Uncut Press Sheets Without Diecuts?

Just as a point of reference, Linn's Stamp News is reporting that the Abraham Lincoln Press Sheet numbers have been revised from 1000 to 2500 units each (both with and without die cuts). My guess is that they upped the number because of brisk sales (of course, that's when collectors thought that only 1000 of each Press Sheet was going to be available). It also helps explain why the USPS Store's website showed the Lincoln Press Sheets went off sale and then on again in short order.

Also, based on this Linn's Editorial about the USS Arizona Press Sheet (which by the way, the latest 2014 Q1 USA Philatelic refers to as a "mini" Press Sheet), the quantity is limited to 500 (even at that low number, I suspect the pricetag will deter most collectors).

http://linns.com/news/editorial-ins...rom-the-USPS

Thats disgusting. My first direct purchase from USPS and its a total waste of time. What sort of message does it send to collectors when you add to an original advertised total number of sheets. At 1000 total sheets of the lincoln it seemed a no brainer to put a few away or maybe cut 1 up. Even if originally limited to 2500 for any US issue its not that many but to change after the fact is criminal. Hell I even thought about dishin out the $600 for the arizona sheet but why bother - if they sell out based on low run they will just add 500 more. Excuse me while I go try and cancel my order.

Here's a link to the Linn's article suggesting that the USPS has indicated that the 1000 quantity of Lincoln Press Sheets was posted in error and will be corrected in a future Postal Bulletin; the correct number should be 2500 of each (with and without die cuts):

http://linns.com/news/us-stamps/253...ets-produced

If some start privately cutting their uncut sheets up, how will others be able to tell them apart from those that were cut by the printer?

For press sheets without die-cuts, there are NO die-cuts whatsoever ... so you would always be able to recognize a pane from one of these sheets. But for press sheets with die-cuts, a pane cut from such a sheet should be indistinguishable from a normal pane with die-cuts. Another difference though, regardless of the type of press sheet, is that there are no die-cuts whatsoever between adjacent panes on the press sheet. This allows the creation of "gutter blocks" ... or, if the press sheet has multiple rows & columns, the creation of "cross gutter blocks". So even in the case of press sheets with die-cuts, you could determine that such blocks came from a press sheet.


Actually, in most cases they are not selling out. There are a few exceptions, notably the initial 4-player baseball issue of 2012, Earthscapes, Made in America & the Jenny Invert. And I'm not convinced the Lincoln is sold out, especially since they announced the number of sheets as 2500 opposed to 1000 (there are those who believe that this is a repeat of the 4-player baseball sheet scenario). Sellouts are the exception, not the rule for press sheets. But it does make sense that, if there is a sellout, it will be the one without die-cuts. Whether Scott chooses to acknowledge them with a catalogue number or with a footnote, stamps without die-cuts are easily recognizable from those with die-cuts. Being different, there will be those who choose to collect them.

Does anyone really believe the post office made a mistake and got the quantity printed wrong? According to Linn's update, they never really printed 1000 sheets but rather 2500 and got the number wrong. Really? Then why the delay in sending these out? AT 1000 sheets there are 3000 imperf panes. At that number I was all in buying as many as I could. At 2500 press sheets and 7500 imperf panes I am calling the PO and cancelling my order for the Lincoln. Will the USPS ever learn? This reminds me of the Sylvester and Tweety Imperf pane fiasco. Originally they announced one printing number and when it sold out they went back on their word and printed more. When the Imperf Sylv. and Tweety were announced the PO said the quantity was fixed and when sold out that was it. 3 weeks later they reprinted it to fill demand. This really annoyed dealers and collectors as I am sure this Lincoln imperf will.

The question would be what was first, the annoucement of qty or the actual date of the Purchase order to the printer and what qty that was for. Not sure how transparent usps has to be but sounds like this sort of foul has been done before. Even if 2500 were printed but if it was an order mistake usps should destroy the extras. Canada Post usually does at lowest 1000 and more often up to 5000+ -- They almost always sell out as well with a few exceptions . Considering population of about 1/10 of the US its hard to understand why usps doesn't sell this stuff out almost immediatly. Places like Franklin Mint sell out of insane quantities of "rare limited edition" everythings .
Maybe there will be a subtle difference between the first 1000 and the 1500 if they didn't run them all at once . With the way they apparently sold out and then magically re appeared it doesn't look good. Honest Abe would be a very upset man.

It's far more likely that they would do the same as they did with the 4-player baseball sheets ... destroy the initial 1000 and then print another 2500. This avoids the problem of accidentally producing two different varieties.

I think we're on the wrong track with the Lincoln Press Sheets. If the previously posted Linn's article is accurate, the USPS reports that 2500 Lincoln Press Sheets of each (with and without die cuts) were produced from the start. It was an error in the Postal Bulletin that read "1000" instead of "2500" that led people to believe otherwise. So it would seem that all 2500 Press Sheets were initially printed and were just recorded wrong in the Postal Bulletin.

Now whether or not the mistake was unintentional or deliberate, that's another issue entirely.

With few exceptions, I don't think Press Sheets sell all that well, but since the USPS can be pretty much assured that the majority of them will end up in collectors hands rather than on the US Mail, it becomes a "cash cow" for them no matter how many they finally sell.

Then why the delay? I have already received the Lincoln die cut press sheet. No sign of the No die cuts

Only the postal service knows the reason. But I agree with wt1, there's no need to invoke "conspiracy" to explain the delay. Considering all of the errors that have appeared in recent postal bulletins, learning that they specified the wrong quantity of Lincoln press sheets should come as no great surprise. And should the unlikely "conspiracy theory" prove true, it will come out. This is the postal service we're talking about. Keeping secrets is not something that they do well.

I would say that 99.99% of the used ($19.99 issue)stamps will be of Philatelic use. I do plan to make a cover or two. KC this a.m. said that they had not received the Lincoln No Die Cut sheets yet... some kind of game going on here?

Maybe they've been lost in the mail.

I went to the USPS website looking to see the availability of the Lincoln Press Sheets w/o die cuts and found "not available".

Could the extra 1500 (total 2500) press sheets be sold out already?

It's possible they could be "sold out". It's also possible they could have withdrawn the item from sale if there is a significant delay in filling orders for the item. (It's happened a couple of times already with this issue -- first it appears, then it disappears, then it reappears again in their product listing.) Right now, it seems to have disappeared.

The best thing to do would be to call SFS and inquire as to current availability (1-800-782-6724). The item number is 116808 (without die cut variety).