What Does V3 Mean On The Back Of A Muscle Cars Stamp Pane?

As per the title of this thread, what does "V3" mean above the Plate Position of these two panes of Muscle Cars stamps?



The pane without the "V3" was purchaesd at my local post office earlier this year; the pane with the "V3" was purchased at SFS along with other ordered items just this past week. Could the "V3" have something to do with the so-called "reprinting" of the stamps? If so, why "V3" (instead of "V2") as there was only one reprinting done to my knowledge?

The face of the stamps are otherwise identical except for a slight color misregistration in the newer version, which is so minor it probably falls well within the range of acceptance by the USPS.

The printing company ID ?

Is that the "plate number" for the printing on the back?

Robert

I asked this same question on another stamp collecting site and the response was that there are both "V2" and "V3" plate numbers known to exist on the back of the stamps, both apparently representing the reprinted varieties. As the reprinted stamps are otherwise indistinguishable from the original printing, apparently no catalog is identifying these as a collectible variety of note. However, that shouldn't stop anyone from collecting them, if one is interested in such details.

If there are more V numbers... up to 10 as there are 10 panes... then it might refer to the pane position within the sheet.
V3 might be "Avery Dennison pane three", assuming they number from the bottom up.

Possibly...maybe...

The specialized catalog of the future will no doubt differentiate these.

Far more likely to be a plate number than a pane position counting from the bottom up.

The latest Linn's Stamp News (on-line now) confirms V3 refers to the third printing (i.e., second reprint) of the Muscle Cars stamps.

Cheers, Robert

I'm not sure what to make of this now. The following was reported sometime ago on another website:




Does the reference in the latest Linn's Stamp News change this idea to a legitimate third printing or as suggested in the above quote, was it all part of a single reprint?

I'm puzzled.

The article does not provide printing dates, but the print quantities are:
1st printing: 35 million
2nd printing: 30 million
3rd printing: 30 million

The quote from the USPS spokesman conveys these are separate print runs (2nd printing was 1st reprint, 3rd printing was 2nd reprint).

Robert