Its The 596 Isnt It

All this information about identifying these stamps makes my head spin! I've been collecting for 40 years, and these varieties still baffle me. I've avoided learning the differences for a long time because it just seemed so complicated. Is there a primer or an easy to follow guide out there somewhere on the internet to help identify these stamps? I know I would appreciate the help. I'm sure others would as well. I, as all of you do, come across these stamps all the time. People constantly give me 'old' covers with 'old' stamps because they know I collect stamps, and they are sure that they are valuable simply because they are old. Unfortunately, I usually tell them that the stamps are very common and don't plan a retirement party yet. I hate doing this because I am somewhat ignorant about the rare varieties.

All that said...these are the most entertaining posts because people are SURE they've struck it rich and can't believe they are being told otherwise.

It's the same old story. Someone inherits a stamp or collection, checks catalog and finds 2 values for a similar stamp, 1 for pennies and 1 for big $$$ and naturally the belief is that I don't have the one that was printed by the billions, mine is the one that they only made 300 of. Which brings us to why we're here, to squash those dreams!

well th back of the stamp does not have any green ink on it but it does have what looks to be like little dots made with a pencil but not a green pencil they are slate grey just like the color of a pencil I dont know why anyone would mark the stamp its almost like one of those dot to dot you did has a kid ..anyway have a look at the pic and you will see ....so now is it the 596

Scan of the back ... please ...

Shelly, just a suggestion to help make your point. Try trimming the corners off a used 552, lay it carefully over your stamp and rescan. It should help show the difference in size.

Sorry for the wait I couldn\t get the photo to load it took awhile but I figured it out the pic isnt the greatest but there is no green on it at all just some grey dots

Sorry for the wait I couldn\t get the photo to load it took awhile but I figured it out the pic isnt the greatest but there is no green on it at all just some grey dots

shelly, is there a layer of paper stuck to the back of the stamp?

well you wanted pics dosent anyone have amything to say

L OL

My stamp is 22.5 to 22 3/4 long... I think its too long to be a flat plate printing and there isnt any green ink on the back

Its not imperorate ...its not a coil stamp ...it doesnt have an overprint its PERF 11 ...thats a big one ..as far as the scott cat. goes its a 596 T

What other stamp can it be ......I know its rare but I happen to have a few others that are as rare

I would like to see something as rare as a #596!

No I dont think there is a layer of paper over the stamp ...I think the problem is the camera on my tablet is poor quality Ill see if I can scan it

I just want you to know that I didnt just pick up this stamp and decide its the 596 because I want it to be .....I have studied the stamp I read all about what was going on with the postal system when these stamps were made and why they were made and why they went unnoticed for so many years

i was able to find an old scott catalouge from 1965 and I learned more than you might think in fact I was sending email messages to the Scott Cat.editor on a daily basis and he told me he thought I should pursue my effort ...there was alot going on back then and I learned from history books not stamp collectiong books ...In the last few months of 1931 a certain postmaster was out of 1 cent stamps but the new design was set to be released in January and rather than cause a scene ..you see his previous idea had turned out to quite a failure so rather than face them he decided to just use up some of the waste he had on the top shelf and noone would need to know and his new 1 cent stamps would be there soon .....anyway I just want you guys to know Im not just a dreamer I have done my homework and I must say stamp collecting is actually very interesting ....

The images don't help much. Scanning really is the best way to display a stamp. Scan at 600 dpi or better then crop the image to just outside the perfs on a black background. You should be able to post an image like this. Also, it will never be a 596 without a certificate.

so thats it ....you had so much to say before I posted the back of my stamp ///seems like noone has anything to say any more .....CLARK ......

I think we are not commenting the way you want us to comment is because we cannot see the stamp very clearly. You need a bigger scan ... not a photo from a camera. See the examples posted for what is necessary for us to help.

#596 was made from leftover coil stock into sheet form.
They were issued in sheet format.
There would be NO straight edge.

Based on the low resolution photo....
Your stamp appears to be a 552a....single
from a booklet pane.