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United States/Stamps : What did I Find from 127 Pieces of SC#554-like Stamps?

 

Author
Postings
peterstamps

07 Sep 2013
11:46:47am
Hi all,
I recently identified 127 pieces of SC554-like stamps in my collection by scanning and observing them on the screen of my computer. I am surprised what I found the varieties of them.
1. Type: 120 of them are SC554 (P=11) but 7 are SC634 (P=11x10.5). Here are
one SC554 (left) and one SC634 (right) those are easy to be mixed up.
Image Not Found Image Not Found

2. Imperf.: 14 imperf. stamps found in my collection. Can you tell me how to locate imperf. stamp on a pane?
Image Not Found Image Not Found

3.Cancels: 7 major cancels. I upload them here but I do not know what cities they are stand for. Can you tell me the story behind the cancels?
Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found
Image Not Found Image Not Found

4. Color: I show you two of them just present how different of them in color. They are shades of carmine or lake? How to identity carmine and lake?
Image Not Found Image Not Found

5. Some details not exact know what are they. Please make your comments.

• Re-entry?
Image Not Found

• Tumor eye?
Image Not Found

• Re-touch?
Image Not Found

• Ear ring?
Image Not Found

• Puncture (perfin?)
Image Not Found

Thank you in advance for your comments!

Peter


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peterstamps

11 Sep 2013
07:58:02pm
re: What did I Find from 127 Pieces of SC#554-like Stamps?

I read an article by randall W. van Someren about how to identify the source of a straight-edge stamp. Some ideals in the article may be useful to solve my question about straight edges SC#554 stamps even though admiral stamps were discussed in the article. I extract some paragraphs as follows,

Single stamps from some booklet panes are much scarcer than regular straight-edge stamps and their catalogue value reflects that scarcity. There is a tendency for both stamp dealers and collectors to label any straight-edge stamp as coming from a booklet pane. This is obviously incorrect since similar straight-edge varieties exist on sheet stamps and sheet stamps are far more common than booklet stamps.

So the question arises as to whether straight-edge stamps can be positively identified as coming from either a pane of 100 or a booklet pane.

The answer is straightforward if the stamp has a cancellation prior to mid-January 1914. Since this is when gutters were eliminated on sheet stamps, stamps with earlier cancellations must come from booklet panes.

Otherwise, the question has no easy answer. If the collector is willing use Marler's book, The Admiral Issue of Canada, to go through his "types" one by one, most booklet pane singles can probably be identified. Most collectors, though, do not have the time or the patience to do this.

The author introduced another way to identify source of straight-edge stamps. The straight edges of a booklet pane stamp tend to be very smooth clean cuts. Although a straight edge from a pane of 100 may look straight to the naked eye, under magnification it tends to be fairly rough. This way of differentiating the sources of straight-edge stamps is not infallible, but it works most of the time. The important word to remember here is "tend".

Peter

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Rhinelander
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Support the Hobby -- Join the American Philatelic Society

11 Sep 2013
08:36:16pm
re: What did I Find from 127 Pieces of SC#554-like Stamps?

Hi Peter,

I am sorry you have not gotten more responses yet. I am really the wrong person to chime in, as I don't collect any US postage stamps and, thus, really could not do much more than reading the catalog to you.

I am very impressed with your enormous labor of love to examine 127 of these unassuming stamps with a high-resolution scan. While you present a few deviations in the design (item #5), plate flaws and errors are usually much easier to identify if one knows what one is looking for. So, my question: do you know if there are even any notable errors listed for this stamp in the standard catalogs or specialized literature? I really don't know much about these stamps. I have one friend collecting the fourth bureau series and I believe the number one book on it is by Griffith. If there is other literature, perhaps other members can point it out to you. United States Stamps, 1922-26 by Gary Griffith is a Linn's publication and therefore easy and inexpensive to obtain.

As for the postmarks (item 3.) -- all are strikes of either duplex hand cancels or various forms of machine cancels. All are common for the period and cannot be traced to a particular city, except the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania oval cancel. It is a standard undated postmark for parcel post or fourth class (advertizing) mail that was not supposed to get cancelled with a dated cancel.

As for distinguishing straight edged stamps from booklets vs. sheet margins -- Griffith or Scott may have the answer. Sometimes, the fibers of the paper run horizontally or vertically allowing to distinguish booklet and sheet stamps as a consequence of the manufacturing proces. This would have to be noted in the catalog. Otherwise, I don't know a way to tell these two types apart (unless you have a pair or larger unit.)

Examining the straightness of the straight edge almost sounds like an April's fool joke to me. And, please note that this was said for the Canadian Admiral's issue. Well, that's philately, or is it a dissertation proposal: "A U.S.- Canadian comparative study of the relative dullness of paper knives used for separating definitive stamps in the 1920s."

