Identify Help For A Zachary Taylor 5 Cent

Hello Everyone!
Can someone help with me to please identify what year this mint, no gum stamp could be? since they are all perforated 12..Thank you! I am not sure if it is Scott 185. Thank you!

Hi blazenstar, you have a nice stamp. But it depends on the paper type to determine which issue you have. You probably know this US design with Zachary Taylor appears on two different stamps:
1) Scott # 179 printed in 1875 by the Continental Bank Note Company
2) Scott # 185 printed in 1879 by American Bank Note Company which absorbed the Continental Bank Note Company, including the presses, plates, paper, ink and employees.

My 2014 Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps & Covers states the following info about the stamps printed by these two companies...

"...all undated soft paper stamps have traditionally been classified as American Bank Note Co. printings."

Scott explains why this would be true for mint issues with no cancellation date...

"Undoubtedly they (American Bank Note Co.) also acquired panes of finished stamps and sheets of printed stamps that had not yet been gummed and/or perforated. Since the soft paper that was in use at the time of the consolidation and after is approximately the same texture and thickness as the soft paper that American Bank Note Co. began using regularly in June or July of 1879, all undated soft paper stamps have traditionally been classified as American Bank Note Co. printings."

So, if the paper is a soft porous type, it would be considered #185, and an unused #185 with no gum had a 2014 CV of $140. Let us know if your stamp is printed on hard, white wove paper!

Hallo, check paper and check of grill??

can you please better scan

hi Blazenstar. I throw my 2¢ worth of insight in here too.
If there is no gum, then the stamp is not considered mint. This would be called 'unused', assuming there isn't a very light cancel, or the cancel has been washed off.

Thank you both for responding back. I appreciate the comments. There is no grill noted on the paper at all , and I haven't yet had the paper checked for this mint stamp. I will show you another Zachary Taylor 5 cent stamp that is used condition, that has blue paper, but reverse has white background. There is blue tint in the margins under microscope including and blue tint color noted above the the curve US postage. This is not seen in the mint stamp above photos at all. So, you can see a very distinct difference from a mint from a used stamp in this photograph with the tint color. Both are without gum or grill.It has a tinted blue, and the back is white as well. You can see a difference in the backing of paper. This is more white color in the reverse. These are two unique stamps!

Thank you James. neither of them have gum. smiles.

James. There is no cancellation marking noted on the first stamp. including the vendor that sold it to me informed me of this. I am going to probably need to have this checked with the P.F. Foundation.

blazenstar, the stamp looks possibly cleaned to me too. Can you post a higher-resolution scan? Doing so may save you $50 at PF. Better scans may also help determine 179 vs. 185.

To determine paper type search the forum for appropriate keywords. There have been plenty of discussions how to determine paper type. Here's one https://goscf.com/t/38329&SearchTer...tal,american.


There is no blue as a paper type. That is from the stamp ink. Quite common for this stamp. You allude to having a microscope, just look at the first one top left quadrant for sign of washed cancel. Not sure worth sending for cert on unused.

Post higher solution images of the first without the right edge cut off.

BTW the second stamp looks soft paper to me FWIW

blazenstar.....save your $$$.
Even if it is NO GUM....the fault at UL
makes this a no-brainer.
NO CERT!

I hope these images are alittle better.

It does matter even with the faults. Dan was correct. The only way is through the paper to tell if it is a Scott 179, Scott 181 or Scott 185 or Special Printing of the 1880 Issue Soft Porous Paper with out gum. There are 4 types of paper, the Yellowish Wove Paper, the Special Printing of 1875 Issue which was Hard, White Wove without gum, and the Soft Porous Paper Varying Thick to Thin, and the Special Printing of the 1879 Issue- Soft Porous Paper without Gum.

I also see numbers on the back of it, if you take a scope and look carefully.

Thank you, Ray and everyone. I purchased this specific stamp from a kind gentleman who still made my day with such a great surprise. He informed me he did not check all his stamps, and it was in bulk of stamps he was selling to the public. I appreciate all your help and assistance. Wonderful information provided. Thank you Hungary for providing that information about difference of the soft vs hard paper too. Awesome information for a newcomer like myself!