Another New Test Stamp Discovery, Part Four

I've found yet another Scott-unlisted test (or dummy) stamp.

Previous discoveries can be found here:

http://goscf.com/t/59261
This is now listed as Scott TD9.

http://goscf.com/t/59275
This is now listed as Scott TD30.

http://goscf.com/t/59276
Not yet listed in Scott.

The "new" test stamp is intricately engraved with a beautifully nuanced, artistic design that-- oh, wait a minute, my bad.

Maybe the opposite of that. Maybe "utilitarian" comes to mind. See below.

This is, as far as I can tell, only the second known copy of this stamp. The other one can be found pictured here:

https://sites.google.com/site/gbsta...sting-labels

The stamp is perforated 8 1/2 horizontally, and it was used around 1910.

Here are also some advertisements for the machine that used these stamps. Both were found in 1910- to 1912-era magazines.

Maybe Scott will list this new one in their Specialized Catalogue one day.

Jim

Nice work James,
always a thrill to find something new.
Good luck with the listing.

Ah, so this was not a "test stamp" in as much as a USPS test run, but rather a stamp that was produced by the White Company to test their stamp affixer?
Is that what I'm seeing?

Yes, ALL of the U.S. test stamps were manufactured by private companies to either test their own mechanical devices, or to test in-house USPS devices, like booklet vending machines.

Modern-day test stamps are spit out of the printers automatically when they are first turned on in the morning.

In this particular case, despite many years of refinement of the test stamp section in the Scott catalog, and the research of many collectors in this area, "discovering" a test stamp that is more than a century old is quite unusual. This tends to indicate that the stamp in question is, perhaps, rare.

Jim

Um. no, some test stamps were produced by the BEP.




Are you talking about the APC machines in PO lobbies (which I don't think are turned off at night), or are you talking about the machines used by BCA and CCL to print US stamps, in which case I have an even bigger problem with the claim.

Yes, for the post office.




You tell me.

Jim