Lady Liberty/Flag Stamp Varieties - Which Stamp Is This?

Okay, now that the Lady Liberty/Flag Stamps have been issued in coils and ATM booklets and standard booklets and all by various printers such as Ashton Potter, Sennett and Avery, how do you tell them apart when only one stamp is provided as taken off a piece of regular first class mail (as in this example)?



Shall I assume the simplest way is to identify the perforations? It's definitely a coil stamp (issued in 2010, even though the date on the stamp reads 2011) and, I believe it to be the perf. 9.5 die cut, so that would make this example a Scott No. 4487, right?

I know there is a variation in the microprinting, but with a cancellation that obscures it somewhat, and even with scanning the stamp at 1200 dpi, I still can't make out for certain that it's the "4evR" microprint, which makes it an Ashton-Potter (APU) printed stamp.

If anyone winds up collecting these in any quantity, I expect that it's going to be a real challenge to correctly separate all of the different varieties offered on this issue.

wt1,
The die cut gauge is probably the best indicator for determining the identification of the stamp. Then that can be confirmed by the format of the microprinting ("4evr", "4evR" or "4EVR"). Your stamp is indeed Scott 4487, die cut 9 1/2 vert., printed by Ashton-Potter. The square corners on this stamp also can be used as an identification point (also, the shape and number of die cut peaks on each side can be used to help identify). I'm currently putting together a cheat sheet that lists all these salient features to assist me with identification.
Regards, Robert

Thanks. I'd be interested in seeing your "cheat sheet" when you get it together. The best way that I've been able to identify the stamps is to compare it to another that is positively identified (as in a mint plate number strip, etc.) but figured there had to be an easier way.

wt1,
Send me a PM with your e-mail address and I'll send out what I have.
Regards, Robert

Robert, Why not post the "cheat sheet" as a new topic? Maybe other folks can add to it.

It's a chart saved as a .odt or .pdf file. I'm not sure how to post the chart into a message without it becoming an unreadable mess.

Regards, Robert

Trainwreck kindly sent me an e-mail with the referenced attachments and agreed that I could post his work here, so here it goes (along with his disclaimer):

The die cuts of the two pairs are the same. If you flip the top one vertically and place it face down, the die cuts will line up.

Trainwreck,

Have you got an update with the Scott #s of mthe booklet varieties?

Or anyone else have the Scott #s.

I'm finding that the 4evR is way more plentiful in use than the others.

Dave N.
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Is this what you're looking for?

Here's my updated sorting chart with the booklet stamp Scott catalog numbers. I have not examined all the coil and booklet varieties, so be aware, there are still blanks and question marks. I also look for die cut varieties, and have made assumptions about the existence of some varieties, but these are subject to change.





Cheers, Robert

Thanks Trainwreck and WT1

Dave N.
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The December 12 edition of Linn's Stamp News (available on-line now) has an article titled "Identifying the 14 different Lady Liberty and Flag forever stamps". The article is presented across 3 pages and is very comprehensive.

Cheers, Robert

Where do we look for the microprinting?

rod222,
Location of microprinting:
Lady Liberty-to the right of the statue's left eye near the hairline.
American Flag-in the flag's bottom red stripe in the foreground.
It's the same location for the coil and booklet versions of each stamp.

Regards, Robert

I pointed out the location of the microprinting for this issue in this previous thread:

https://goscf.com/t/18592