he Banded Eagles are wide with blurry edges and give the stamps a kind of

washboard look. Often between the lines that print weakly

By Farley P. Katz
A nyone who has seen more than a few Eagle stamps will
have noticed on some a distinctive pattern of horizontal
bands where the printing fails to print fully. Sometimes the
lines that fail to print are thin and sharp; other times they
there are segments of intense color, increasing the appearance
of banding. See Figures 1-5. he pattern of lightly printed
bands is more prominent as the stamps become more worn,
but even in stamps printed from fresh plates traces of this
pattern sometimes can be seen.

Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3

Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6

his pattern often appears on worn half and one reales, but
hints of it appear on other values as well, although I have
not seen it on the two reales. See Figure 6, a four reales
“remainder/reprint” with a horizontal line running through
QUATRO REALES. Despite the fact this pattern is
extremely common, I have not found any reference to it in
the literature. Based on discussions with other philatelists,
it appears to have been assumed to be due to plate wear, bad
inking, paper defects or other technical problems in printing
the stamps. One believed it was a result of defective printing
“blankets,” thin pieces of cloth placed on top of the sheet
of wetted paper in the printing press to achieve uniform
pressure.
and parallel to the short sides of the stamps. hey also
progressively increase in strength and number as one looks
from the left of the plate to the right and from top to bottom.
Finally, the lines rarely occur in the top portion of the
stamps. In addition, as we will see, the pattern is connected
to the degree of wear of the printing plate; the greater the
wear, the more the banding pattern appears. hese facts rule
out problems in the inking, paper or the blankets, as defects
caused by such factors would not be restricted to single
stamps, but would extend over multiple stamps, would not
be so regular or invariably horizontal, would not be related
to wear and would not show a progressive increase.

In fact, none of these explanations is correct. his is clear
from examination of details in Figure 7, a large block of the
half real “remainder/reprint” from John Kordich’s collection.
First, the lines that fail to print do not carry over to the
neighboring stamps. he lines are conined to individual
stamps and appear in diferent positions on each stamp
(although there is usually, but not always, a band at the
eagle’s neck). Second, the lines are invariably horizontal
All these observations tell us that the banding pattern
is inherent in the plates themselves. hat is, the banding
pattern on each stamp is a constant plate law unique to that
stamp’s position on the plate. Examination of stamps from
the same plate positions conirms this. John’s half sheet of
half reales was printed from the same plate used to print the
Tulancingo proof sheet,1 but is lacking the top row. It thus
consists of positions 11-60.

Mexicana October 2015 171

 Figure 7.
Figure 8 is from John’s half real “remainder/reprint” block thus have one thin weak band just above and one just below
pictured in Figure 7 and represents plate positions 49-50. the head, one just below where the wings attach to the body,
Figure 9 is two half real stamps, consignment 40-1865 from and a light thin band running through the bottom of the
Colin Deane’s collection (acquired from Alan Au Yong), D and center of the I in MEDIO. he right stamps have a
which are the same positions based on relative spacing of thick band of weak printing from the bottom of the beak
the stamps.2 Signiicantly, the horizontal bands of weak or to the breast, then another in the middle of the breast and
no printing are identical in the two pairs. he left stamps nothing afecting MEDIO.

Figure 8 Figure 9

Another example of this is seen in Figures 10 and 11. Figure
10 is from John’s half real block of 50 and represents plate
positions 39 and 40. Figure 11 is the same positions from
a photograph made by Leonard Josling of an irregular large
block of Medio Reales from the Tlalpujahua consignment
106-1866.3 he right hand stamps in each pair show four
more or less prominent lines, from top to bottom, touching
the top of the E in MEXICO, the C in MEXICO and the
Eagle’s neck, the bottom of the wing, and the base of the
tail. hese lines occur in precisely the same locations in each
position 40 stamp.

