Since British booklets and coils have perforated edges on all sides, how can I tell a booklet or coil stamp from a sheet stamp?
It’s easy. All it takes is a magnifying glass, and with a little practice you won’t even need that. But first, let me tell you that there’s an exception to the “all stamps are perforated all around” rule. Between September 1987 and April 1993, booklet panes were imperforate on two or three sides, but let’s leave that aside for the moment. The way that you can distinguish stamps from booklets or coils is by looking at the perforations. Coils are cut apart during manufacture to make the long rolls, so two edges of the stamp are smooth. On a horizontal coil, the top and bottom edges are smooth; on a vertical coil, it is the side edges. Booklet panes also have smooth edges that result from the web (the large continuous strip of paper that the stamps are printed on) being cut into individual panes during manufacture. Horizontally-oriented booklet panes have two rows of stamps. The top row has a smooth edge at the top, and the bottom row is smooth at bottom. The situation is similar for vert
