2 Cent Washington

I am trying to identify this stamp. On the back it says 528a however its a flat plate. Its 11x11, no watermark, and most likely its a 499. Can somebody explain why the perforations are cut so close to the frame (19x22) on all side except the top and can this be a 499f.

mc49, welcome to SCF. The 499 was perforated on a rotary perforator that was adjustable for spacing and this example was probable set at the minimum spacing.


Above is the rotary perforator. The top overarm shows the adjustable yokes for the rotary heads.

The 499f was the AEF booklet pane of 30. Only the middle horizontal row would be perforated aon all sides (9 stamps). These stamps would be indistinguishable from the regular 499 sheet stamps. (the plates were made from the same transfer rolls). A 499f booklet pane and the plate layout are shown below.

Thanks Russ for the information.

I'll treat the stamp as a 499, and I'm gathering that the only way to clearly identify a single 499f middle horizontal row stamp is to have a date stamp on it/ or cover.

The 499f booklets were sold to American Expeditionary Forces in Europe in WWI. Very few covers have been certified. The booklet were only used for a short time before congress extended free postage to AEF troops. Below is an example with the wide top margin and the AEF censor mark mailed from France (from Siegel Auctions).

The above shown perforator is a two way perforator or a wheel and bar perforator or a Stickney perforator that was mostly used to perforate rotary press stamps (rolls) for sheet stamps (rotary coils only used a bar perforator) before the electric eye perforator replaced it.

I need some help identify some U.S stamps also.Thank you

reperforated on the right - if you scan it upside down on a black background you will see what a hash they made of it too.