PHILATELIC FACTS:

• Bale, Gibbons, & Scott philatelic catalog numbers:  10, 11, 12, 13, 14
• Israel Philately & Krause-Minkus catalog numbers:  15, 16, 17, 18, 19
• Mosden philatelic catalog numbers:  25, 26, 27, 28, 29
• The 5 denominations are in Mils (1,000 Mils = 1 New Israeli Shekel); back in 1948, they were equal to about 1.2, 2, 4, 8, & 26 American cents
• From December 24, 1948, the Mils became known as Prutot (1 Pruta = 1 Mil)
• Postage Rates:

Value	Purpose	Effective Date
3-mil	inland printed matter	until 9-30-1948
5-mil	foreign printed matter inland printed matter	until 9-30-1948 from 10-1-1948
10-mil	inland letters & foreign postcards inland postcards foreign printed matter	until 9-30-1948 from 10-1-1948 until 2-28-1949
20-mil	foreign surface letters foreign postcards & printed matter	until 3-1-1949 from 3-1-1949
65-mil	registered express letters air mail to U.S.A.	until 9-30-1948 until 10-31-1948

• The Israel Postal Authority stopped selling them on September 10, 1949
• 11.5 line-perforations per 2 centimeters
• Color schemes (UPU=Universal Postal Union):

Value	Vignette & Pane Numbers	Banner/Ribbon/Streamer, Tab Text, & Circle Slugs
3-mil	red-brown	bright ultramarine-blue
5-mil	turquoise-green (UPU Foreign Printed Matter standard)	bright ultramarine-blue
10-mil	deep carmine-red (UPU Foreign Postcard standard)	bright ultramarine-blue
20-mil	dark-deep ultramarine-blue (UPU Foreign Letter standard)	bright ultramarine-blue
65-mil	light-brown	vermilion-red

• This Z2U drawing first appeared in PEQ vol. 31, July 1899 (Plate V #9 between pp. 184-5), by F.J. Bliss
• Dr. Immanuel Ben-Dor of the Dept. of Antiquities in the Ministry of Education suggested the 2-winged LMLK seal be used on airmail stamps in June of 1948, but it was rejected in lieu of recognizable birds such as doves & eagles (these airmail stamps were not issued until June 25, 1950); it was chosen a couple of months later under pressure to produce a new series of stamps with the name of the new state prior to Rosh Hashanah
• The designer was Otte Wallish (not "Otto" as seen often in philatelic literature)
• The first Minister of Posts in the new state of Israel, David Remez, approved the design
• Black serial numbers & square, rectangle, asterisk slugs were printed at Sarona (Hakirya) by the government printer before the otherwise-blank white gummed sheets were sent to the commercial printer
• The commercial printer was E. Lewin-Epstein Ltd., located at Bat Yam near Tel Aviv, who utilized a George Mann Double Crown single color offset press (DCOL model # M4320; manufactured in England & shipped to Israel on July 18, 1946) with 6 grained zinc plates (one for each of the 5 stamps, another for the tabs & "Moadim LeSimcha 709" text)
• Wallish presented the design to plate engraver Frank E. Read at Lewin-Epstein Ltd. on August 29th, & the entire project was completed September 17th (9 days before issue; 18 days before Rosh Hashanah)
• Printing of all 25,500 sheets (main + supplementary) was complete in 18 days
• FDC envelopes & Greetings telegrams were begun on September 6th; the envelopes were completed with the stamps on the 17th, & the telegrams were completed on the 19th
• Working for Read were:
• E. Weinfeld, plate maker
• A. Schroitman, retoucher & etcher
• F. Kaiser, photographer
• The chief printer (pressroom supervisor) & technical manager at Lewin-Epstein Ltd. was Joel Zolberg
• Press operator for Zolberg was Arie Getter
• The stamps were photolithographed in sheets of 300 stamps with 60 tabs in the format shown below:
• Color bars/bands run along the top, right, & bottom margins (dual bars on all 3 sides of the 3-mil sheets; the other denominations have single bars on the top & bottom margins but dual bars on the right margin); the all-white margin along the left side of the sheet represents the gripper--the first edge fed into the press
• Panes are numbered 1 thru 6 in triangle icons (each plate had 6 panes of 50 stamps)
• Semicolons denote circle & square/rectangle slugs (squares for panes 1, 2, 5, & 6; rectangles for panes 3 & 4; asterisks for the 3-mil supplementary printing of pane 2)
• # denotes serialized cyclometer control numbers (ranges shown here are for the main printing of 21,000 sheets [6.3 million stamps] based on known specimens; theoretically they span 00001-126000):

Pane #	3m (min)	3m (max)	10m (min)	10m (max)	5m (min)	5m (max)	20m (min)	20m (max)	65m (min)	65m (max)
4	00112	04924	05113	12437	12536	16493	16504	19399	19513	20909
3	21112	25924	26113	33437	33536	37493	37504	40399	40513	41909
5	42112	46924	47113	54437	54536	58493	58504	61399	61513	62909
2	63112	67924	68113	75437	75536	79493	79504	82399	82513	83909
6	84112	88924	89113	96437	96536	100493	100504	103399	103513	104909
1	105112	109924	110113	117437	117536	121493	121504	124399	124513	125909

