Some US Precancel Oddities

Just a newbie in this area, but I had a big bin of stamps, and had a lot of extra time to sort. I'll post them as I find them. Please comment. Thanks.

US 812 with seemingly (2) different Oakland, California precancels? (Or is one a regular cancel?)

Both are precancels. The "MW SEP 52..." precancel is known as a dated precancel used by some large volume mailers -- in this case, MW = Montgomery Ward.

So two on top of each other is not uncommon? I found one more, somewhere, with the same Montgomery Ward's dated cancel, but no others in about 500. Thanks for the info.

I don't specialize in precancels, so I can't tell you how often it happens. Somebody like Warrehouse or others will need to chime in.

In 1938 the USPO decided that all precancels of 6 cents and up had to have a month/date of use indication. In this, case Montgomery Ward [a major catalog retailer] probably had reams of double line electro 7 center's left over even in 1952. They used an integral dated device to comply. These are collectable but not very scarce.

Hello Chasa. Thanks for the clarification. I just found another set of the 30c variety, where I see all different combinations:

A double-line variety with the MW extra date marking:



A different style with the same MW extra date marking:



And a combination of the two precancels, with a slightly different MW extra date marking. Note how the double-line precancel is continuous, while the second, lighter precancel changes position on the second stamp. Interesting.

How about some help with these two. The first one appears to be Alaska, but I can't quite see the city, and I don't see Any Alaska on this other thread

http://goscf.com/t/5808




The second is Iowa, but also can't tell the city. Thanks in advance.

The orange Franklin is Ketchikan, Alaska.

My best guess for the 11¢ Hayes is Osage, Iowa.

Thanks for the help khj. In this one, the "L" in "Los" appears much higher than other stamps I have with the similar typestyle. (Maybe just an illusion due to the thick inking, though.)



Hey ... just hit Post 1000 ...

Two different Los Angeles George Washington stamps and precancels. The cut on the right stamp made me look twice, but it is a Scott 1283B.

Are these two precancels? (I think not, but just checking with the group.)

On both Oakland stamps shown above with the double precancel, the original is a doulble line electro type 243, then handstamped with an Oakland L-11. Though not scarce it is less common to see a stamp with 2 different types on it. Multiples are most often the same type reapplied 2-4 times, a few even more!

The Big-L in Los Angeles is a fairly common variety. It must occur on a few positions of each electro plate. Here are some on 1931 postage dues. Normal at top row, error on bottom.

Parttime: not precancels

Most of these appear to be Local Precancels but there are a couple that appear to be Bureau Precancels.