Lady Liberty/Flag Forever Booklet Of 20 (Issued 06/14/2011)

I was at the post office today picking up the Barbara Jordan stamp and, to my surprise, the Postmaster had the new Lady Liberty/Flag Forever Booklet Panes of 20:



As most will know, this format of the stamps was just issued on 06/14/2011 and since the USPS had not mandated automatic distribution, post offices were advised to order their supply of these booklets only after the present Liberty Bell booklet stock gets depleted. In this case, the Postmaster told me that they were running low on their old supply of booklets and intentionally ordered these new ones.

Nothing too out of the ordinary from the ATM Booklet or Coil versions of the stamp except that I find it interesting that they have scored the margin where the plate number appears (presumably to aid in folding the booklet for a pocket or purse. I've never seen that arrangement before and it seems a bit odd and I suspect will displease plate number collectors:



Finally, when looking at the stamps on the reverse side of the booklet (in back of the label that appears on the front), there is an extra margin in the first two stamps. At first I thought it was a just a visual perception thing, but then I measured it and sure enough the first two vertical stamps measure 23mm wide whereas the other stamps in the booklet measure only 22.5mm wide. (The image size is unchanged).

So in essence there is an extra 0.5mm width in the first two stamps on the reverse side of these booklet only. Yet another minor variety to collect!



[Edit] Corrected date of issue. Stamps were issued 06/14/2011 (not 06/15/2011).

I wonder if the wider stamp will get a different Scott number. Are Scott numbers assigned to stamps as they are issued?

There are so many Scott numbers assigned to this series of stamps already, I don't know if they'll bother to identify this variety separately or not. Remember, this series started out with coils and then an ATM booklet of 18 and finally the Booklet of 20 stamps, all of the varieties being released by three different printers, (which are minor varieties in and of themselves).

For the record, those Booklets of 20 with a plate number "S" followed by six digits and are from Banknote Corporation of America/Sennett Security Products (SSP); a plate number "V" followed by five digits are from Avery Dennison (AVR); and a plate number "P" followed by five digits are from Ashton Potter (APU).

I also find it curious that the (SSP) variety uses six plate numbers and the other two only five, meaning that the (SSP) variety is using six colors versus the others using only five colors in the printing process. Upon further checking with the Postal Bulletin, it seems the (SSP) variety is using Dark Blue, Light Green, Red, Green, Black and Blue (6 colors); whereas the others are using Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Blue (5 colors).

Each of the three printers are set to print 750 million stamps each, so no one variety is going to be harder to acquire than the other (in theory, anyway).

My scan above with a plate number P11111 would be from the Ashton Potter (APU) variety.

Since it's difficult to see without magnification, I thought I would point out the location of the microprint 4evR on this stamp issue, with the example shown being from the printer Ashton Potter (APU):

I do not expect them to. Paper size variations on booklet stamps are common because of the cutting process. If the design is identical in size, then Scott normally does not assign a different catalog number just because of differences in paper size, even if the paper size difference is intentional (as appears to be the case for this particular booklet). Another example, are the Jumbo margins on some of the early 20th Century flat plate issues -- intentionally much large paper size for stamps in certain edge rows/columns, but not assigned separate catalog numbers. In fact, I'm not even sure they are mentioned in the Scott US Specialized.

Of course, Scott is famous for being inconsistent. There are some South American stamps for which Scott DOES assign a separate catalog number solely because of an intentionally different paper size. Some of them are Argentinian.



Yes, usually within a few weeks or a month or so after the stamp is issued. The new catalog numbers for US stamps are published in Linn's Stamp News (weekly) as they are assigned. The new catalog numbers for US and WW stamps are published in Linn's Stamp News Special Edition (monthly) in standard catalog listing format as they are assigned.

wt1,
I think I can tell from your scans that the die cutting pattern is the same on the front and back of the AP-printed booklet. The easiest way for me to tell is the orientation of the swastika-like die cut feature formed at the intersection of four stamps. From your scans they look the same--front and back. They are mirror images of each other on the Avery-printed booklet I purchased just recently.
Regards, Robert

Thanks for the additional information. Now we have to wait and see what Scott decides to list as pertinent varieties. I suspect they are just going to list the varieties attributed to the three different printers, and not bother to list some of the die cutting pattern varieties.