• Estimated quantities for each value during the main printing:

3-mil	5-mil	10-mil	20-mil	65-mil
5,000	4,000	7,500	3,000	1,500

• Prior to the first day of issue, supplementary printings were made of about 3,000 3-mil sheets [900,000 stamps] & about 1,500 65-mil sheets [450,000 stamps] with these published number ranges:

Pane #	1	2	3	4	5	6
3-mil Max	03025	06025	09025	18025	15025	12025
3-mil Min	00142	03142	06142	15142	12142	09142
65-mil Max	135000	132000	129000	127500	130500	133500
65-mil Min	133501	130501	127501	126001	129001	132001

(If you know of another LMLK postage stamp from the supplementary printing that requires an adjustment to this range based on the coordination between serial & pane numbers, please submit it via E-mail to the address shown in the menu at top-left.)
• Combined estimates from both printings in the order they were printed:

3-mil	10-mil	5-mil	20-mil	65-mil
8,000	7,500	4,000	3,000	3,000

(Note that gaps of 1,000 serial numbers exist in the ranges for the 3-mil & 10-mil values, so that only 7,000 & 6,500 of each were probably printed instead of 8,000 & 7,500, respectively.)
• Note that the supplementary printing of 3-mil values with serial numbers 15026-18025 can be distinguished from Pane 4 of the main printing by measuring the distance between the circle & rectangle slugs:  9mm gap on the main printing, 3mm gap on the supplementary
• Note that the main printing of 65-mil values had square slugs in pane 4 instead of rectangles like all the other sheets
• "t" & "T" denote tabs, "s" & "S" denote stamps (uppercase letters read the same as the pane numbers while lowercase letters are rotated 180 degrees; actual pane & control numbers are 90 degrees counter-clockwise with respect to each block of 50 stamps)

Click here to pop open a 3-mil main-printing photo

Click here to pop open a 3-mil supplementary-printing photo

• Known errors:
• Paper folds resulting in missing ink lines
• Plate misalignments resulting in grossly shifted streamer texts
• Missing perforations (known by philatelists as "imperfs")
• Extra perforations (known by philatelists as "double-perfs")
• An error in the original 50-stamp pane design produced an extra dot in the stamp adjacent to the triangular pane number located in the top of the left stroke of the final letter Tet (ט) in the streamer text
• An ink error in the "ISRAEL" lettering of the 20-mil stamp next to the pane-5 margin slugs resulting in a white mark that looks like an apostrophe ("ISR`AEL")

SPECIAL SAMPLES:

Sample of a block of stamps showing gutter slugs, pane numbers, & control numbers; such a complete block is known by philatelists as a "sheet heart": 180-degree relationship between the stamps is known as "tete-beche" (French for "head-tail"). Note that this particular block bears Kefar Ata cancellations, the city where the northernmost LMLK handle was excavated at Khirbet Sharta.
Sample of color bars overlapping in sheet corner: Margins were created for absorbing excess ink.
Notice that the same break occurs in the color bars (due to thin film strips added to the plate being cut too short--note the small addition that connected them), evidence that the same plate was used to print the tabs & streamers (only the color was changed) The solid dual-color bar shown in this 3-mil in conjunction with the low control number indicates that it is from the supplementary printing

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• BAPIP Bulletin #5, July 1953, p. 20; "Photo-Offset In Israel" by Frank A. Read (reprinted from The Penrose Annual vol. 44, 1950, p. 139)
• BAPIP Bulletin #13, July 1955, p. 22; "The Flying Scroll" by S.N. Shure

• "A Century of Jewish History" by Victor H. Bernstein
• "Catalogue of Israel Postage Stamps" by Michael H. Bale
• "Israel Postage Stamps" by Yacov Tsachor
• "Israel Stamps Catalogue" by Yehuda Hugo Kolar
• "Israel Stamps Catalogue" by Carmel
• "Krause-Minkus Standard Catalog of Israel Stamps" by Maurice D. Wozniak
• "Mosden Israel Catalogue" by E.H. Moshi, Louis S. Schulman, & Leon Walters
• "Simon's Catalogue of Israel Stamps" by Isidore Simon

• DI #9, Mai-Aout 2007; pp. 179 (cover) & 188-9, "Tirage de la Serie 'Nouvel An 1948'" by Jean-Paul Danon
• DI #10, Septembre-Decembre 2007; p. 212, "Les Camps de refugies a Chypre" by Jean-Paul Danon; p. 219, "Tirage de la Serie 'Nouvel An 1948' (suite)" by Jean-Paul Danon
• DI #11, Janvier-Avril 2008; pp. 1 (cover) & 5-7, "Deux Varietes du Rouleau Volant: Le Mystere Mosden" by G.M. Grena