Arno

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peterstamps

11 Sep 2013
11:06:27pm
re: What did I Find from 127 Pieces of SC#554-like Stamps?

Hi Arno,

Thank you for your comments! I'd like to add one point about perfins. I find several Washington A157 stamps with perfins online of Dalcampe.net. There may be SC#554 among them. I am interested in what that perfin in my stamp stand for. I did not find any identical perfin like that online.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you again for your comments item by item. I'll
write back to you but not now. It is too late today.

Peter

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peterstamps

15 Sep 2013
06:55:52pm
re: What did I Find from 127 Pieces of SC#554-like Stamps?


Hello Arno,

The current topic is the continuation of previous two as Help Identify Washington A157 with Ruler and Help Identify Varieties of SC#554). Some experts help me a lot and make it is possible for me to check my 127 unassuming but SC#554-like stamps with a bit confidence.

Perforation, design size, postmarks, plate flaws/error, straight edge and color just name a few all are important to identify stamps. The process of stamp identification is really an endless journey. I cannot tell people that I finally know how to identify stamps but I can only tell to myself that I learn a bit of stamps today. I am getting better in the field. That is why I am full of curious for any aspects of studying stamps.

Your comment how to identify the plate flaws and errors is critical. Standard catalogs and specialized literature are important sources to understand the possibility of varieties of the stamps in my hand.

At the last I’d like to share some information about counterfeits of SC#554. I checked all of my SC#554 stamps none of them is counterfeited. The 554 is a flat plate printing, perforated 11, issued in 1923; the 634 is a rotary press printing, perf 11 x 10½, issued in 1926. The counterfeits were not made using the same printing methods or perforations. One might find a counterfeit of design A157 called either a 554 or a 634.
Some counterfeits were perforated gauge 14, while others were perf 12. In a Scott Stamp Monthly article, Nov 2000, Gary Griffith suggested the perf 12 followed the 14 because the counterfeiters may have been trying to make the fakes look more like the real stamps.
A large "S" in WASHINGTON under the vignette is typical of these counterfeits. Although these counterfeits might be called the "Boston", "New Jersey", or other names, more than likely all were printed in the New York City area.

Thanks a lot

Peter


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Author/Postings
peterstamps

07 Sep 2013
11:46:47am

Hi all,
I recently identified 127 pieces of SC554-like stamps in my collection by scanning and observing them on the screen of my computer. I am surprised what I found the varieties of them.
1. Type: 120 of them are SC554 (P=11) but 7 are SC634 (P=11x10.5). Here are
one SC554 (left) and one SC634 (right) those are easy to be mixed up.
Image Not Found Image Not Found

2. Imperf.: 14 imperf. stamps found in my collection. Can you tell me how to locate imperf. stamp on a pane?
Image Not Found Image Not Found

3.Cancels: 7 major cancels. I upload them here but I do not know what cities they are stand for. Can you tell me the story behind the cancels?
Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found
Image Not Found Image Not Found

4. Color: I show you two of them just present how different of them in color. They are shades of carmine or lake? How to identity carmine and lake?
Image Not Found Image Not Found

5. Some details not exact know what are they. Please make your comments.

• Re-entry?
Image Not Found

• Tumor eye?
Image Not Found

• Re-touch?
Image Not Found

• Ear ring?
Image Not Found

• Puncture (perfin?)
Image Not Found

Thank you in advance for your comments!

Peter


Like
Login to Like
this post
peterstamps

11 Sep 2013
07:58:02pm

re: What did I Find from 127 Pieces of SC#554-like Stamps?

I read an article by randall W. van Someren about how to identify the source of a straight-edge stamp. Some ideals in the article may be useful to solve my question about straight edges SC#554 stamps even though admiral stamps were discussed in the article. I extract some paragraphs as follows,

Single stamps from some booklet panes are much scarcer than regular straight-edge stamps and their catalogue value reflects that scarcity. There is a tendency for both stamp dealers and collectors to label any straight-edge stamp as coming from a booklet pane. This is obviously incorrect since similar straight-edge varieties exist on sheet stamps and sheet stamps are far more common than booklet stamps.

So the question arises as to whether straight-edge stamps can be positively identified as coming from either a pane of 100 or a booklet pane.

The answer is straightforward if the stamp has a cancellation prior to mid-January 1914. Since this is when gutters were eliminated on sheet stamps, stamps with earlier cancellations must come from booklet panes.

