Preproduction maculatures and blackprints of Czechoslovak stamps

So-called preproduction maculature of a 1918 newspaper stamp - issue Falcon in Flight

This sub-collection contains preliminary and auxiliary prints (so-called maculatures) produced before or during the final print and trial, auxiliary, errant or proof prints of stamping dies or entire printing plates made in black (so-called blackprints), which date back to interwar Czechoslovakia. Commemorative prints, taken from engraved plates of a stamp or block of 2 to 4 stamps or miniature sheet, issued in the 1980s to mark the occasion of international stamp exhibitions are also included in this sub-collection. Blackprints accompanying annual sets of stamps produced by the Czech Republic are among the other materials.

The oldest materials date back to 1918 while the bulk of the sub-collection comes from the early 1920s. The first preserved materials are maculatures of the 1h Prague Castle stamp issued in 1918. Blackprints from the process of preparation of the first Czechoslovak stamps are the most valuable items. Commemorative prints are currently issued as loose album sheets to accompany annual sets of Czech stamps or as materials used to promote the Postal Museum and its activities (regular 18 December publications to mark the anniversary of the establishment of the Postal Museum and issue of the first Czechoslovak stamp, major exhibitions and other events or publications prepared by the museum).