THE FORMAT INTERNATIONAL SECURITY PRINTERS LTD. ARCHIVE

Information and Reference of What was Found in the Archive

Reference listings of 1971 stamp issues for Ajman printed by the Format International Security Printers Ltd. and items found in the Archive

AJMAN
1971

Ajman stamps printed by Format International Security Printers Ltd.
Links to pages with information on items found in the archive

Please view my introduction to the Ajman stamps for historical information and details on the agencies.

INTRODUCTION TO THE AJMAN STAMPS PRINTED BY THE FORMAT INTERNATIONAL SECURITY PRINTERS

Please visit my introduction page for the Trucial States to understand more how the following sets have been determined to have been printed by the Format International Security Printers.

INTRODUCTION TO THE TRUCIAL STATES STAMPS PRINTED BY THE FORMAT INTERNATIONAL SECURITY PRINTERS

AJMAN AND OTHER TRUCIAL STATES UNCUT PRESS SHEETS FOUND IN THE FORMAT ARCHIVE


As I was stating at the end of the Ajman 1970 page it was at this time that production of stamp sets got out of hand. Larger sets were being created using all kinds of topics to attract more and more collectors. The greed is apparent both on the side of the agency and the printers. No longer were quantities printed being revealed. Discretion was thrown to the wind and just about any subject was accepted in the hopes of profits. It was a bubble (so to speak) that was on the verge of exploding, which it did.

Let's get started!

A major conflict in dating occurs in the 1971 issues between Michel and Minkus. Many sets which Michel lists as issued in 1971 are listed in Minkus as being issued in 1972. Many of the sets Minkus lists in that year that conflict do not have the month or day of issue listed, whereas in Michel they are. I believe that because of the large quantity of issues being produced for Ajman at the time that Minkus was trying to spread them out further into the future because it was becoming apparent that they were being produced for profits more than for postal needs.

During the first three quarters of 1971 the major (and I mean major) portion of stamps issued by Ajman were photogravure. This shows us the folly of Fournier. Mass over production of stamps by this "honorable" stamp printer. Sorry but stamps are not just images...they show us many things including who and what was behind the scenes and just how involved in the darker side of the hobby they truly were.

On September 1, 1971, Questa Colour Limited arrived on the scene. Ties with Fouad Antoun who was the postal advisor working with Martin Sellinger (the official agency) produced new printing contracts with the company. I am sure that the ties and influences that the Format Printers had with them also were a factor. Up until the downfall of Format in the the late 1980's which could have been detrimental to the reputation of The House of Questa at the time, these ties were never denied.

We thus now have the problem of defining who made what lithographic sets. Including several other companies the styles and perforations are basically the only way to come close to knowing. Luckily Minkus noted three sets that were made by Questa. The Scouts Jamboree set and the Winter and Summer Olympics sets. With these as a base we can see the differences. Questa used perf 13.5 and the style is pronounced also. All three sets have gold frames and the designs very similar. We then move forward and we can see other future sets of the same design and perforation sizes. A major portion of the 1972 issues are in this form.

How do we single out Formats sets? We really do not need to. It is quite simple to see what happened. The evidence...the gold borders and inscriptions.
It is obvious that Questa Colour Limited more than likely underhandedly ousted the Format Printers out of the future contracts. They were rivals in a way. Questa breaking away from the Format Printers and Caldew Colour Plates Limited which was their parent company in 1966. Certain directors and founders of Questa Colour Limited (renamed The House of Questa in the future) befriended Fouad Antoun and Martin Sellinger thus influencing who would print the stamps for many of the Trucial States in 1972. Probably convincing him they could do it cheaper and were willing to overproduce topical stamps obviously made for collectors and not controlling the numbers nor the quantities of the issues being produced which were way in excess of postal needs.

How can we tell by the gold borders? The quality of the gold borders produced by the Format printers was much higher than those produced by Questa. Gold borders and such as this makes production of stamps more costly. Thus in order for Questa to make stamps of similar nature they produced a cheap gold which used much less gold fill making the borders and such "look" like previous issues to the naked eye. Using cheaper paper and inks also played into the factor thus creating the environment of more profits for all involved.

Here are the differences in the gold between the two companies.


Imaging the gold via scanners and computers does not show exactly what they really look like under high magnification. I scanned these at 9600dpi. They do not show the brilliance of the gold and color is different than what you are viewing. Rest assured, the one on the left is a brilliant gold and solid whereas the one on the right is dull and under magnification sparsely sprinkled with gold fill. The Questa stamp uses yellow ink under the gold fill which when scanned "looks" more gold in color. Many of the Questa stamps have opaque gold fill which you can see through. You can examine them yourself to see the real differences. The image was taken from Michel 1028 (Format) and Michel 1047 (Questa).

The reason as to why so many of the Questa issues were mixed in with the Format issues which were taken from the Format Printers archive long ago and imaged at the top of the page is unknown. All I can say on that subject is that it shows more evidence of ties between the two companies. That is another story.....

