2016 Flag Stamps

The new 2016 Flags arrived today. The SSP (actually CCL, but plate number is still S11111) stamps have a microprinted USPS running vertically at the bottom of the flag. I could see no microprinting on the APU stamps. All booklets were die-cut an identical 11.3x10.8. The two SSP booklets glowed white under UV whereas the APU glowed green. The APU stamps definitely have overall tagging ... am not so certain about the SSP. As for the coils, the SSP measured 11.1 and the APU 9.4 ... these will undoubtedly appear in Scott as 11 & 9.5. The centering on the APU coils was extremely poor. I will be using them for postage.

I haven't picked up any of these stamps yet, but the technical specs suggests the APU booklet does indeed have microprinting.

http://about.usps.com/postal-bullet...info_010.htm

wt1: You are correct. I had even been alerted as to where to look for the APU microprint & still managed to somehow miss it. It is on the far right end of the flag on the 2nd white stripe from the top.

I agree the centering of APU Coil stamp (from SFS) is extremely poor. I have to purchase another coil from my local Post Office.

these stamps are freaking me out. All the coils I've seen so far look the same as far as the perf is concerned. is there microprinting on all the stamps and where?

Mark44004, please check the above posts. JLLebbert wrote where both of the microprinting are located.

Peter

Geez, I need a better magnifier. What does the microprinting say?

The usual ... USPS.

I'm an idiot. I honestly thought microprinting was referring to the year along the bottom of the stamp. Is this common? Do a lot of U.S. stamps have microprinting like this? If so, is it cataloged in Scott's?

Some US stamps have microprinting ... but far from all. Usually you see it on definitives, notably the flags. I do believe that Scott mentions the microprinting ... in a footnote if nowhere else. On some stamps the microprinting is easy to see (not to read, of course). On others, it can be deucedly difficult to locate, even when you know where to look. I think all microprinting reads "USPS" except on a few (e.g., the initial forever stamps, the Liberty Bells) where it reads "FOREVER" or some form of "4EVR".

I did see the post above about the microprinting on the APU coil. Does the BCA coil have a different perf and is there a microprint anywhere? I have only seen the APU thusfar and have not seen any of the booklets on any pieces of mail. I work at a place where we get lots of mail and the office keeps all the envelopes with stamps for me. If I see one more black stamp with the flag on it I think I will barf. :)

Perforations ( die cuts ) are the same on both coils. The other coil ( SSP / CCL ) has micro printing as well. The location is given in the first post of this thread. I do not know what the BCA coil is - CCL and APU are the only two that printed this stamp to my knowledge.

Peter

pete, thanks. the BCA I refered to was from WT1 posted earlier. in the link it has all the specs for the stamps so far. item no# 787300 said the printer of this coil was Banknote Corp of America. the same die cut with 2 different microprint location...egads.

Mark, I see. We are talking about two different beasts here. I was referring to coils, and BCA printed booklets.

Peter

Mark & Peter ... someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think CCL & BCA are basically the same outfit now. CCL purchased SSP last year (autumn, I think) ... and BCA was supposedly the arm of SSP that printed their stamps. Which should now make them all the same outfit. I know that there is some lingering confusion since CCL was still using S in the plate numbers for recent coils. Word is that they will begin using B in their plate numbers. Which I believe they did for one of the January issues (Columbia River Gorge).
To summarize the Jan. 2016 flags ... 4 different stamps (the stamps from the SSP CB10 & SSP CB20 should be basically the same) ... 3 booklets (a CB10 & a CB20 by SSP/BCA and a CB20 by APU, all die-cut 11.25x10.75) ... 2 coils (die-cut 9.5 by APU, die-cut 11 by SSP/BCA). Microprinted USPS appears on all of them with the location for a specific printer the same for both booklet & coil.

Don't ask me which was which, but I recall there being a difference in shinieness between the AP and CCL/BCA (I can't check because they were someone else's I was looking at last weekend).