are used and mint versions of the stamps that should never have been, as mentioned in the above post: gold medal proto stamps by Spicer57, on Flickr

Daniel Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Special Joined: 30 March 2010 Location: Twickenham Status: Offline Points: 733	Post Options Post Reply Quote Daniel Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 05 September 2018 at 09:22
	Here is a sheet from Cartor produced for a Japanese philatelic exhibition, PhilaNippon 2011. It features 2 self-adhesive stamps. One depicting the Japanese character Hello Kitty and a second a plant, possibly a Chrysanthemum, a flower strongly associated with Japan, printed with metallic ink. Cartor, a French security printer was acquired by Walsall Security Printers in 2004 and a new company was formed, International Security Printers. Cartor Philanippon 2011 by Spicer57, on Flickr

Daniel Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Special Joined: 30 March 2010 Location: Twickenham Status: Offline Points: 733	Post Options Post Reply Quote Daniel Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 03 March 2019 at 12:01
	Here is a colour test stamp for Harrisons consisting of a small sheetlet. Harrisons by Spicer57, on Flickr