172 Mexicana October 2015

Figure 10 Figure 11

Figure 12

Mexicana October 2015 173

he same is true for the one reales. Figure 12 is a block of 56
stamps of the azure “remainder/reprints” in the Colin Deane
collection. (For position designations, I assume the block is
from the upper left of the sheet). Figure 13 is an enlargement
of positions 31-32 and 41-42 from that same sheet. Figure
Figure 13 Figure 14
Figure 16
Although Figures 13 and 14 have little wear, they do show
the beginning of the same pattern emerging on the stamps
in the exact same locations as in the more worn Figure 15.
For example, in the upper right stamps of all three blocks
(position 32) there is a thin weak band running through the
middle of the N in UN REAL. In the lower right stamps
a band runs through the middle of the U in UN REAL. In
the upper left stamps a band runs through the bottom of
the N in UN REAL. All these defects are identical in the
three blocks. (Incidentally, other constant plate laws appear
in these blocks, such as the “bite” taken out of the southwest
corner of the lower right stamp, position 42).
he same pattern appears in other stamps from that plate.
For example, Figures 16-17 are positions 37-38 from the
same plate. Figure 16 is from the “remainder/reprint” and
Figure 17 from Guadalajara invoice 51-1866. he left
stamp in the “remainder/reprint” pair (position 37) shows
little wear but has a thin line touching the bottom of the U
174 Mexicana October 2015
14 is a block of four of the “remainder/reprints” in the grey-
blue color from the same positions. Finally, igure 15 is a
block of four from Chihuahua consignment 169-1865, and
also the same positions based on spacing and the thin dark
blue line that wanders vertically between the stamps.
Figure 15
Figure 17
in UN REAL and the right hand stamp (position 38) has a
more distinct line through the bottom of the N in UN. In
the Fifth Period Guadalajara stamps, however, these lines
have greatly increased in size and appear as horizontal blurs.
Finally, a half-sheet “remainder/reprint” of the one real from
John Kordich’s collection is shown in Figure 18. his has
the striking misplaced entry of the lower part of the stamp
in position 28 and is from a diferent plate than the one
we have been discussing. his half-sheet shows extensive
banding similar to that on the half-real block (Figure 7),
with the pattern likewise difering in each stamp. hus
each stamp has a unique pattern that can identify its exact
location on the plate. A close up of position 28 from this
half-sheet and parts of the surrounding stamps is shown in
Figure 19. A close up of the same positions from a block of
80 stamps sold by Fernando Pérez-Maldonado is shown in
Figure 20.4 Comparison of Figures 19 and 20 shows that
the surrounding stamps have dark and light bands in the
same locations.
 Figure 18

Figure 19 Figure 20

he roller die and transfer press
What then is the cause of these patterns? L.N. Williams
ofers a clue in his statement that “It is in the use or the misuse
of the roller [die], that most philatelic varieties occur…”5
Line engraved or intaglio stamps are manufactured in a
basic mechanical process. A master die is engraved by hand
on a lat piece of steel with the design in mirror-image as
compared to the printed stamp. he design is then copied
on to a roller die or transfer die, a circular steel cylinder
a few inches in diameter, using a large machine called a
transfer press. A roller die for the four-pence Chalon Head
of New Zealand is shown in Figure 21.6 his die dates from
1865 and thus is likely very similar to that used on the
contemporaneous Mexican Eagles. he transfer is achieved
by placing the roller die in contact with the master die
and rocking it back and forth under great pressure. After
the roller die has taken up the image, it is then used to
individually transfer all the images to the printing plate
by the same process of rocking back and forth under great
pressure. Printing plates may be made of copper, which is
relatively soft and wears quickly, or steel. In this process,
the steel of the roller die and steel printing plate may be
irst metallurgically softened to facilitate impression of the
image and then re-hardened.

Mexicana October 2015 175

he operator of the transfer press was known as the
siderographer. his word is derived from the Greek,
“sideros,” iron, and “grapho,” write.7 he use of the transfer
press is subject to considerable judgment and skill and if the
die is not impressed to a suicient depth on the plate, the
stamp will print lighter and all details may not show. In
the 1860s, as now, the transfer press was operated by hand.
A nineteenth century transfer press is shown in Figure 22.8
he transfer die is shown at A and the plate B. By applying
pressure to a lever C, the siderographer can increase the
pressure of the transfer die on the plate. And by turning the
large wheel E which is attached to a small gear attached to a
rack, he can move the plate forward and backward. Because
of the ratio of the large wheel to the gear, he can control the
minute movement of the plate under the transfer die.

