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

Aha! I see it, :)
Thanks Robert and Wt1

I recently came upon examples of both an Ashton Potter (APU) and Sennett (SSP) Lady Liberty/Flag Booklet Pane of 20 and was flyspecking some of the subtle differences between the stamps from each printer. (I haven't yet obtained an Avery (AVR) Booklet Pane, so I have not yet compared that example).

Anyway, while I know the accepted way of identifying the stamps is with the microprinting, there are several other differences that may or may not be noticeable until studying a detailed scan.

Here are the two booklets shown together. (Top one is (APU) with plate number beginning with "P"; the bottom is (SSP) with plate number beginning with "S".):



My findings show that:

1. The top booklet (APU) is slightly longer (although that could arguably be attributed to a miscut.)
2. The UPC codes are printed with the same number but utilizing a different font.
3. The "© 2010 USPS" uses a different size font in the top (APU) and bottom (SSP) examples.

On the cover label, a close up shows a slightly different alignment in the detail of the second "E" of "FOREVER" that has more blue showing in the upper left area of (APU) example than the (SSP) example:



Another detail is the size of the fonts used in the plate number and copyright notice, with the (APU) version using a slightly larger typeface and only 5 color plate numbers; whereas the (SSP) version uses 6 plate numbers of slightly different colors.

I have also highlighted in the following close-up that the length of the sewing machine scoring in the vertical margins are longer in the (APU) version than the (SSP) version. What is NOT shown is there is no sewing machine scoring on the reverse side of the (APU) convertible booklet; whereas there is scoring on the reverse side of the (SSP) version.



Another distinctive feature is in the Flag stamp:

1. The (APU) version uses a dark blue background behind the stars; the (SSP) version is black.
2. The (APU) version has the top center star up to the margin of the blue background field; whereas the (SSP) has an interesting skip in the printing where the star is supposed to hit the margin of the black background (see yellow circle).
3. There is a distinctive difference between the next star and the end of the blue (or black) border field. In the (APU) version the star is much closer to the top edge; the (SSP) version shows that star at a greater distance (see green square):



This next scan shows the detail of the microprinting "4evR" on the (APU) stamp and "4evr" on the (SSP) stamp. However, if you look at the inside border of the each stamp (highlighted in the yellow rectangles), the (APU) stamp has only a small black outline on the flag; whereas the (SSP) version has the black outline much bolder and extended to the bottom of the flag:



Finally, in the Statue of Liberty stamp, a close up scan not only shows the microprinting location of the (APU) stamp with "4evR" and the (SSP) stamp with "4evr", but also shows the lighter face used in the (SSP) variety.



I realize these stamps were all printed in equal quantity, so it is highly unlikely any variety will carry any additional value, but it is an interesting study in flyspecking these different printing varieties.

How can one identify the type of tagging on these stamps?

Scott merely mentions that the stamps are tagged ... which indicates to me that only one type of tagging was used for any given issue. I believe the convertible booklet stamps all used prephosphored paper (solid tagging) while the ATM stamps used overall tagging.

My album pages have a section for both solid and speckled tagging on these

Is spckled tagging the ssme as mottled tagging? Several years ago it was determined that "mottled" tagging was the same as solid tagging that was applied less.

Peter

No idea

Sportfanatic: How many spaces does your album leave for these stamps? By my count, there are 3 different coils, 3 different double-sided booklets & 1 ATM pane. These are usually identified with the vendor that produced them ... APU (Ashton-Potter), AVR (Avery Dennison) or SSP (Sennett Security Products). In addition, for the coils the perf gauge used by each vendor is different, thereby making identification relatively easy. The booklet stamps, while more difficult to id via perf gauge, can be ided via the microprinting. When I mentioned "solid tagging" for the convertible booklets, I was speaking in general terms. As I recall, the tagging on at least one of these appeared to be closer to what was once called "grainy solid tagging". This could, I suppose, be your "speckled" tagging. But, in any case, there should be space in your album for seven different pairs of stamps. Does your album have space for seven different pairs? Does your album identify the different varieties via the vendor name as well as the tagging? If not, let me know & I'll check the tagging on mine to see which might be considered "speckled".

It has spaces for seven pairs, all booklets with 4evr micro print

The 3 vendors actually used slightly different versions of the microprinting. APU used 4evR ... SSP used 4evr ... AVR used 4EVR. The tagging on the SSP booklet stamps is not as "solid" as that of the other two vendors ... it might be your "speckled" tagging. 3 of the 7 pairs must be coils, 1 of the 7 must come from an ATM booklet pane ... the remaining 3 pairs come from CB20 panes (Convertible double-sided booklets of 20 stamps). Perf measurements on the booklet stamps, while highly similar, do differ a bit. Since Scott does some rounding, I'll include both their official measurements along with my own. The Scott measurements will appear first.
SSP ATM ... 11.25x10.75 ... 11.3x10.9
SSP CB20 .. 11.25x11 ...... 11.3x10.9
APU CB20 .. 11.25x11 ...... 11.25x10.9
AVR CB20 .. 11.5x11.25 .... 11.7x11.4
Hope this will help.
... John L. ...
Added: If your album does not identify the ATM stamps as such ... and if there is no mention of overall tagging ... then the ATM stamps might be a better candidate for "speckled".

Thanks for help. I had everything figured out except the tagging. Next question (enter my newbie status), how do I find the tagging?

To identify tagging, you will need a UV lamp. For US stamps, you need a shortwave lamp. For many European stamps you would need longwave UV. Many lamps provide a means to select between the two (short & long UV). But, for these stamps, the tagging id is not really needed. A good perf gauge & strong magnifier should do the trick. Just figure out the correct vendor & deduce which one your album expects for a particular spot on the page.
Added: If you have an ebay userid, log on to ebay and look for a seller named tbrstamps. Visit his store ... there you will find some good online guides including one on tagging. This was where I got my intro to the world of tagging.
Added: Something I forgot to mention ... online ebay guides are not for sale. You can view them for free.