US Zip Block, Mail Early Blocks And Copyright Blocks

Yes, I too collect them, Americana Series only though. The last group of them I got I bought from a dealer who was selling them all (MNH) @ face. Still have a lot of holes to fill, that is if I use the White Ace pages which have a place for one of each.

Hey MarginBlocks. Good to finally connect up with you. Assuming you collect zip/ME blocks since you've created a database for them? Would you be willing to share a page of your database for zips and MEs. I'm interested in seeing what format your using to track differ positions/etc. Does your database include perf, tagging, paper varities and Bureau percan ? Working on collecting all ME blocks (ie perf, tagging, paper varities and Bureau percan) and looking for database source to see if I missed things. I'm out of town next couple of weeks for vacation. Back 1st of Sept.

JRS, for clarity sake and so other folks can understand you, a percan is a precancel?

Peter

Yes people buy zip blocks. In fact there is more demand for 60-90's zip blocks then there is for plate blocks.

Bob

I did Collect Zip block, MI inscription ,Copy right and other
came with my Sheet Collection. Collecting since 1974.. since self sticking Issues started some what reduced collecting.


tickithindi

Yep they are cool-

Greetings - I'm new to the community, appreciate the depth of knowledge and sharing I see here - I was an avid collector in my youth but drifted away from it.
Since I was the 'geek' in my family (and my wife's family), when my wife's grandmother passed away in 1986 my wife and I inherited her stamp collection. My wife's grandmother (Roberta Hoyt Payne) was postmistress for decades in Shady NY (Woodstock), delivering the mail from her home for the whole community (including a young Robert Zimmerman, i.e. Bob Dylan). Within the collection are hundreds of pages of Plate Blocks and US Zip Blocks (I added a few pics) --- all nicely mounted in Minkus pages. These date from the 40s through the early 80s. Could anyone please give me a rough view on the value of these? I realize most of them are probably little value, but are there any particular ones that are rarities? Thanks.

You're correct that most plate blocks from this period have little value. There may be a handful of particular plate numbers that have a higher value. You would need a Durland catalog to look up individual plate numbers.

However, these appear to have been mounted using a product called Crystal Mounts and look damaged in some way, stuck down, wrinkled, stained. As a result, their value as postage would exceed any collectible value.

If you do a search on Crystal Mounts, you'll find a few threads on this forum. This is one: https://goscf.com/t/57305

I used Crystal mounts back in the 1960s and had a collection of mint US singles ruined. Fortunately not a lot of value.

You can lookup all US plate numbers (not values) for free here http://stampsmarter.com/features/Pl...ockHome.html

Don

Not only are there some collectors of US marginalia, any collectors of full panes (or uncut sheets) will have necessarily all of the ZIP blocks, copyright blocks, etc.

Thank you Philatomic & 51Studebaker for your info. I'll look at the plate numbers database you pointed to. One follow-on question: the blocks are not mounted or glued in any way down to the pages, actually there are clear sleeves in which each block is placed, and these sleeves are hinge mounted (or double hinge mounted) down to the page - but there is nothing at all attached to any of the stamps: see pic below, where I have slid out one of the blocks from the sleeve. Philatomic, are these what you referred to, the Crystal Mounts, or are these something different? Thank you.

Those mounts definitely appear to be Crystal Mounts. My experience with them was that they sometimes shrunk and compressed the stamps within, and that they damaged the gum by giving it a glazed appearance even if the stamp wasn't stuck to the mount. Perhaps some of what I saw in your scans as damage was just the way the light was being reflected on the uneven surface of the mounts.