Figure 21

Figure 22

176 Mexicana October 2015

he siderographer would carefully position the roller die at
the desired position over the plate and lower it until it came
into contact. Since the roller die is circular, it would make
contact with the plate at the tangential line of contact, par-
allel to the shorter distance of the stamp. hen he would
increase the pressure to the desired amount and move the
plate back and forth under the die. A variety of techniques
were used to make the actual transfers to the printing plate.
He could start at the bottom of the stamp and roll the plate
back and forth the full length of the stamp image a num-
ber of times until the desired image had transferred. Or,
he could start in the middle of the stamp and rock it back
and forth in small sections until the entire stamp image was
properly transferred. All of these processes required mul-
tiple rockings of the transfer die on the plate until the image
was completed. On steel plates, sometimes it is necessary to
make a hundred or more passes with the roller die to obtain
the desired impression. Copper plates, being much softer,
required far fewer passes.
When the roller die presses into the plate, parts of the plate
surrounding the stamp may be depressed slightly:
After the plate is transferred it shows hollows around
the work, made by the pressure of the roll, which must
be brought back to a lat surface again; otherwise a
clean proof could not be taken. hese hollows are
lattened by irst carefully marking the outline of the
work on the back of the plate, by means of “calipers”
made for the purpose, then laying the face of the plate
on a polished hardened-steel anvil and hammering
around the outline. …9
If not corrected, the depressions will print an irregular
pattern of color on the sheet. Bash called those “color
strokes”10 but I prefer to call them “streaks.”11 Although
such marks may change shape as the plates wear, they are a
type of constant plate law. No attempt was made to remove
these depressions and their marks are characteristic of the
Eagle stamps.
We have some information on how early Mexican stamps
were laid down on the printing plate. It appears to have
been the regular practice to transfer stamps starting at the
bottom of the stamp. We know this from two instances where
a transfer was begun at the wrong place and stopped after
just a small portion of the bottom of the stamp had been
transferred onto the plate. he roller die was repositioned
and the complete stamp was entered in the correct position.
he aborted entries (the bottom of the stamps) were left and
no attempt was made to erase them. his is seen in a one real
Eagle (Figures 19-20) and in an 1856 two reales showing an
extra value tablet between rows (Follansbee 3Ipv1).
Mexicana October 2015
Problems in entering the stamps
If the banding is identical for all stamps, it must have been
present in the roller die. On the other hand, if laws are
unique to positions on the plate, those must have been
caused when the individual stamps were laid down on the
plate. Of course, there is the possibility of both factors
being present. Although a line appears at the Eagle’s neck
in nearly all the half reale stamps, its width is not always
the same and it does not invariably appear. hus since the
banding appears in diferent positions of both half and one
real Eagles stamps, we can eliminate the possibility that the
pattern was in the roller dies.
I believe that problems in the transfer of the images from the
roller die to the plate must account for the banding pattern
of the Eagle stamps. If the pressure on the roller die varied,
that would leave horizontal areas (where the die touches the
plate) where the depth was shallower than in other areas. If
shallow enough, those areas would print light or fail to print
entirely, forming a banded pattern. And, as stamps were
printed from that plate and as the plate wears, the shallower
parts would show wear more quickly which would appear
as bands of weak or no inking. Such horizontal defects,
parallel to the shorter side to the stamps, are consistent with
entry of the stamps on the plate with the shorter side of the
stamps parallel to the axis of the roller die, as we have seen
was the case. I can see two ways this might have happened.
One possibility is operator error. Both the movement of
the plate and the pressure of the transfer die on the plate
were controlled manually. If the siderographer failed to
keep the pressure constant, there would be horizontal bands
where the impression was too shallow. Another possibility
is mechanical. If there was some problem in the transfer
press or die, such as a defective gear on the rack or a lever
that slipped, there could have been “hiccups” in the transfer
process perhaps resulting in parts of the die failing to cut
deeply enough into the plate. For example, in the press
illustrated in Figure 22 the lever could be held down by a
notched rack. If that rack slipped, abrupt changes in the
pressure would have resulted. Of course, it is possible both
causes existed.
Some facts suggest that the banding in the Eagles was
caused as a result of a mechanical issue and not inexperience
of the siderographer. First, signiicant horizontal banding
appears only on some of the Eagle values. Nor do we see
this problem in the prior Rosette Eagles or in the following
engraved Maximilians. If the same persons made all those
plates, they must have been skilled in operating the transfer
press. Second, the lines often appear spaced roughly the
same distance from each other, about 3.5 mm., suggesting
some mechanical cause. hird, they most often occur in
a conined area of the stamps, from the bottom frame to
the Eagle’s crown which seems more consistent with some
177
mechanical issue. Finally, there a number of other serious
problems with the layout of the plates, including stamps
entered on angles far of from the vertical and even touching,
suggesting that there may have been a variety of problems
with the transfer press.
One fact I cannot explain is why the pattern is common and
strong on half-reales and both late and early one real Eagles,
but seen only slightly on other values and apparently not at
all on the two reales. Perhaps the half and one reales were
both on the same defective roller die (dies often carry more
than one stamp) or perhaps this had to do with the order of
plate manufacture. But without more information, one can
only speculate.
What banding can tell us
he fact that the Eagles banding pattern is a constant plate
law is a valuable source of information. First, this, along
with the irregular alignment of stamps, marginal color lines
and streaks and other plate laws, will assist in plating the
Eagle stamps; that is, reconstructing sheets from pairs, strips
and blocks. Second, it is not settled exactly how many plates
there were for each of these values. Gilbert and Vannotti
believed there were two plates for the half real and three for
the one reales. Stier believed there was only one plate for
the half and Phillips suggested there were four plates for
the one reales.12 Reconstructing plates using the banding
pattern should help resolve these questions. hird, it is not
settled which plates were used to print the late one reales.
Vannotti believed that many late 1866 consignments came
from Plate I.13 Comparison of the banding patterns may fa-
cilitate tying individual stamps to plates.
Study of the banding pattern may provide us other
information. For example, it is not settled whether the
so-called “remainder/reprint” Eagles (Follansbee 41A,
43A-46A) are reprints or remainders or when they were
printed. However, we have seen that one real stamps from
Guadalajara consignment 51-1866 (Figure 17) are from the
same plate as the azure and grey-blue remainder/reprints
(Figure 16) but the Guadalajara stamps are considerably
more worn. his indicates that the so-called “remainder/
reprint” stamps in Figure 16 were printed sometime before
March 8, 1866, when those Guadalaraja stamps were
shipped. It thus appears that those stamps are in fact
remainders of some sort and not reprints produced after the
issue was withdrawn. 14
Finally, the banding pattern provides further evidence that
the Eagle plates were made of copper and not steel. 15 If the
weakness or skipping was not in the exact same place each
time the transfer die was rocked on the plate, the pattern
would have been erased as more passes were made with the
transfer die. hus it appears that fewer, rather than more,
passes were made on the plates. his indicates that the plates
likely were copper which required fewer passes of the roller
die than the steel plates.

