The most carefully engraved design in the world still needs its canvas, and the canvas of a stamp is paper. There are many types of paper for printing; however, they all have one factor in common— a fibrous weave. Paper takes an ink design in printing (and writing) by allowing a measure of the ink to seep into it. The two major types of paper on which stamps are printed are wove paper and laid paper. Wove paper is like the paper of this book (technically a chalky wove paper— “chalky” defining how the paper is “sized” or how the spaces of the weave of the paper or filled). Laid paper is made on a mesh of closely parallel lines, so that when it is held up to the light it appears that the paper was put down in rows, as opposed to wove paper that quite literally looks as if it has been woven. Some form of wove paper is the choice for most stamps because it is cheaper, lasts longer, and usually takes printing ink better. Normally, the printer makes the decision as to what paper should be used. It pays to learn to be able to discern the difference. The three-Kruetzer 1850 Lombardy-Venetia stamp was printed on both wove paper and laid paper. On wove it is worth about $2, while on laid paper it is valued at $10,000. Another stamp printed on both papers, the Canada two-cent green of 1868, is worth $15 on wove paper and $40,000 on laid. Many specimens have never been examined for type of paper so that this is an area where great rarities are yet to be found.