Otherwise, the question has no easy answer. If the collector is willing use Marler's book, The Admiral Issue of Canada, to go through his "types" one by one, most booklet pane singles can probably be identified. Most collectors, though, do not have the time or the patience to do this.

The author introduced another way to identify source of straight-edge stamps. The straight edges of a booklet pane stamp tend to be very smooth clean cuts. Although a straight edge from a pane of 100 may look straight to the naked eye, under magnification it tends to be fairly rough. This way of differentiating the sources of straight-edge stamps is not infallible, but it works most of the time. The important word to remember here is "tend".

Peter

Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
Rhinelander

Support the Hobby -- Join the American Philatelic Society
11 Sep 2013
08:36:16pm

re: What did I Find from 127 Pieces of SC#554-like Stamps?

Hi Peter,

I am sorry you have not gotten more responses yet. I am really the wrong person to chime in, as I don't collect any US postage stamps and, thus, really could not do much more than reading the catalog to you.

I am very impressed with your enormous labor of love to examine 127 of these unassuming stamps with a high-resolution scan. While you present a few deviations in the design (item #5), plate flaws and errors are usually much easier to identify if one knows what one is looking for. So, my question: do you know if there are even any notable errors listed for this stamp in the standard catalogs or specialized literature? I really don't know much about these stamps. I have one friend collecting the fourth bureau series and I believe the number one book on it is by Griffith. If there is other literature, perhaps other members can point it out to you. United States Stamps, 1922-26 by Gary Griffith is a Linn's publication and therefore easy and inexpensive to obtain.

As for the postmarks (item 3.) -- all are strikes of either duplex hand cancels or various forms of machine cancels. All are common for the period and cannot be traced to a particular city, except the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania oval cancel. It is a standard undated postmark for parcel post or fourth class (advertizing) mail that was not supposed to get cancelled with a dated cancel.

As for distinguishing straight edged stamps from booklets vs. sheet margins -- Griffith or Scott may have the answer. Sometimes, the fibers of the paper run horizontally or vertically allowing to distinguish booklet and sheet stamps as a consequence of the manufacturing proces. This would have to be noted in the catalog. Otherwise, I don't know a way to tell these two types apart (unless you have a pair or larger unit.)

Examining the straightness of the straight edge almost sounds like an April's fool joke to me. And, please note that this was said for the Canadian Admiral's issue. Well, that's philately, or is it a dissertation proposal: "A U.S.- Canadian comparative study of the relative dullness of paper knives used for separating definitive stamps in the 1920s."

Arno

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
peterstamps

11 Sep 2013
11:06:27pm

re: What did I Find from 127 Pieces of SC#554-like Stamps?

Hi Arno,

Thank you for your comments! I'd like to add one point about perfins. I find several Washington A157 stamps with perfins online of Dalcampe.net. There may be SC#554 among them. I am interested in what that perfin in my stamp stand for. I did not find any identical perfin like that online.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you again for your comments item by item. I'll
write back to you but not now. It is too late today.

Peter

Like
Login to Like
this post
peterstamps

15 Sep 2013
06:55:52pm

re: What did I Find from 127 Pieces of SC#554-like Stamps?


Hello Arno,

The current topic is the continuation of previous two as Help Identify Washington A157 with Ruler and Help Identify Varieties of SC#554). Some experts help me a lot and make it is possible for me to check my 127 unassuming but SC#554-like stamps with a bit confidence.

Perforation, design size, postmarks, plate flaws/error, straight edge and color just name a few all are important to identify stamps. The process of stamp identification is really an endless journey. I cannot tell people that I finally know how to identify stamps but I can only tell to myself that I learn a bit of stamps today. I am getting better in the field. That is why I am full of curious for any aspects of studying stamps.

Your comment how to identify the plate flaws and errors is critical. Standard catalogs and specialized literature are important sources to understand the possibility of varieties of the stamps in my hand.

At the last I’d like to share some information about counterfeits of SC#554. I checked all of my SC#554 stamps none of them is counterfeited. The 554 is a flat plate printing, perforated 11, issued in 1923; the 634 is a rotary press printing, perf 11 x 10½, issued in 1926. The counterfeits were not made using the same printing methods or perforations. One might find a counterfeit of design A157 called either a 554 or a 634.
Some counterfeits were perforated gauge 14, while others were perf 12. In a Scott Stamp Monthly article, Nov 2000, Gary Griffith suggested the perf 12 followed the 14 because the counterfeiters may have been trying to make the fakes look more like the real stamps.
A large "S" in WASHINGTON under the vignette is typical of these counterfeits. Although these counterfeits might be called the "Boston", "New Jersey", or other names, more than likely all were printed in the New York City area.

Thanks a lot

Peter


Like
Login to Like
this post
        

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