2c Washington #482 - Perf 5

Would this have been produced for some 'specialty' stamp machine or is this some novelty? The cancellation looks like it might be Grand Ce..ntral Statio..n, or something similar.

I think that is a Mail-O-Meter perforation, see the Vending and Affixing machine Perforations section of the you S specialized catalogue.

Definatly a "NTRAL STATION" cancel, not sure if it was Grand, but what else is there?

littleriverphil - Thank you! You nailed it - Mail-O-Meter. The reference I found even had examples of the hyphenhole perforation that I noticed some of in the album.

I guess I have to reset my mind to realize that not everything is 'Post Office' counter related. (Does it show yet that I'm not the stamp collector?)

Central Station was in St. Louis. This stamp is a Mailometer type IV. Careful watermarking need to be done to determine if it is a 409 or 482. The single line watermark can be quite hard to detect depending on where it is located.

kcaramat - Thank you for mentioning the watermarking, I think. (Just kidding, I think) Unfortunately, still being new to the idea of going through this collection and not having quite fully recovered from the shell-shock of volunteering, I will need to study up on finding and recognizing watermarks sometime in the near future.

Looking at the back of the stamp right now, I don't see anything I would associate with a watermark. Hints I've encountered suggest that lighter fluid will help show up watermarks with some clarity. I guess this is another reason to get some sooner rather than later.

Agree.


-IBFS

In all probability, this was the machine cancel used on your stamp:

Some measuring is also needed to see if the perfs are genuine, there are lots of fakes in this area.

The top edge is not cut perfectly straight, which seems suspicious, and the lower right corner has some outwardly extending fibers that also seem inconsistent with genuine cutting. If this was faked, what is the imperf issue from which it could have been made?

Mail-O-Meter Type IV: 5 holes, holes are 2.2mm in diameter, spaced 1.1mm apart for a total length of 15.5mm. This is from Steven Belasco's "Guide to United States Vending and Affixing Machine Perforations 1907-1927".

Ans : 482 Imperf

Highly doubt it's a fake... a single Ty IV cancel has a value of ZIP...

"Highly doubt it's a fake... a single Ty IV cancel has a value of ZIP..."

Alas, a bad reason to think so...even the cheap coils in general and vending coils in particular have been extensively faked regardless of cat value.

A #482 w/Mail-O-Meter type IV has a catalogue value of $70.00 (in italics)for a used single in the 2014 Scott Specialized. #409 is 75-cents. I don't believe the stamp posted here is a #482--looks more like a #409 to me, but that does depend upon checking for a watermark.
Mail-O-Meter stripped and perforated stamps for use in there vending and affixing machines from 400 subject sheet imperforated stamps they purchased form the USPO. Measuring the perforation holes should determine if its is a fake. The most common fake for a T-IV has a 1.15mm spacing between holes and a 15.7mm over-all length.

1. My 2013 Scott does not give a value for a single 482 cancel,
however (does) display a price of $65 for a canceled *pair*...
I'm assuming the $70.00 figure you're viewing is also for *pair*,
given there's no apparent price provided for a canceled single...

2. Given the strong impression, I suppose 409 would be a conceivable
source for the imperf material, provided, of course, it's single line
watermarked...

disi123, the used values are (and always have been) for singles (the listing will read "unused pair" but the used value will be for a single.) I no longer have my old 2013 Specialized, but I'm sure you'll find that spelled out somewhere in the introduction to the section (it's in the 4th paragraph in the current 2015 Specialized.)

FWIW, those perfs don't look genuine to me, but I can't fathom why someone would fake something like that (poor centering, faults, etc. - pretty worthless either way.) However, if genuine, more likely to be on a Scott 409, not 482 (and it looks like someone wrote both numbers on back, so even they apparently didn't find enough incentive to actually watermark it & find out.)