US 3968, Flag And Statue Of Liberty, Funky Perf

Still on piece, and I darkened it to show the perfs, so I hope it shows up OK. This is the PNC Single, #V1111, so it is supposed to be Serpentine Die Cut 8 1/2 Vert. Right side looks OK. What's up with the left side?

Interesting. Looking at how crude the cuts look on the left side top and bottom, I submit that it was probably an after-purchase modification by someone being creative with a pair of scallop-type craft scissors.

I found one somewhat similar, but much rougher. Do you think it is a perf-looking cutoff from a vending machine? It calculates out to almost Perf 4, but if it was cut over the original perf, I would have expected a few valleys in-between the hills, unless it was a very big margin, indeed.

The stamp above is the first one on a roll. The last stamp on a roll has a similar "perforation" or die cut on the right side.
This "die cut" has been christened "wavy die cut" by the Catalog Committee of the Plate Number Coil Collectors Club ( PNC3 ) and is known only on coils printed by Avery Dennison.

Peter

Is it normal that a stamp (the first one on the coil roll) would have a plate number?

wt1, plate numbers are generally distributed at random if considering different rolls . Of course, if one roll has the plate number on the first stamp, all rolls from that position on the web have the plate number in that position. Depending on the spacing of the plate numbers ( this always differs from printer to printer ) the next batch of rolls can have the plate number in a completely different position. Does this help?

Peter

Thanks. I never heard of a plate number being in the first position of a coil roll before, but I guess if it's just random, it can occur.

In the case of the example scanned in the initial post, as a plate number single, it would make the example rather scarce, or so it would seem.

I suppose you are correct. If we consider the fact that the plate number occurs on the last stamp of the plate, it is most likely quite rare to find it at the first position of a roll!
I checked my complete rolls, and I did not find a single roll where the plate number is on the first stamp. But I found several with the number on the 2nd and 3rd stamp.

Peter

Peter, thanks so much for the detailed information ... That makes perfect sense. I won't quit my day job yet, but I will put a note that it might have some extra value due to the wavy line cut.

Just think ... if one wanted to collect this perf variety on all coils, one would probably have to purchase a full roll of each AVR coil. Incidentally, does anyone know whether CCL coils exhibit the same "wavy die-cut" at the roll-ends?

JLLebbert, The few CCL rolls that I have do not exhibit these "wavy die cuts". Also, I have seen these and other die cuts show up on E-Bay and other websites; also on some auctions as the twice yearly PNC3 Auction.

Peter

That is what is great about this site ... learning something new everyday. In that same batch of kiloware, I found another, though not a PNC. And, the cut is much rougher, but I am assuming the same thing ... first on a roll with the wavy die cut.



I wonder how "rare" the version with the PNC actually is? I guess you could take the total number of stamps issued, knowing the number of stamps per coil, calculate the number of rolls. Then, calculating how many PNC's could appear per roll and some other statistical wizardry, come up with the potential number of these items. Maybe 200 or so?

Well, I believe only rolls of 100 had these wavy die cuts. Of course, this stamp was the "workhorse" for a year, so quite a bunch have been used. Another thing about these regular stamps. Lots of EFO's around. Take the last one you took a picture of; the printing is crummy. The "I" of FIRST is much thinner here, because some of the colors are shifted! Now the only other one you need is the wavy end stamp, with the funky die cut on the right hand side!

Peter

My life's purpose has now been defined!

Here are the two stamps AFTER soaking, so it is much easier to see the Wavy Die Cut. It looks like the right-hand stamp had a normal cut, and then was over-cut with the wavy die cut. Still looking for one with the die cut on the right side ... not luck so far. Thanks again for all of the wonderful information.



(I do note the right hand perfs start and stop at different locations. I would have thought that coil stamps would be more uniform.)

Partime, Your last remark reminded me about a booklet that PNC3 issues every couple of years. The last issue was in 2013, and it is called "Avery Dennison Die Cut Varieties". It is #18 in a series of PNC3 publications. Avery Dennison has managed to fill up 30 pages of pictures, tables and explanations about several different die cut varieties, like Knolls, Shallow Valleys, Bells and Thimbles. I suppose if a stamp is being printed in the millions, all sorts of varieties exist! And they are being collected!

Peter