Imperforate Coil With Printing Error --- Anything Special?

Need some advice on whether I have something of value and, if so, how to market.

In the early 1990s I bought a coil of the 29 cent "The White House" stamps to use in my business. When I opened it up I immediately saw a couple of errors. I knew from collecting stamps as a kid I might have something of value, so I rolled them back up and put them away. But now's the time for me to deal with it.

Error #1: Virtually the entire coil is imperforate. The last stamp (innermost) is perfed normally. The next to last is perfed only on the right side. But the rest of the coil has no perforations at all.

Error #2: All the stamps (including the perfed one) have the same printing flaw, to varying degrees: the ink is cut off on the right side, so that the "e" in "House" is mostly missing, as is the "2" in "1792" and the "2" in "1992".

Sidenote - Two more small errors: the very first stamp is cut short by about 25%. Also, the coil has only 92 stamps, not 100. But hypothetically I could have created both of those errors myself with a pair of scissors. I mention this only in case it affects value.

So do I have anything worth trying to market? If so, what are my alternatives?

Thank you for your time and expertise.

The missing 2's is caused by an ink-in roller shift to the left (notice also the red at the far right of the blue star field). They are also know on regularly perfed WH stamps where they do command a small premium.

The big question is What is the plate number? There should be two plate numbers on the roll at the bottom with 48 stamps between the numbers (might be 52? between). Some people collect imperf coils by the plate number and some numbers are scarcer than others. You are hoping for somethying other than #4.

Thank you eyeonwall. Yes, I did find a tiny 6 on the bottom of two of the stamps.

My 2019 Scott US Specialized catalog lists this as 2609a ("a") being the imperforate variety of the 2609. It only lists an unused pair with valuation of $15, but no reference to the plate number strips. It turns out that plate numbers #1-8 are the common ones for this stamp (plate #18 appears to be a good one). So, a plate number strip of 5 (with the plate number in the center position), should have a catalog value at least at $40-50 or more (probably more, but there is no pricing).

Bear in mind that the catalog provides retail prices, for which you can expect to pay a dealer. If you are selling, these will be much lower, probably at $3 - $5 per pair, but the two plate number strips of 5 should garner a stronger price (your mileage may vary).

Just my 2c.

As imperfs go #6 is one of the more common numbers but not the most common. For imperf plate strips, strips of 6 (with the number on the 3rd stamp) is somewhat more preferred over strips of 5. $30-40 is too low for the plate strips, $3-5 is probably too high for the unnumbered pairs if you are trying to sell the whole "roll" of 92 (what dealer can sell that many pairs in a reasonable amount of time?). If it were waived under my nose I would offer $225.

Thank you eyeonwall, good info.

Hi Rick32086,

Your stamps appear to be a rare color variety (perhaps "Navy Blue") as well based on the distinctive dark area below the "9" and "U" of "29USA". Richard Nazar wrote an article "What Color is the White House" which highlighted the differences in color and how to identify them. The color varieties were found on plate number 6. The image below is from his article. You can find the article online by searching his name and the title.

I'm the editor of the monthly journal/newsletter for the Plate Number Coil Collectors Club and would like to include an article about your find. If you're interested, you can get my contact information on my website in the signature at the bottom of my post. Thanks!

Scott

I seriously doubt it is one of the rare color varieties. The few examples that Rich was able to examine might have all shown the same thing below the 29 USA, but that proves nothing - there could easily be normal colored examples that show the same features.

Color errors are often overlooked and misidentified. If you read the article, you'll learn that a technical analysis was performed on the ink colors by a PhD analytical chemist at Rutgers University that included fluorescence and spectrographic analysis on the ink and papers of the different varieties.

In my response, I said that the stamps "appear" to be a color variety. It's up to the OP to do the research and decide what course to follow. One only needs to submit the stamps for expertization to confirm whether or not it is a variety.

My personal experiences with color varieties is to go with my gut instinct first then expertize. After decades of listening to dealers, armchair experts, and naysayers opine whether a stamp is common or a rare variety, I now choose to defer to the experts.

So far, it's worked in my favor as every certificate I've submitted for a color error has come back as "genuine."


Scott

Thanks Scott. I checked out the article --- way over my head, but the author mentioned bleeding and out-of-register, and I notice now that the right side of the blue field has quite a bit of red. Is this considered significant? Tx

"a technical analysis was performed on the ink colors by a PhD analytical chemist at Rutgers University that included fluorescence and spectrographic analysis on the ink and papers of the different varieties" is totally irrelevant as to whether the strip in question has the normal color or one of the varieties.

You are trying to suggest the OP has won the lottery. Before he gets his hopes up and spends the money on getting a cert, he needs to compare it to a normal WH example (ideally a plate strip other than #6, 7, 8 or 10 which off the top of my head are the ones known with the varieties) and it needs to be done in person, not looking on an uncalibrated monitor at a scan or photo of a printed image in a journal.

I am not some "armchair expert" - I own examples of several of the varieties and have read the article and other things that have been written about them.

"I notice now that the right side of the blue field has quite a bit of red. Is this considered significant?"

Please reread my first post - it is due to a leftward shift of the ink-in roller (the roller that applies the ink to the plate).

eyeonwall,

I didn't mean to suggest that OP "won the lottery", only that he further investigate the stamps to validate whether it is a variety or not.

I also did not suggest that you are an "armchair expert"...I know for a fact that you are exactly the opposite and value your opinion.

The purpose of my post was only to suggest further investigation, nothing more. If I miscommunicated that in any way, I offer my humble apologies.

Scott

no prob

Thank you gentlemen. Wow, I never realized how specialized and esoteric this field can be.

So I now know that my stamps are worth something beyond their face value. I do want to sell them. Can you give me your recommendation on how to market them, or point me to a reliable resource on the internet that explains how --- there's simply too much to wade through on the internet. Thanks

~ Rick