wert: Yes, it is a Scott/Unitrade 197 with Die I stamp and it is found with printing plates 1 and 2 only. The Scott/Unitrade 196i is found with printing plates 1 and 2 only.
It is flat gum type (embossed/debossed) from dry pregummed paper (without the Stickney rotary press wet printing vertical gum streak lines). The horizontal gum breaker lines were applied by the web-fed wheel and bar perforator and not the printing press.
Yes, but to be on the safe side it should have no horizontal gum breakers showing. Most 196i have traces of gum breakers while some do not. Out of the three 196i blocks of four stamps shown above, the third block down does not have gum breakers on the stamps. However, the stamp block selvage margin does have the gum breaker lines. If one looks at some copies of 195d, one can find faint traces of horizontal gum breaker lines on the gum when tilting the stamps at an angle. The gum breaker bars were gradually reduced and removed over time during the perforating of stamps with dry gum because they were found to be unnecessary. Gum breakers were needed for wet printed stamps to help reduce curling. For Stickney rotary press printings, small vertical line streaked gum is an indication of wet printing.
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