Full Sheets Of Postage Due Stuck Together

So, I bought some kiloware and found several large envelops full of complete sheets of newer, 1980's era Postage Due. They are all cancelled but are still gummed and from humidity stuck together.

The sheets physically look unused, but they all have cancels from North Dighton, MA. USPS 1982.

Two questions:
1. Best way to separate the sheets?
2. Why would full sheets of 100 be cancelled and unused?

And there's one envelop full of $5 Postage Due, my guess would be 50-60 full sheets torn into quarters. The last stamp in the sheet has a broken D in DOLLARS. These are all cancelled too.

Hi Moyock, the "why" of fully cancelled sheets has come up before several times. The most common reason was as a receipt for business reply mail

Peter

Hi Moyock
Sometimes (if they are lightly stuck) you can put them in the freezer and 'snap' them apart. But since they are used, I would soak them apart.
Don

I'm not convinced that the sheets are "used". I have too many full sheets that are full gummed and even a few dull gum sheets. When did the Postage Due stamps go out of circulation? It almost looks to me like the Dighton, MA post office was destroying these stamps, or at least attempting to do so.

Several of the $5 torn sheets have the remains of a form stapled to them. My theory is that the Dighton, MA post office was attempting to destroy these Postage Due stamps for some reason and someone grabbed them prior to the dirty deed.

I'm probably way wrong, but the story sure sounds intriguing!

The last U.S. postage due stamps were printed in 1985. Their use was officially discontinued in 1986.

They are used.
Don

Thanks. I'm tracking now. The post office attached PS Form 3582-A (Postage Due Bill) to articles of mail requiring more postage. I the case of the full sheets of Postage Due that I have, these were attached to the PS Forms with staples. So they were never affixed to or stuck, simply stapled. Several of the forms I dug out just now are for thousands of dollars, that would explain why so many $5 sheets were stapled together.

Nice, another mystery solved!

i have seen this phenomenon before in the early 1960's but the values involved were mostly below 10 cents. they were for items bearing unprepaid "return postage guaranteed" pre-addressed charity mailings. the postage due amounts were paid because every once in a while there would be a check or donation enclosed.

Just go ahead and soak them. The last printing of postage dues was November 1985 and they were discontinued in August 1986. When I was a teenager I used to get postage due plate blocks from the fellow who did the postage due for the local co-op. They would have a postage due bill if a couple hundred dollars a week. He would save me the plate blocks, cancel the sheets, and staple the remainder of the sheets to postage due bill. The remainder of the postage dues stamps in August 1986 would have been returned and destroyed. They would not have been destroyed locally since they would have had to be accounted for.

Is there any significance to the broken "D" on the last stamp in the block?
It's not listed in Scott. And since the ink is applied similar to a precancel... well, I thought I'd ask.

Thanks ya'll.

the denominations were added by rubber plates in a second operation. the broken "d" would be considered plate damage. I seem to recall an article somewhere, but can't remember where. it is a collectable variety and would be a constant feature of that plate position until the plate was repaired or replaced. nice item to have.

Of the $5 denomination sheets that I have the broken "D" appears on plate's 34283 and 35282.

And I have several sheets of 34283 where the "D" isn't broken.

If possible, do not soak dull gum sheets.

No worries. I have 6 full sheets of 50 cents denomination dull gum Postage Dues.
Plate #'s 37876 & 37877. They are not stuck together.

I have two sheets of J100 where the 'D' is completely missing in position 90. Here the post that describes them: http://goscf.com/t/62888. Do your 50 cent sheets have the yellow or clear dull gum?


J99 37876 UL Type II Dull Gum type 2 (yellow)



J92 35306 LL Dull Gum type 1A (clear)

To tell you the truth, I'm not sure. It depends on the scan. If I scan against a white background the gum looks yellow, if I scan against black it looks white. Here are a few scans of the J99's of both 37876 and 37877. My sheets are cancelled, but were never applied so the gum is intact. Also, my scanner bed isn't large enough for the entire sheet. So the last scan image is what I could get on the scanner.