US 630: White Plains Souvenir Sheet

After consulting my 2004 Scott catalogue I keep in the office. The stamp in question has a dot above the first 's' in the word 'states'.

Scott lists two plate numbers having this variety.

Plate #18774, LL 9
Plate #18773, LL 11

I'm glad you asked this question, as I hadn't noticed the reference before.

I'm curious ... why isn't this variety listed for a single stamp (Scott 629).


Brian

Because the plate variety only exists on 2 plates of the S/S (#630). The normal sheet stamps (#629) were printed from different plates.

The anomaly is actually -- why does the S/S get its own Scott major catalog number? The singles from the sheet and from the S/S are indistinguishable.

If Scott followed its editorial policy as with most other S/S's, then #630 should be either a line item or at most a minor catalog number of #629. Then the dot over "s" variety would be listed under #629. That's what Scott does for most of the other modern plate varieties.

But, it's hard to change old traditions -- and personally, I think Scott should leave it alone. I'm one of those who really dislikes catalog number changes.