Early experiments in radical stamp design are prized by collectors. The Cape of Good Hope triangulars, first issued in 1853 by a nation that is now part of the Union of South Africa, are known by collectors everywhere because of their unique design. They were the first nonrectangular stamps issued, and despite some modern deviation into the grotesque, most stamps are still rectangular.
Once a design has been chosen, the postal authorities decide how the stamps are to be printed. The more common methods of printing stamps include lithography and typography. Though neither offers great detail, each offers speed and ease in production at a comparatively low cost. But the most effective, and, many would say, beautiful, method of philatelic printing is line engraving.
Line engraving is also the most expensive general method of printing. This was true in 1840, and it is still true today. Engraving a stamp is a time consuming process. This factor, together with the cost of engraving, has discouraged counterfeiters from attempting to copy engraved stamps. Line engraving allows stamps to be very detailed, as the lines are raised, the threat of effective counterfeiting, even using modern photocopy equipment, is negligible.
Take a dollar bill out of your pocket. It is engraved. Every one of the thousands of lines in Washington’s head has been individually cut by an engraver working in soft steel. When the engraver has finished cutting the steel, it is hardened (usually by heating) and the result is a finished die. This die must be stamped onto a much larger piece of steel in a process called transferring, which reproduces the die numerous times onto a transfer roll. This roll is then transferred again onto stamp printing plates so the stamp will not be printed in mirror image. Plates can have as few as two stamps on them, or as many as the largest piece of steel the printing machinery will hold. Most United States stamps are printed from plates of 200. After printing, the printed sheets are cut into panes of 100, or 50, depending on the size of the stamp. The Penny Black of Great Britain was printed in sheets of 240. (In pre-decimal British currency there were 240 pence to the pound, so such an arrangement made accounting easier.)
