Verifying SC 300

I have another question about 2 stamps that I have on postcards. I think they both are Sc 300 but I can't figure out the perfs. Part of my problem there is that I am using a perforation gauge that is over 50 years old and my choices are either whole or half numbers and these seem to fall somewhere in between. Can someone give me please what they are supposed to perf as?

12

Thanks. I guess my gauge may be off a little since 12 doesn't line up perfectly all the way across. Or these eyes don't work quite as well as they used to.

John Freibergs, I think you received an incomplete answer to your original question.

Any body can look up #300 in the catalog and then say "12".

But there is a somewhat better way to determine, I said somewhat but not the best, any way here goes.

You can determine the perfs by just counting the number of complete and nearly complete perf arcs (holes) in a 2CM length. So then 10 holes in 2MC gives a perf of 10, 11 holes in 2CM gives a perf of 11, so on and so on.

If you perf gauge is 50 years old or even older should not be a major problem, if it is made of metal? If you perf gauge is paper or cardboard, replace it with a metal one. There are plastic perf gauges out there and they might work as good as the metal ones, I prefer metal ones.

Hope this is the answer you needed.

I took one of my #300 on a post card, measures out 2CM and counted the holes, came out to 12 perfs.

I counted the perfs on your two postcards, using the same referenced measurement of 2CM, and both of your post cards returned right and proper 12 perfs.

So John, hope this is more responsible information that you can use in the future. Of course a good perf. gauge is by far the better way to go.

Cheers

Dave

Thank you for that explanation. Maybe when I was a little kid all of that was explained to me but I guess it did not stick. I've always used the gauge and never wondered how the measurements were conceived. They were just a number you had to pay attention to when looking thru your collection or a catalog. The gauge is a metal one my mom bought for me from H.E. Harris back in the late 50's.

The second machine cancel (Milwaukee, Wis., Sta. D) is a DPO (discontinued post office) that was in operation from 1896-1959. Some collectors specialize in DPO postmarks, so it is at least worth noting.

Keep in mind that the perforation gauge number is not a measurement. The actual perforation spacing is 0.066 inch. Before the Kiusalas US Specialty gauge, first issued in the late 1960s, fakers adding perforations to imperforate flat plate coils used the exact spacing needed to be perf 12. Comparison with genuine perf 12-66 perforations revealed enough of a difference to be visible. This is one of the reasons for using another stamp with known perforations as a perforation gauge.

Any perforation spacing between 11 1/2 and 12 will be called perf 12 in the Scott Catalog. This why US rotary press perf 11-70 does not match flat plate perf 11-72 even though both are labeled as perf 11.

Clark

I bought my United States Specialist Gauge "Kiusalas" in 1965. Shortly afterwards bought a second one, because I realized how important it was. The first one is all but wore out, but the second one is still going strong!

Cheers

Dave

stampmaster....



12....
that is what I did.



this is not something that needs to be looked up....if you handle
US stamps often you "learn" that this issue is ALL perf 12.
Period.

kevin504, wow, I was just adding more information to the collector to help him.

No need to impress him!

I'm very familiar with U.S. stamps, have been for over 60 years, but often it's better to just offer background information!

Carry on

Dave

I appreciate all of the extra info. I started collecting worldwide and then found Latvian stamps were available. And since my parents came from Latvia, it gave me a connection to them that I have enjoyed all these years. So that is what I stayed with.

Thank you for the DPO info, I added that to my sale listing. Much appreciated.