My thanks to John Kordich, Dave Pietsch, Mark Banchik, Colin Deane, Manuel Iglesias, Fernando Pérez-Maldonado, R.
Randall Grace, Marc Gonzales, Peter Bamert, Martin Spuford, Omar Rodriguez and Gary W. Granzow.

(Endnotes)
1 his is apparent from comparison of the relative placement of stamps in both sheets and the irregular color streaks
between stamps which Bash recognized are constant plate markers. John K. Bash Eagles collection, MEPSI library, folder Bash-
Eagles-2.pdf (c. 1970), pp. 153-155. See discussion below.
2 See David Feldman, Europe & Overseas (Geneva September 27-28, 2013), p. 356, lot 72184 “Mexico 1864-66 ‘Eagles’
Gold Medal Exhibit Collection,” on line at http://www.davidfeldman.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/178_EuOs_web.pdf
(visited Jan. 30, 2015). his was the Alan Au Yong collection.
3 Josling photographs, MEPSI Library, image 7A. See Mexicana, Vol. 4 no. 2 (Apr. 1955), insert pp. 1-2.
4 Subasta (19-20 March, 2010), No. 991.
5 L.N. Williams, Fundamentals of Philately (State College, PA: American Philatelic Society 1990), p. 214. he following
discussion is based on Williams, pp. 209-227; James H. Baxter, Printing Postage Stamps by Line Engraving (Lawrence, Mass.:
Quarterman Pubs., Inc. 1981), pp. 47-63; Gary W. Granzow, Line Engraved Security Printing: the Methods of Perkins Bacon
1790-1935 Banknotes and Postage Stamps (London: RPSL 2012), pp. 104-113; and Richard Celler & Elliot Omiya, “he Toppan
Carpenter Plates and the Guide Relieing Method,” in Hubert C. Skinner & Charles J. Peterson (eds.), he 1851 Issue of United
States Stamps: a Sesquicentennial Retrospective (New Orleans: he U.S. Philatelic Classics Society, Inc. 2006), pp. 3, 4-6.
6 Image courtesy Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, online at http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/1163522
(visited June 28, 2015).
7 William Grimshaw, An Etymological Dictionary of English Language (Philadelphia: Grigg, Eliott & Co. 1848), p. 234.
8 C. W. Dickinson, “Copper, Steel, and Bank-Note Engraving,” Popular Science Monthly, Vol. 46 (March 1895), pp. 597,
606. Other early transfer presses are illustrated in Granzow, supra, p. 112, and in Celler & Omiya, supra.
9 Dickinson, supra, p. 607.
10 See n. 1, supra.
11 See Elliott Perry, “United States 30c, 90c 1857-60,” Mekeel’s Weekly Stamp News (Portland, Maine. Apr. 26, 1919), Vol.
33 No. 17, p. 145 (“blurs of color”).

