My First Two Official Stamps

The stamps I ordered are still on their way, guess they will be here next week or so.
But today I recieved a package with coins and on the envelope there where 2 stamps (mostly the pakages have a printed label from usps)

I know, these staps are of no value, but hey, they are stams anyway (and I like the design of the 2nd one)

So what do I have:


If I am correct in using Scott's it should be A2805 and A2875

Now it is time to soak them and dry them.
Hope that goes well :p (last time I soaked stamps I was like 10 years old or something like that :p )

Hi Koen and Welcome to the forum

Just be careful when you do soak them because some of the newer issues (if not all of them now) ate issued with S/A gum (self adhesive) and they can be difficult to soak off and may cause damage.

Chimo

Bujutsu

thank you.

Any tips on soaking self afhesives?

That 1$ design you like is Zeuss. I believe it was taken from a statuary from Carnegie institute.

Here's another tip: When looking at the Scott Catalog, the numbers under the photos that refer to "A" are the design numbers, not the Scott catalog number. If you look at the printed listings you will see that A2875 correlates with Scott No. 3766 ($1 "Wisdom" statue from Rockefeller Center, New York), so the correct Scott No. for that issue is 3766.

As it relates to the 5-cent American Toleware (Design A2805), that design correlates with three stamp issues: Scott 3756 (without microprinting); Scott 3756A (with microprinting) or Scott 3612 (coil variety). Since your stamp has peforations on all sides, it is not the coil, so it has to be either the 3756 or 3756A. Scott No. 3756 would use the date "2004" in the lower left and Scott No. 3756A would use the date "2007". Since your copy uses the "2007" date, it would be Scott No. 3756A. It also contains microprinting (as an anti-counterfeiting measure). Look closely under a magnifying glass and you'll see the letters "USPS" (for US Postal Service) in the lower part of the coffeepot handle. Here's an example of what to look for:

thank you for that info
did not know that

going to install my usb microscope to look for it (easyer then magnifying glass :p )

indeed it has the microptrint on it on the same place you show in your picture.

However I have lost you with your explenation of the numbers.
When I go and look for 3756A I can not find it in the catalogue

Your catalog is a 2008 edition. This particular variety may not have hit your catalog prior to publishing. The Scott 3756A variety was actually issued in August 2008 (even though it is dated 2007) so it may be that it was not reflected until the next edition of the Scott Catalog.

oke, thank you for that, I was still looking for that number and could not find it.
Now I know why :p

The 3766 did not survive the soaking :s

It came of the paper, but I ripped it :(
I wanted to remove glue remains and suddenly a piece of glue got stuck on my finger and I did not see it.
Result was that the stamp got stuck on my finger and it ripped when I pulled it off.

Those self adhesives sure are a pain in the ...

There are a few threads about soaking the self adhesives.
https://goscf.com/t/14226&SearchTerms=soaking

Yeah, I followed a sort of guide about soaking them.
But ended up loosing one.
But hey, no disaster, it is not like it was a special stamp.

Gotta learn it somehow ;)

got some new stamps today on a package of coins.

Not worth much offcourse as they are regular (self adhesive) stamps, but I find that they come in handy to learn to work with Scott's and to find a good way to soak self adhesives :p


Correct me if I am wrong but these are:
-the one with the red and blue star: 3613
-The great smoky mountain: C140
-The Washington: no idea :p

Searching on Bidstart gave me US 2011, Sc #4504 for the Washington. For the single from the sheet of 20. If that is a booklet stamp (exists?) or a coil then different number of course.

It is frustrating sometimes to receive stamps on your mail and want to know about them but the catalogues only go up to a year or more before now. Then online sources like ebay, Bidstart, Delcampe, etc are a help. Or other more specialized sites also.

thank you.

Am I correct with the other 2 what the numbers are?

From Bidstart again:
Smokey Mountains = #C140, yes.
US 3c Star = #3613, yes.

I don't have a US catalogue, that's why I am doing it this way.
Warning note: To take the first number you find on ebay or any other site as the correct number is sometimes risky as not every seller has his stamps numbered correctly (mistakes happen) and there could be varieties of the stamp that have sub numbers or different numbers.

Good work so far!