A very common stamp that has several varieties that many collectors overlook. Not much for value, a one page collection.
This Uncle Sam stamp was printed as panes of 20.....you would think that the serpentine perfing would all be the same. But, noooooo that would make too much sense. You can have a block of four with all the same perfing or a block of four with the top two different from the bottom two......and this happens in several different positions as you can see in the listing..........and, on an un-cut press sheet (usually 6 panes) the panes have an alternating pattern of perfing making some panes worth more than others.
Notice how the perfing is slightly off peak to peak......the difference between perf 10.8 and 10.5 (higher number = tighter perf)
Also.....on every pane there are some (I think it's the center horizontal row) that have an odd larger slanted perf in the middle of both sides.....down on the left side, up on the right. Hardly noticeable even when you know what to look for.
As I mentioned, there is not much value here....but finding one with the odd larger perf on cover would be a very nice prize. Even finding just a used one will not be easy. These were issued in 1998......so far, I've found two.
Posted 10/24/2008 5:39 pm
