2013 Flag For All Seasons

I received my first Forever Flag for All Seasons stamp on cover today. It is the Flag in Autumn coil stamp, die cut 8 1/2 vert. This is the Avery printed coil variety, Scott 4766. I can't seem to find the microprinted "USPS" in the design. Parts of the design are obscured by the cancellation. Does the stamp have microprinting, and, if so, where is it located?

Thanks, Robert

Admittedly, the Autmnn FFAS Coil is the hardest one to detect the location of the USPS microprinting. However, this illustration shows where the microprinting is located on all of the stamps in that series. (It would take a much higher resolution image to clearly see the microprinting in a scan.)

Wow, I had to pull out the microscope to detect the microprinting. It was like taking a color blindness test.

Thanks for the info.

I noticed there is a die cut variation between the stamp I posted and the ones in the strip. On my stamp, the die cuts on the left side start with a peak at the top and end with a valley at the bottom (PV). The strip stamps are the opposite: valley at top, peak at bottom (VP). This has been the case for Avery printed, die cut 8 1/2 vert., stamps for the last few definitive series.

Robert

Robert, that is a great observation! I am a member of PNC3, the Plate Number Coil Collectors Club. We ( club members ) have found that on the "Flag for all Seasons" stamps, the VP is the scarcer of the two die cuts. We also think that the VP die cut came from the bottom row of the sleeve.

Peter

Just one row per sleeve produces the VP variety? Does that apply to all the Avery printed self-adhesive die cut 8 1/2 coils, or just this issue? I did a quick, completely unscientific, census of these stamps in my collection and duplicates, going back to the 21c American Buffalo, Scott 3475. I have 44% more of the VP varieties than the PV varieties.

Robert

Train - the short answer is it varies from issue to issue (and can also vary from prinings of the same stamp). This is because they have more than one die cutting mat design (for unknown rteasons).

eye, thanks for the info.

Trainwreck, up till this point we do not have seen enough of the FFAS issue to be sure about the VP statement. As eyeonwall said, the PV/VP mixture is different for each issue. At this point it looks like the VP is only found on one row but only time will tell for sure! Peter

I believe this is a Scott #4780 (APU) variety of the Autumn FFAS stamp I received on a piece of mail the other day. Is the seemingly unique die cut at the UL corner normal? It seems quite "sharp looking" from most others than I've seen.