Help !! Byrd Antarctic Expositions

How can I tell the difference between a Scott# 735 and Scott#768
Byrd Antarctic Expositions? Both plates have plate # 21184

The above excerpt is taken from this article on the subject:

http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=2...=1&id=194230

wt1 I've read that three times and I don't know any more now than I did before I read the article. They both have full gutters. They are both imperforate and both have no gum. They both look identical to me
unless I don't understand what a gutter is.

Also I notice a lot of people (sellers) trying to push a 735a off with printing in the margin. The 735a has no printing in the margin. Someone has just cut a souvenir sheet up and are trying to pass it off as a 735a. I saw two one was the bottom left stamp and the second was the second stamp in. Two different sellers. The 735a doesn't have any printing in the margin.

He is talking about blocks that include stamps on both sides of the gutter. Here is a pair of minisheets with gutter in between.

Ok Gottcha. I only have one plate and I put it in 768 but 735 looks just like it in the American Heirloom Album. There is Room for only one block of six in each place.

Are there any with Byrd's signature around?

If I understand the situation, having space for two sheets of 6 makes little sense since the two issues (735 & 768) are indistinguishable in this format. Unless, of course, one of the panes of 6 contains part of one of the gutters. I suppose you could measure the size of the pane ... 735 is 87mmx93mm. If one of the dimensions was somewhat larger than this, the pane would have to be 768.

Ok JL I'll check the measurements out in the morning. At least then I'll know which pane I have now. I even looked in the Scott's specialized catalog and couldn't tell the difference. Thanks everyone.

JLLebbert The pane I have measures out at 89x94 so it must be 768. It looks like I have it in the correct place in my album. But when I look at the pane it looks like the image is centered perfectly. So they must have been cut to size by the printer before the P.O. ever got them. Maybe when I get a 735 and put them side by side I will be able to tell the difference. Again thanks everyone. If anyone wishes to they can still chime in.

Interesting. I quoted the size from the Scott US Specialized. Out of curiosity, I measured the single pane that I have and got 86.5mmx93mm. (For 768, I chose to just collect a gutter pair of 768a.) The question, of course, is whether the specified 735 measurements are precise or just a generic average. I think I agree with what wt1 posted ... it may not make much sense to id a Byrd pane as 768 without a complete gutter ... or at least a significant part of a gutter. Not sure that 89mm qualifies as significant although it does suggest 768 rather than 735.
Incidentally, did you try measuring your 735? Oops ... just reread your post & realize you don't have your 735 album slot filled. Out of curiosity, when you acquired your Byrd block, do you remember if it was ided by the seller/source as 768?

No JLL I've had it a couple years and I don't remember what the ID was. I can only surmise it was ID'd as a 768. Since that is where I put it.

By the way, 735a is a single stamp from the 735 pane of six, so it very well may have printing in the margin unless it was trimmed off.

HungaryForStamps Yes that is correct and something I also have just learned in the last couple days. When you think about it(the singles)it makes sense.

Also, you can't measure yourself out of this problem of distinguishing 735 from 768. If you have single panes without evidence of gutter then they are 735, regardless of what you measure (and regardless of where some previous collector mounted the sheet-I've been in that situation). If you have gutter pairs or lucky enough to have a sheet with multiple panes, then its 768.

"Hungry" Is 768 that rare? or hard to find? Is it hard to find any with gutters?

No, I wouldn't say rare, maybe more like uncommon. The two-pane type that Smauggie posted you could get from ebay for about $30. I see a pane of four sheets for $60 buy it now. I have two horiz pairs and one vertical of this reprint (and a bunch of the other national park reprints).

http://www.ebay.com/itm/US-Stamps-7...em2c8187276e