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Watermarks were originally adopted as a precautionagainst counterfeiting, and careful registering so that thedesigns would fall on specified areas of the finished stampwas once considered worth the extra work and expenseinvolved. However, it was very soon discovered that thisextra work was not practical from an economic stand-point so watermarks were applied in an all-over design-groupings of letters or repetition of designs. Our ownUnited States stamps were watermarked with the letters"USPS"—[United States Postal Service]—in large outline letters from 1895 to about 1910. Only a single letterwould appear on an individual stamp, or perhaps partsof two or more letters according to how the printinghappened to fall upon the paper. About 1910 this |
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