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Trying to distinguish the different papers used in printing stamps can be a little tricky. Holding stamps up to the light and examining them from their white back usually helps.

Wove paper is the easiest to confirm. It appears to be rows of little dots. Most stamps are on wove paper.

Laid paper can be identified by either horizontal or vertical narrow lines as you look through the stamp.

Granite paper is rather unique. It looks like wove paper but has blue and red silk fibers throughout.

 Figure 3.  A detail of Czechoslovakia, Scott #B20 (1919) showing the silk fibers characteristic of granite paper.

Perlure paper is very thin, not much thicker than an onion skin. It is usually hard and brittle.

Quadrille paper is similar to laid paper having horizontal & vertical lines that look like little squares.

Figure 4. The squares characteristic of quadrille paper are visible on this stamp from the "Times Express" series of Fiji, Scott #4 (1870)

Chalky paper, used especially on British stamps, is easy to identify, too. Chalk surfaced stamps when rubbed with silver will leave a black mark on them. Be careful when testing these and just touch a small corner or part of the stamp. Watermarks are sometimes obscured by this kind of paper.

Other types of paper seldom used that you will come in contact with include: native paper, used in early Asian stamps; manila paper, used mostly in envelopes; and India paper, introduced in China, mostly for die proofs and specialty applications.

There are others, but for now, this will get you started. Additional information about paper types can usually be found in most catalog introductions. 

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