George Rogers Clark Issue Of 1929 (Scott #651)

My favorite U.S. stamp — for both artistic and mathematical reasons — is the George Rogers Clark issue of 1929 (Scott #651), which are typically collected in plate blocks of six:



Artistically, it's because of the exquisite detail of both the frame and vignette, as well as the striking colors.

Mathematically, it's because twelve frame plates were produced; twelve vignette plates were produced; all 144 combinations exist; and all 288 combinations of frame plate, vignette plate, and left/right exist at approximately the same rarity. Startling.

I collect plate blocks of the issue. Here's my checklist:



This came to mind because I realized I had written a long blog post about this issue eight years ago today. I think the post still holds up, with a lot of interesting info.

Yes, I am sort of partial to the stamp myself.

The plate blocks are all pretty common because it's a high survival rate stamp. In part because it is so attractive and in part because it is such a large stamp. So collectors wanted them and collectors were probably the biggest users as well. And there were a lot of other 2 cent stamps issued in that era, so everyone had lots of choices.

I just got mine last weekend at UNIPEX here in Toronto, a welcome addition to the collection!

I was amused by Uncle Frank's notes of optimism for the future appreciation potential of these two Clark FDCs.

If you want to compare the value of a $0.02 Commodity in 1929 there are four choices. In 2014 the relative:
real price of that commodity is $0.28
real value of that commodity is $0.52
labor value of that commodity is $0.86 (using the unskilled wage) or $1.14 (using production worker compensation)
income value (amount of the GNP it was equal to) of that commodity is $1.27

The FDC cats $6, so at least it did go up rather then down.

mc-- May I curiously ask how you got this information?



-IBFS

Durland Standard Plate # Catalog....
BEST for US plate info/#s

It's also in other places, such as The U.S. Commemorative Stamps of the Twentieth Century by Max Johl along with other information about the stamp. These are great books, all four volumes are on the Siegel website under Tools and Resources and then Siegel encyclopedia. HIGHLY recommended reading (essential actually) for anyone interested in this area.

One of the tidbits from the book is that there were four sheets printed with inverted centers, but they were all discovered immediately and destroyed still ungummed and imperforate.

Thanks for the lead and extra trivia, revcollector! However, kevin504 is right in that I happened to get it from Durland.

I recently acquired 120 full sheets of Scott #651. I was told by a friend that I should try to seek out a collector who specifically collects this stamp.

McGee,

I sorted through my sheets, and counted between 20-30 sheets that you do not have blacked out in your chart. 95% of mine are the Right sheets.

On a different note, I was trying to estimate what the survival rate for a stamp like this would be. I see that 16M were issued. What is a good estimate on the remaining stamps (this was issued in 1929). I was going to guess 10-15%. And maybe 10% of those are still in MNH/OG state. That would mean only 160,000 are left in MNHOG state. And how many of those are actually in full sheets? Another 10-20%? If that's the case, I have a monopoly over these sheets with ~7000 stamps. That would be pretty cool.

What a nice find, Axeman225! I got your message, and I'll respond by email. I look forward to talking with you.

Cheers!

Mcgee,

I do not have an email from you. Am I missing it or did you not send one?

Thanks!