Purple Heart Scott 4704 Imperf

Scott 4704 Purple Heart Imperf press sheets were sold in mini press sheets of 3. If one looks at the back of the panes, the plate position diagram indicates that the full press sheet has 21 panes. here is the description from the postal bulletin about these imperfs:

115484, Uncut Press Sheet without die cut (3 ran-
dom panes), $27,00 (Print Quantity of 2,000).

Some dealers on ebay are indicating that the quantity printed on these imperfs is only 6000 panes (3 x 2000). But based on the actual size of the press sheet there should be 42000 imperf panes (21 x 2000).

Just how many sheets sold has not been announced, but based on my above calculations the printing quantity is quite large at 42,000 panes.

So which is the correct number printed of purple heart imperf
panes?

Is the post office counting the 3 attached panes as sold to the public as a press sheet? If so the the actual number of real press sheets would be only 96 full press sheets of 21 panes. Most likely they printed 2000 full press sheets of 21 and therefore 42000 full panes.

It is a question that should be answered by the USPS.

When the USPS issued the 2013 Purple Heart, they referred to the press sheets as "mini press sheets", implying thereby that the actual press sheet (not sold as such) was larger. The 2000 quantity referred to the mini-sheets, not the large 21-pane sheets. In a similar fashion, the recent USS Arizona Memorial was produced in large press sheets of 9 panes ... but sold only in smaller sized 3-pane sheets. The specified 500 quantity refers to the 3-pane sheets. Presumably, any extra sheets would eventually be destroyed. But remember, extra sheets are always produced so that replacements will be available for sheets damaged during shipment.

Very interesting if this is so. Do you have a reference for that information? Was it in a postal bulletin? By the way the purple heart was issued in 2012. I checked a press sheet of the ARIZONA and you are correct - that issue also was sold in a mini- sheet and the actual press sheet is 3X3 (9 panes).

You're right, it was 2012 rather than 2013. I was just going by what the postal bulletin said at the time ... 2000 Purple Heart press sheets with 3 panes per sheet. Just checked USPS web site to see which bulletin it was ... Aug. 23, 2012. The bulletin itself does not refer to the sheet as a mini-sheet, so I'm guessing that this term arose from a Linn's article or other source. Mini-sheets were also sold for the two 2012 Christmas booklets (Santa & Sleigh and Holy Family) ... but they also marketed full 10-pane press sheets for both of these at the same time. 5000 of each size sheet were produced for each of these two issues. Note also that there were no press sheets with die-cuts for these stamps.

"Is the post office counting the 3 attached panes as sold to the public as a press sheet? If so the the actual number of real press sheets would be only 96 full press sheets of 21 panes"

There would have been 667 full press sheets to yield 2000 mini-press sheets of 3 panes.

Well I goofed too and don't have a clue how to edit a post. There would have been 2000/7 = 286 full press sheets as each press sheet of 21 would yield 7 mini presss sheeets of 3.

eyeonwall: When logged in, you should see an icon above your messages that looks like a piece of paper with a pencil. This represents the EDIT tool. I discovered it by accident while playing around a few weeks ago. Obvious in hindsight.
Added: And next to it is the icon that allows one to send an e-mail to a post's author. I discovered that after posting this or would have used it to pass this info on to you. Still learning.

EYEONWALL - The press sheet was 21 panes large. the question is whether the post office counts the mini strip of 3 as a press sheet. So the actual number needed would be about 285 full sheets of 21 panes.

JL - thanks for the useful tips on using this site

Cat - yes, the 2000 number they refer to is 2000 mini-press sheets

EYE - If that's the case then these purple heart imperfs are truly scarce.

but there is minimal demand for any of these imperfs

Seems I've found an Imperf Plate Block of the 2012 version, with a V111111 plate number. On the back, with the Bar Code is USPS # 115400
Is this anything special, or just another intended version?

You have a plate block of 4704a, cut from a pane of 20 ... which was in turn cut from a mini-press sheet of 3 panes. Note that this cutting was not done by the USPS. But the 3-pane sheets were cut by the USPS from full press sheets of 21 panes.
Scott values the 4704a imperfs at twice the value of the normal 4704 die-cut stamps.

Many thanks for the info. Hence a Normal ( perf ) Plate block is $4, then an Imperf is $8. Something tells me if I list it for $8 on ebay, it may never sell... Regards

Go to the following link and then scroll down the left and check the sold listings" box and you will see actual sales of 4704a items. I saw 4 or 5 plate blocks sold in the $5-$7 range. And with some current (unsold) listings of around $6, then yes, listing it at $8 would be unlikely to result in a sale.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/Stamps/260...045573.m1684

Basil