178 Mexicana October 2015

12 See Gilbert, supra; Franco Vannotti, “he Plates of the Eagle Type,” Mexicana, Vol. 16, no. 1 ( Jan. 1967), ref. p. 407;
Calvert Stier, “Some Notes on the Half Real, ‘Eagle’ Issue,” Collector’s Club Philatelist, Vol. 25, no. 3 ( June 1946), reprinted in
Mexicana (foreword John Kordich), Vol. 52, no. 2 (Apr. 2003), p. 67; Phillips, supra, p. 39.
13 Vannotti, supra, ref. p. 407.
14 I hope to address the “remainder/reprints” in depth in a future article.
15 A number of philatelists have stated the plates probably were copper. See, e.g., Paul de Smeth & Marquis de Fayolle,
Les Premières Émissions du Mexique (1856 à 1874) (Amiens: Yvert & Cie. 1936), p. 100; Charles J. Phillips, Priced Catalogue of the
1856 to 1872 Issues of Mexico (London: Stanley Gibbons, Ltd. 1917), p. 38. But cf. G. Gilbert, “Mexico, the Plates of the Eagle
Type, 1864-66,” Gibbons Stamp Monthly, Vol. XI, no. 4 ( Jan. 1938), p. 68, reprinted in Mexicana, Vol. 12, no. 2 (Apr. 1963), ref. p.
262 (suggesting that Plate II of the two reales was made of steel).
Exporta Postal History Can Be Hard to Handle! #1. Tough Issues. Some of the issues are just very hard to
By homas Droege ind on cover. My list would include the 5c Steel Tubes,
5.60p Cotton, 10p Cattle, 50p Cotton, 1900p Abulon,
3600p Automotive Parts, 3900p Petroleum Valves, 4800p
I believe that the Mexico Exporta series has all the
challenges of 19 century postal history at a fraction of the
cost. he Exportas were the regular series of Mexico issued
Tomato (both invert and normal), and 7200p Film. For each
of those nine stamps, I found less than 10 undamaged covers
from 1975-1993 and consisted of 30 Designs (regular, out of the 20,000+ IYS correspondence.
airmail, special delivery/entrega, insured/seguros). hey
were printed on 14 Papers (Series 1a-14a) Watermarked,
Phosphorescence and Fluorescence (Yellow, White, Dull #2 Postal Stationery and Seguros. I am not that big a fan
White, Reddish) and ofer the collector Postal Stationery, of postal stationery. Until they become part of the hunt, that
is. It turns out there are a number of varieties of the 80c
Inverts, Perforation varieties, design diferences, color and 1.60p sobres. I am still looking for the variety of the 80c
varieties, essays, ixed Plate Flaws, and major Errors which depicts a larger cattle at the left of the envelope. he
(bionicas printed on the non-phosphorescence side of the 14p and 300p are very hard to ind. Even more elusive are the
paper). hen factor in that most of the designs were reissued 14p, 22p and 150p sobres. Peter Bamert is doing a Catalog
in higher denominations as the rates increased, and you have and Reference work for Postal Stationery of Mexico, and he
easily 300 diferent stamps to obtain. irst put me on to the 22p and 150p. It turns out that one
of what I thought was a 14p sobre with stamps covering it,
was actually a 22p when I lifted the stamp. Lots of PSEs
Collecting the stamps is challenging enough, but if you get used as just envelopes. But try inding a correctly rated
are up for a real efort, try collecting the series on cover. cover which uses the value of the PSE to pay for the postage.
Given that the postal rates changed 20 times during the hat is a challenge.
Exporta era, and given the number of diferent designs and
denominations that were used, you can assume that just
collecting covers with each stamp would be tough enough.
his article is going to take that challenge to the next level
and give you 10 (some almost impossible) tough objectives
in collecting the Exporta series on cover. Some of them
surprised me and will surprise you too!

And I am not going to include the Bionic Bull or Bicycle.

1300p pays 1x rate using 300p sobre for postage!

he seguros (insurance stamps) are considered part of the

Exporta series. hey were printed on papers 1 and 5 in de-
nominations from 40c to 100p. hey are supposed to be used
for insurance, but with one exception, I have only found
them used for postage. To ind a correctly used seguros, you
would have to ind a cover where the non-seguros stamps
paid a correct rate and the seguros stamps were extra. I have
only one such cover.
75p pays T35 1x rate on this 15 May 84 cover using the
hard to ind 50p Cotton.

Mexicana October 2015 179