1971 NAPOLEONIC UNIFORMS (German States)
Michel #A684-H684, Minkus #815-22

The stamps were printed as two blocks of 8 in panes of 16 stamps. The stamps exist perforated and imperforate.
The deluxe sheetlets are noted in Michel.


NAPOLEONIC UNIFORMS (German) PANE OF 16

NAPOLEONIC UNIFORMS (German) DELUXE SHEETLET SET

1971 NAPOLEONIC UNIFORMS (French)
Michel #685-92, Block 233, Minkus #1121-9

The stamps were printed as two blocks of 8 in panes of 16 stamps. The stamps exist perforated and imperforate.
The deluxe sheetlets are noted in Michel.


NAPOLEONIC UNIFORMS (French) BLOCK 233 SOUVENIR SHEET
Return From Elba
NAPOLEONIC UNIFORMS (French) PANE OF 16

NAPOLEONIC UNIFORMS (French) DELUXE SHEETLET SET

1970 OLYMPIC GAMES (Munich 1972)
Michel #726-45, Block 235-47, Minkus #636-56

The stamps were printed in two blocks of 16 in panes of 32 stamps. The airmail stamps were printed in blocks of 4 in panes of 16 stamps.
The stamps exist perforated and imperforate. The souvenir sheet is imperforate.
The deluxe sheetlets are listed in Michel as block 235-246.


SOUVENIR SHEET BLOCK 247
Polevault
OLYMPIC GAMES PANE OF 32

OLYMPIC GAMES DELUXE SHEETLET SET

1971 PHILATOKYO PHILATELIC EXPOSITION
Michel #869-78, Minkus #673-82

The stamps were printed as four blocks of 8 in panes of 32 stamps. The two high values were printed in panes of 10.
The stamps exist perforated and imperforate.
The Deluxe sheetlet set is noted in Michel. It appears that the airmail deluxe sheets are difficult to find.


PHILATOKYO PANE OF 32

PHILATOKYO DELUXE SHEETLET SET

1971 EXOTIC BIRDS
Michel #879-94, Minkus #726-41

The stamps were printed in four blocks of 8 in panes of 32 stamps. The stamps exist perforated and imperforate.
The Deluxe sheetlet set is noted in Michel.


EXOTIC BIRDS PANES OF 32

EXOTIC BIRDS DELUXE SHEETLET SET

1971 13TH WORLD SCOUTS JAMBOREE (1st issue)
Michel #904-23, Block 287 Minkus #698-717A

The stamps were printed as two blocks of 16 in panes of 32 stamps. The airmail stamps were printed in four blocks of 4 in panes of 16 stamps.
The stamps exist perforated and imperforate as does the souvenir sheet.
The Deluxe sheetlet set is noted in Michel. It appears that the higher values are difficult to get.


WORLD SCOUTS JAMBOREE (1st issue) BLOCK 287 SOUVENIR SHEET
Campfire

WORLD SCOUTS JAMBOREE (1st issue) PANES

WORLD SCOUTS JAMBOREE (1st issue) DELUXE SHEETLETS

1971 NEW CARS (1st issue)
Michel #956-61, Block 291, Minkus #764-70

The stamps were printed in panes of 20 stamps. The stamps exist perforated and imperforate as does the souvenir sheet.
The Deluxe sheetlet set is noted in Michel.
Noting that Minkus combined the 1st and 2nd issues.


NEW CARS BLOCK 291 SOUVENIR SHEET
1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1

NEW CARS DELUXE SHEETLET SET

1971 QUEEN ELIZABETH ROYAL VISIT TO JAPAN
Michel #971-8, Block 294 Minkus #1255-63

There is very little information on this set. I am not even sure if it indeed was printed by Format though it is lithograph. We can see it has the queen's portrait on the upper right corner showing it is an approved set by the crown. Apparently there are no deluxe sheetlets. The perf size is 13.5. It is possible that this set was printed by Questa.

Noting this set was one of the sets Minkus moved up to 1972 whereas Michel lists it as issued August 19, 1971.


ROYAL VISIT TO JAPAN BLOCK 294 SOUVENIR SHEET
Battle Helmet

It is at this point that Questa Colour Limited took over printing issues for Ajman. I present here the first set noted in Minkus as being printed by Questa for reference.

1971 13TH WORLD SCOUT JAMBOREE (2nd issue)
Michel #1047-52, Block 306 Minkus #914-20

This set is noted in Minkus as being printed by Questa.
I could not find any images of intact panes of these. The stamps are very similar to later 1972 issues which I theorize were printed in panes of 20 similar to 1972 panes.
The stamps exist perforated and imperforate. The souvenir sheet is imperforate.
The deluxe sheetlet set is not noted in Michel.


WORLD SCOUT JAMBOREE (2nd issue) BLOCK 306 SOUVENIR SHEET
Baden Powell

WORLD SCOUTS JAMBOREE (2nd issue) DELUXE SHEETLETS


There is no evidence that the Format International Security Printers were involved in producing any more issues for Ajman.

References taken from:
Michel Asien II
Minkus Trucial States Stamp Catalog
Evidence found in the Format Archive
Online research

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