XII. Five-Pointed Large Star Watermark. Upright and inverted five-pointed stars alternating in vertical columns.
At specified intervals, some of the star motifs contain a Roman numeral indicating the grade of the paper. Depending on the format of the stamp, the watermark appears upright or sideways, and on some stamps both orientations occur. The watermark position can be determined only from the numeral watermark, which may occur in eight different positions.
Possible watermark orientations
- A: upright and inverted five-pointed stars;
- B: five-pointed stars lying to the left and right.
Issues on which the watermark occurs
Chess, 1 May I, Trade Union IV, Children I, DISZ I, UPU II and souvenir sheet, Innovators, Sport II, Peace III, Lenin, Insects (except 40 f and 60 f), Mother and Infant Protection, Hungarian Soviet Republic Memorial II, 1 May V, Third Congress of the MDP, Five Years of the Constitution 1 Ft, Scientists (except 8 f, 20 f, 40 f and 2 Ft), Winter Sports 40–80 f, State Printing Works, Labour 8 f, 10 f, 20 f, 40 f, 60 f, 70 f, 1 Ft, 1.70 Ft, 2 Ft, 2.60 Ft, 3 Ft, Poets, Transport 1 Ft and 2 Ft, Sport III 40 f, Forint–Fillér Postage Due II, Brown Postage Due III, 50 Years of Hungarian Postage Due Stamps.
Distinguishing the large and small five-pointed star watermarks
- The spacing between the five-pointed stars is not uniform everywhere, especially in the large-star watermark.
- As a general rule, the large stars are closer together horizontally and slightly farther apart vertically than the small stars.
- The points of the large stars are sharper, while those of the small stars are blunter.
- The presence of a numeral watermark conclusively identifies the large-star watermark.