We weren't looking closely enough! Another 1st class variation

This year we've been closely looking at Security Definitives with MA10 codes and not always noticing other code changes.

Well, we weren't looking very closely last year either.  On MachinMania Roy has a comment from 'Robert' about the NAFAS Flowers Retail Booklet issued last year.  This has a previously unreported variation in the security overprint, in that the 'A' of MAIL is missing in one position, to the left, just above the security cuts.

Like many of last year's 1st class stamps, the security layer is not very good and is very difficult to reproduce, so my thanks to Richard P who has once again achieved what I could not!

This is a variation, not a variety - all four stamps in every book examined has this A missing.  But why, and how?   It's not as if it's a gradual fade off towards a corner, and it's not in only one place on the cylinder.  

Most people will have this stamp in the booklet, but single ones make added interest.   Many dealers will have kept the flower stamps because they are separately catalogued and there will be space for them in pre-printed albums.  How many have kept the single stamps as well?  Time to start looking more closely at all stamps, and kiloware!