• HLP vol. 1, #8, June 1955, p. 223; "Israel Varieties" by Eduard Weich
• HLP vol. 1, #9/10, Jul-Aug 1955, p. 247; "Stamps With Tabs" by L.N. & M. Williams
• HLP vol. 1, #11, September 1955, p. 275; "About the Flying Scroll" by F.W. Pollack (abridged from BAPIP #13)
• HLP vol. 2, #14, December 1955, p. 358; "More About the Cyprus Detention Camps" by A.H. Jarmain
• HLP vol. 3, #35/36, Sep-Oct 1957, p. 779; "Stamp Exhibitions in Israel" by F.W. Pollack
• HLP vol. 4, #42, April 1958, p. 952; "Postal History Mail Auction No. 8" by F.W. Pollack

• IPP vol. 1, #7, May 1950, p. 54; "Official Issues" (by editorial board)
• IPP vol. 3, #5, January 1952, p. 46; "Dates of Invalidation" by Louis A. Sarrow
• IPP vol. 4, #10, June 1953, pp. 93-4; "The Flying Scroll" by Louis Schulman-Irving Weisberger
• IPP vol. 9, #1, September 1957, p. 4; "Ancient Jewish Seals on Israeli Stamps" by Emil Weitz
• IPP vol. 9, #10, June 1958, p. 140; "Biblical Motives on Israeli Stamps" by Emil Weitz

• TIP vol. 12, #3, November 1960, p. 338; "How to Collect the Postmarks of Israel" by E. Rachwalsky & B. Remington
• TIP vol. 13, #6, February 1962, p. 641; "Art on Israel Stamps" by Alexander S. Kohanski
• TIP vol. 15, #8, May-June 1965, p. 1371; "The 1948 Festival Stamps - A Puzzle" by Sam Aaron
• TIP vol. 17, #3-4, Nov-Dec 1965, pp. 1478 & 1483; letters to the editor with 1948 Festival pane numbers by Charles Potter, Walter J. Stern, Major S. Denfield
• TIP vol. 17, #11-12, Jul-Aug 1966, p. 1674; letter to the editor with 1948 Festival slug positions by Major S. Denfield
• TIP vol. 18, #1-2, Sept-Oct 1966, p. 1693; "The Israel Festival Stamps, 1948-1965" by Alexander S. Kohanski
• TIP vol. 20, #9-10, June 1969, p. 220; "Israel Triangular Festival Cancellations" by David J. Simmons
• TIP vol. 20, #9-10, June 1969, pp. 232-3; "The 1948 Festival Issue:  First & Second Printing" by H. Jeidel
• TIP vol. 21, #7-8, April 1970, pp. 128-9; "The Tete-Beche Issues of Israel--A Survey" by Oscar Stadtler
• TIP vol. 21, #11-12, August 1970, pp. 210, 220-1; "Basic Israel Philately" by David J. Simmons
• TIP vol. 22, #3-4, December 1970, pp. 72-3; "Tete-Beche on First Day Covers" by Max M. Manning
• TIP vol. 23, #7-8, April 1972, p. 188; "Printing" by M. Madesker
• TIP vol. 24, #11-12, August 1973, pp. 275, 278-9; "The Production of the First Israel Stamps" by Frank E. Read
• TIP vol. 24, #13-14, October 1973, pp. 345-6; "Album Leaves:  Festival Stamps 1948" by Arthur Cohen
• TIP vol. 25, #9/10, October 1974, p. 642; "Israel Plate Blocks of Six" by Ezra Berkowitz
• TIP vol. 26, #5/6, June 1975, p. 843; "Errors and Varieties" by Albert Friedberg
• TIP vol. 29, #3/4, April 1978; "The 1948 Festival Issue:  65 Pruta First & Second Printings" by William D. Farber
• TIP vol. 30, #1/2, February 1979; "The 1948 Festival (Flying Scroll) Issue:  3 Pruta Second Printing Revised" by William D. Farber
• TIP vol. 31, #1/2, February 1980; "Notes on the 1948 Festival Issue; The Flying Scrolls" by William D. Farber
• TIP vol. 32, #1/2, February 1981; "Printing the 1948 Festival (Flying Scroll) Issue:  Part 1" by William D. Farber
• TIP vol. 32, #3/4, April 1981; "Printing the 1948 Festival (Flying Scroll) Issue:  Part 2" by William D. Farber
• TIP vol. 32, #5/6, June 1981; "Printing the 1948 Festival (Flying Scroll) Issue:  Part 3" by William D. Farber
• TIP vol. 34, #1/2, February 1983; "Nature & Origin of the Flying Scroll Design" by William D. Farber
• TIP vol. 57, #3, June 2006; "Part 1 (Flying Scroll) Digging Deeper into the 1948 Festival Stamps" by G.M. Grena
• TIP vol. 57, #6, December 2006; "Part 2 (Flying Scroll) Digging Deeper into the 1948 Festival Stamps" by G.M. Grena
• TIP vol. 58 [note--the cover erroneously says "LIII" instead of "LVIII"], #3, June 2007; "Part 3 (Flying Scroll) Digging Deeper into the 1948 Festival Stamps" by G.M. Grena
• TIP vol. 58, #5, October 2007; "Part 4 (Flying Scroll) Digging Deeper into the 1948 Festival Stamps" by G.M. Grena
• TIP vol. 59, #1/2, Feb-Apr 2008; "Letters to the Editor" by Allen H. Simon