Franklin Scott# 594, 596, And 613

Hello,


Does anyone have any literature on how to distinguish these varieties from their common counterparts? I have quite a few stamps that measure around 19mm (or very slightly wider), but are measuring at 22.5 mm in length. I am confused as to how to tell if this stamp is a Rotary Press. Are there any other characteristics to look for other than length/width and/or watermark (I don't have a way to test for this)?

Thanks so much!

Jay

What stamps are you talking about? Sorry, wasn't woke uo yet! Have you tried http://stampsmarter.com ? And you can also use the search function on this forum for some terrific answers!

Peter

Jay,

The cheapest and maybe fastest way to know all you need to distinguish the rare rotary press issues is to locate their cheap rotary press and flat plate counterparts. Get a Scott #597, the one cent horizontal coil, and the #604, the one cent vertical coil. You need not measure perforations because these coils only come perf 10. The #597 has the wide design, so it corresponds to the #594. Then write "#594 reference" on the back. Then take your #604 coil, which has the tall design, and write "596 reference" on the back. Feel free to write "perf 10" on both stamps because that's what they are.

Now get a common #610, the perf 11 Harding memorial. Write "perf 11" on the back because flat plate Hardings only come that way.

Last, get a #612, which is the rotary press Harding. This black Harding will have the perforations of the two one cent coil references you already have (perf 10) AND will be rotary press, tall in the vertical direction, because perf 10 Harding memorials only come that way. Write "#613 reference perf 10" on back of the #612 and write "perf 11" on back of the #610. Now you have unmistakable rotary press design sizes for reference and unmistakable perf 10 and perf 11 examples for reference.

If any stamp you come across while searching for the rarities have perforations that match neither your perf 10 or perf 11 references, it can only be perf 10.5, which is always a cheap, common stamp that can be eliminated from your search. If you come across a stamp that is peforated both 10 and 11 you have found a really nice stamp (578 or 579).

ANY stamp that is rotary press AND perforated 11 is a winner. That's all you need to know. And now you have references for exact comparisons of design sizes and perf gauge. Except no substitutes.