Scott Uo5 3 Cent Official Stamp Cut Corner Mine Measures 10mm Not 9 1/4

Scott state's that the numeral on the three cent lemon official stamped envelope is 9 1/4 tall mine is easily 10mm. my catalogue is 2010 so the info might be out of date. Any ideas?

My 2016 Scott Specialized states UO5 numeral 9 1/4mm high.

here are pic with the gauge. I show one with edge at end and another set at close to 9.25.

The two dies differ in other ways than the height of the 3, so it would be as helpful to have a scan of the entire die. In fact, the general shape of the numeral is quite different.

Have you calibrated your ruler against other rulers to check its accuracy?

It is a multi Gauge that I have used for years and is very accurate when doing washington/franklins. I will get a full picture.

Here is a full scan.

I measured three of these envelopes and got measurements of 9.6mm to 9.7mm.

I used Photofiltre (image editing software with linear measurement capability) to get these numbers.

The UPSS 19th Century catalog describes this die as having a 9.5mm tall "3".

So 9.25 in scotts is incorrect?

In order to call it "incorrect", one would need to know how their measurements were undertaken. They don't tell us (UPSS catalog, likewise).

For instance, I measured from outer edge with black ink to the other outer edge.



You could just as well measure from the centers of the upper and lower horizontal strokes of the "3". We do this often when measuring distances on surcharge imprints. Not so much in situations like this. But, who knows what Scott was using as a methodology.

I would guess that someone made a measurement back in the dim time and no one has bothered to re-verify it with modern tools.

I think mine is closer to 9.7 - 9.8

looking at the photo with the ruler. the mark for 10 is the longest vertical line just to the right of the 10, so this is not 10mm it is 9+mm the next longest line to the left is the 5mm mark and the between the start to the 5 is 4 smaller lines.

Well I appreciate all the help! Thanks for all the info.

No need to measure the 3.

Here are the 2 dies in question:
Left: design UO2, Reay die.
Right: design UO5, Plimpton die.



I admit I am puzzled that the catalogs would stress the small difference in the height of the numeral instead of:
1. the trapezoids vs triangles below the "three cents" tablet at the bottom (or the height of the curved bottom tablet) - so incredibly different!
2. the squatness vs tallness of the "Official stamp" lettering,
3. the general shape of the "3", the length of the middle bar, etc.

I like John's post.

John's post is very clear. To me the easiest sign of what the catalog number is are the ornaments below the "three cents". Also, the "T" of STAMP is totally different.

Peter