374 Earliest Known Use (Eku) Questions

I was paging through my specialized looking at eku's and noticed that 374 was issued on 11/23/10, but the earliest known use is 2/13/11 (in my 2009 specialized) and 2/7/11 on 1847usa.

The only way to tell the 331 from the 374 is the watermark, so that must be why there's not an earlier eku. It's also the single line watermark, so can be tough to see.

I bet there are many earlier examples out there, just mostly on postcards with no way to see the watermark unless you lift the stamp. Once lifted and verified, would it even be possible to get a cert? After all, the stamp is no longer on the envelope. Would the person doing the cert need to lift the stamp? I wonder how the 2/7/11 eku was identified, maybe it was on a thin envelope?

The current EDU for #374 is 12/31/10. It's in my collection. Its is listed in the Berkum-Siskin data base for EDU's that's maintained by Richard Frajola on his web site. It's also listed in my Scott 2014 Specialized as the EDU. I'm sure that eventually someone will come up with closer date.

Here's your answer. The stamp was on a postcard. The stamp was lifted and re-hinged to the postcard after identification and it was given a 2005 APS certificate. It sold at auction for $725 (stains and all).:

Thanks wt1, is there anything you can't find? :)

Al, I read about your postcard in another thread here, but I think the last word then was you and Bill couldn't find either watermark. I'd really like to hear how you go about getting something like this certed and/or acknowledged as THE definite eku. Especially if you have to lift the stamp. Does someone like Bill need to see it intact first, then you lift the stamp and get a cert, or...?

I showed it to Randy Shoemaker at the Louisville show in the spring of 2013 then sent it to him at USAG and he certified it. Apparently he was able to see enough of a WM to be satisfied it was #374. What you need to do in terms of lifting, would depend upon what the policy is regarding where you may send it. Randy was comfortable with mine having been already lifted when he viewed it at Louisville. He could easily determined by the cancel that the stamp belonged on the card. I sent a cover into the PF once where I had lifted the stamp and they certified it, although it wasn't the stamp I though it was. I've seen post cards on E-bay with earlier December dates. I'm looking for something in the last week of Nov./first week of December with a cancel (Wash. D.C. preferably) that might make it an newer EDU. Regarding "THE definite eku", I don't really know who has the definitive word on that. I have five W/F cover I'll be sending to Bill this month. I first sent him photo copies of them and he has replied that he will be comfortable certifying them after I have lifted the stamps. Each could be a new EDU based on either or both the Scott Specialized 2014 addition or the Berkun-Siskin EDU data base, which is all I know about to work with for finding new EDUs. I also get journal/magazines from societies and haven't seen any articles regarding recent EDU finds. If there is another source, I'd like to know about it so I can keep up-to-date on EDUs.

Thanks Al. Until now, my only sources were the specialized and dates from 1847usa. Plus the occasional comments here, usually specific to one stamp. I would love to find more sources, but no luck yet. I'm off to check out the Berkun-Siskin database.

I did lift a stamp earlier today, but it was a double line watermark.