2cents2 Washington Question

I have a 2Cents2 Washington with a cancel of Mar 20 1920. My question is
how long do stamps stay in the post office or what date range should I be looking for this stamp? I will post a pic later today.

I can provide more specifics with a scan, but if it's the stamp I think you are referring to, it's a study in itself, as there were many variants of the issue dating from 1908 to 1920, and it wasn't replaced until the next regular issue of 1923, so it was in use for quite a time.

No such stamp
The cent would always be plural.

It has to be this one:



Here's my guesstimate
There are approx 128 x 2c US stamps
24 stamps have the format 2cents2
all red except two, which are black
this is the only one before 1920

rod222 do you think that stamp sat in the post office for 8 years?

SG0506, is that a Scott#?

Mark,

They started printing stamps of that 2c design (A140 in Scott) in 1912 (Scott #406) and continued printing the design through 1921 (Scott 546).

As Rod and WT1 have said, there are numerous issues so you'll need to determine the stamp's perf type, if it is watermarked, what its design type is, and what its color is in order to identify it.

Steve

Wow, To much for me. I just found 55 more of them with dates ranging from 1912-1920. I will put them all in the Scott #406 until I get better at this. Thank you, Maybe someday I will get as good as you guys.

Mark,

If you have a perforation guage and either watermark fluid or lighter fluid, you can use them to sort that number into less daunting piles.

And using high resolution scans, if needed, you can usually tell what the design type is unless the stamp has been heavily canceled.

When you're ready to tackle it, this link will help you in determining which issues you have.

http://www.askphil.org/W-F/02wn.htm

Good luck!

Steve

Great site, Thank you. I have sorted the perforation and watermarks but the colors have me stumped.

The link mentioned previously is probably the most helpful in identification of your type of stamp.

Here is a red color chart that helps to identify the various red colors mentioned in the catalogs. (It has been provided in several previous posts on other topics, but I'm providing it here, too, for your info.):



If all of this is too daunting for you, don't feel bad ... I haven't tackled it much either. The Washington/Franklins (as this series is called) can be a difficult topic to master.

Thank you for the color chart. It will be helpful. I should have known that I would pick the
most difficult to master first. It took a month to get all US stamps separated and ready for
cataloging.
I can see now that I am going to collect US stamps only and trade the rest. Lots to learn.

You wouldn't by chance have a green color chart?

In addition to the chart wt1 provided, you might find this of some help (or it may just confuse you event more).

I pulled the images from the Smithsonian collection so I'm hopeful that they got the stamp identifications correct!

That is great. Thank you.

Mark, if I get your drift,
no, I don't, probably purchased by an individual
or company, and sat around in a desk, or postage container
somewhere and used as a make-up stamp for a letter going
wherever.
It's not unusual for stamps to be used many years after issue.

I am still getting old stamps on covers from
the US 50 years after issue, I have had wall mart stamps,
one cover from the US had a Monaco stamp hidden amongst
the US issues.

Are you telling me that the mint stamps I have can still be used as postage?

Except for pre-civil war issues all US stamps can still be used for postage. Some, such as precanceled or bulk mail issues, for example are restricted to authorized users.

As for all the variations in red, rose and carmine colors, I may be wrong, but I still have my doubts that the majority (note that I did not say "all") of the colors were actually different colors. Most are nothing more than variations from mixing a new batch of ink. The named colors would in such cases be after thoughts. I used to mix paints and and I can assure you that reds are extremely difficult to match, even when using the exact same mixing colors. Whether it is ink or paint makes no difference, it is simply a nearly impossible task.